driftfleet | 2nd Fairytale

Who: Jilly Coppercorn
Broadcast: A little bit of everything
Action: Blue Fish and Iskaulit
When: Mid-afternoon

|Network - Voice Only|

[Sometime mid-afternoon, the network picks up an accidental broadcast as Jilly stirs after a very long week.

It sounds almost like static at first, sheets rustling as she pushes them off, followed by a hoarse question that was probably just meant to be her talking to herself.]

…Just how long did I sleep?

|Network - Raylene - Locked|

[She's feeling pretty shaky after being off her feet so long, but a meal and about five glasses of water have her at least feeling human again. And there's plenty to catch up on, too... her crew. the planet. the sudden rush of new memories confusingly nestled in with her life in Newford. But when she does take a moment for herself again, she knows what she has to do.]

Raylene?

[it's tentative at first, but then slightly firmer as she gathers her determination (if not her confidence)] Can we talk?

|Network/Action - Blue Fish - Open|
[your resident painter and cook is back in action, Blue Fish! She missed you guys. Feel free to run into her in the kitchen for most of the day, though she'll be doing more eating and resting than cooking as she recovers from that ridiculously long nap]

We...have shuttles, right? How does that work? [there's something she needs to do.]

|Action - Iskaulit - Open|

[That night, Jilly makes her way to the Iskaulit for the first time since she'd arrived at the fleet. Between working and all of the options on the past waystation, she hadn't really been driven to find the Fleet's local bars. And it's not a drink she's looking for, now. She has a demon to find...though she'll be happy enough to say hi to any other friendly faces while she looks for Crowley.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Crowley tenses at first, he's not exactly used to people hugging him, it's generally not a thing people do to him. An admonishment is on the tip of his tongue, but dies there when she calls him by that nickname. He hesitates for a moment, before returning the hug. This once.

He's glad his eyes are hidden by the aforementioned sunglasses so he can stand by the fact he is absolutely not tearing up at all. Okay so demons don't really cry, but the emotion in them is certainly there, hidden away. ]

Never thought I'd hear that nickname again.

[Her laugh is muffled as she holds tight for just a few more seconds before releasing him, her own eyes damp. She hadn't had to experience the pain of being forgotten, but with the sudden return of everything she'd lost, she'd also been given a new sense of the time between them. She knew she'd only talked to him a few weeks before, but that had been without knowing who he was. Now she could feel the years. It made no sense to say that she'd missed him...not when she hadn't known to do so...and yet, somehow, it was true all the same.]

I'm glad I get to say it.

[Composing herself, she takes a step back, letting him reclaim his space.]

I like mysteries and magic and all...but we really have the strangest luck.

[He'll fold his arms when he gets his space back, playing this off as some regular conversation. He can't hide the stupid grin crossing his face, though. Not all the bullshitting in the world can hide that. ]

We do that. So, that's what happened while you were sleeping hmm? Got yourself a brain update?

[Her own mood is less ecstatic, but she can't keep from beaming back at him, his happiness contagious. No matter what else is going on, it was wonderful to see him and know him again.]

A partial one, anyway. There's still a lot that's fuzzy...like it's just out of reach...but all the Paradisa bits seem to be there. At least, there aren't any obvious holes that I can tell. And I remember being here. Before, I mean.

...Just how long has it been? For you, I mean?

[looking him over, he looked exactly as she remembered...but then, even without the strange properties of magic castles and kidnapping space fleets, he probably wouldn't have aged.] Near as I can tell, I remember it being Christmas, after the whole mess with Riful...and then I was home for five years.

[a small frown] Or, near enough. There's something about wings and a village, but that's the part that's still not clear.

[His smile fades a little. It's been far, far too long but he doesn't want to make her feel guilty for something she had no control over. He knows her well enough to know that's something that would happen. So, he plays i off a little easier than he should have, giving a shrug. ]

A while. Few years. It's hard to remember, you know me and years, they go by so fast for me. Plus I was rather drunk at the time.

[Because he has the BEST coping mechanisms ever. ]

[odd how a memory could seem right there and so distant both at the same time. Everything he did pinged all the fond, nostalgic feelings of something long missed (even if she'd only this afternoon realized she'd been missing it), while every few seconds a word or a gesture would be as vivid as if she'd only seen him yesterday.

...which, to be completely literal, she had. What a mess.

Messy or not, though, it's enough that she doesn't have to just try and read him. She knows him. Knows him enough to guess what he's doing and why...and to choose to let it go. They'd shared plenty, of course, but much of their friendship had been more...recognition. It was knowing that there were walls (and maybe even gathering enough to know a bit of how they'd come to be there) without having to always see behind them.

She wanted to apologize for what she'd missed--not because he'd blame her, but because she wished she could have been there or even just been in touch. She wants to know because she's curious and because she wants to help. But she won't ask and she knows he won't tell. Not fully. Any more than she'll fully explain why everything is such a mess with Raylene. It's okay. They'll both understand anyway.

His smile fades, but hers brightens as she laughs and shakes her head] I think that excuse is only supposed to work for a week...a month at best.

[The sad thing is, Crowley has gone though millennia telling himself he was used to seeing people leave him. After all, humans were mortal and he was not. Them parting ways with him was inevitable. There were a couple of humans back on Earth he liked, missed a little, but none he'd got so close to as in Paradisa. Or even here.

It's made this so much more...difficult. Made time together precious. It's made him care more than he'd ever like to admit to.]

It might have been longer than a month. Probably.

[softly] I figured.

[it's almost reluctant when she steps back around to the other side of the bar, but it's only so she can hop up on a stool and cross her arms on the bar, itself, as she looks around]

This is all yours?

[Crowley welcomes the change of subject. Talking about his propensity to delve into alcoholism to deal with his problems tends to just start the cycle all over again. Much better to focus on something else.]

She is! Isn't she great? I don't want to say she's better than the Nines was but...well, she's obviously better than the Nines was.

[Except no Barney. That part sucks a lot. ]

2nd Fairytale

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