voice

[atonementsucks]

So the Door brings us in from wherever it wants. Any time. Anywhere.

Where do we go when we're not here anymore?

[There's a long pause, without even any ambiance to fill it, and then he says very quietly-]

What do you think, Horace?

Comments

voice

[bedsidemanners]

Maybe home.

voice

[atonementsucks]

Maybe.

[He sounds so thoughtful. And unconvinced.]

We don't have any way to be sure though, right?

[voice]

[princely_calyx]

[She has no clue to Horace is. And she doesn't bother identifying herself for once though she's not hiding her identity either. Anyone who knows her could recognize this story easily.]

Well, some go home, I think. If you're lucky.

[A slight hesitation. Does she really want to share this? Does it really help this person any?]

I was here before. Then I wasn't. I was in some sort of blackness. I know time passed but not nearly as much as I thought. I don't know why I didn't go home like other people. [She has a guess but she'd rather not think of what it means.] I just didn't. I don't know if anyone experienced the same thing as me, either.

This probably wasn't helpful at all. But it's the answer I can give.

[voice]

[atonementsucks]

[You can't see him frowning, but it's obvious by his tone - that slow response of someone still thinking about what they've just been told.]

I've heard of people being sent home before coming back, but never anyone who went to... [...? a void?]

It might be more helpful than you'd expect. Can I ask if you remember anything about when you... left?

[voice]

[princely_calyx]

Mine's a special case, I know. [A pause as she thinks hard.]

Mmm, no, I don't really think there was anything different. I went to bed, fell asleep, and was...gone.

[voice]

[atonementsucks]

Gone.

[Weird. Creepy. Not entirely something he's unfamiliar with.]

Are you sure it wasn't you just... being taken somewhere? Or lost. I've heard the mist can play with our senses.

[stakesthings]

Pretty sure Horace doesn't have any deep thoughts on the matter.

[There's a long pause, and then a sigh.]

This about Spike? [And Wes. And Faith. And maybe one day Dawn and Cordy and Buffy and Angel, too.]

[atonementsucks]

How'd you guess?

[Oh, wait. You've met him before, that's how.]

It was worth a shot. He's from around here.

[stakesthings]

It's not exactly hard to guess. Especially after years of the special experience that is knowing you.

...anyway, fish kind of don't do much of the... talking thing. You're supposed to seize them, not, you know. Have anecdote sharetime.

[atonementsucks]

Right, your expertise. I just wanted to... I want to know what happens. I want to know where they're going.

[...]

...you're not really supposed t-- I know.

People do that with pets though, right?

voice;

[knowmypurpose]

I don't know. I usually try not to think about it too much. It probably depends on the person and their situation. [She assumes most goes home, but people like her...people who are supposed to be dead...they can't really do that, can they?]

voice;

[atonementsucks]

Customized dimensional shifting. That would come in pretty handy, actually. We didn't have anything that fancy back home.

[hi hey he is just gonna try and cover up the fact that he's concerned about you being spit out somewhere you don't exist anymore.]

...Spike's missing. Gone. Somewhere.

voice;

[knowmypurpose]

Nope. If anything, our dimensional shifting usually seemed sort of on the random side.

[Hey, if she gets spit back out she'll just...end up finally ascending so she won't be on earth but she won't be dead-dead either.

...that's not comforting, is it?]

You think he got sent...away?

[stopkissingme]

Wait... you don't think we just go back home?

[atonementsucks]

I don't know.

Some people here don't have a home to go back to.

[stopkissingme]

Are you one of those people?