ic inbox

[headjacked]

Heyyyyyyyy, kiddo, you've reached me. Me who is Rhys. Anyway, not sure why you're trying to get in contact with the king of the dweebs, but I'm sure you've got your reasons. Reasons you should probably re-examine. I'm just sayin'.

Last chance to back out.

No?

Don't say I didn't warn ya.

Comments

@Mnemonsyne; voice; Day 346

[bookofnope]

[See, Rhys is the hardest. Because as far as Beckett remembers, Rhys just died himself. And Beckett is still very much in the mindset that birthed the Decisions made in the wake of that death.

This is the worst death price ever.]

I... probably owe you an apology. One way or another.

text;

[headjacked]

[ Rhys is usually one to go straight to video for reunions. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, snot and puppy dog eyes and etc unto you.

Except. Not this time.

No, Beckett gets text and only text. ]

Just "probably"?

voice;

[bookofnope]

[... ouch.]

I'm not sure, you see. The last I remember you were freshly dead. I don't know exactly how much of an ass I've managed to be in the interim.

[It's a pretty safe bet he's managed some assitude, though.]

text;

[headjacked]

An ENTIRE ass. You don't half-ass your assness, you ass.

[ This coolness doesn't reveal that behind the tablet, he is indeed a snotty mess. The relief was crushing. ]

The kind of ass that doesn't bother reaching out even after Angel has hammered home how huge of an ass he is.

text;

[bookofnope]

Ah, she did mention... [He struggles to reconstruct what his motivation might have been. Lacking the insights gained over those two weeks, though, he mostly comes up with a not unexpected contrariness to this whole awkward business.]

I'm sure there was a reason I'll eventually remember. I must have been doing - something.

text ==> voice;

[headjacked]

Besides avoiding me?

[ Bitter buisness boy, though it starts to fizzle. Half of what he's frustrated about isn't applicable to a Beckett without up-to-date memories, so.

He switches to voice, swallowing a lump in his throat. ]

Sorry I died, I guess.

voice;

[bookofnope]

I was avoiding everyone. [See: being an ass. That is not a good answer, Beckett. He deserve the way he flinches at hearing Rhys's voice.]

Likewise, though I'm sure neither of us could have avoided it. That's rather the point. That it can't be avoided.

voice;

[headjacked]

[ Said voice is thick and sticky with sick and just-contained tears, despite the constant heavy swallows. ]

And that was it, the straw that broke the vampire's back. We're just too fragile for you to be around, so you quit?

voice;

[bookofnope]

That's not it, Rhys. [The words are snapped, but without heat. He knows he doesn't deserve to get angry.]

It's that I have to do something, do you understand? Something productive. Without limits. Without having anything else in front of me that I care about.

voice;

[headjacked]

You quit all the same.

[ Everything he can think to say is rehashing Angel's verbal annihilation of the man. Yet it feels almost cruel to redirect him to that, despite its effectiveness and necessity. Or maybe Rhys is just too soft.

Probably just that. The fight isn't in his voice. ]

Is it my fault? Angel was always -- if it would help, i-if it had a shot, I wouldn't have ever said no, you can't do whatever you think needs doing. I won't limit you, ever.

[ Angel analyzes, Enoch philosophizes, Rhys... freaks out. He can't help but feel responsible. ]

voice;

[bookofnope]

Yes... you will.

[Angel can eviscerate him, as she has aptly demonstrated. Enoch he's terrified of for his own reasons. And so it is Rhys who gets the shitty plain tale of it all.]

Not you personally, but all of you. I've fought for you before and I will again. I think about your safety whether you want me to or not. You are as important to me as any of my companions have ever been, and that's limiting.

voice;

[headjacked]

Then -

[ It's hard, because it's not wrong, it's not something he can argue against directly. Feelings are irrational and stupid and oh so pervasive. ]

You're just -- y-you're gonna have to deal with it, Beckett, because we're not giving up the time we have left with you.

voice;

[bookofnope]

Bloody hell, Rhys - the point is to have more time. That is what we need to think about. What I need to think about. Whatever it has to mean I am not thinking about!

voice;

[headjacked]

Except it's not a guarantee you'll get that -- far from it! And, yeah, before you say it, any chance is better than no chance at all. So that's why you just have to get over it, b-because --

[ A pause for one of his coughing fits. ]

We need to be together. Take your risks, we'll take them right along with you.