-72- Waiting For The Sun

[luckyvalentine]

[people are freaking out all over, she's heard maybe something about an evacuation, everything just seems wrong today... but Faye's got this totally under control.

Totally.

She's sitting on the front steps because she wants to, and not because being in the dark and spooky castle is freaking her out or anything. Just ignore the impressive pile of cigarette corpses at her feet, and the way she looks just a little bit haggard. Ignore the bandaid on her knee, too.

Today has been going just fine, okay? She's not nervous, and she's certainly not thinking of all the horrific things that tend to happen when Paradisa's sky goes dark and bad vibes fill the air. Not at all.]

Y'know... this no-sun thing really isn't so bad, once you get used to it. [she sounds convincing, doesn't she?] It's a change of pace. It's ...something new.

[she stamps out the nub of her latest cigarette just before the filter starts to burn, and then immediately fumbles to light a new one, because--hey, it's really goddamn dark out here.

...but, of course, now is when her lighter decides not to cooperate. The flick-flick-flick sound travels over the journal, followed closely by a high-strung growl] --Come on!

Comments

[luckyvalentine]

But... [give her a minute. Every bit of her is saying that this has to be some sort of trick, especially with the way that today has gone... but stranger things have happened. Far stranger things, actually]

You're really...

[...okay, so it might still take her couple moments for it to really sink in]

[both_neither]

[He's patient]

Yep.

[Here and alive, though maybe that particular tidbit can wait]

If you want we can do this without the talking book.

[luckyvalentine]

But you're... [yeah, that's the tidbit currently on her mind right now, actually. But, hey, guess being dead never stopped anyone else from showing up here, so...

--oh, and he's saying something else. She blinks a bit, on her side of the journal]

Yeah, we could. ...Kind of a spooky night for a reunion.

[it was probably fitting]

[both_neither]

[He has no reason to think she knows for sure that he is dead...or was going to die, probably. They'd both assumed that was how it was going to end, but her connection to Spike is a mystery]

Unless you'd rather spend it alone.

[luckyvalentine]

Well, I do love any alone-time I can get around here...

[she's managing something that sounds fairly normal, at least, despite how eerie she finds the whole thing]

...But, company might not be so bad right now.

[both_neither]

If you don't mind.

[As long as it lets them both pretend they don't want to be alone right now]

Where are you right now?

[luckyvalentine]

On the front steps.

[she feels strange even before she asks it, one more step in acknowledging this as real--] And where are you?

[both_neither]

My room. Uh...Satis Tower.

so sorry again. february can just bite me. ;;

[luckyvalentine]

Oh, that's a hike.

[and she's not really looking forward to going back into the darkened castle. ...And there's something about the thought of going looking around for Gren that gives her a spooky feeling of deja vu]

<3

[both_neither]

I can come to you.

...though if you hear anyone hit the ground in the lobby, that was me falling down the stairs. [He's...kidding...mostly.]

[luckyvalentine]

[she's... just going to assume it's because it's really dark]

I'll be sure to send in a rescue team.

[both_neither]

[That's pretty much the reason, but he does kind of feel like a prime tripping target right now]

I know you would~

See you in a bit.

[And then he closes the journal and heads downstairs. Very carefully...]

Faye?

[luckyvalentine]

[she'd been making a pretty good attempt at seeming cool about the whole thing. Leaning against one of the decorative pillars, fidgeting with that lighter like she didn't care that it wasn't offering light, she hardly seemed like someone who was waiting to meet a ghost.

With how this day has been however, that facade can't help but crack apart a little when that ghost actually shows up. She can't keep it from her face-- the surprise, mild alarm, and then all of the smaller much-less-nameable things. Might be hard to see in the dark, but they're there, just for a second]

--Mr. Saxaphone.

It really is you.

[both_neither]

[He smiles softly at her, tilting his head in that slightly casual way he had, pretending as if there was absolutely nothing about this situation that was strange - that they weren't meeting under the guise of eternal darkness or that the last time he's seen her he'd left her tied up in his room while he walked off towards probable death.]

Last time I checked.

How have you been, Faye?

[luckyvalentine]

[what a question. How do you sum up two and a half years of soul-rending insanity?]

Oh, you know. Same old.

[she manages to fold her arms around herself, but it ends up just making her look chilly instead of casual]

How long have you been here?

[both_neither]

[He's not sure if it's sad or amusing that Faye still tries to act like things don't bother her. As usual he sees past this particular charade, but pretends like he doesn't.]

Since mid-December.

[luckyvalentine]

[she appreciates the courtesy, really]

--A whole month already?

[both_neither]

I spent the first week or so in the hospital, so I'm not surprised you missed me.

[He doesn't say why, but he figures she'll put two-and-two together. If she wants to know, though, she'll have to ask. He might not even lie.]

[luckyvalentine]

[she distinctly avoids asking, actually. As dodgy as she might have been about these things before, that has only had time to refine down to an art during her time here]

Tch. And I'm always the last one to find out anything around here anyway, so... guess I should be thankful you spoke up at all.

[both_neither]

[He smiles wryly and wonders how much of that is true]

If I'd known you here earlier, I would said something.

[luckyvalentine]

[with a crew like hers? yeah, no one shares anything.]

I'm touched.

[both_neither]

It's good to see you, Faye.

[He glances outside at the perpetual night and shivers]

Sorry it has to be here, but beggars can't be choosers, I guess.

[luckyvalentine]

Hey, it could be worse.

[and she really means that. The castle could be full of demons, or broken-open memory rooms. Or there could no meeting at all. She hates the castle most of the time, but if it's the only place that she can find certain ghosts again, she'll take it.]

[both_neither]

Yeah, maybe.

[It hard to decide if death or utter lack of purpose he felt now that he knew he couldn't play was better.

Of course, even now, he really didn't have the best idea of what the castle was capable of]

[luckyvalentine]

[she gets it, in her own way. and yet, she still sounds certain when she replies]

Trust me.