Tha sin mar bhàs.

[hollystrike]

Who: Katie and you!
Broadcast: Yes!
Action: Planetside
When: Now-ish

[Amusement Park]

[So this is where she goes when she wants time to think, apparently.  The bunker is a place she won't enter; between the heavy aftermath of a mass death and the understandably stricken reactions of its visitors, the atmosphere is far too toxic.  But it doesn't mean she isn't grieving.  The deaths could not be helped and are god knows how far in the past, but the fact that these people have been forgotten - not acknowledged even by this automated town, let alone the rest of space - is something that sits very poorly.  She can't even change anything about the town to reflect its population's final days.

She's walking the rollercoaster tracks, very high up, thinking over the issue.  Don't ask how she got up that high.  And don't worry if you should be using the rollercoaster at the time; she can avoid you.  Might give you a bit of a scare, though, sorry.

Eventually, she puts a call through to Sam.]

[Outside of town]

[As far as she can go before she suspects (or hopes) she's outside the range of the city's replication science so her work isn't scrubbed.  She's not too far from the bunker; it would be pointless if she were too far away from it. 

She finds a rock face smooth enough, and between a thick blade and Kirito's lightsaber she carves a memorial.  Maybe nobody will ever see it, but if any other visitors come to this place, they should know what happened.  It's worth the extra headache.]

[And Broadcast]

I've decided to quit making dreamcatchers and move on to voodoo dolls instead.  It's more fun.  So if you'd like to take one before I end up throwing them all out, feel free.

[Just so you know.  Totally honest, as usual.  Less cheerful than normal.

If anyone wants her she'll be curled up in her office with Licorice on her lap.  She's so tired of these planets.]

Comments

Voice.

[hollystrike]

So formal of you.

[The words might be teasing, but they fall flat. Also, wherever she is, it's awfully windy. Katie hunkers closer to the comm so she can be heard without difficulty.]

Where are you at the moment?

Voice.

[collegedropout]

You know me, ever the gentleman.

[We're never talking about Soulless, cool? Cool. Besides, everything's sad.]

I'll give you a few guesses, and all of them are underground.

[But yeah. He's in the belly of the miserable, dead beast.]

Voice.

[hollystrike]

[It'll come up eventually, Sam. But right now...]

A cave, then? [Lightly. And then hesitant--]

...how are your counting skills?

Voice.

[collegedropout]

I guess I've learned how to count using my fingers by now.

[But he figures she might be alluding to the, uh. Victims.]

You need a headcount? I'm already working on one, if you want to check the numbers in my notes.

Voice.

[hollystrike]

[She lets out a breath. That's cutting to the chase and makes things easier. Well...for her, anyway. She doesn't envy him, being down there.]

Where are your notes?

Voice.

[collegedropout]

ATTACHMENT://INFO.NARIBARELIA.TXT

[Hello there, handy attachment; in it is a headcount, as well as any other scribblings Sam's made before and after the sad discovery. It's important to keep track of anything he can through these planets and worlds they visit, isn't it?]

Are you okay?

Voice.

[hollystrike]

Better than some, worse than others.

[It's sad today. She knows herself well enough that it'll roll off her back within a week or two.]

You?

Voice.

[collegedropout]

Oh, I don't know... Kind of bummed out, you know? [He says it with a light air, hand on his hip. Anything to help the mood be less miserable for Katie, right? He smiles a little.] I wish I could say this felt new, at this rate. It reminds me of the ghost towns we've ran into, only this time — we actually have the people included.

[He doesn't really regret being the sap, but sometimes it's exhausting.]

Voice.

[hollystrike]

Ghost towns are dreadfully dreary things.

[Sam, she hates you've been to more than a couple.]

...these people shouldn't be forgotten.

Voice.

[collegedropout]

They definitely shouldn't be. I'm not gonna let them be.

And for me, that means documenting as much as possible.

... It just sucks when you run into a case that met a resolution a long time ago.

Voice.

[hollystrike]

How much longer do you think you'll be down there?

[Thoughtfully.]

Voice.

[collegedropout]

I don't know. Until I feel like more of a waste of space than I do now, I guess.

There's a lot to sift through, and it's all kind of delicate.

Voice.

[hollystrike]

...

When you're done, why don't you meet me? I'll be right outside the entrance, out of plain sight.

[collegedropout]

Sounds like a plan. I'll see you there.

[He's coming, just don't do anything like throw a paper airplane in his eye, okay.]

[hollystrike]

[That would require her having paper. You're a lucky man, Winchester.

Whenever he does surface, he'll probably spot her in the distance. She's been busy carving-- had a nice talk with Cas in the meantime, you should be proud-- but she's not quite done yet.]

[collegedropout]

[Finally, luck on his side.

He starts wandering toward her, pocketing his hands, his pack slung on one shoulder.]

Planning on selling knick-knacks on the next waystation?

[A little joke, because lord knows they need some lightness.]

[hollystrike]

Sounds like a cunning plan. I meant to make a giraffe at first, but I suppose my hand slipped.

[She's sitting in front of the largest thing she's carved-- the memorial.]

[collegedropout]

[He looks at the memorial second to looking at Katie once he's rounded it, and he's not surprised.

She's always been a bleeding heart like that. The kid who read Shel Silverstein poems with him.

He smiles, just slightly.]

A lot nicer than a giraffe. You've been busy.

[hollystrike]

I'm always busy. It's a problem.

[She smiles faintly.] Did you know Cas was back?

[Of course he does. But asking a question is the same as saying hey, guess who I ran into with Katie.]

[collegedropout]

... Ah, yeah. Yeah, I did.

[He's a little worried at the mentioning, though. Because the last time they spoke about Castiel... well. It wasn't pretty, because the situation was concerning ugly memories, and...]

Was it a nice talk, for you two?

[He's assuming that a Talk did happen.]

[hollystrike]

Oh, we didn't talk. There was a mighty duel. [She reaches up to brush some excess dust from the stone with her fingers.] We danced all over.

[They just talked, you can relax.]

[collegedropout]

Oh, okay. I hope it was dramatic enough to your tastes, then.

[He'll relax. For now.

... But maybe he should double-check and make sure Cas isn't stranded in the middle of the desert...]

[hollystrike]

[She would laugh if you actually hit him up about that.]

It can never be too dramatic. [Though for a hot second there she wondered if he was going to attack her. Something about Lucifer marks, idk.] You didn't tell me he was back.

[collegedropout]

Well, um. I thought maybe you were still... mad at him.

[Most people upon hearing that would assume some innocent little tiff.

Not, like, hellfire stuff. Geez.]

[hollystrike]

Ah, yes. Naturally the wisest course would to be duck and hope we never met each other if I were still mad at him.

[So dry.]