[come_sailaway inbox]

[prince_of_beasts]

A synthesized woman's voice picks up the call.

"Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. Two - Zero - Two - Nine - One - Eight - Two - One - Three - Two -- is not available now. At the tone, please record your message. When you've finished recording, you may hang up or press the # key for more options."

Dimitri hasn't figured out how to customize the thing yet.

Comments

[firewalled]

Rich has... given his friends some space, after the whole murder thing. He's sure that they need time to process and deal with what happened. He's sure they'll contact him when they're ready to talk. He doesn't want to be a nuisance, getting involved in shit that he can't really appropriately process for them.

But god, he misses them.

And after about a week, he finally bites the bullet and sends out a barrage of texts. Not the usual, exuberant harassing, but something that probably reads a little more desperately.

hey man
are you doing okay?
i mean as well as you can be after
whatever the hell that was
besides something that you didn't deserve
i've been looking for you
wanted to give something to you
little late xmas gift
it's not much but
had something for darcy too but she isn't answering my texts
so

[prince_of_beasts]

Rich!
Forgive me for not messaging you sooner.
I'm alright, all things considered.

I'm sorry to hear that about Darcy but I cannot fully say that I'm surprised.
She isn't talking to most people right now.
It's understandable given the pressure she's been under. I am worried but I don't know how much any of us can do.

[firewalled]

its cool man
i'm just glad to hear from you at all
have you gotten to talk to darcy
she like
usually goes to you about this stuff
i mean its whatever i know im pushy and focus too much on feelings and shit so no surprises there

[prince_of_beasts]

Not much. She's been scarce.
Honestly, I don't know how much she would tell me
I was on
Ill terms, let's say
With Skulduggery before this
And I'm on poor terms with most of the others still aligned with him.
And most of those who feel hostile are also hostile to Darcy.
I don't know where I stand.

I appreciate your focus on feelings. When tensions are this high, it's necessary to be sensitive to the feelings of others.

[firewalled]

i dont know him that well
he seems okay if a little blunt someimes
i dont know about his ideas for dealing with the captain but i mean
that doesnt mean i dont want to see darcy
i'm not going to be hostile to her just because her dad has a weird fling with the captain

but i dont know if shed believe that so

[prince_of_beasts]

I had a fine opinion of Skulduggery before we learned he's screwing the Captain.

Just give Darcy space. Everyone's been demanding her attention. Even if you mean well, I doubt she'll welcome you joining them. If she wants to be left alone, all we can do is respect that.

Aside from that,

How have you been holding up?

[firewalled]

yeah can't blame you
he seems to be a little bit biased about how he can totally change just because the guy did him one favor he actively wouldnt do for anyone else

thats the thing i guess
im kind of feeling like
lonely i guess
mostly hopeless
saw a bunch of people die and i cant help the feeling that half of them came back wrong

so i guess im glad youre talking to me

After a pause:

im sure youve got way more to deal with though like
im sorry for whining that sounded really fucking selfish

[prince_of_beasts]

I don't mind.
I can't speak for the others who were killed but truthfully I feel I had the easier part in all of it.
The dead are dead. It's the living who are left behind to grieve.

There are many people who deserve to die. But there is no crime terrible enough to be punished with grief.

...

What do you mean came back wrong?

[firewalled]

youve probably got a point
i just had a weird nap in void space when i died and left you guys with the mess
only fair i get my half of it now

sorry
didn't mean to freak you out
its not like possessions or anything
its just like darcy avoiding me and eddie being so quiet
and my dads have been weird since johnny died
i think they were upset and just didnt want me to know about it
but everythings so out of sync and i dont know what i can do

[prince_of_beasts]

Possession had definitely been on Dimitri's mind, so that's reassuring.

That isn't what I meant
No one should have to suffer grief.
It's a terrible thing.

I don't know Eddie, but have you spoken with your fathers?
My guess would be that they're reluctant to burden you with their concerns
But if that's worrying you clearly it's having the opposite effect.

[firewalled]

a little
not about what went on
i can tell they dont want to tell me whats happening
and tbh they probably all have different ideas about whats going on

i dont want to bug them with my own stupid thoughts about everything

[prince_of_beasts]

This is ... hard. Dimitri doesn't have a frame for 'toxic masculinity'; it doesn't function in Fódlan quite the way it does in Rich's America, but the two aren't incomparable -- borne of similar roots, sprouted from similar seeds. Dimitri does know that something in his upbringing damaged him, something his mother tried to divert and only partially succeeded. He's watched it ruin people he loves. He knows it's warped him in ways he can't even see the full extent of. He's seeing echoes of it in Rich now.

He doesn't have any answers.

Talk to them.
They care for you. I'm sure they're worried about you, as well.
If you can sense they're hiding something from you, likely they can sense the same from you. And if you wish that they would be more direct with you, likely they wish the same.