poly_chromatic | [ 108th consult

I've always had a difficult time trusting anything that we're told here, regardless of what part of the City's apparent administration it comes from. How often have we had the promise of home dangled in front of us before? How many times can you be snapped in and out of reality, relentlessly attacked by supernatural forces, or deal with the City's barriers crumbling in new and exciting ways before you start to eye everything a little dubiously?

But... I can't deny that the circumstances surrounding this are different, so if this actually is it, if any of you are about to go walk through a door, if it truly does bring you to another world... don't do it without saying goodbye, all right? It's not a luxury we've generally come to expect here, but it's an opportunity we shouldn't throw away.

I'm not going to lie and say that I've loved being here, that in the end I can look back and say that, after all of it, I was happy here all along. That would be cheapening what I really do want to say, which is that... I've hated the City. I've hated it in a way that became a quiet and passive background to finding myself living here for the past several years. I truly have, but as much as being here has been a repeated series of trials, dangers and trauma beyond anything a person should have to endure, there have been bright spots. There have been moments that were beautiful, days I look back on as fondly as any I spent back home, and people whose friendship has meant more to me than I can find words to say.

As terrible as things can be here, there has always been a sense of connection and camaraderie among those of us who have gotten stuck here, and even if I wind up not consciously remembering any of this, I find it impossible to believe that there won't be some impression left, that I won't feel what some of you have meant to me on some subconscious level for years. For all we've suffered through, you've made it possible for me to build something like a real life here - and if not me personally, if you and I never developed a friendship here, I can guarantee there's at least someone here who feels precisely the way that I'm describing about you.

So, as much as I'm hesitant to do so myself just yet, if you're about to head out and on the off chance that it truly is what it appears to be... you should take that knowledge with you, on whatever level our selves are touched by the City.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

You said that about a thousand times better than I could've. With a lot less crying, too.

[IT'S NOT AUDIO BECAUSE SHE'S TEARING UP.]

They said we have three days. Planning on hanging around?

I figured I would save the crying for individual goodbyes. You know, pace myself a bit.

[ It's a bittersweet joke, though it's also not - not really, because tears are not unlikely. ]

For now, yes. And you... ?

[ It trails off, hoping Penny's not running off yet. He's not sure what her plans are, of course, but they said the doors could take them to other worlds. If that's true, if any of it is, he has to believe there's somewhere for her to go. ]

Yeah... good idea.

[There's the tiniest hitch in her voice.]

I don't know. I mean, I'll stay as long as I can. After that... I can't go home, so...

[She really wants to go home with Wilson to make sure he has someone looking out for him later when it happens. That whole thing with Chase, though... maybe he wouldn't be so glad to have her hanging around.]

No, but... you can go somewhere, can't you? According to what they were saying.

[ While Wilson wouldn't object to that, he'd certainly be far more concerned if he knew everything that was going on. ]

Yeah, I can. I just need to figure out where that somewhere is.

[She's this close to just telling him about Saya and Chase and cancer. This. Close.]

Hey...

So...

Are you going to go home or... going somewhere else?

I think we were promised a way home at least six times. Six times I ca think of.

[Beside the point really.]

You've always been the voice of coping. That's what is part of your specialty. This isn't a case.

[Coming out of his mouth. What.]

That's... a big choice to have to make.

On the other hand, it's an opportunity that most people never have. But I can't imagine how difficult it must be.

Assuming this turns out to be what they claim it is?

Home. I need to go back to where I belong.

[ Wow. Wow. ]

No. It's not.

[ Seriously. Wow. ]

If people are about to start leaving -- theoretically -- I wanted to say something before they did.

I don't suppose you've ever seen evidence of magic in your world, have you?

[If it sounds like she's smiling, that's because she is.]

Or maybe not. We're really great at hiding in plain sight. Maybe we're from the same place and you don't know it. Haven't you ever wondered?

No, I'm really, really grateful for it. I mean, who literally gets a second life? I just... I know where I want to go, but I'm not totally sure that everyone who belongs there would be okay with it.

Hey. You have to make the choice that you truly want to, if you're given a chance as big as this.

And once you're on the other end of it... well. Presumably, most worlds are pretty big.

You know, I didn't think that I ever had... but maybe I just didn't have the right frame of reference to look for it, before I wound up here.

[ If there's anything he's learned, it's that he understands reality, life, and everything beyond both even less than he previously thought. ]

But, yes... I have wondered. And who's to say it isn't possible - that anything isn't, after this?

So... does that mean you'll say yes if I ask if I can go home with you?

For them. And for you.

...and sober?

[ Home with him? That's... a bit of a surprise to him. Not the bad sort, he's just caught off guard. ]

That's where you want to go? With me?

I'm not claiming otherwise. It's been years, it makes sense to want some kind of closure to that.

And yes, for the moment.

You're Doctor Congeniality. It makes sense. At ease.

Yeah. About that. You're missing your prescribed dosage. I happen to have just the medication.

Yeah, I do. Is that okay?

[Even if it's not, she might push. This is important.]

Well... I don't have a problem with it, just--

[ But he can't hep but wonder why. ]

You realize that, by the City's standards, my world is pretty firmly on the boring side?

But you're there, and I'm sure there're homeless shelters and food pantries that could use a helping hand. Plus, you can tell me if there're any nice single doctors. Third time's the charm with nice doctors.

[She's reaching.]

[ That, of course, brings a smirk to his face. ]

Well, that sounds promising. What's our treatment plan?

There certainly are.

[ Homeless shelters back home - that's something that strikes Wilson deeply. Back home means back with the possibility of finding his brother, someday, back to all aspects of his life. He'd fall more into that reverie if he weren't caught by that-- ]

Third time?

Well, then I'll have plenty to do.

[She isn't sure she should say, but she'd been pretty quiet about her romantic failures.]

Oh, yeah. There was... you know, you. And then there was Chase, but he kind of asked someone to marry him, so.

You know what magic's like now. I don't think you'll ever quite miss it after this. And maybe I'll visit America someday and find you lot.

Well, we have lots of money with no need for any more. Let's drink it away. It will make the integration process go easier. If we end up staying here, if this is all a lie then this is a hangover we can live through while we go back to work.

[ Chase. Somehow, he hadn't known that - though things have been strange with Chase and the rest of them, ever since he came back. If they had gotten together, Wilson would have been keeping a protective eye out. Not that he things badly of Chase, but something about him has been... not quite right. It worries him. ]

You know, he'll be there. Not the one you know here, I would guess, since... I came from earlier than he did, but.

[ He... would love to keep Penny in his life. He isn't trying to talk her out of it, but he's still concerned. ]

Will you be all right with that?

[ 108th consult | voice ]

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this is so not goodbye not now, not ever

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never ever EVER

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