Fourteenth Gate

[forsometimenow]

[There're some faint sounds of someone going about her daily routine. Jennifer has obviously opened her journal to dictate something into it, then set it aside.

The sounds continue for a while before there's a sigh, and she picks up the journal and tonelessly dictates:]

Carson Beckett has left Paradisa.

[She then shuts it. If anyone comes looking for Jennifer, they'll find her room in the castle empty; she's taken Blue with her to the town clinic and holed herself up in one of the back rooms.]

Comments

/dictated

[savethedarkness]

[well, that wasn't something she was expecting to hear over breakfast.]

... I'm guessing you don't mean of his own volition.

[forsometimenow]

No. The nameplate is gone off his room and everything.

[savethedarkness]

That does sound a bit final. ... I'm sorry to hear it. He was a very capable young man.

[forsometimenow]

He was. He was a good friend of mine. Almost a mentor, I guess. I'm the only person left here from my world now.

[savethedarkness]

You've other friends here, I should hope?

[forsometimenow]

I do. It's something to hold onto.

[savethedarkness]

Good. As strange as it is here, and as fleeting as everything can be - no one should be alone.

[forsometimenow]

No, they shouldn't be. And if nothing else, I still have an obligation to help the people of Paradisa. I'm a doctor, and I took an oath to heal- I don't discard that lightly.

[savethedarkness]

Good. With him gone, I'll need another doctor I can call on if needed.

[forsometimenow]

I'm running the town clinic now, I guess, so- I will be here when you or anyone else needs me.

dictated;

[shenunigans]

You okay, brosis?

written

[forsometimenow]

Not right now. I will be, but... right now... no.

written

[shenunigans]

Dang. [A pause.]

Was he your boyfriend?

written

[forsometimenow]

[A pause on her end and a few taps of the pen.]

Oh- no, no, nothing like that. He and I worked together back home. He was... sort of a mentor to me, I guess.

dictated;

[shenunigans]

Sweet. Dunno if it sucks less like that.

Still got a chance. [That is theatrically mumbled because he's obviously joking around to cheer her up. Not that he'd say no, but he's probably too young anyway. So, joke it is.]

dictated;

[forsometimenow]

Maybe a little less than it would if we were... together.

[And then that last part startles a laugh out of her.] Yeah. Yeah, I'm still available.

dictated;

[shenunigans]

Look at that, you're looking on the brightside already!

[He lets out a soft 'heh'.] I'm not hearing a no. [He's 16 and super mature, you know you want this.]

dictated;

[forsometimenow]

Hey, you're right. You're pretty good at bringing that out in people.

[You can't see her, but she's smirking.] I dunno, I think I like our... is it a bromance? Sisbromance? Another term that hasn't been invented?

dictated;

[shenunigans]

You think so? Nobodys said that before, now I'm wondering if I have a secret, unappreciated talent here.

[He sighs dramatically.] Letting me down hard here, bromance. Don't think I'm gonna get over this easy.



And it's Brosismance.

dictated;

[forsometimenow]

You never know- sometimes these things just need to be nurtured.

[She stifles a laugh.]

I hope you will eventually- I'd hate the... brosismance to be tainted by unrequieted affection.

dictated;

[shenunigans]

Imprisonment in a castle brings out the best in people, text it.

It could be days, man. I don't think I can wish up all the ben and jerrys I'll need to get stable again.


But I can wish up a boombox. How do you feel about Peter Gabriel?

Dictated

[the_effect_she_has]

...He'll be missed.

[forsometimenow]

Definitely.

[the_effect_she_has]

Listen, I don't know you but ... are you going to be ... all right?

[forsometimenow]

Not right now. He was the only other person from our world left here.

[the_effect_she_has]

I ... know how that feels. If you need to, uhm, talk, we can.

[forsometimenow]

Started off with 5 of us, including me... and now I'm all on my own.

Thank you. I don't think we've ever spoken... I'm Jennifer.

[the_effect_she_has]

There was five of us too, when we first started. Now it's just Gale, and I. I don't know what will happen, if he goes home.

[forsometimenow]

Find a way to keep going, I guess. I don't have any other choice, especially with my responsibility as a doctor to take care of the people of this castle.

[the_effect_she_has]

It's a reason to live, and not just survive. [Which she had down pat, sad to say.]

[forsometimenow]

Yeah. I'm fortunate in that way, at least- if nothing else, I know I'll always have patients to care for.

[the_effect_she_has]

I envy you that. I am .... still struggling to find meaning, in what I'm doing.

[forsometimenow]

It's hard to do that sometimes. Even when you do find meaning... things can make you doubt yourself.

[the_effect_she_has]

Like what?

[forsometimenow]

I have holes in my memory. I guess it has to do with whatever was taken from me when I was brought here. Some of them... make me look pretty incompetent.

[the_effect_she_has]

[She's quiet for a moment.] ... I don't know. I wish I couldn't remember some things.

[forsometimenow]

It's a tough question. Know the whole picture, or have one that has holes in it? I think all of us wish we could pick and choose what to forget, at least.

[the_effect_she_has]

I think I'd rather have the whole picture. No matter what happened ... I'd rather know, then wonder. [She thought of Peeta, after being trackerjacked, and her gaze grew sad. So much time, struggling to get back what he had lost...]

[forsometimenow]

I think so, too. Our experiences shape who we are and who we've become- good AND bad.

[the_effect_she_has]

Exactly so. We are all of our bad mistakes, and our good actions. Although even I will admit it sometimes flips to either side.

[forsometimenow]

Yeah. And "to err is human", of course.

[the_effect_she_has]

..What's that from? Even though it's fitting.

[forsometimenow]

You know, I'm not sure- it's a pretty common saying, but I don't know where it originated.

[the_effect_she_has]

I like it. [She scribbed it down in the journal, so she'd remember it.]

[Dictated]

[therealrisette]

Jen-chan?

[There's worry in Rise's voice. A lot. After two months, she still hasn't quite gotten over Yukiko leaving, and she was reading a lot of that into Jennifer's announcement.]

Was he someone from home? Someone you...

[She pauses there. It wasn't that she liked Yukiko that way or anything, but... things... did happen. And she doesn't know Jennifer's relationship with this Carson person at all.]

... Sorry. I'm here if you wanna talk, okay?

[She still desperately wants to talk to someone about Yukiko too. Maybe she's being a little selfish deep down, but she's still concerned for her friend.]

[forsometimenow]

Yeah. Yeah, we were the only two people from our world here. Guess it's just me now.

[And have a pause in return.]

Thank you.