Voice Mail!

[not_every_mage]

-- aste's corset, how do you know when this contraption is working?

Er, hello. This is Anders. Do ... whatever you do when you're talking to one of these things, and I'll respond when I can.

---

[OOC: This journal is for RP purposes only. I do not own Anders, Dragon Age, or Toby Regbo.]

Comments

[not_every_mage]

Shoulda. But what's in Boston? Anders typed back, brow furrowed in concern. (His knowledge of the city went as far as "it exists, and something something about tea.")

[spin_kick_snap]

Honestly that wasn't much different than the knowledge Kathy'd had before walking though that portal.

Ezra, turns out, Kathy sent back. But I didn't know that before I ended up there. I was just looking for somewhere She paused over her word choice for a moment before finishing the sentence and sending the text. different to go. Somewhere I didn't have memories.

[not_every_mage]

There was another pause before Anders answered.

Should I call? This feels like a call kind of conversation.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy chewed on her lip for a moment before answering, torn between what she wanted (Yes, please call, now and as often as you'd like) and what she thought would be better for him (Nah, it's fine, enjoy your vacation.)

In the end, she went with the middle ground, letting Anders decide.

I certainly wouldn't mind a call. But I'd understand if you'd rather keep it light and casual while you're on break. We can always talk after you're home again.

[not_every_mage]

i've had 3 days of light & casual, Anders returned. i'll call.

Which he did, after draining his margarita, going back to his suite, and changing into dry clothes.

Ring ring, Kathy.

[spin_kick_snap]

Did Kathy practice saying hello while she was waiting for her phone to ring? Absolutely Of course not! At least, not after she realized she'd gotten to the point where the word 'hello' had lost all meaning and was now just a random collection of letters.

"Hey there," she said and mentally threw her arms up into the air. Way to waste all that practice, weirdo. "Glad to hear from you."

[not_every_mage]

"Thanks," Anders said, unaware of the drama on the other end of the line. "It sounded like Boston was kind of a story, and typing it back and forth seemed silly. Are you doing all right?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Hey now, it was less drama and more...awkward nerd flailing?

"Of course!" Kathy chirped, almost by reflex. And then immediately facepalmed. "By which I mean...no?" Her voice was a lot more normal with that answer. "I don't really know. Better than I was, but still a long way from good?"

Yeah, that was a lot more truthful. "I play at being in great shape so I don't worry people, but things have been...kinda rough. If you don't mind me complaining your ear off for awhile."

[not_every_mage]

Well, that was a little worrisome.

"I want to know what's going on with you," Anders said honestly, as he leaned back on a pillow. "And I'd feel like an arse if I decided that didn't include the bad parts. Complain away."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy took a deep breath, like she was steeling herself for the conversation. "You remember how I remembered Eva and everything?" she asked in a low voice. "Well, that's not all I remember. A lot of why I was so quiet after we got to the house was because I was kind of...sorting though the implications."

She ran a hand through her hair, worried she was being too vague. "Remember how Gorgon died?" she asked. "Because I do."

[not_every_mage]

"But Gorgon didn't die," Anders said, confused. "I should know, I healed him. Or did he die after we left?"

He might have missed Kathy's larger point.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Wait--you healed him?" Kathy asked, jaw dropping. "But I saw him! He saw me and let his guard down and then Rodney twisted him in half and tossed him over the wall to...to where the heroes lived."

She didn't know it was called the Mount. Rodney had kept her stashed in the basement of one of the buildings along with Midknight so as not to give the game away too early.

"Anders, he was basically turned around by the time Rodney was done with him. And you healed all that?" Color her astonished. And impressed.

[not_every_mage]

"It wasn't as bad as it looked," Anders said -- though he couldn't keep how pleased he was with himself at Kathy's astonishment out of his tone completely. "He was breathing and his head didn't hit anything hard, so it was just making it so his legs didn't look like a jigsaw puzzle. He'll probably need to get them reset if he doesn't want a limp."

He hesitated, scratching at his chin. "Wait, you were watching? I -- didn't know you could."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I wasn't," she said, "not exactly."

Her hands were twisting in her shirt now, the memory of Rodney's will forcing her body to move according to his whims.

"From what I'm remembering and what Josh said at the clinic, an ex is still alive on the cellular level. Nerves twitch, muscles work--that's how we can keep going. So, those ten months I was dead, my brain was still making memories. Like...like someone leaving a recording going, but no one being present to watch it." She huffed a humorless laugh. "But then when I woke up, all those recordings were there, waiting for me to sit down and watch them, as it were. I thought they were just horrible dreams, but..."

She shook her head. "I remember everything I did as an ex. Everyone I killed."

And ate.

[not_every_mage]

"Dear Maker," Anders cursed, with sincere feeling. Kathy's explanation was horrific. "That's -- that's cruel, is what it is. Just seeing the exes was bad enough, and to have what one did in your head -- I'm sorry. I can't imagine."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I know that it wasn't me, but it's hard to remember that when it's all from my point of view," Kathy said quietly. "And then I came home and asked Raven about what happened to my family. And she told me." She inhaled a shaky breath. "She had to take care. Of them. My mom and dad. Dad had turned and had just...savaged her. She was still--she hadn't--not by the time Raven had to step in..."

Sorry for how incoherent that was. She was still having trouble putting it into words. hopefully that got across her main gist, what had happened to her parents.

[not_every_mage]

"... Raven killed your parents," Anders said,and left it there. Some stories didn't need comment. "And -- Sarah?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Already dead," Kathy said dully. Talking about Sarah was almost easier. At least if she didn't think so hard about all the times she'd been her dad to someone else's Sarah. Like that teen she'd chased down. "When Raven came in, Dad was crouched--she'd run and tripped and cracked her skull on the edge of our old table. She probably didn't feel anything after she fell."

[not_every_mage]

"At least that was fast," Anders said. "I'm so sorry, Kathy."

He wished, more than ever, that he hadn't thrown Kathy's family in her face when she was back from the dead for a weekend. But that was just another thing to add to a growing stack of regrets,

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah," Kathy said and was quiet for another few seconds. "So, umm, that was my Valentine's Day. Which was why I left before I got your lollipops. Raven told me and I, umm, didn't handle it well. So I just left. I couldn't stay on the island anymore."

[not_every_mage]

"I don't blame you," Anders said. "And I just didn't check on you because I didn't want to be some weird ex-boyfriend who wouldn't leave you alone."

Poor word choice, Anders.

"Did you work it out with Raven?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy winced. Yeah, poor wording. But she didn't make an issue of it. It just seemed petty right now. "You may not be my boyfriend anymore," Kathy said, and she was proud of how her voice didn't waver. "But you're still my friend. And you're always welcome. Wherever I am. Whatever stupid day it is."

[not_every_mage]

Despite everything she'd told him about the horrors of the time in LA, the warmth she was expressing made Anders smile.

"Not to change the subject, but technically I don't think we broke up," he mused. "Did we? Or does it happen automatically if one person dies?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Aren't we?" That lick of hope flared up so high in her heart that it almost hurt. She tamped it down, trying not to let it show. It would only hurt more if--"I think that's up to you more than anyone else. When I died, it was April of 2016. I might have come back in January of 2017, but it still feels like April to me."

She went silent. She'd probably said too much, too seriously. But that's what happened when she started getting things off her chest. She forgot where the off switch for her honesty was.

Funny though. The last time she'd said anything like this, she remembered feeling a lot happier and more hopeful about it.

[not_every_mage]

"It still feels like April to you," Anders repeated dully, a flush of surprise and hope spreading through him. "And here I've been trying to be careful and give you space. Let you come to me if you were ready. All of that."

Of course things had changed for him since the April before; he wasn't made of wood. But he'd loved Kathy for a lot longer than ten months, and it hadn't been a switch he had turned off when she didn't come back.