So, here's the follow up. Why the heck didn't you say anything? Hello! Dead chick floatin' here! Maybe a different kinda dead, but we coulda totally bonded over this, you freakin' goober.
I'd throw that fact right back at every other lich in existence outside of my guy and me. Other liches are less awesome than me. Like, by a lot. A pair almost killed my brother.
[bad memories. but lup smote them good.]
Also, if you really felt that way, wouldn't it make more sense to have other people in on the deets, so they could help out if shit went wrong?
...okay, I didn't know that. But most people here wouldn't know what a lich is in the first place. You can spin it.
A lot of people here know what zombies are. Their versions, anyway. This place's version. It's pretty much universal hatred, I can list a dozen otherwise friendly people who wouldn't hesitate to bash my head in. So I've only told Ephemera.
[Well, that's one way to get the woman's attention. Her face can't change, but her tone does. She all but snarls at the mention of anyone hurting him.]
They won't fucking touch you. I won't let them. Give me a list and I'll make sure they stay away from you.
[Not to hurt, just to threaten. To lightly scare them.]
And you aren't a monster, Drake, so get that out of your head.
It was just some guy... and that kid who hangs around at the clinic. You actually reacted worse than anybody, though.
[ She'd come around, but her initial response is what he'd expect from most people. Horror, disgust, the immediate instinct to kill him back. Drake scrubs at his face and the video shifts a little. ]
Not most of the time, maybe. I'm pretty good at fighting it off. But if Hope's brains ever stop working? You can't think of me as your friend anymore.
Fuck off. [She's still snarling, but there's a deeper emotion there, almost as if she was on the verge of tears.] You won't tell me what to do. I won't let you hurt anyone, but I'm not going to think of you like some fucking animal either.
[Whatever Drake thought, she knew he wasn't a monster. Monsters were the humans who had hunted her and her brother as children, the ones she'd learned magic to protect the two young elves from. The ones who only gave them a single portion of food to split between them, but still had the gall to comment on their sharp, elven features, the prettiness of their hair...
Drake is a man with a particular violent problem, but he isn't a monster.
Lup huffs, trying to calm herself, giving her hooded head a shake.] Don't get a big head, but I like you. We're friends or whatever. If your source runs out, I'll figure it out. Fire isn't the only magic I've got on hand.
[ Drake's quiet for a moment at that, jaw working and a telltale shine to his eyes that he blinks away as he watches her through the video feed. Don't make him cry, Lup. ]
You mentioned... Merle? [ The dream is far-off and fuzzy now, but still clearer than he's comfortable with. He remembers her saying that locking him up didn't have to be forever. ] There's a guy working on a cure back home, but I'm dead there so it's too late for me. But if I could get cured here, maybe it would be safe to go somewhere else.
[Lup nods in return, an overly enthusiastic up and down, pulling her phone closer to her face.]
I can talk to him, no prob. [If he could just work out a deal with the gods to get his magic back...] We'll figure this out, babe. Trust me. After everything I've seen, there are no impossibilities.
[ He almost doesn't want to hope for it, but he is now. Lup just sounds so certain that it's a fixable problem. And if she's right, maybe he won't be stuck in Hadriel forever.
And she's on his side after all, just like Ephemera said she would be. It's a weight off his shoulders to have finally talked to her. ]
...thank you, Lup. I'm sorry I didn't call you first.
[The lich blows a kiss through the screen at him and moves her head as to wink, trying to brush off the deep worry that had shaken her a little there. Time for happier subjects. Sorta.]
Forgiven, natch. Though I can't really blame you, things have been a little crazy, huh? [Honestly, she doesn't know half of it.]
I guess I owe you an update, too -- but it's just that I still don't know what's going on. Liv asked for some space to think things over and it's been like two weeks.
More important shit's happened since. The dreams, that stupid hit list that everybody I know is on, Kyna and Wash... [ He hesitates, then, not sure if Lup's in the loop on that or not. ] You do know about the fight, right?
[Lup looks as if she's opening her mouth, about to speak up about the whole Liv situation, when Drake changes the subject. Even with a definite lack of expression, Drake would have zero difficulty in telling that Lup's answer to that question is a big, fat no.]
[ This isn't really his story to tell, but he's also probably the only one involved that'll tell it neutrally enough not to set Lup off. So. He holds up a hand. ]
Before you freak, they're all gonna be fine. But Kyna and Ephemera got into a fight that didn't end well. He broke her ribs, so Washington came after him and returned the favor.
True to her earlier words, most liches fall more onto the chaotic evil side of the spectrum. When giving up their soul to raw magic, they lose themselves and fall into insanity. Lup managed to avoid this by anchoring herself to two people, her memories of Taako and of Barry, but since only one of the two is with her now, her lich form has had a few bouts of instability as of late. Though this is the first time it shows.
It's a good thing Lup isn't physically holding her phone or it would have fried, sparks of red electricity shooting off of her spectral form, her cloak trembling violently around her, the woman's head bowing for just the briefest moment as she wills control over herself. But just as quickly as it began, it's over and she's fine. Pissed off, but fine.]
So. I get full permission to beat their asses, right?
[ What was that? Besides worrying. Drake's brow furrows a bit, not sure how serious Lup is about ass beating. ]
They both know they screwed up and they're both paying for it already. I mean, I talked to them both and was there when Wash laid shit out... which is sort of a whole other mess, but I don't think it'll happen again.
No worries, my man. Lup'll take over the scolding so you can kick your feet up and take a breather. Sounds like your plate's already a little too fully. So I got this.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Was that dream real? Are you really...?
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It wasn't a memory or anything, it didn't actually happen. But... it could, yeah. I am.
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[It's exhaled, a tiny word on the wind.]
So, here's the follow up. Why the heck didn't you say anything? Hello! Dead chick floatin' here! Maybe a different kinda dead, but we coulda totally bonded over this, you freakin' goober.
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...it's different, Lup, I'm not undead. I mean, I did die, and congrats you know that now too, but I was a zombie first. It's a virus.
You being a lich doesn't hurt anybody. Me? I'm a monster.
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[bad memories. but lup smote them good.]
Also, if you really felt that way, wouldn't it make more sense to have other people in on the deets, so they could help out if shit went wrong?
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A lot of people here know what zombies are. Their versions, anyway. This place's version. It's pretty much universal hatred, I can list a dozen otherwise friendly people who wouldn't hesitate to bash my head in. So I've only told Ephemera.
But you're not the only one who saw.
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They won't fucking touch you. I won't let them. Give me a list and I'll make sure they stay away from you.
[Not to hurt, just to threaten. To lightly scare them.]
And you aren't a monster, Drake, so get that out of your head.
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[ She'd come around, but her initial response is what he'd expect from most people. Horror, disgust, the immediate instinct to kill him back. Drake scrubs at his face and the video shifts a little. ]
Not most of the time, maybe. I'm pretty good at fighting it off. But if Hope's brains ever stop working? You can't think of me as your friend anymore.
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[Whatever Drake thought, she knew he wasn't a monster. Monsters were the humans who had hunted her and her brother as children, the ones she'd learned magic to protect the two young elves from. The ones who only gave them a single portion of food to split between them, but still had the gall to comment on their sharp, elven features, the prettiness of their hair...
Drake is a man with a particular violent problem, but he isn't a monster.
Lup huffs, trying to calm herself, giving her hooded head a shake.] Don't get a big head, but I like you. We're friends or whatever. If your source runs out, I'll figure it out. Fire isn't the only magic I've got on hand.
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You mentioned... Merle? [ The dream is far-off and fuzzy now, but still clearer than he's comfortable with. He remembers her saying that locking him up didn't have to be forever. ] There's a guy working on a cure back home, but I'm dead there so it's too late for me. But if I could get cured here, maybe it would be safe to go somewhere else.
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I can talk to him, no prob. [If he could just work out a deal with the gods to get his magic back...] We'll figure this out, babe. Trust me. After everything I've seen, there are no impossibilities.
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And she's on his side after all, just like Ephemera said she would be. It's a weight off his shoulders to have finally talked to her. ]
...thank you, Lup. I'm sorry I didn't call you first.
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Forgiven, natch. Though I can't really blame you, things have been a little crazy, huh? [Honestly, she doesn't know half of it.]
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I guess I owe you an update, too -- but it's just that I still don't know what's going on. Liv asked for some space to think things over and it's been like two weeks.
More important shit's happened since. The dreams, that stupid hit list that everybody I know is on, Kyna and Wash... [ He hesitates, then, not sure if Lup's in the loop on that or not. ] You do know about the fight, right?
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Details. Now.
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Before you freak, they're all gonna be fine. But Kyna and Ephemera got into a fight that didn't end well. He broke her ribs, so Washington came after him and returned the favor.
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True to her earlier words, most liches fall more onto the chaotic evil side of the spectrum. When giving up their soul to raw magic, they lose themselves and fall into insanity. Lup managed to avoid this by anchoring herself to two people, her memories of Taako and of Barry, but since only one of the two is with her now, her lich form has had a few bouts of instability as of late. Though this is the first time it shows.
It's a good thing Lup isn't physically holding her phone or it would have fried, sparks of red electricity shooting off of her spectral form, her cloak trembling violently around her, the woman's head bowing for just the briefest moment as she wills control over herself. But just as quickly as it began, it's over and she's fine. Pissed off, but fine.]
So. I get full permission to beat their asses, right?
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They both know they screwed up and they're both paying for it already. I mean, I talked to them both and was there when Wash laid shit out... which is sort of a whole other mess, but I don't think it'll happen again.
Go easy on Ephemera? He's sorry, at least.
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[ He'll probably be around whenever Lup decides to drop in on Ephemera, too. ]
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