exsilium | Fifth

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Fifth | Audio

[The feed cuts on and a voice starts up almost immediately.]

Soooo... [He pauses.]

I was gone for a week, like the Initiative said I would be, but I get back and it's been more like- [Hums a little, as if he's calculating it] -six weeks give or take, according to the network date here. It looks like everything caught on fire while I was gone, too. Go figure.

Not only that, but there's a flood of newbies, too, as well as people I missed from the last one. Anyone willing to give me an update? Or link me to where another thread that explains it would be fine, too.

Anyway, I'm Blaine. Good to meet the new people, and for the old crowd, I'm back.

[Feed cuts off]

[[Action available for Roommates or people who would seek him out to speak in person. All responses will be in Audio unless it's text.]]

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[He didn't mean to, but the weight is too much right now. With two close mutual friends gone and recent developments with the UE, Margulis and other small issues, Lee shakes his head softly.]

No, as much as I am tempted, I think it's better that I don't. May we sit for a moment?

[Blaine gives a small shrug. Suit yourself Lee, but he definitely is worried by this behavior. He waves to the couch for Lee to sit.]

Want something to drink? [He'll at least pretend to be a good host before he sits down.]

[He nods.]

Yes, that will be nice, thank you. How was your mission?

[Better switch it to something more positive first. Why isn't there an instruction guide to break bad news better? Psychology and social guides only work for the easy stuff and he is still grieving.]

[He goes into the kitchen and sets up a pot to boil water for some tea. Whatever he'd left in the fridge for iced tea was long gone.]

It went well. It only lasted a week for me.

[He nods and crosses his legs with his hands on his lap. He already misses Blaine even if the two are in the same room.]

I see. Where did you go?

[Make it about Blaine, hopefully that will work to make the news easier to swallow. Lee's eyes watched his former lover work in the kitchen so easily.]

[The water boils fast, yay future technology, and he pours it into cups along with tea bags, because that's all he has, which is depressing. He brings both cups to the table and then goes back for the sugar.]

Italy. It was nice to visit again.

[He'll let Lee guide the conversation for now.]

Oh, Italy! That's a beautiful place to visit. I'm so glad that you could go again. Taicea would have loved to see it, especially the gardens. I'm pretty sure Ghost would object.

[He moves to the table with the same customary grace as Blaine had always seen of Lee. His smile becomes somewhat tinted in sadness.]

[He's amused by this.] Yeah, Ghost objected to pretty much everything.

[He sits down and swirls the teabag around the cup a little.] So... [His voice is a bit more gentle.] Tell me your news.

[He steeps the tea bag in his cup and crosses his legs.]

Yes, of course. There is plenty to tell. Where would you like me to start?

[His smile showed that he is, indeed, hiding something.]

Rip the band-aid off fast, I say. Worst to the best.

It would depend on what you would consider the worst.

[He calmly turns the cup to loop his fingers into the handle.]

I'm not sure how well you know Adam Jenson. He was killed just before you arrived. The United Earth was using his cybernetic implants as a means to spy on us. They succeeded. In return for his service, they used his body as a bomb to destroy us.

That attack ended in their own failure. However, the Initiative has given us word that Elmer's world is destroyed. I have never met him myself, though I must admit that it was a terrible fate to suffer. To have your entire world destroyed...hm, there's little we can do.

[He only vaguely knew Jenson and didn't know Elmer at all. The news was bad, but it didn't make him feel sad. Just resigned to a lost war. He sipped on his tea for a bit to give himself time to think.]

Jensen was in charge of some cyber security here, I think. It's sad that it ended that way... both for him and Elmer.

[He set his cup down.] What are we even doing here, if we're this outgunned?

I completely agree. It doesn't even come close to the fact that we are vastly under-trained, despite what the Initiative tells us to believe.

[He closes his eyes and seeing that it wasn't the worst news, it at least broke the ice.]

With Ghost and Taicea gone, I'm thankful they never had to suffer the losses.

[That gave him pause.]

Ciara and Taicea are gone? [He let her other name slip out from surprise.]

Her true name was Dalila. Ciara was her mother's name.

[He turns the cup gently in his hands.]

They had been gone just before you had left. It's been a while now. I believe it's been two months now.

[He had like Ciara better, which was why he had chosen it. It had been easier to remember, as well. What kind of name was Dalila? His voice was soft.] She let me pick whichever name I wanted to call her.

[He gives a few slow blinks, then a resigned sigh.] They were gone before I left and I hadn't noticed.

They left quietly.

[His own voice is soft.]

I found the letter addressed to me from Dal-Ciara, and that's how I knew. She hid it among the parts I was transporting. I...I couldn't mention it because I was having a hard time dealing with losing her.

You were closer to her than I was. [He leaned forward to give Lee a consoling pat on whatever part he could reach easiest.]

I should have known when Taicea didn't come to leech off my body heat for a few days. [He's a bit wistful at that.]

I suppose it could be considered close. I sometimes think that she was a bit insane for wanting to be near me.

[He chuckled softly as he remembered Taicea.]

I would like to remember them both positively.

[He sighs and leans his head back. He tries to smile for this next part but it's already too difficult to ignore Blaine's hand.]

[Blaine's pat wasn't lingering. Lee's grief is rather palpable, so he doesn't lay on the innuendo like he normally would have. He has a sense of timing, at least.]

I'll admit to being a bit touched in the head, but that's not why I stay near you.

[He lowers his gaze from the ceiling toward Blaine. His eyes show that he's got something else on his mind and it's hard for him to put into words. It hurts and his brow furrows.]

I think one has to be a bit touched, and that brings me to another bit of sad news and the hardest to tell.

[He can't bring the words out just yet while he still searches for the right ones.]

[Blaine just waits, watching Lee piece out for himself what he wants to say, and more importantly how he wants to say it. He can't really imagine what can be worse than the news he's heard, unless one of their mutual acquaintances has died, but that's not much different than them disappearing to go back home. Either way, gone was gone.]

[Lee tries to coax his thoughts forward and with Blaine waiting patiently for a response, he has no choice.]

Well, there is another development. Have I mentioned a man named Margulis to you?

[Slow and steady.]

No, that name doesn't sound familiar.

I see.

[It then becomes apparent just how many secrets Lee has been keeping from people and he nods his head slowly.]

I wasn't sure if you had left and I was frightened by the loss. I did the one thing that I swore I would never do and that was to become involved in a monogamous relationship. Margulis and I have known each other for several months.

At first, we were just simply roommates. The more time I spent with him, I became involved with him.

[The pain he feels now by his regret in not telling Blaine about him earlier does show in his eyes.]

We...we are more than that now.

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