#kinship in 'we almost died/maybe did die and neither of us really know how to handle it. so lets not talk about it'

[danidoesathing]

😪😡📝 for the art ask game!

😪 a piece that was meant to be short but took on a life of its own

ive got one that im writing now that was originally based on a silly short premise but like. its no longer short and no longer silly. its now two chapters, absorbed another half baked wip i was writing and no one is having a fun time

😡 a paragraph/section that gave me a lot of trouble

the entirety of frankie's 2nd section in the love like ghosts fic. i love her but dear god she is SO hard to write. i had to redo that section like four separate times and had to entirely rewrite the premise twice. it killed me

📝 a line or paragraph i’m really happy with

He ain’t sure how he came across it. He didn’t have any plans on leaving the city tonight. There was a song back home and a girl without a dancing partner he let slip by, for no other reason than his own restlessness. He ain’t sure what he wanted to accomplish from wandering out in the dark, though he rarely has a plan for nights like these. He never sets out to discover something. Just got the urge to get lost on some old road that hasn’t been driven in years. It’s something that takes hold of him sometimes, and only tends to be remedied by indulging the habit. So, yeah, the body is a surprise.

[astradrifting]

This is kind of inspired by this recent ask I sent to @esther-dot about Jon’s characterisation and Jonsa shippers’ apparent disregard for it, because it made me think of another part of Jon’s characterisation that is really integral to who he is. Mainly, that Jon really loves his brothers. Especially Robb. His rival and best friend and constant companion. Jon envies him, competes with him, buried a formative traumatic memory where he was deeply hurt by him... but ultimately loves him. Complex relationships with his brothers, both the Starks and his Night’s Watch brothers, are a running theme in Jon’s chapters.

Speaking of Jon’s brothers...

Aegon VI and Robb have a lot of potential parallels, actually. The “Young” moniker, red-haired counselors who are also their parents, trained to be the heir to a great kingdom from a young age, the barely younger half-brother Jon borne of their father’s dishonour of their mother… one that they might both have a good relationship with despite that?

The show tried to play with Jon ‘accepting’ his Targaryen lineage through the jonerice romance, very unconvincingly because it was simultaneously undermining it at every opportunity, in what was maybe a half-assed attempt at Pol!Jon (”They’ll all come to see you for what you are” isn’t anything but a threat in all contexts).

Jon will ultimately choose the Starks over everything else, that’s not really a question. But if Jon were to genuinely connect with another Targaryen, it’d likely be easier for him to find kinship with a half-brother than with an aunt - he has a basis for positive relationships with trueborn half-brothers, while the only aunt figure he’s ever known about is a) long dead and b) actually his mother. I think it’d both make more sense and be more compelling for GRRM to leverage Jon’s existing complex relationships with brotherhood by having him interact with and build a relationship with Aegon, than a rushed and out-of-character romance with Dany. 

Jon also is already primed to believe that Aegon is the real deal, that he was saved as a baby, because he’s already done the exact same thing himself - he swapped out a baby of royal blood who was in danger for a common-born boy, and then sent him halfway across the world for safety (side note: if Septa Lemore is Ashara, and if the baby was actually Ashara’s son as theorised here by @agentrouka-blog, that would just strengthen the parallel, because it would be his body double’s mother caring for him, as Gilly has to do for Mance’s son).

They’re definitely going to come into conflict first - politically, Jon will likely be in a position of power in the North by the time they meet, maybe as the KitN through Robb’s will or regent for Rickon, and probably will fight for Northern independence, while Aegon is fighting to be king of the Seven Kingdoms, not 6. Personally, it will be hard to get past the fact that Jon is the direct result of Rhaegar dishonouring Elia, plus that the Kingsguard who should have been protecting her were all stationed in Dorne, guarding Jon’s mother (in whatever capacity). But these interactions, a conflict and eventual friendship/brotherhood between them, would all be a lot more layered than jonerice can really offer. If a relationship between Jon and Dany was truly all that GRRM has been building up to, then there would have been no need for R+L=J - it adds nothing to that storyline, it doesn’t even make it a forbidden romance, because aunt-nephew is hardly the worst incest the Targaryens have engaged in.

It’s almost inevitable that Da*nerys is going to kill Aegon VI/Young Griff in the books, likely by burning him with dragonfire, in the Second Dance of the Dragons. The weird Dragonpit meeting in the show was very contrived, but it does make sense for Dany to meet the ruler on the Iron Throne at least once in a semi-peaceful context. In the show, she used her dragons only to intimidate Cersei, but she didn’t have a personal grievance with her. Aegon is in much more danger during such a meeting. After all she will think he is a pretender, and she doesn’t much care for the rules of safe conduct, as she showed to the envoys from Yunkai.

Dany shrugged, and said, "Dracarys."

The dragons answered. Rhaegal hissed and smoked, Viserion snapped, and Drogon spat swirling red-black flame. It touched the drape of Grazdan's tokar, and the silk caught in half a heartbeat. 

[...]

"You swore I should have safe conduct!" the Yunkish envoy wailed.

"Do all the Yunkai'i whine so over a singed tokar? I shall buy you a new one... if you deliver up your slaves within three days. Elsewise, Drogon shall give you a warmer kiss." She wrinkled her nose. "You've soiled yourself. Take your gold and go, and see that the Wise Masters hear my message."

(ASOS, Dany IV)

"Ah, there is the thorn in the bower, my queen," said Hizdahr zo Loraq. "Sad to say, Yunkai has no faith in your promises. They keep plucking the same string on the harp, about some envoy that your dragons set on fire."

"Only his tokar was burned," said Dany scornfully.

(ADWD, Dany VI)

So Dany will burn the Blackfyre pretender, and everyone will be happy and cheer to see the rightful queen, the last Targaryen, Slayer of Lies, Breaker of Chains, Insert-The-Million-Other-Titles-Here. Right?

Except how would she prove that he’s an imposter? She can’t exactly roll up with an Alt Shift X video pointing out that Illyrio has said some weird things about Aegon. Is Varys going to have an attack of remorse and explain his whole plot, complete with Blackfyre family tree? Or maybe she’ll explain that she went on a vision quest in Qarth and Aegon totally matches up with the vague symbolism that a bunch of drugged up warlocks told her before she set them on fire?

I don’t think it’s going to matter if Aegon is fake or not, and we might never find out either way. The mystery of his identity isn’t his main narrative, and all of his significance to the story and to multiple other characters is removed if he’s proved to not be Aegon VI. Him being proved fake would just make this plotline a weird, unnecessary digression on Dany’s journey to being the righteous and true queen, his death just another #girlboss moment for her. That’s definitely going to be her perception of it, but once she reaches Westeros we won’t have to rely on only her POV of her actions. History is written by the winners, and no one’s going to miss that it’s a lot more convenient for Dany if the boy with a stronger claim than her turns out to have been fake all along. Arianne and the Dornish are definitely not going to take it lying down, and neither is Jon. He’s not going to fall in love with the woman who murdered his brother, especially by burning him alive. ADWD has plenty to say about how much he hates death by fire.

“Men say that freezing to death is almost peaceful. Fire, though … do you see the candle, Gilly?”

She looked at the flame. “Yes.”

“Touch it. Put your hand over the flame.”

Her big brown eyes grew bigger still. She did not move.

“Do it.” Kill the boy. “Now.”

Trembling, the girl reached out her hand, held it well above the flickering candle flame.

“Down. Let it kiss you.”

Gilly lowered her hand. An inch. Another. When the flame licked her flesh, she snatched her hand back and began to sob.

“Fire is a cruel way to die. Dalla died to give this child life, but you have nourished him, cherished him. You saved your own boy from the ice. Now save hers from the fire.”

(ADWD, Jon II)

Funnily enough, the same fire as a kiss imagery from Dany burning the envoy’s tokar appeared there too, also used as a threat. 

If he is not a kinslayer, he is the next best thing. [...] What sort of man can stand by idly and watch his own brother being burned alive?

(ADWD, Jon IX)

So Aegon’s death is not going to be a triumphant victory for Dany, after which everyone proclaims her the true queen. It’s likely to just solidify opposition to her, from every corner of Westeros. If it happens during a summit or negotiation, it’d be even more of a tragic parallel to Robb and the Red Wedding; the young king murdered off of the battlefield, at an event where he was promised safe conduct. Featuring Dany in the role of Roose Bolton and Tywin Lannister. Tywin’s already died a very undignified death, and Roose Bolton looks to be on his way too.

I think the tragedy of Aegon’s death would also hit harder if we see it through Jon, as a main POV, or at least the aftermath of it. Jon was integral at the Dragonpit meeting after all, and probably would be at a peace summit or negotiation between the leaders of Westeros and the invading force.

In ASOS, there’s a curious lack of Jon’s reaction to Robb’s death. We see his initial reaction to Bran and Rickon’s supposed deaths when he gets back to Castle Black, but he doesn’t even know about Robb’s death until Stannis arrives to defeat the wildlings, and we’re not shown the moment he’s told about it. He barely even thinks about it, not even a mention until he meets with Stannis on top of the Wall:

“Your brother was the rightful Lord of Winterfell. If he had stayed home and done his duty, instead of crowning himself and riding off to conquer the riverlands, he might be alive today. Be that as it may. You are not Robb, no more than I am Robert.”

The harsh words had blown away whatever sympathy Jon might have had for Stannis. “I loved my brother,” he said.

(ASOS, Jon XI)

And that’s literally all we get that is specifically about Robb’s death - the rest of Jon’s chapters, his guilt and grief is about the loss of all his siblings, and the idea of stealing Winterfell from them. It doesn’t really make sense for him to not think about it at all, considering how close they were. This reminds me of how he has a non-reaction to Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion as well, as talked about in this post by @agentrouka-blog. Part of this could be Jon’s tendency towards denial and suppression of all his feelings, but it also points to GRRM explicitly obscuring his reaction - perhaps because he’s going to explore it in the wake of another brother dying a very similar death? One that this time he’ll be there to witness?

[mothandwolf]

so tlou3....

I envisioned tlou3 to focus both on ellie and abby; abby in her role at the new firefly location, after everything she’s been through she feels like she can start over and she’s actually hopeful again and more conscious of her actions and unfortunately way more demanding of herself, she’ll take on way too much whether to distract herself or compensate or prove to herself that she was worth making it that far, the firefly facility will come off surprisingly great, with idealistic leaders and hopeful members and abby/lev will get a lot of peace and purpose there in their beginning 

then ellie is alone, I’d love for it to start in Winter and we see how she’s straggling because she has a lot in her head and it can appear she’s aimless or has given up, but she’s really trying to work out what she feels compelled to do, I think of her getting night terrors of her immunity and the virus and I’d love for an element of the virus to be sensory, like how fungi can communicate, it’d be interesting if her immunity has mutated her infection to be able to sense other infected more than the element of Listening but she uses that as her guidepost to go where she feels she has to go, 

and we get to cohesively see abby and ellie on their journey to their own Aftermath and concept of redemption and it can be revealed slowly that this charismatic leader of the fireflys really does want a vaccine. really wants other things with it. and abby, through her desire to be able to be actively supportive of her father’s work is blinded by this leader’s ambition. he doesn’t want a vaccine*, he doesn’t want a cure*, he wants a super serum. and he’s been experimenting on that development with the only individuals fit enough for it: other immune individuals. and slowly abby starts to resistantly piece together why her dad had cut this guy off, why she never knew him, and he views her as his replacement to prove his own ambitions to abby’s dad, 

so now abby has the conflict of feeling like she needs to stop this man, needs to stop this man who reminds her so much of her father, but it’s not the same because he wants something bad... and he’s hurting people, but abby is obviously exhausted from this mindset, so she first tries to manage it, and lev is flourishing but perhaps he says something nonchalantly that’s another aspect abby has to question and it’s all leading up to abby discovering the underground of the firefly base, and finding the experiments, and upon almost getting killed by this hybrid super soldier cordyceps (r.i.p. shredded abby), it stops attacking her, and the leader reveals that he’s able to control it. and she sees the growth on himself, actually corrupting his body, but he’s been immune this entire time which grants him the fungi connection. but she stares at him and he looks insane and she knows all he wants actually is to infect the world with this hybrid virus and it can shine a light (pun) that the cordyceps present has achieved sentience.... or it’s this human’s ambition blinding him. bit of a guesser there they don’t have to pick. humanity, nature, it’s all good.

(there’s like, three different new infected enemies right there like immune individuals infected where the hybrid doesn’t take, the controlled hybrids, and then the defective controlled hybrids idc)

and abby manages to get out of there. and on her break-down stagger outside the facility she runs into. ellie. but only when there’s firefly guns on her. and abby freezes because trauma~ and ellie sees her and freezes because trauma~ and abby does something neither of them expect and says wait. I know her. and vouches for ellie.

and the way it’s shown, you don’t know whether abby is so conflicted with all that’s happened, does she want to give ellie to this place? knowing she’s immune? knowing what it would do to her? that’s what she wanted for so long, and even longer when you splinter abby’s drive towards avenging her father, and right when you think it’s a trap, and ellie still isn’t entirely present emotionally, like she doesn’t care if it’s a trap but more so she feels so compelled (her cordyceps nature or her joel nurture who knows! wink) to be here that if she dies here then maybe she always was supposed to, even before she got infected, didn’t she really just want* to die* for the fireflys*? so right as they’re checking ellie in, it’s like ellie is about to reveal to them that she’s immune, and abby speaks for her. and abby says nothing about immunity. 

and you see them both just stiffly unknowingly watch each other, not knowing how the other is reacting but waiting. and watching. and each caught up in their own thoughts. and abby quickly tells ellie, no she just needs to tell the Leader* obviously, it’s just too dangerous, while abby knows of the immune experiments, ellie still believes she’s the only immune person, but ellie listens. 

and for the shortest bit of time abby is just observing ellie, because she actually knows that look ellie has in her eyes, she knows that brokenness after vengeance, so it’s not an instant trying-to-kill-you reunion but a surreal kinship that feels awkward and way too complicated and actually better off avoided, and abby has lev and of course he invites ellie into their group and they talk a little bit and lev would mention it and abby is just. seeing the person ellie is. and ellie is seeing the person abby is.

and abby goes up in the ranks and oddly it’s like ellie is trying to have her own pre-immunity restart and she’s just proving to everyone how capable she is and boof, team scouts, and then the leader maybe puts deliberately puts ellie in danger because he’s looking for original clicker vs controlled clicker and figures the new recruit is just neater to experiment on and he secretly infects her but ellie. and he just sits there grinning. abby did tell him how good friends they were. and ellie because of her own cordyceps, kinda... feels something is off about this man. but doesn’t know about her mutation so she ignores it. and ignores the fluctuating presences of infected beneath the building. (cos she’s exhausted too!!!!)

so now because of the infection that’s further worsening to his denial, he’s even more paranoid and aggressive. and wants to essentially set a scene where ellie is viciously attacked by infected and abby just stumbles on this, and he’s surprised, and ellie’s surprised, and abby’s surprised, to watch as abby scrapes and tears to save ellie from this. (whether to keep her secret or y’know. save! that! lost one!) she saves her a little too hard. and then boom. awkward conflict tension that ellie had when she saved abby in tlou2 and abby is like. I didn’t save you because -- and basically lets slip that this leader is infected and immune and experimenting and then ellie reacts to believe that abby was trying to trick her or some melodrama like that idc, that abby wanted her final act to ellie would be to corrupt ellie’s immunity* and it’s this dumb weirdly familial fight of “you don’t understand!” storming off crap, and lev just looks at abby like .... “well go after her”

(and I’m sorry but the leader takes lev and deliberately infects him to win abby back to his idea that this hybrid can cure, and woo. doesn’t work. this adds another “..fuck” pain to abby because like. wouldn’t she have done everything to save lev from this had she known and guilt there but also an underlining joel recognition. that that is why, emotionally why, he did what he did, because ellie would’ve died and what if it didn’t even work) and there’s a failsafe for the island to blow up because of all the crazy infected they just. keep there. so it blows and ellie/abby end up on a boat away and ellie is able to sense the leader and his hybrid horde he controls and then it’s ellie looking out for abby and abby being able to recognize that although resist it at first and it’s just this unfolding dynamic of we have done so much fucked up shit to each other but can we actually stop something worse with each other. 

and it ends with ellie almost jumping to sacrifice herself, or try to take control of the horde and that’d be a fun mechanic of like. using the mutation to sense and reroute infected and being able to upgrade it enough to make clickers think you’re an ally instead? and the inner turmoil of ellie tapping into the infection and all of the grief it gave her to try to utilize it............mwah

and abby just stares at ellie like. she believes in her. and why doesn’t she believe the man who reminds her of her dad, why does she believe the girl* who reminds her of... herself. and there’s just so many different emotional components weaving together , and new ellie cordycep mutation mechanic and new hybrid bad guys that mean you have to be hyper hyper aware of your surroundings in relations to where the controller of the infected is or whatever idc and ellie having to explore her immunity and her conflict with her purpose and guilt and abby’s hope having to be realized it has to keep growing itself.

that humanity and the chances we give each other to keep going, keep trying, keep protecting, and keep caring, is worth it. that our lives aren’t just a perilous part 1 or a traumatizing part 2, but we deserve to see it through to our restorative part 3. 

also I just really want them to keep helping each other and just staring like. “this doesn’t mean I like you. it just means I need you. don’t make it weird. here I got you some water.”

whether or not ellie/abby die at the end I’d prefer they didn’t, or they’re just laying there naruto/sasuke style like “we made it this far.” “yeah. we did.” because the fact they’re really just the same just at different points in their life hits me like a train. their humanity bringing out humanity bringing out humanity bringing out humanity. 

maybe abby beats the leader’s hybrid horde and ellie beats the leader by cross-control the cordyceps but starts to lose it to the sentience of the cordyceps and abby is standing there like. fight it. you are you. fight. it. you don’t give up. you’ve never given up. don’t start now. you don’t get to fucking tap out before this all ends. and ellie opens her eyes like. weakly says. “you just like to hear yourself talk, wolf” 

and maybe idc because ellie had been experimenting with sensing and influencing other infected it’s less corruptible than the leader who deliberately infected himself idc whatever 

(gratuitously I also want ellie waking up to abby and abby made sure ellie survived and boom magic happy ending idc but outside abby’s dad and joel’s ghost are just standing there smiling goodbye)

and abby just looks at ellie and ellie looks at abby and it’s like. no one else will have to go through this. we (the children of this traumatized world) are. the last of us. and they smile, crying.

[thecursedhellblazer]

At the Edge of Nowhere

(( So, guess who went ahead and scratched that crazy itch I got yesterday? Yep, Scotty did. It turned in a small fic instead of a drabble, since apparently I had more to play out than I initially thought, but...here it is. I took the chance to experiment a bit with the writing style too, while I was at it, ‘cause...why not? ))

(( I’m not really sure of where the idea came from, I just really wanted them to have interact, somehow, without inventing something too complicated. And this was the result. Also, it doesn’t mean that I won’t try to shove Five into John’s universe or vice versa at some point, but for now I’m good with this xD ))

(( Sharing just in case anyone is in the mood for some random oddity! ))

(( I even posted in on Ao3 if anyone wants to have a look at it there! ^^” ))

They sit side by side, watching the eternal sunset of Eternity stretching before them, swinging their feet past the edge of the Abyss, unfazed by the danger of its depths. The darkness seems to be threatening to suck them down, condemning them to an endless fall, and yet they pay it no mind, each of them far too interested in sipping and enjoying his drink.

The silence floods past them, over them, through them, carrying the whispers of their lives. However, for this ephemeral moment, they are given the almost unique chance to ignore them. It’s a rare gift, one that deserved to be savoured, like a fine well-aged vintage. Like the ambrosia that the ancient gods, legit and false, so much have lauded.

And so they sit, the Boy and the Fool, side by side, on the edge of the Abyss.

The atmosphere is almost companionable, as much as it can be when shared by two strangers who carry with them too much baggage. A past and a present that are too dark, too painful. There’s as much kinship and understanding between them as there’s mistrust.

They let the quietness linger for a while, listening only to the taste of the alcohol that coats their tongues, knowing that the stasis won’t last. Neither of them is good at keeping his mouth shut when something is making their skin itch.

“Th’ ‘ell ‘s a lad like yeh doin’ in such a place?” The Fool finally asks, turning his eyes away from the magnetic horizon and landing them on his unlikely companion.

The Boy scoffs. Why is it always the same old story with everyone he meets? “I’d watch my fucking tongue if I were you, young man,” he shoots back, with a withering look. “I’m far older than I look. And I’m older than you for sure.”

A half laugh rises with a small cloud of smoke, but it dies in the matter of seconds as the seriousness of those declarations settles in.

“Blimey. Yeh ain’t pullin’ me leg, are yeh? ‘Ow old are yeh s’posed to be den, mate?”

“Do I look like I’m kidding? Trust me, mate, I’m not. I’m fifty-eight. And I’m stuck in the body of a thirteen-years-old. There’s nothing funny about it.”

“Bloody ‘Ell. Fifty-eight n’ still a lad? Tha’s...insane. I dun envy yeh. Nay.”

The Fool shakes his head, but, despite the lingering astonishment, there is a glint of amusement in his eyes. “Tell us, tho. Woh’s yeh secret? I gots me diabolical trick to slow down agin’ n’ all, but it obviously ain’t workin’ as well as yehs.”

“I got stuck in the future for forty-five years and, when I finally figured out the equation to go back to my time, I missed a typo and...this is the result.”

“Soddin’ math. ‘S one o’ th’ bloody reasons why I ne’er managed to get alchemy rite. T’in’s keep blowin’ up in me face.”

“Sodding math indeed. Cheers.”

“Cheers.”

They clink their glasses together and go back staring at the frozen skyline. Two sets of blue eyes. Different shades of the iris, similar heaviness burdening them.

The Boy steers his drink with his straw, lips pursing pensively. “Speaking of things that suck, what is this place exactly? Am I dreaming? Or did I accidentally take some of my brother’s drugs and this is like the most boring trip in history?”

The Fool scoffs. “Gonna pretend tha’ yeh didn’t jus’ insult me too, together wit’ dis soddin’ place.”

His gaze wanders for a split moment, touching their motionless surroundings. “Ah, I dunno, mate. Could be yeh dream, aye. Could be mine. Or maybe we bot’ stepped inside another real wit’out noticin’ n’ ‘ere we are. Wouldn’t be th’ first time for me. Won’t be th’ last either.”

“I’ve never been in another world. I’ve travelled through time, maybe a bit too much, and I’ve rushed through the fabric of space but this…” The Boy waves his free hand. “This is new. It’s easier to think of it as a dream, so I’d go with that, if you don’t mind. The last thing I need is another headache.”

“Wohe’er works wit’ yeh, mate. I get it. At times, ‘s be’er pretendin’ life ain’t real. ‘S good for yeh mental sanity. Even if yeh got none left.”

The Fool takes yet another drag from his cigarette. Curiously enough, it doesn’t seem to be shortening, even if the ash falls down on his trench coat.

“One t’in’ I can tell yeh ‘bout dis place, tho. It ain’t somewhere e’eryone can visit. Yeh gotta carry some serious shite wit’ yeh to ‘ave stumbled in ‘ere. Do yeh?”

The Boy shrugs. “Maybe? I kept pushing and pushing, even after my father had told me not to and I ended up after the End of the world. I heard the bastard’s voice echoing in my head for the past forty-five years.” He makes his voice thicker for a moment. “I told you so, boy. I told you so. Asshole.”

A long sip from his drink, as if he is trying to wash away that intrusive voice from his ears, before he continues.

“I worked for this organisation that monitors the timeline for a while as a trained assassin. They made me into the perfect killer, a tool for their plans. I had my goals, though, since the start. I took their deal just so that I could go back to try to stop the Apocalypse and save my family. We ended up breakin the world anyway, so I dragged them all back in time to try again. Of course, all that shit followed us. Because it’s never that easy, is it?”

The Fool nods and the Boy can tell that his companion knows that sort of feeling far too well. It’s nice to be fully understood, for once. Even if the understanding comes from a nameless stranger he’ll probably never see again. Assuming that their meeting is truly happening in the first place.

“So...We saved the world this time but broke the timeline. And now my childhood home is gone and me and my siblings are stuck in a timeline that holds no place for us anymore. I’m still trying to figure out how that’s supposed to work. Oh, and that bastard of my adoptive father is hunting us down using the kids he adopted in our place. It’s a real mess.”

There’s bitterness colouring his voice, the embers of a fight that’s too stubborn to die just yet, but the exhaustion is stronger.

“Though, between you and me...All I really want is a decent nap and a dozen more drinks. Maybe get a dog too. Not necessarily in that order.”

The straw produces a light slurping sound as he takes the next sip. “What’s your story? You must have one too, since you’re here...wherever here is.”

The Fool tips his head, in a sign of acknowledgement. No comments follow the tale, and there’s no real need for them there, out of time and space.

“Grew up in me own particular version o’ ‘Ell. Me oul man was th’ fuckin’ opposite o’ ‘father o’ th’ year’...So, I ran in my teen years, still thinkin’ I coulda owned th’ world. Stuck me nose in e’ery bloody t’in’ tha’ was magic n’ occult. One nite I got too cocky and damned an innocent girl to Hell. Earned a bloody place wit’ me name down there too in the process.”

The voice that spells out the words is casual, but there’s something haunted in his expression, darkening his eyes.

“Spent all me life tryin' to make up for tha’ bloody mistake. Ended up messin up meself and most o’ me mates n’ th’ people who ‘ad th’ ‘orrible o’ puttin’ their faith in me as a result. Girl’s still in ‘Ell, th’ bloody Devil ‘imself gots an eternal grudge against me, I gots demon blood in me veins n’ me soz arse ‘s still damned. I might not be a professional like yeh, but I bet I gots jus’ as much blood on me ‘ands. N’ even more souls on me conscience.”

The ice clinks against the transparent walls as the glass is lifted. More sourness to wipe away the one that the words have left on his tongue.

“Nowadays, ‘s mostly me, meself n’ I. Me best mate, too, from time to time. No clue o’ ‘ow he survived bein’ by me side for so long. ‘M still tryin’ to make t’in’s rite, but...for th’ most I jus’ try to be there to do th’ bloody dirty job no self-appointed ‘ero gots th’ time to do. I might be lost, past th’ point o’ no return, but there are lots o’ people out there who aren’t yet. Th’ fuckin’ least I can do ‘s tryin’ to ‘elp ‘em, aye? Make dis soz existence o’ mine wort’ more than misery n’ destruction.”

A drag from his cigarette and there’s a small hand landing on his shoulder, in a brief pat, before he has finished sucking the smoke in. The light pressure says more than a thousand words could.

“Between you and me, tho...I could use a dozen drinks too. Maybe more. N’ a bloody vacation. To sod off somewhere, even for jus’ a day. Maybe take me best mate n’ dis other lad I know. Oh, he could use a break too, th’ poor sod.”

The Boy makes a sound of agreement and he is back stirring his drink. “What a pair we make, you and I. And I don’t even know you.”

“I ‘ear tha’ loud n’ clear, mate. Bloody loud n’ bloody clear. Woh’s tha’ yeh drinkin’ anyway?”

“What? You ne’er seen a margarita? Where the hell are you from? England or Mars? Come on, try it.”

“Oi, I know woh a fuckin’ margarita is, oul man. Yehs jus’ a bit...flashier than woh ‘m used to.”

“Special recipe. I perfected it myself.”

“Now, tha’s more like it. I like a bloke who can make ‘is own drinks. There. Yeh like g n’ t?”

The glasses pass from one hand to another and then they both turn to look back at the unchanged horizon, holding each other’s drink.

A moment to sniff the liquors, in unison, and then the Boy dips his lips in the clear spirit while the Fool wraps his mouth around the straw. The tastes mix in the silence and it’s a symphony of citrus and sourness, with just the right amount of sweetness coming at the end.

“So, what happens now?” The Boy asks, after a moment.

The Fool shrugs. “Ah, I guess we wait till all dis fades. Or till we do. ‘S always ‘ard to tell when it comes to dis sort o’ shite.”

A huffs, with the faintest hint of irritation. “For someone who’s supposed to know a lot about this stuff, you give the worst cryptic answers. I can’t tell if you’re that ignorant or if you’re just fucking with me.”

A nudge in a smaller, slender side and a sharp smirk. “Who knows, mate. Yeh guess ‘s as good as mine. Keep th’ drink. I gots more back where I come from. Consider it a safe trip back home present. I’ll keep yehs as a reminder.”

“A present from a guy I never truly met? And a reminder of something we didn’t even speak about?”

“Nay. Jus’ th’ memory o’ some peace n’ quiet in decent company.”

“Fair enough. I can drink to that.”