poly_chromatic | Entry 574; Day 1301

[Video Post]
[Blink--! ... ... ... And...well, nothing, really. There is a view of a hand as the device is quietly and gently set down on a stone bench. There is a view of a dimly lit space--almost funereal in its style and light. It feels almost like a vault, a crype, a mausoleum. It is, for those who know it, the Hall of the Missing. And the hand, for those who know it as well, belongs to Cain. He can be seen now at the edge of the device's lens, sitting just as quietly on that bench, looking at a portrait on the wall (two paintings, actually, but one has the better part of his attention at the moment). He looks disheveled and tired; the portrait can't be seen but perhaps...]

I swore that I would keep you for myself, no matter how much heaven might want you.

[A heavy pause.]

And you said you'd follow me to hell, but you...

[And he says no more, but covers his face with his hands. He isn't crying (Riff stopped him from crying a long time ago and he isn't about to start again).

The device records all of this with an impartial eye.

He stays very still for a very long time...then draws himself up to rest his chin in his hands and look at the portrait again...then back to sitting up and staring at the portrait...

And this continues for some time.

After a while, he notices the device beside him. He doesn't even look at it, he only puts his hand over it, and blocks the lense and thereby ends the feed, which disappears into the dark again in a--

--blink!]
[//video post ends]

[ooc: So Riff has departed from the City again :c Cain just found out. And Cain is not at his sparkly best for the time being. This is an accidental post, of course, because he wouldn't admit to these things openly, but know that he probably won't be too friendly when he learns that this has been seen. For the record: Riff was ailing when he departed--this separation is much more complicated, therefore, than previous ones. As ever: :c]

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Me no go.

Thank you, He-Who-Kills.

[She knows where he is, of course, not just from the familiar surroundings but because she's been in that same position herself before, fast approaching too many times to count. Too many goodbyes, too many friends she'll only ever see in the pictures that hang on those gloomy walls.

Sometimes she wonders how many times this wretched City will make him lose Riff. Sometimes she wonders which of them is going to eventually lose the other, too.

But for now, she knows where to find him, and as far as she's concerned, everything else can go on hold while she sets out for the Hall. Everything else can manage on its own for a while. This is where she needs to be.

Carefully, she makes her way toward him, not trying to hide her presence, but aiming not to disrupt him, either.]

Cain...

[No, he's not feeling like talking. No, no, no. Can't make him. No. Not happening.

But he hears her, which is why he turns his head away, as if to hide his expression. Nothing more.]

[That stops her a moment, because for a second she thinks that perhaps she ought to just give him his space and let him ride this mood out alone--and more likely than not, he'd rather it that way, without anyone around to see.

But then she thinks again, and finds a place of her own on the edge of the bench, far enough that he can ignore her if he likes, but close enough that she's still there.

And that's something.]

He was ill when he left, you know.

[That's all he says--still not looking. Nope, nope.]

[This is one of those encounters rife with prolonged, awkward silences, and this is decidedly one of those silences.]

If he goes back to the moment he left...if he wasn't ill when he first came here, maybe that's what he'll go back to.

And if he comes back, yet again...?

Then perhaps he'll remember, and perhaps he won't. There's no way of telling what might happen with that.

[He speaks flatly, almost droning.]

I can't bear his coming and going like this anymore. He's mine. He belongs to me. I said I won't let heaven have him for itself, but I can't even keep him out of the hands of those 'deities'.

None of us can help what the deities do. And no matter what happens here, you'll see him again someday. In the end, he'll be there with you.

[He's up from his seat and stalking towards the portrait, angry now.]

I don't want to see him someday, he's supposed to be here with me now.

[He's always a sight to behold when he's angry, and not always in a positive way. And there's no way of knowing if trying to talk him down will help any, or if it'll only make things worse.]

There's no helping it, Cain...

[He leans against the wall next to the portrait.]

I know, but...

But that doesn't make it any better. I know.

He's mine, Rosella. Why won't the City let me keep him?

Because it makes you miserable not to have him, and that's just what they want.

It sucks, huh? When they leave....

You gonna be okay?

[A very long pause...]

Rosella, do stop being sensible about this.

[He's trying to be emo, okay, and you're being logical, and this isn't helping him to emo.]

I shall have to be, I suppose.

Yeah. Still, you got other friends here right?

....

[Staring very intently here.]

I'm pretty sure we haven't met, or talked on video before, but I feel like I've seen your face before. Maybe in a crowd....

[So not in the mood right now...]

Perhaps you have.

[Yeah, it's really bad timing.]

But that wasn't the topic! You got other people here, right? Or...well, I guess sometimes that doesn't really help.

[Setsuna always has the best timing, for sure.]

You clearly don't understand anything at all.

Well. Yeah, it's kinda hard to understand a situation I don't know about.

If you wanna be left alone, you can say so.

I certainly didn't intend for my Network device to turn on.

Alright.

I'll leave you alone, then.

For now.

'For now'? What do you mean by that?

Well, it'd be nice to talk to you again, later. You can't possibly want to be alone forever, right?

I wouldn't be alone if the City hadn't made me so.

Does that change if you go back home?

And what do you mean by that?

You said the City made you alone. So either sending this person home, or just being here is part of that, right? But if you went home would you be with that person again?

Yes, of course I would be! He's mine--he belongs to me!

Maybe I should get more serious about looking for a way out of here, then. Or hope you go home soon.

[ooc: But I don't want Cain to go home. EVER.]

Perhaps you should.

[Oh. Well. Yes, she knows that feeling all too well, doesn't she. The remark stings a little, but not personally; it's more a wake-up call than anything else.]

Oh...

[She draws back a little, like she's unconsciously trying to make herself less obtrusive, and nods before adding under her breath:]

It really isn't fair at all.

[He crouches on the floor near the portrait. Dignity? What's that?]

No. It isn't fair at all.

Entry 574; Day 1301

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[action;] Surely you never saw this coming.

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