[Varian catches the change in Flynn and frowns. He assumes it's just from the understanding of just how bad Deerington could be. He doesn't know if this place can be the same, but he's not making any bets that it won't be. Heck, he'd assume it's more likely to be the same, if not worse.
He makes what he hopes is a reassuring smile.]
I had a really good trauma surgeon. And I had a house to rest and heal in and people who made sure I had everything I needed. I lucked out.
You had a strong community to help you heal. The others weren't as badly injured? That is, did it affect many others?
[ Flynn is asking, he realizes only after the questions are out, after community and defense mechanisms. The two things he is most in tune with: ways to protect the people. There must have been ways to keep them safe from such horrors.
He hopes, twisting his head to look up at the walls of the city above them before focusing again on Varian. They're nearly at the end of the boardwalk now, and Flynn assumes getting down the steps onto the beach and walking in the sand will be much harder. ]
I did, I'm glad I had them. Um... I think some people died in that month? A lot of people died a lot in Deerington, I've died before too- it uh... the town always brought you back. I know that sounds weird, but that's something you kind of... got used to. As much as possible anyway.
[It still hurt, losing people, and Varian's got plenty of trauma around his own deaths- but it was just a part of existing in town by that point.
He pauses at the steps, grimacing. He sure hates feeling this slow and vulnerable. He's really come to rely on that prosthetic and now he's without it. Hmm. He offers a weak smile. It's probably not half as convincing as he hopes it is. ]
[ What a horrifying thing to think about. Flynn's chilled just trying to imagine it. Maybe it's good that he has the slow transition down to the beach to focus on rather than the mechanics of a rebirth from something as permanent and final as death. ]
That is no small feat. How was such a thing accomplished?
[It's never an easy thing to explain to new people- the whole resurrection shtick. What's worse, after everything that happened with Ramona, he's not even sure if it's going to remain true here. With her gone, so did go coming back from the dead. He's still worried they might have broken that forever. ]
There was someone in that world... the first Sleeper. She... had a way to bring us back, it was magic- and complicated. Like...being reborn. When we died, our bodies turned into this strange purple ash. When we resurrected, that ash reformed into our bodies. It...came as a price though, and that price got steeper and steeper each time we came back.
If his father had been able to just come back—if his mother's death wasn't such a final thing, if Niren had been able to just flake back into existence, born anew...
His voice is remarkably steady when he speaks, considering. ]
I can only imagine. Was that a blessing, or a curse?
[It's... a lot to deal with, Varian can understand. His experience with loss before here was minimal. Sure, his mother was gone, but she'd died when he was so young, he doesn't remember her. It's hard to feel the loss of someone you never really met. But to have death be so casual... it was weird.
He shrugs.]
Little of both. Glad you're alive again, but you lost...memories when you came back after your first. Second death, you lose memories of home, third, home and of the town we were stuck in. It was...rough to deal with.
[ Don't mind him, Varian! At least they're down the steps and on the beach proper. The beach proper is, of course, a strange place right now, dotted with white-robed Wakers and squids alike. Here and there, someone nude and confused struggles to their feet. Flynn looks down at his companion instead of any of them, his face stormy. ]
[ There is, perhaps, nothing that Flynn can say to that, no comfort he can offer in the face of such terrible things. He thinks of Schwann, who cheated death several times himself, and the weariness in his face and his voice when he lets it show.
And Varian is so young.
Flynn holds his arm just that bit tighter, gritting his teeth. He'll do what he's always done with injustice too large to hold in the confines of his body: promise to do something about it. ]
While I don't know what is coming for us, nor if the same thing will be true in this place... if you're in trouble, come and find me. Somehow. I will be there, and I will do my best to ensure the same thing doesn't happen to you.
[Varian's never quite sure what to do when people show him a lot of sympathy. He still has more than enough self-loathing in him that he doesn't feel deserving of it. He's watching Flynn take this information in and how his body language changes and he winces internally. He's kind of glad what Flynn eventually says is a little more practical. ]
Uh... sure. Thanks, I appreciate that? It's... well, if it's anything like the old place, it's usually unavoidable. But thanks all the same- I'll remember that.
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countryclub2021-08-09 05:25 pm
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He makes what he hopes is a reassuring smile.]
I had a really good trauma surgeon. And I had a house to rest and heal in and people who made sure I had everything I needed. I lucked out.
no subject
[ Flynn is asking, he realizes only after the questions are out, after community and defense mechanisms. The two things he is most in tune with: ways to protect the people. There must have been ways to keep them safe from such horrors.
He hopes, twisting his head to look up at the walls of the city above them before focusing again on Varian. They're nearly at the end of the boardwalk now, and Flynn assumes getting down the steps onto the beach and walking in the sand will be much harder. ]
no subject
[It still hurt, losing people, and Varian's got plenty of trauma around his own deaths- but it was just a part of existing in town by that point.
He pauses at the steps, grimacing. He sure hates feeling this slow and vulnerable. He's really come to rely on that prosthetic and now he's without it. Hmm. He offers a weak smile. It's probably not half as convincing as he hopes it is. ]
I'll uh- just take it a step at a time.
no subject
[ What a horrifying thing to think about. Flynn's chilled just trying to imagine it. Maybe it's good that he has the slow transition down to the beach to focus on rather than the mechanics of a rebirth from something as permanent and final as death. ]
That is no small feat. How was such a thing accomplished?
no subject
There was someone in that world... the first Sleeper. She... had a way to bring us back, it was magic- and complicated. Like...being reborn. When we died, our bodies turned into this strange purple ash. When we resurrected, that ash reformed into our bodies. It...came as a price though, and that price got steeper and steeper each time we came back.
no subject
If his father had been able to just come back—if his mother's death wasn't such a final thing, if Niren had been able to just flake back into existence, born anew...
His voice is remarkably steady when he speaks, considering. ]
I can only imagine. Was that a blessing, or a curse?
no subject
He shrugs.]
Little of both. Glad you're alive again, but you lost...memories when you came back after your first. Second death, you lose memories of home, third, home and of the town we were stuck in. It was...rough to deal with.
no subject
[ Don't mind him, Varian! At least they're down the steps and on the beach proper. The beach proper is, of course, a strange place right now, dotted with white-robed Wakers and squids alike. Here and there, someone nude and confused struggles to their feet. Flynn looks down at his companion instead of any of them, his face stormy. ]
May I ask how many times that happened to you?
no subject
[All he knows is that VL had to tie her head onto her neck from that point onwards. Fun! Varian looks up, grimacing a little.]
Uh. Twice. [Technically he's died three times, but he's...not gonna count home. Home was weird.] I got off lucky compared to a lot of people.
no subject
And Varian is so young.
Flynn holds his arm just that bit tighter, gritting his teeth. He'll do what he's always done with injustice too large to hold in the confines of his body: promise to do something about it. ]
While I don't know what is coming for us, nor if the same thing will be true in this place... if you're in trouble, come and find me. Somehow. I will be there, and I will do my best to ensure the same thing doesn't happen to you.
no subject
Uh... sure. Thanks, I appreciate that? It's... well, if it's anything like the old place, it's usually unavoidable. But thanks all the same- I'll remember that.