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[iustise]

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[beautifullies]

[ Claire's name will float across John's vision before her message, interrupting whatever it is he may have been doing. ]

𝒥𝑜𝒽𝓃, 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒶𝒹𝒶𝓅𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔. 𝐵𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑒𝓉, 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔?

[iustise]

[…ah yes. The writing. He has experienced this several times now, which is disorienting given he cannot see so well out of his one eye and yet the words float there in his mind’s eye nevertheless.

It is nice to see the familiar handwriting, addressed directly to him, at least.

It takes him a moment to figure out exactly how to respond, but he manages it.]

𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓻𝓮,

𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱, 𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓽𝓱 𝓫𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝓭𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝔂 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓹𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓲𝓷𝓳𝓾𝓻𝔂 𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓸𝓯 𝓶𝔂 𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓷𝓸𝔀.

𝓘𝓽 𝓲𝓼 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝔂𝓸𝓾.

𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼,
𝓙𝓸𝓱𝓷

[Much used to writing long-winded letters, he is still getting the hang of this messaging thing.]

[beautifullies]

[ When he signs, she smiles, but she doesn't say anything about it. ]

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒.

[ Since she's bringing up the one thing he likely doesn't want to speak about. But at least it's good news. ]

𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑎 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑊𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑎 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐. 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒; 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒'𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑗𝑢𝑟𝑦. 𝑆𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑑, 𝑛𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑦.

[ She doesn't want him to think that risk only comes with the choice to heal nearly instantly. ]

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑢𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔.

[iustise]

[Ah yes. The elephant in the room. On his face. The elephant that had punched him in the face and -- broken it, apparently.]

𝓘 𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓭. 𝓝𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓼 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓪 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓮 𝓰𝓾𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓮, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼.

𝓣𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓶𝓪𝓷 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓭𝓸𝓬𝓽𝓸𝓻?

[He keeps himself from signing his response, but only just.]

[beautifullies]

𝐵𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑜𝑛, 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛.

[ She's no idea if this will help or hurt, but she mentions Jamie's name anyway. Because if she'd trust him to this, it means she would trust anyone. ]

𝐼𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑒, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒. 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑦, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔.

[iustise]

[John smiles reading the words, even though she cannot see his expression. He can hear her in them, and the familiarity of it reassures him.]

𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓼𝓾𝓰𝓰𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓯𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓘 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓹𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓶𝓪𝓷❜𝓼 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓬𝓮𝓭𝓾𝓻𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮, 𝓲𝓷 𝓯𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓪𝓿𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓯𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝓲𝓷 𝓪𝓽 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓽.

𝓘𝓷 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓭𝓼.

[beautifullies]

...𝐼𝑛 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑠, 𝑦𝑒𝑠. 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦.

[ Claire would be glad to know she's a comfort to him; he may be surprised to know that he is to her as well. True, she doesn't know him quite as well, but she's found his familiarity with her feels just as reassuring. Proof that someone here knows her and she isn't alone. ]

[iustise]

𝓨𝓮𝓼, 𝓸𝓯 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓮.

[John takes a moment before he continues. Not necessarily because he does not wish to be healed, but because he is concerned that the pain might get worse before it gets better. That is his general experience, at any rate. Stitches, setting of a bone and the like. But if Claire thinks that this is best...]

𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓭𝓸 𝓲𝓽. 𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓓𝓸𝓬𝓽𝓸𝓻 𝓢𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓶𝓪𝓷 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓽𝓪𝓼𝓴, 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓪𝓶 𝓘 𝓽𝓸 𝓪𝓻𝓰𝓾𝓮.

[beautifullies]

𝐼𝑓 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.

[ Though who knows how long it would take to get to Nocwich and see him even if she could. ]

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚, ℎ𝑒'𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡.

[iustise]

𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾, 𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓻𝓮.

[He knows that she would, too.]

𝓘 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓭𝓾𝓵𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓪𝓫𝓵𝔂 𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓷, 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓫𝓮 𝓪𝓫𝓵𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓶𝓮.

[beautifullies]

𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤.

𝑊𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛. 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑡, 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜?

[iustise]

𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓮𝓷, 𝓷𝓸.

𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓷, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓻𝓾𝓽𝓱 𝓫𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓪 𝓸𝓯 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂... 𝓕𝓸𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓷.

[beautifullies]

𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑝 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑔𝑜, 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒. 𝐼 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑢𝑔𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.

[ The need for food and basic bodily functions don't stop, and nothing in the Horizon counts. ]

[iustise]

𝓦𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓘 𝓫𝓮 𝓪𝓫𝓵𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝔀𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯? 𝓘 𝓭𝓸 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓒𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔀𝓱𝓸 𝓘 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓸𝓻 𝓬𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓵𝔂 𝓾𝓹𝓸𝓷 𝓲𝓯 𝓘 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓷𝓮𝓮𝓭 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓸 𝓼𝓸 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝓮.

[Forgive him if he does not trust people quite that easily with his unconscious body.]

[beautifullies]

𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝑜𝒻 𝒾𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓌𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝒾𝓉. 𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽 𝓉𝑜. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝑜𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉'𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓂𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓁𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒻𝓁𝒶𝓉 𝑜𝓃 𝓂𝓎 𝒷𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝑒𝓎𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓈 𝒾𝒻 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝓁𝑒𝑒𝓅, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝓇𝒾𝓏𝑜𝓃.

𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒, 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒. 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝓊𝓃𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐼'𝓋𝑒 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒸𝑒𝒹. 𝒲𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝒶𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓊𝓅𝑜𝓃 𝓌𝒶𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓉 𝒶𝓁𝓁, 𝒾𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔.

[ It's why she's compared it to dreaming—it might as well be. ]

beginning of june~

[beautifullies]

[ For four nights now, Claire has had the unpleasant experience of waking up after dreams she can't quite remember all of, only snippets of the victims she'd helped in the square after the kidnappings mixed with the worst of what she'd seen in the war, and always ending with Josselyn sticking two pointed fingernails directly into her eyes to gouge them out. That part she remembers, almost able to swear she can feel it.

This night, she gets out of bed instead of trying to force herself to rest when she knows it won't happen again. Making her way to where she keeps her liquor, Claire pours a healthy amount for herself and stands at the window, looking out at the fields, basking in the quiet stillness as she sips.

Almost idly, her thoughts turn to John. She doesn't have anyone else, no one she could turn to for comfort, except that he knows her, and she suspects she could wake him and he wouldn't mind. ]

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛'𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑘𝑒, 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢?

[ She has no idea what happens if he isn't. Does her message splash across his dreams? Hopefully, it won't actually disturb him if he's truly sleeping well. ]

[iustise]

[Lord John's room in the Castle is modest at best. He does not mind so much. He has spent time sleeping on cots in the army after all, and at least he has a real bed here. All the same, he does have a difficult time getting to sleep some nights as well.

It's the novelty of the place, he supposes. Not just the unfamiliarity of it, but -- the unknown. He has never known anything like it. And he is not entirely certain of his place here. It is a strange feeling, when he has known who and what he is for so very long.

So he would not say he is entirely asleep, when the message writes itself across his mind. Though -- he cannot say he is entirely awake for that matter as well. Blinking into the darkness, Lord John squints up at the message for a few hazy moments before the writing and the meaning of it becomes clear. Claire's handwriting. Claire...

He would go to her, if he were able, but he supposes this will have to do. Rolling to his feet he makes his way to his desk to hazily formulate his reply.]

𝐴𝑤𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑎𝑚. 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝐼 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑟?

[beautifullies]

[ It isn't until he answers affirmatively that she realizes she was holding her breath, hoping that might be the case. Already she feels less alone, and she takes a sip of her drink. She finally takes a seat as if composing a letter, finding the words always come easier that way. ]

𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑚𝑒, 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠?

[ That's usually Jamie's area of unrest when faced with something insidious. Claire's is typically not sleeping at all. ]

[iustise]

[Well.

John sits blinking in the darkness as he reads that question out. The vagueness of it leaves far too much open for the imagination. Everything left unsaid, the room left for him to read in between the lines.]

𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑑, 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟.

[John sits back on his bed, wrapping himself in a blanket as he frets from afar.]

𝑀𝑎𝑦 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝐶𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑒?

[beautifullies]

[ Claire could assume things from the answer to her question, but instead, she decides that if they're close friends, she would confide in him. Why wouldn't she? And besides, she's never had much luck with female friends, she doubts that's changed. ]

𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑙𝑙 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑘.

[ At least, she hopes. ]

𝐷𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒, 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑑𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡ℎ, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢?

[iustise]

[Lord John frowns at the question. Yes, he understands. Or at least he is beginning to get a picture of the thing...]

𝑌𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒.

[He does wish that they could be having this conversation face-to-face, rather than in this nebulously written conversation, but this will have to do.]

𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 -- 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡, 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙. 𝐶𝑟𝑢𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒. 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑒.

[beautifullies]

[ He's right, and to his point, she closes her eyes tightly against intrusive thoughts of Josselyn. ]

𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑢𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡. 𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛, 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑠.

[ Rubbing her face, she sighs softly, for her part not knowing if its easier not to have the conversation in person or not. ]

𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒.

[ The beginning of an apology, in case he finds this as ridiculous as she's wondering it is. She's seen far worse in her lifetime, though that was the first time she's experienced another's pain in that way. ]

[iustise]

[Lord John's expression softens as he reads, shutting his eyes for a long moment and leaning his head back against the wall behind himself.]

𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝑀𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝐴𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒, 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠.

[John raises his head from the wall, opening his eyes as the realization strikes him.]

𝑊𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛, 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑟? 𝑃𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒-𝑡𝑜-𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡, 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒.

[beautifullies]

[ There's a sense of relief at his offer, and she lets a small smile play at her lips before responding. ]

𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑙𝑧𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑜𝑏𝑒?

[ There's the hint of teasing; she doesn't truly feel the need to ask, although her next question is genuine. ]

𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑢𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛?

[iustise]

[Perhaps it is the hour, or the lack of sleep, but John does not think before replying:]

𝑀𝑦 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒.

𝐴𝑠 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡, 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒! 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒. 𝐴𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ, 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑, 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛. 𝑊𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝐿𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑐ℎ, 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒?