Fade Rift: Inbox

[pinprick]

You know what to do.

Comments

[fleurdesel]

If everyone I attempted to reach actually got their messages? roughly a dozen, including my students. They were not precisely pleased with me upon my return.

[ She'd forgotten to mention it to anyone save Martel, if only out of fear of what he'd do if she said nothing. ]

[pinprick]

So you upset a lot of people and then failed to clean up your own fucking mess, and you excuse yourself by talking about responsibility. That's not responsible, Adelaide. Your responsibility is to clean up after yourself. Tell those people who care about you--who care more than they were able to tell you when you said you were going to die--that you are alive and they can breathe again.

[fleurdesel]

Honestly, you and Anders are the last to know. Everyone else was in the Western Approach.

[pinprick]

[A sharp laugh.]

And because it was us, it was all right for you to leave a mess behind? 'This is the abomination and his lover, they deserve all the suffering I cause for them?'

[fleurdesel]

Is it so impossible to imagine that I genuinely forgot? I do not know if you are aware, Nathaniel, but I am human. We do, on occasion, fuck up.

[pinprick]

At which point, you apologize. Not ask me to 'disregard your previous message.'

[fleurdesel]

That was the only relevant thing to say. That I am alive, and whatever you heard before is no longer important. Perhaps I should have let Anders tell you.

[pinprick]

It is relevant because I heard it. I worried. It's very easy to brush it off because you knew you were alive. Andraste's blood, Adelaide, I thought we were friends.

[fleurdesel]

...ah.


[ That is...somewhat awkward. She truly has not considered their association beyond 'a requirement to see this damn thing through' and 'potential source of blackmail via Anders' but, if she steps back long enough to look at it-


They could be. ]

Would you believe I am not the best with such things?

[pinprick]

[He barks an ironic laugh.]

I might. I might even believe you're so focused on your responsibilities and your public image that you forget about people sometimes. But I need to know you can remember about people again, once you've forgotten, instead of acting like nothing's wrong.

[fleurdesel]

To me nothing was wrong until Anders stared at me like I was a ghost. That is about when I realized I forgot to mention I had not died.

[ And now she has called Nathaniel. Due Diligence managed. ]

Perhaps I ought to have waited a bit. Anders only just left and he left on something of an unrelated sour note.

[pinprick]

"I forgot to tell you. I'm sorry. I'm alive and unhurt." That is what you say, Adelaide. And then I say, "It's all right, I'm just glad you're safe." It's no more difficult than that.

[fleurdesel]

J'ai oublié, désolé, je suis en vie.

[pinprick]

[There's a pause. She knows he hates that language. He turns it over in his head and decides it's not worth getting even angrier over.]

Pas de quoi. Je suis heureux que tu es bien.

[It took him a bit to put it together and it's not entirely grammatically correct, but it's an effort.]

[fleurdesel]

...

Well.


You speak it better than Alistair. I am not physically pained by your accent. That was Adequate. [ A common enough comment given out during her lessons but- perhaps- she ought to try this 'encouragement' thing on more than mere academics. ] You did well.

[pinprick]

[Well. That wasn't a horrible thing to say. After a moment, he chuckles.]

Merci, madame. La plume de ma tante est sur la table.

[fleurdesel]

You may switch back to Common now, Nathaniel.

[ Please. Please swap back. ]

[pinprick]

Mais pourquoi?

[Now he's being a brat.]

[fleurdesel]

I am going to end the call, now.

[pinprick]

Bon nuit.