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Post by demikara on Aug 14, 2020 9:48:22 GMT -6
Aerilyn shed her backpack and removed her hiking boots, before grabbing the tissue box and some sandals and joining him outside. She held out the tissue box and managed a weak smile. "Hey handsome. What to talk about it?" She pulled another lawn chair over and sat next to him. Whatever that had been had been pretty explosive. Right now, her husband needed her more than she needed to tell him about her decision. It had been a long hike back down the mountain after all.
She wasn't going. She'd explain to Arianne why, but she wasn't going to risk her life to return a woman's ashes to a planet she hadn't died on. Especially when that planet was ravaged by danger after danger after danger. She just had to hold firm on her decision. That was going to be the tricky part.
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 14, 2020 10:59:50 GMT -6
Ahmad shook his head, then slowly dropped his fist from his chin, pressing both hands flat against his knees. He inhaled deeply, slowly, then exhaled shakily. "It's my mom. She wants me to quit. But she's always hated the Bureau. You know that." It was always something about neoimperialism. "She wants me to quit and never look back." Khaula's feelings about the house, about Aerilyn, about the old woman were all much more complicated. They'd always seemed to get along whenever they'd spent family time together. But Khaula seemed very much an inhabitant of a wholly different world than his, and he wasn't entirely sure he'd ever belong in hers. "She can't believe that the Director and I were ... well. I guess I can't really blame her for that one." He looked over at Aerilyn. "What happened with Haroun Kim?"
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Post by demikara on Aug 14, 2020 11:04:56 GMT -6
She placed a hand over his to comfort him. Khaula was a nice enough woman, but she lived in a different world than the two of them did. "No one would blame you if you did." Aerilyn pointed out. "But it's your choice to make." And she couldn't make it for him and nor could his mom. "And the visit went. He has a nice home."
She smiled to him. "But I won't be going. He described more of what I could expect on that planet and it's too dangerous. The sheer level of risk outweighs any obligation I feel." It was too much of a chance, too dangerous to even consider going there.
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 14, 2020 11:47:52 GMT -6
"I've never seen his place," Ahmad said, staring at the peeling paint on the neighbor's back porch. "There are some rumors about it back at work." He figured most of them were exaggerations or overly dramatized for effect. Most such things were. "But I'm relieved... Maybe I shouldn't be, but, you know I've been worried about this entire idea from the beginning. I didn't like it." He grimaced. "Besides ... I've been thinking for weeks now that she really just wants you to go to keep you away from the trial. Not that I really want to be anywhere near the trial either..." Technically, he'd be permitted to sit in once all testimony had concluded, and he could probably sneak in the next day. But what good would actually come of it? There weren't even any reporters trying to get a hold of him anymore, not after he'd ignored their calls over the first part of the weekend. Everyone was focused on something else.
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Post by demikara on Aug 19, 2020 8:07:28 GMT -6
"It's nice." Aerilyn repeated. "Well decorated. Nowhere near as much magic as I almost expected." Some magic users were showy about it. Haroun Kim hadn't been one of them, which meant the visit wasn't nearly as strange as it could have been. She sighed and drew the wind around her, swirling it about her comfortingly. "And she's going to be upset with me. I'm not looking forward to that." The aeromancer didn't like it when Arianne was upset with her, but she wasn't budging on this one.
It was too dangerous. Aerilyn was middle-aged and a security guard. She wasn't an agent, or an adventurer or anything that might have prepared her for handling the planet in question.
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 19, 2020 8:25:41 GMT -6
"Worst comes to worst, she might refuse to see you, or us both," said Ahmad, shaking his head. "I think she can ban people. Even... there." He swallowed. Even saying it out loud seemed to make it that much more real. He lowered his voice and his head. "She's not coming home. I know that, intellectually, but I just don't think I can really wrap my mind around it. I don't think I want to." Even Khaula, his mother, had seemed uneasy with the court proceedings and the news coverage surrounding them. Ahmad put his hand over Aerilyn's, and pressed against her side. He stared as lights flickered on and off in th he neighbors' house, the sky darkening above them with the onset of a sudden summer afternoon thrall. In another world, they might have taken that Sunday as a perfect opportunity for a relaxing visit to the beach, only worrying about sand between their toes getting inside the car, and not about losing a friend.
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Post by demikara on Aug 31, 2020 15:19:39 GMT -6
"I want her to come home so badly. But she's there until she dies now, and I think we all know it." She wrapped an arm around him. "And I don't think she'll refuse to see us. Hopefully she'll just be disappointed." And that hurt enough as far as Aerilyn was concerned, but there was no way she was making the trip. Maybe Arianne didn't know how dangerous the planet had gotten. That was always a possibility.
It wasn't safe to make the trip and it was well past her danger tolerance level. She could deal with a planet trying to kill her in one or two ways, but that one seemed determined to kill in as many ways as possible. Add into the fact that the exact location of the gravesite was unknown, and she just was comfortable doing it.
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 31, 2020 15:52:29 GMT -6
"I don't know," said Ahmad, speaking quietly. "And I don't just mean refusing to see us, which I'm pretty sure she would do if upset enough. I mean how long she'll be there too. She's ..." He exhaled forcefully. "Well, she's escaped from other prisons before. It wouldn't be the first time. Not to mention she's got a bullseye on her back a mile wide. I have no idea how anyone expects her to just ... stay put." He let go of Aerilyn's hand and wrapped his arms around himself, hugging tightly. He shivered. "Besides, who even knows where she's going to go next... I'm not entirely convinced anything will go according to plan here. Not Khayyam's plan, not whoever's going to try something." It was Terra. Things were bound to go wrong, and the next thing you knew, you'd be staring down an invasion force after running from a drunken magic-users' brawl in Gambit's.
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Post by demikara on Sept 1, 2020 8:02:12 GMT -6
"If she wanted to escape, she probably would have already." Aerilyn pointed out. "If they can keep her safe, she'll probably just stay in the prison they sentence her too." And die there one day. Hopefully peacefully. Aerilyn doubted it would be pain-free, given all the old injuries that Arianne had, but perhaps in as little pain as possible would be good. She'd take that, at least.
The woman sighed and moved her hand to his knee. She wanted to be in some contact with him still. This entire event was insanity. "Hopefully her permanent lodgings won't be too far." Aerilyn would hate to have no choice but to see Arianne less. But she doubted that family visits would be taken into account when it came time to choose where Arianne was going to be kept.
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Post by Ylanne on Sept 1, 2020 9:51:17 GMT -6
"We don't know that for sure," Ahmad said, shaking his head, "about whether she's planning something. I mean. The way I heard it, she was in that place - the one from forever ago with the funny name - for almost six years before she found a way out." He grimaced, remembering what else he'd learned about it. "Though I also don't know that safety is even on her priorities list. I remember the time the Tauron mafia came looking for her, had put out a hit, and she was only annoyed when one of the several assassination attempts wrecked her windows." He snorted. "Some priorities, there. Of course, it's not like I'm one to talk too much..." His voice trailed off. His fingers suddenly felt naked and restless without a phone or controller in his hands. Why had he thrown the thing against the wall so hard? "My mom thinks I've been lazy and irresponsible too. She's probably right. She'd agree with the old woman about that, at least during meetings and all, anyway." Ahmad looked at Aerilyn inquisitively. "Are you going to tell the Director? She'll notice if you keep going to the ... every day."
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Post by demikara on Sept 1, 2020 9:55:35 GMT -6
"I will." Aerilyn said quietly. "Better to own up to it quickly than to let it linger, I suppose." Better to admit that she wasn't going to go. "And I don't think you're lazy and irresponsible. I live with you. I should get the most say in that one." She smiled to him, teasing gently. She loved him. "You just like your games. You still help out around the house and do pretty much all the cooking." Aerilyn's version of cooking was to get take out. It worked for her. "You just have a lot to parse through, that's all."
He worked a pretty brain intensive job. If he needed to relax in front of a screen for a bit, she couldn't blame him. It got annoying, at times, but they had long since worked through that part of their marriage. He didn't understand her love of guns either.
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Post by Ylanne on Sept 2, 2020 17:28:37 GMT -6
"I'd come with you, but I'm not sure if I can get in, even though I already testified Friday," said Ahmad. He sighed slowly. The lights in the neighbors' house blinked off. He wondered what kind of normal they had. He wasn't sure he'd ever even actually met them, and they'd lived here for ... well. A while, at least. "You could try next weekend, I guess. Or see if you can find a way to visit during the week, but my best guess is probably not. I'm not sure how it all works in the jail, but since she's here all week for the trial ... I guess I wouldn't know what time she gets back from court every day." When the old woman was at Veritas, he could more or less predict her schedule. She'd arrive early in the morning, disappear for part of the afternoon, and then stay late, often well past dinnertime. Her weekends were sacred, except during major national security crises. He didn't think he'd ever seen her relax anywhere. "When do you think you'll be able to get it over with? Telling her, I mean."
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Post by demikara on Sept 5, 2020 19:35:45 GMT -6
"I'll visit on the weekend. I've been making certain to bring her muffins to the trial at least, so she can have something to eat." It probably wasn't the healthiest meal, but Aerilyn was determined that her friend would at least get something soft she could eat once or twice a day if she could manage it for lunch as well. "She'll know pretty quickly that I haven't gone." Just because fo the food alone. That was sure to give her away and she knew it, but even if she had to go through the lawyer, Aerilyn was going her best that her friend have somethign she could eat even with her teeth and the pain she was probably still in.
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Post by Ylanne on Sept 5, 2020 19:49:01 GMT -6
Ahmad wondered what the purpose of this visit to Ưi'dhàr was supposed to have been. A kind of heroic quest - hand-tailored for Aerilyn who loved adventure and adrenaline, perhaps. Or maybe it was a way for the old woman to feel she'd helped Aerilyn discover something important about herself, a ready made excuse for Aerilyn to overcome whatever daunting challenges existed on that world. Or maybe it had just been a selfish desire on the old woman's part to satiate some nagging guilt she felt for old sins, and use someone else to get it over with. Ưi'dhàr was a nowhere place, now, anyway. No commercial flights ever went there. Not since the fall of the queens.
"Careful," said Ahmad, almost smiling wryly. "She might just refuse to talk to you over the weekend from seeing the muffins alone. Remember she wanted you to go before the trial even started." Even if it had just been a way to try to force Aerilyn away from the legal carnage. Even in public, the old woman seemed a most private person. Ahmad pressed his lips together. "I think I might visit my mom next weekend. If I can get her to agree to drop the topic of the trial and my work, it might be nice. Something, at least, could feel a little bit normal."
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Post by demikara on Sept 18, 2020 16:44:21 GMT -6
Aerilyn huffed a laugh. "She'll forgive me. She can't be angry with me forever, especially once I explain why." she kissed his cheek and smiled. "I think seeing your mom would be good for you. Though you know, you'd have to set up some conversational boundaries first." Otherwise there would be no point to trying. His mother could be very forceful in her opinions after all. "You'll have to pass on my love. It's been a bit since I've actually seen her." They didn't meet up very often. She had a decent relationship with her mother-in-law, but they really didn't have a close one.
But they were friendly at least, and she did feel some level of affection for the other woman, if only mostly because she had given her ahmad, and as far as Aerilyn was concerned, that was the best gift she could ever receive. Even if their wedding had been something else entirely.
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