darkinferno | [ic inbox]

He...is a Judge. Capital J, some sort of soldier and lawman or something.

[She shoves the last of that slice in her mouth and chews before adding:]

And I remembered him trying to kill the other me.

[She might not know him all that well, or the details of what him and his group have been through. But Aria knows enough about tragedy and denial and that tine tends to help.]

It will get better. It will stop feeling like that with time. Everything still feels too fresh, right? I won't promise that that feeling will go away completely, but it will get better. We have to hope that September isn't like what some of us had to through this month. You can talk to me about stuff if you want. Sometimes that helps too.

Oh. That's all?

[Dante's finishing his piece as well, leaning back onto his hands. The corner of his mouth turns up in a faint, halfhearted smirk, just enough to let her know he's joking as he chews.]

Just because you remember that doesn't mean he'd do the same thing now.

I've... got a couple memories of fighting someone else that's on the network here. Really fighting, not just sparring like we do Sundays. I don't like this version of him either, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna try to kill him. That's not the type of person I am.

[It's true, time usually does help. But in this case it almost makes it worse; it's been a couple years since his grandmother passed away and Dante first made the decision not to care about anybody. Those walls were starting to break down a bit, but now, here, again--letting himself care about his team just led to hurting like this.]

yeah i know

[Does he mean about it getting better or talking to her? Dante doesn't specify.]

why does everyone want me to talk to them, it's not going to change anything

he'll still be dead

[It'll be a bit before she responds back. Something like this needs to be handled carefully and appropriately.]

No. It won't. Nothing will bring them back. But sometimes when you lose someone, you feel like you loose a bit of yourself. Even if you don't know them really well, it's hard not to be affected in some way. It might change how you feel though. And that can be something important. It's up to you. Your choice, Dante. There are different ways of dealing with it. This can be one.

Edited 2017-08-31 00:36 (UTC)

I know that. I grew up with him around. Gabranth has been as much a part of my life as my brothers.

[More than, really.]

We talked about it though. And...not talked about it. I don't think he'd try and kill me obviously. But maybe it's better this way, avoiding any chance.

Anyway, I just thought you should know he was off.

cant blame you there...

[in fact to even help Dante get his mind off it...]

whatd make a good housewarming gift for a stunt man who lost his houseboat?

It takes what, two seconds to type "I'm not dead"? One and a half if you skip the apostrophe.

[Unfortunately, there are only a couple of people Dante might confide in after this. It's too uncomfortably akin to admitting weakness, admitting failure to talk about why Ryoji's death eats at him so much. And while a couple people have managed to worm their way past his defenses, have proven that they'll stand beside him no matter what happens... he's still got an irrational distrust and fear to talk about it with most people.]

what, talking about my feelings like i actually give a shit about them? next it'll be sewing felt hearts from calico scraps and hiding wishes inside

i think i'll pass

[Sorry, Aria.]

okay

im not dead

[Sorry, Arlene, somebody just wants sleep]

[Distraction successful! It helps that Dante's willing to be distracted...]

there was someone living on a houseboat? i didn't know those things were actually real

buy him a life preserver

well he lived on a houseboat. But he lost it when the ocean went away for awhile?

so now hes got an apartment but no stuff in it.

[Hmm, he's probably still tired from everything and might not need a lecture. But still, she can't quite let one thing go.]

I refuse to believe that you don't.

[If he's mourn from a loss, for whatever reason, then of course he cares. But she won't go any further than that.

For now...]

But you do you, Dante. I'm just leaving an offer open is all. I don't mind if the only thing you want to let me know in the future is if the fight club's still on or whatever. I just hope you get some rest.

Yeah, I'll make sure I don't accidentally drunk-text him again. He'll probably be less likely to let it go if I do.

[Is he joking? Who knows.]

It'll be weird, not seeing his grumpy ass around.

does he have stuff like furniture and towels yet? normally i'd say alcohol but if he lost all that too, that's probably a better idea

[He's going to ignore all of that except for one key part.]

fight club's still on for sure

after this month, i think we've proved we need it more than ever

im too young to buy alcohol.
and as far as i know hes got nothing.
just a bed.

Yeah. And as weird as it sounds, it'll be easier to talk to him again, with him not remembering. But...safer.

[Back to stodgy cop.]

Pass that Fireball?

Good to know.

[Yup. That's all she's sending him now.]

you know people who would buy it

but get him something useful if that's the case, if you walked into a new home with a pair of mattresses on the floor what's the first thing you'd want to make it more livable

Nah, I get it.

[He reaches down, grabbing the bottle and passing it over.]

There are a couple people in this city I'd get along with a lot better if they didn't remember any of this stuff, too.

what are you talking about dante? who died? how could you lose everything? i doubt it was your fault.

[He's not making sense. It's hard to make sense right now, when everything's just jumbling together into one mangled pile of no.]

toushiro

hes okay now but whne we were in hell manor therew as a room and we had to play a game

i tried to lsoe but i fucked up and he got killed and wound up being a ghost unt il we got bakc

and i lost everything, i couldnt use my sword and i could nt jump or do anything to fight the wraith

thats how he died

[Sorry, Grell, you're apparently the lucky winner of today's "Who Gets to See Dante Fall Apart?" game.]

See? That wasn't so hard.

BTW I've got some memory stuff you might want to know
Somebody else we can add to the shared bullshit club.

But go ahead and get your beauty sleep first, princess~

hey, can I ask a question?

I guess it'll get heavy so maybe I should treat you first. lunch? bubble tea?

things have been kinda awkward and it's totally my fault, so I'd like to try again. this time with less assumption.

what do you think?

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text; 9/1; at a reasonable time of day