[KSGokaiger;prose] this war is long over (4)
Basco Ta Jolokia, Space Monkey Sally
What Sally actually does is to leave the mobirates in his room, on a desk littered with all sorts of hunting paraphenalia. He stares moodily at it, before biting the bullet and picking it up. It takes a while before Basco figures out how to operate the voicemail function, and he can't help but cringe when the clipped electronic voice informs him primly that, "You have 52 messages. Press 1 to listen to the first message."
The first makes him pull the mobirates away from his ear with a wince, Marvelous mixed with the loud sounds of the barfight. He makes out, "BASCO. YOU BASTARD. FUCKER. FUCK-" and decides to screw it and move on to the next few messages. After a while they seem to blend into the same, especially after the sounds of the barfight faded and there is only Marvelous' voice, still shouting expletives and demands for Basco to pick up. In the latter messages he thinks he can hear the pets in the background, sounding vaguely worried and Marvelous' words become more of a one-sided argument that often ran along the lines of, "I FUCKING SAW HIM."
In the last message, sent an hour after the second-last, Marvelous' voice has grown hoarse, soft and scratchy and Basco presses the mobirates close. It's a short message, just a simple, "I'm finding you. Just you wait." Basco listens to it, over and over.
"That's a promise then," he finally says into the speaker, as though he thinks Marvelous can hear it. With a sardonic smile, he deletes it, and is gratified to hear the electronic voice chirp again, not unpleasantly this time, "You have no messages."
Not that he gains a respite. The mobirates starts ringing again days later, sporadic bursts of music that startles Sally occasionally and makes Basco burn his food. He never stops to pick it up mid-ring though, and usually after waiting a few days, Basco settles down for a listen.
Mostly it's yelling, interspersed with the demand for Basco to pick up. Basco is a little surprised at the vitriol, because even in his memories Marvelous is never this vicious. One message sticks out in particular, long after he deletes it, a voicemail that consists of nothing but, "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you." He thinks Marvelous might have been drunk for that one, but he can't quite remember what kind of drunk Marvelous is. He had talked to that one too, softly.
"I hated you too."
Later on though, Marvelous' calls begin to sound as though he's striking up a conversation, as though he's never been horribly betrayed. It's a little creepy, really, how Marvelous complains about Luka calling him insane, how Gai keeps whining about getting back to earth so that he can buy him "five stages of grief, captain, it really works", how Ahim just brings him tea and sits with an expectant face for an hour every day as though Marvelous is going to spill his guts out over losing Basco and how he can't hate her for it but he's going to kill Gai for poisoning the princess with that weird "five stages" talk. Basco only gets the princess, the rest is a mess of names he can't put faces to.
"You are crazy," he tells Marvelous. "You're crazy for trying to talk to a dead man. For still talking to a dead man." He pauses for a moment, and then says, aghast. "Wait, are you telling me that you still call AkaRed on his mobirates?"
Marvelous can't reply, of course, but the realization stays with Basco for weeks, a horrific, niggling (and rather entertaining, actually) thought that distracts him from the fact that he's enjoying the feel of a simple conversation with another person again.
What Sally actually does is to leave the mobirates in his room, on a desk littered with all sorts of hunting paraphenalia. He stares moodily at it, before biting the bullet and picking it up. It takes a while before Basco figures out how to operate the voicemail function, and he can't help but cringe when the clipped electronic voice informs him primly that, "You have 52 messages. Press 1 to listen to the first message."
The first makes him pull the mobirates away from his ear with a wince, Marvelous mixed with the loud sounds of the barfight. He makes out, "BASCO. YOU BASTARD. FUCKER. FUCK-" and decides to screw it and move on to the next few messages. After a while they seem to blend into the same, especially after the sounds of the barfight faded and there is only Marvelous' voice, still shouting expletives and demands for Basco to pick up. In the latter messages he thinks he can hear the pets in the background, sounding vaguely worried and Marvelous' words become more of a one-sided argument that often ran along the lines of, "I FUCKING SAW HIM."
In the last message, sent an hour after the second-last, Marvelous' voice has grown hoarse, soft and scratchy and Basco presses the mobirates close. It's a short message, just a simple, "I'm finding you. Just you wait." Basco listens to it, over and over.
"That's a promise then," he finally says into the speaker, as though he thinks Marvelous can hear it. With a sardonic smile, he deletes it, and is gratified to hear the electronic voice chirp again, not unpleasantly this time, "You have no messages."
Not that he gains a respite. The mobirates starts ringing again days later, sporadic bursts of music that startles Sally occasionally and makes Basco burn his food. He never stops to pick it up mid-ring though, and usually after waiting a few days, Basco settles down for a listen.
Mostly it's yelling, interspersed with the demand for Basco to pick up. Basco is a little surprised at the vitriol, because even in his memories Marvelous is never this vicious. One message sticks out in particular, long after he deletes it, a voicemail that consists of nothing but, "I hate you. I hate you. I hate you." He thinks Marvelous might have been drunk for that one, but he can't quite remember what kind of drunk Marvelous is. He had talked to that one too, softly.
"I hated you too."
Later on though, Marvelous' calls begin to sound as though he's striking up a conversation, as though he's never been horribly betrayed. It's a little creepy, really, how Marvelous complains about Luka calling him insane, how Gai keeps whining about getting back to earth so that he can buy him "five stages of grief, captain, it really works", how Ahim just brings him tea and sits with an expectant face for an hour every day as though Marvelous is going to spill his guts out over losing Basco and how he can't hate her for it but he's going to kill Gai for poisoning the princess with that weird "five stages" talk. Basco only gets the princess, the rest is a mess of names he can't put faces to.
"You are crazy," he tells Marvelous. "You're crazy for trying to talk to a dead man. For still talking to a dead man." He pauses for a moment, and then says, aghast. "Wait, are you telling me that you still call AkaRed on his mobirates?"
Marvelous can't reply, of course, but the realization stays with Basco for weeks, a horrific, niggling (and rather entertaining, actually) thought that distracts him from the fact that he's enjoying the feel of a simple conversation with another person again.