september catch-all; open

[ushiri]

WHO: "Kyle" and you
WHAT: Monthly catch-all, including errands and quests
WHERE: Castle Thorne, Nott and Horizon
WHEN: Post-Libertas and Thorne farmland attacks
WARNINGS: General talk about war, violence, mention of sex work. The farmlands prompt has mention of handling animal remains. Additional warnings in thread subjects.
OTHER: Will match brackets or prose!

Comments

[stations]

( It's weird, this whole topic of conversation. Nobody's asked him about his family situation outside of his therapist in years — and even Dr. V only asked back at the very start. He's mentioned it in his blog when it seemed relevant, but outside of that?

He's never really talked about it.

He's not sure how he feels about that, or if he even feels anything at all. It's a little distant, a little irrelevant, muted by years of time, fucked up life events, and too much medication. )

Foster care. ( He says lightly, with a shrug of one shoulder, his eyes affixed on the scorched farmlands ahead of them. ) I guess someone got tired of seeing a kid wandering around my mom's apartment complex looking for food all the time, so they called social services. Miller wasn't suitable for custody, so I mostly just got bounced around between foster homes every couple of years. I have some foster siblings, but we're not exactly close.

( It is what it is.

He cuts a sideways look at Kyle. )

What about you?

[ushiri]

[ Kahlil had missed his chance to try to ask Alidas anything about his history. Maybe a part of him was afraid of trying to bridge that unknown gap between them, in case he was rejected.

Jack answers the question like it's easy. No secrets to hide, he answers it the same way he's answered most questions that have nothing to do with opinions on books, even though the story is a melancholy one by the sound of it. Something about the disconnect resonates. ]

I don't remember much about my parents. [ What little he does isn't any better than the memory Jack's already seen. ] I guess you could call the temple 'foster care'...

[ The priests raised him since he was eight years old. He shakes his head, continuing a bit more quietly: ]

My sister and I were separated when the church took us. I promised to come find her one day, but...

[ He trails off, not sure how to finish. There's a memory of Umbhra'ibaye burning and her singsong voice over his shoulder, the sound of bundled bones clacking, a yellow dog. In that reality Umbhra'ibaye fell, but not the way everyone said that it did.

He wasn't there to save Rousma. Her bones would've been crushed with the rest of the oracles. ]

[stations]

( They have similar echoes. Granted, unbelievably different circumstances, totally different worlds, but parts of it... Parts of it feel the same.

One thing Jack never had though: a sister. The closest thing would've been Sabine — best friend, girlfriend, family, sister. Everything in one, his one stable constant, his person. He can't know what it's like to feel how Kyle probably does, but he does know about separation and broken promises.

He nudges Kyle's shoulder with one of his own, gently. )

Maybe you will.

( Offered softly, from a place of hope he doesn't earnestly believe in. It's that same place that still refuses to let go of Sabine, that still thinks about the possibility of her waking up one day.

But he knows better.

God, he hopes Kyle's situation is a little less impossible. )

[ushiri]

[ The nudge has him turning to glance at Jack when he otherwise might not have. There's a flicker of something tight and pained in his expression for a second before he looks away again, his tone soft. ]

Maybe.

[ He hopes that when his spirit finally leaves this realm for good that he might see her again.

An awkward silence settles over them as they head back. ]