voice; un: lowell

[vibing]

cw: grief, talk of death, suicidal thoughts, language

[ The feed clicks on to ragged breathing, too close to the Omni ]

Who the hell killed Flynn? Some guy with a light sword. Give me names.

[ Yuri's voice is low and rough, somehow both heated and emotionless. His emotional state has been degrading since Flynn's omen led him to Flynn's corpse. He growls and there's rustling over the Omni ]

If you killed him, be at the Gate at midnight.

Comments

[frogfear]

[She's silent as she processes this. In Deerington, if someone died, they'd be back in a week, give or take a couple days. This is the waking world, though, and not a dream. It hits hard that death might be a far more permanent condition here.]

I - I don't know - not for sure, anyway. What happened?

[vibing]

That guy killed him in the Gate. Cut his hand off and killed him.

[ Yuri's voice is hard, like he's just reciting what happened which, well, he is. He can't think too hard about it because Flynn is dead and that-- that doesn't make sense. Flynn was never supposed to die, not before he was old and accomplished and content. He was supposed to be the one who stayed alive, who did good. Yuri wishes there was something he could do to trade places with him right now, to be the one rotting in their house instead of the one left here, at odds for what to do.

Flynn wouldn't want you to kill for him, a voice in his head says, but the buzzing anger in him is too much, too powerful, and he can't stop himself from moving forward, with no real direction except to find the person who did this ]

[frogfear]

[It really does sound more and more like Maul. Except it can't be. Flynn is a Sleeper and Maul can't hurt another Sleeper without suffering intense pain himself.]

I'm sorry about Flynn. It sounds like you two were really close, huh?

[vibing]

...yeah. He's my best friend. He's-- the best damn person I know.

[ And it aches. It aches, like a hole punched through his own heart, that he's gone. ]

Thanks. It's good, that he knew people. That people here care about him. He's, he's--

[ His voice chokes on the words, he can't say them. He can't say how good of a person Flynn was. Was. That fucking hurts. That hurts. ]

[frogfear]

[Willow lets out a quiet breath. She's grieved for her best friend before too - it hits a little too close to home.]

We helped each other out of kind of a tough spot before we got to shore, I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't been there.

Hey, what's your name?

[vibing]

[ That sounds like Flynn. Always helping people, never able to stand by while others are in trouble. It makes him ache, thinking about how many more people he could help if he wasn't dead.

He doesn't even think about not answering her question ]

Yuri.

Hey, remember him for me. Okay?

[frogfear]

I'm Willow. And don't worry - he's a hero. People don't forget heroes.

[She pauses, considering her words carefully.]

Look, Yuri... I know a little about revenge - it doesn't lead anywhere good, and the only person I can think of who fits the bill here - couldn't have killed Flynn.

[vibing]

Yeah. He is.

[ That gives him a little solace. People love Flynn, then should love Flynn. He deserves it, he's the kind of person who it's easy to love, to admire. ]

I...

[ He knows revenge does nothing. He's trying to delude himself that he wants justice, not revenge ]

Whoever it is, they need to be held accountable.

[frogfear]

Yeah, they do need to be held accountable. But running off half-cocked, looking to kill whoever killed him? That's not justice, that's vengeance.

[She's careful to keep her tone gentle.]

Just stop, and think for a second. Is that really what Flynn would want you to do?

[vibing]

...no. No. He'd want the law to hold him accountable, but there is no damn law here, is there? So where does that leave me? With a dead friend and a murderer with no retribution.

[ She's not wrong, she's no wrong at all, but it does make him feel helpless, hopeless, that he can't do anything about this. It's either go after the guy, or do nothing, and if neither are good solutions, he's stuck. He's stuck and there's no answer and Flynn's still dead ]

[frogfear]

There might not be any law here, but it doesn't mean that there's no consequences at all when someone's killed by another Sleeper - it happened in Deerington sometimes too.

[She takes a deep breath.]

What do you know about what happened to Flynn? You mentioned someone with a 'light sword' - did you get any other description of him at all?

[vibing]

What did you do to them? The people who hurt others?

He was killed at the Gate. I bet in one of those fights, you know, where they pitted us against each other. But the thing is, Flynn is the best damn fighter I know. If someone beat him-- then they're damn powerful. Dangerously powerful. Or cheating.

I don't know anything else. Someone said it might be Maul.

[frogfear]

There are some people here who are extremely powerful. That's another really good reason not to go run off into a fight right now. It's better to slow down and handle this the way Flynn would want you to.

[Her gut reaction is that it's Maul too - it certainly fits well enough with his track record, but she knows logically it's not very likely. Yes, he could no doubt push through the pain of hurting someone, but she doubts he would fare well with killing them.]

I don't think this is Maul. Don't get me wrong - I know him, and he is extremely dangerous and powerful, and he's got the right weapon. He hurt and killed a lot of people back in Deerington, and he even tried for me more than once.

He's got a curse on him now, though. Because of the things he was doing back there. Trust me, he's going to have a real hard time hurting any of the Sleepers here, let alone killing anyone.

[vibing]

[ What Flynn would want him to do. She's right, she's right and he's trying to tamp down on the anger roiling through him. ]

So if it's not him... then I'm back at square one.

Other people have this light sword thing?

[frogfear]

'Light sword' is kind of a vague description. I mean, it absolutely fits Maul's weapon, but that doesn't mean no one else has anything that could be described that way too.

[She hopes she's getting through to him. She thinks maybe she is.]

I guess probably the best way to find out is go to the Gate and talk to people, and see if anyone remembers the fight. Maybe they can give you a better description. Only, hey, maybe don't go alone, okay?

[vibing]

Repede's with me.

[ Repede is a dog but she doesn't have to know that. She's not wrong. She's not wrong, but Yuri doesn't know if he's in the mood to talk to a bunch of people right now. He wants someone to punch, someone to let out this deep, desperate sadness against. ]

Thanks. I'm glad Flynn has a friend like you.

[frogfear]

That's good. Is Repede a friend of yours?

[Hopefully there's someone with him, at least - it doesn't seem like Yuri should be alone right now.]

Well... we're not, you know, super close or anything - I only met him once. But he seemed like a good person. And so do you.

[vibing]

Yeah.

[ He is a friend. Yuri's best friend aside from Flynn. So it isn't exactly a lie ]

He is a good person.

[ Holding on really tight to that present tense ]

...thanks. For talking to me. I'm, I'm going to go. Ask around.

[frogfear]

Just be careful, okay?

[She is not about to correct him on his use of tenses - sometimes you do whatever you have to do to cope.]

Look, Yuri... I've been in your shoes before, I know it's really, really hard. Unspeakably hard. Let me know if there's anything you need help with, okay? Or even if you just need to talk.

[vibing]

[ He wants to rail against that, to say that he's fine, but, well. She's been nice to him. Everyone's been nice to him, and that's damn annoying but also...

Nice. It's really nice. ]

Yeah, thanks. That-- I'm sorry, that you went through this too. It fucking sucks.

[ He sucks in a ragged breath, trying to steady himself ]

Yeh, I'll. Let you know.