❄ third reminder

[frogst]

[ phone ]

[ Jade places this call only a few minutes after drinking the morning's milk delivery. She sounds exactly like she feels: shitty. ]

Um, hi, Mayfield. I know things have been pretty bad recently, but I hope everyone's doing okay. I'm sorry I haven't been checking in on anyone!

[ Any cheeriness she had fostering fades as she continues

Comments

[crusthatecean]

[Hears this shit and comes running.]

Harley!

[frogst]

[ Jade jumps a little, getting up from where she's been sitting and offering some sort of awkward smile. ]

Oh, hi Karkat. Are you feeling better today?

[crusthatecean]

Look, I've been thinking.

[He doesn't bother to answer her question, just goes straight into his own thoughts.]

The first night when I drank it and I got so sick. What if that was the same stuff you drank on the second day? You died and I never have, and what if it's just that I digest this stuff differently not being human?

You don't need to die. It just makes sense for me to drink it.

[frogst]

That does sort of make sense. [ But she shakes her head, the smile fading. ] I still wouldn't want you to drink it. You've already been through a lot! And I kind of...

Well, I'll be okay.

phone;

[cueballer]

It wasn't your application being rejected that caused this. The town was just being the town. The wasted effort put into it is rather unfortunate.

[frogst]

Do you think so?

Oh, I don't think my effort was wasted, I kind of had fun filling out the application! It just sucks that it all ended up like this.

[cueballer]

Certainly. You wouldn't have been picked anyway, due to your age and your gender, if it was a serious sort of deal. No need to be down about it. Dying is rather quick from what I heard.

[frogst]

I could have been! [ There's a brief return to her usual cheerfulness, but it fades pretty quickly. ]

It wasn't last time, but now I think it will be. So at least there's that.

phone

[worstvikingever]

Jade, don't blame yourself. Don't even think about it. Seriously. It's not your fault.

Also... the death thing... you never get used to it. Don't... don't feel bad if you can't.

[frogst]

I'm not blaming myself... I just, um, am taking responsibility!

[ There's a long pause. ] Have you died?

[worstvikingever]

Sounds an awful lot like you're blaming yourself. You shouldn't have to take responsibility either. Seems to me like they wouldn't have picked you even if you had the most incredible application they'd ever seen. It's just the way the town works.

[Another long pause. Then he answers quietly.]

Yeah. A few times.

[frogst]

Okay, maybe I'm blaming myself just a little bit... [ She laughs weakly, though there's a hint of sincerity to it. ]

Are you used to it?

[miraculls]

[heading into the kitchen when he spots Jade and the empty milk bottle]

...shit, hivesis, don't tell me you motherfuckin' choked the brew again.

[frogst]

[ She glances at him over her shoulder, absently pushing the bottle away from her. ]

Good morning. [ She stalls, wanting to change the subject but figuring it's pointless. ] Yeah. It was my turn, after all.

[miraculls]

Fuck, chica, you already kicked the nasty shit once, I would have motherfuckin' drank it for you.

[He takes a seat next to her, looking at her worriedly.] You okay? Ain't feeling weird or nothing?

[frogst]

No way! Today was my turn, and besides, I deser- um, oh, never mind.

[ She looks away when he sits down beside her. ]

I'm alright. It does feel really weird, and it kind of hurts, but I think it will be over soon.

[godisachild]

Welcome to Mayfield.

[A long, long time ago? He would've said that with a kind of sadistic, amused glee. Right now, it sounds tired. As if saying this is commonplace. Even a little bit sad you have to go through it.

He pauses for a bit, before finally saying.]

Five times.

No. You don't get used to it.

<3

[frogst]

[ Aside from a quiet, dejected oh, Jade's end of the line is quiet for a short while. ]

Hi Pokey.

FFFFFFFF <3

[godisachild]

Hi Jade. That's your name, right?

....I warned you. It may not have been because of the Chief applications. And it wasn't.

But this is one of the bad ones. And it's still pretty far from the worst. This is like...maybe a medium-level one, with how bad it was.

[frogst]

That's right.

[ She's trying to sound like her usual perky self, but it's pretty obvious that trying is all it is. ]

You mean there's been worse than this? That's really hard to imagine.