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[encryptedlock]

[Backdated to Saturday afternoon so as not to spam the comm. York had thought about what Kat said about Carolina and Wash being there to help her, and he was hoping that meant Carolina was off her loss. Because it had to have been a loss, right? Well, if she wasn't, she probably wouldn't respond to a filter to Carolina anyway.]

[Carolina]

Hey. Can we talk?

[/Carolina]



[Filtered to Tony Stark and anyone else familiar with advanced technology that would not use this information for harm]

I've been talking to a few people about this--this change with death and how the bodies don't disappear any more, and how if you destroy the body it hurts the person coming back. So I was thinking, in my time we have what are called cryosleep chambers that we use on long space flights. Essentially, they keep a person alive but in stasis until we reach our destinations. It's no big deal, I've been in cryo dozens of times. Anyway, I was thinking something like that could help preserve the bodies, and if they do start showing signs of life the chambers can be calibrated to wake them up and let them out right away.

Would any of you be willing to help me build something like that? I have the schematics already.

Comments

[youfallback]

[Carolina stares at him, trying to not let the surprise and alarm show in her expression.]

Things can't be what they are right now, York. [This is exactly what she didn't want if they got involved together, this is what she was afraid of; if they started a relationship, there would be no turning back.] This isn't working.

[encryptedlock]

It's working fine enough when you're in your right mind!

[Which is part of what he's afraid of, isn't it? That she won't always be in her right mind. That he knows, in fact, that it's just a temporary condition and won't last forever. That maybe the reason he shuts down when she starts acting a little bit cray is because he can't stand to watch her descend into madness again, not when everything he tried the first time wasn't good enough to save her.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina visibly flinches at his words, for the first time since being in the Castle. She knows it's hanging over her, will always be hanging over him too. There's nothing they can do that doesn't feel the shadow of the painful, inevitable future. She will go insane, she will die, and, well, any time she isn't is just a reminder to him that she's going to go down that same road, end up with that same fate, end up losing herself and him both.

She shifts silently on the couch, drawing up her walls fully and completely as she closes off from him entirely.] No. It isn't. Not with that hanging over us. [She barely says 'us' instead of 'me.']

[encryptedlock]

Is that what you think? Cause I thought we were good for each other. I guess you don't feel the same way.

[Which is the part that hurts most, really. He'd been willing to compromise for her, change a lot of things about his lifestyle here to work better for her needs--but if she thought they were better apart, was it even worth it?

This time he does get up, moving back to his room.]

You can stay here if you need to, but don't bother me unless you change your mind.

[...yep it's a repeat of closing her out, but if she doesn't even want to try, he's not going to either.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina all but glares at him as he shuts her out again. To her, trying isn't slamming the door in her face when she says something he disagrees with. If nothing else, to her, this absolutely seals the deal; they're through. She'd worked hard over the past several months to accomodate him, just as much as he had her. Trying to figure out a schedule for him and Maine, not pushing him away when her professionalism told her that getting involved with him would be a mistake. She ignored her natural inclination to keep them absolutely separate.

And now she's standing there in the living room, feeling like yes she was right but not at all feeling like a victor. She pauses, grabs a piece of paper and, even though she knows it won't help, writes 'I still love you. Thanks. Carolina.' And promptly sways and staggers out the door back toward the Castle.]