001. every story is a song // open post.

[kyriff]

Take a prompt, take some time, drop in whenever you like.

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[kyriff]

[...Huh.]

You're not. You never do.
Ireland?

[Why even.]

[larue]

[ Yeah, he misses your company, Rethe. ]

cheesy as it sounds, you could say that
i'm following my heart?

[ ...and he's belatedly remembering that he never really got to talk about him and Hikaru hooking up... with you.

Right. ]

i messed up. panicked when there was no reason to.
spoke to alistair, and he gave me a ticket and a key
to a car. and now i'm on a long flight to a country
i've never been to before.

[ It is... a little nervewracking. Okay, not just a little. ]

[kyriff]

[Hum. That would explain why Alistair had called him recently, asking if he could be prepared to take duty for Hikaru on his signal, not Hikaru's.

This is how the Malice Kings watch over each other: without question, with patience. The answers always came eventually, and if they did not, perhaps one did not need to know.]

People are allowed to make mistakes, Josh. I think everything will be fine.

[larue]

[ He lifts a hand to run his fingers through his hair as he reads through that message. ]

i just don't want to lose him. he means a lot to me.
i don't know when that happened. it just kind of did.

[kyriff]

[You won't be able to see the way he's smiling a little sadly down at your message.]

Yeah, that does seem like how that sort of thing works. Love, I mean.

[larue]

[ There's a sigh from Josh's end as he turns his gaze out the window. He's riding a regular flight with regular people around. It's the first time he's does this in... ever. ]

jessie told me a couple weeks back that there's no instruction manual
for this kind of thing. not to say that i wish there was one, it's just
scary, you know?

i don't even know what i'm going to do when i finally land in dublin.

[kyriff]

[He reads the message twice, and then leans back to consider his next action. He's worried about you, so...

Yeah. Okay.

Your phone is now ringing, Josh.]

[larue]

[ He ends up staring down at his ringing phone for about a quarter of a minute before he finally remembers that he should pick up. ]

Hey, Rethe.

[ Does he sound incredibly sheepish? You bet. ]

[kyriff]

Hi.

[He's smiling on the other end of the line. You can probably hear it in his voice.]

It's easier to talk like this, I think.

[larue]

[ He's sinking into his seat before he realizes it. The smile in your voice is reassuring in ways he can hardly express. ]

Yeah, [ a soft chuckle. ] It kind of is.

[ Pausing for a moment at that, then: ] Sorry. Um, was I...?

I wasn't bothering you, was I?

[kyriff]

Josh...

[The soft way that he says your name is Rethe Grade Disapproval. Didn't he just say earlier how you couldn't possibly ever bother him?]

[larue]

[ There's an exhale of breath from his end then. ]

Sorry. Just wanted to be sure?

[ He doesn't like bothering people for no reason. He's a full grown man, who occasionally feels like a teenager completely out of sorts. Today included. ]

Thanks. [ That's murmured shyly. ] I needed to hear a friendly voice.

[kyriff]

It certainly sounded like you did.

[ A pause, then with a hint of shyness: ]

Well. It read like you did, I mean.

[larue]

[ A soft, sheepish chuckle whose tone dips a little at the end. It's so odd that your voice is the only familiar thing around for the rest of this long flight. The other Hounds are still back at home. ]

Thanks, man.

[ He's totally grateful that you called, even if he's suddenly not sure what to say. ]

[kyriff]

You're welcome.

[ He's okay with this. He is also okay with just staying on the line: that much will be obvious in the soft sounds of typing that start up a little afterward from his end. ]

Long solo flights can be really lonely. I took a lot of those during the Darkest Vigil.

[larue]

[ And that's actually helping him relax a little into his seat. ]

Where'd you go on those flights?

[ He probably hadn't been born yet, or he was too young to remember anything. The latter part of the Darkest Vigil he'd seen only from the news. Even in Canada, it had felt relatively far away. There had also been more pressing concerns then: hiding, worrying over his family. ]

[kyriff]

Everywhere, really. I needed to be mobile for the Kings, and I couldn't use anything that could easily be associated with the Vigil when I had to go dark. [ A beat. ] I had to juggle that along with what career I could maintain for Vice Records.

[ Yes, it was perfectly within his power or the powers of any of the Kings to make it ridiculously easy for him to get around or disguise himself. Doing that, however, had the tendency to paint big targets on their backs. ]

[larue]

[ You won't see the way he's looking out the window, or the slight crease between his brows. He's oddly enough remembering the day Derik Sloane had sat him down to tell him that he could live in the quarters above the Blue Coffin to wait out the war.

The One isn't ready for you yet, Josh.

He had no idea back then that 'The One' was you. ]

Funny, [ that's soft and a little sheepish. ] I can't quite picture you doing undercover work.

[kyriff]

Oh? Why not?

[ He actually wants to know? Because, in essence, all Keepers of the Vigil before the Breaking of the Veil were undercover agents. He had learned well under the likes of Liandrin, Calintz, and Hikaru. ]

[larue]

[ The sound that escapes him implies that he finds his own thought-process pretty silly. ]

I guess it's because I've never seen you in action for Vigil work.

[ It's the truth. He's gone on walks with you to lay the dearly departed to rest, and that's one aspect of who you are. But actual combat? He hasn't seen that.

It's kind of funny... he's... never watched any of your engagements. ]

[kyriff]

That is probably going to change in the future.

[ Then, with a tad bit of sheepishness himself: ]

I think I'd really like working on an engagement with you.

[larue]

[ If he's quiet for a moment longer than necessary, it's only because he wouldn't have presumed to ask and this is a pleasant surprise. ]

You know... I'd... I'd really like that.

[ Does he sound a little shy? Maybe. You're kind of one of his favorite people. ]

[kyriff]

When one comes up, then? I can always recommend that your blade accompanies me on the next engagement that suits your group.

[ It's one of the perks of being a Malice King. He's never really had the opportunity of using it until now, though.

Thank you for that. ]

[larue]

I think I'd -- well, we... we'd like that.

[ You and Kaz get along well. And well, you're a Malice King. Accompanying you would be an experience that they could use if their previous... okay, let's not go there.

Sorry, he's fallen a little quiet. His thoughts turned to Hikaru since, well... he's the Malice King they've been around the most. ]

[kyriff]

[ And he'll go quiet for a while too, content to get by on what little sounds you do make outside of your words. ]

Everything will be fine, Josh. You're both going to be okay.

[ He firmly believes this. ]