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[evocation]

This is Kyna. You should just text me if you actually want me to answer.

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[evocation]

You lost a minute?

[Kyna tries to reach for his hand, slowly and gently, an attempt to get his full attention. He's not exactly assuaging her concerns here.]

Should I call Drake?

[requiemshark]

No!

[Ephemera twitches away from her. It's fine, they can go back to arguing now. Drake definitely doesn't need to know about this. He isn't going to puke, everything is fine. Suck it up, soldier.]

I'm fine. We're fighting, it's good. Let's fight.

[evocation]

Dude, no? You looked like you were gonna pass out. You should at least go to the clinic or something.

[requiemshark]

It's fine, [he mutters, dropping his hand. It's fine, everything is fine, that didn't just happen.] I'm fine, it doesn't matter. We're fighting.

[They're fighting. His brain fucked up because....because who knows why, but he doesn't get to freak out and lose his shit just because they're arguing.]

[evocation]

Yeah, okay, we're fighting. Stop being an idiot and let me take you to the clinic.

[requiemshark]

Don't need it.

[Ephemera spits on the ground. Sways. He can definitely stand. Yep. He just has to focus for a moment.]

Just lost a minute. I'm good.

[Totally. Look, he can even stand. Sort of. There's a lot of swaying.]

[evocation]

[Kyna sighs as she stands.]

You look like you're going to fall over, and I'm going to put an arm around you so you don't, and if you get all shitty and flinchy with me about it I'm going to hit you. Got it?

[Not that a hit from her would do anything, but hey. It's the thought that counts.]

[requiemshark]

[Don't puke. Breathe through your nose and stand up straight. Suck it up. Everything will be fine if you fight through it. Ephemera grits his teeth. Breathes.]

You're fucking tiny.

[It ought to be said. She is.]

[evocation]

[Kyna loops her arm around him, shooting him a look. She keeps her movements slow and careful, though—being friends with Harlan has given her experience with this sort of discomfort.]

I still kicked your ass twice.

[With magic, which she no longer has, but that's an unimportant detail.]

Let me call Drake.

[requiemshark]

Did not.

[He needs to get his helmet back. Can't leave your head uncovered out int he open like this. Snipers. Shrapnel. Anything could happen. Anything at all.

Focus. Stand up straight.

Fuck, he doesn't feel so good.

Ephemera twitches.]

I don't want him to worry.

[evocation]

I'd be pissed if shit like this was happening to Wash and he didn't tell me.

[requiemshark]

[That gets him. Strangely.

Ephemera is quiet for a moment, just. Walking. Holding steady. Then:]

All right.

[evocation]

[Kyna studies Ephemera for a second, then tugs him to a stop.]

I'm gonna text him.

[And she does, though it's quick and vague. Just a simple, "Hey, meet me by the old bar? I'm with Ephemera and he's okay, but he needs you." She figures she'll let Ephemera deal with the rest.]

[requiemshark]

[Breathe. Stand up straight and endure. You're a soldier, you're a Hell Jumper, you can do this.

Ephemera breathes.]

Sorry. About this. I wanted to do something nice.

[evocation]

[Oh, Ephemera. Kyna sighs and gives his arm a little poke with her free hand.]

It's okay. I'm not mad at you. We're still okay.

[requiemshark]

[He reaches out to flick at her hair. Just a little.]

I get stuck on that stuff. With Washington. 's not on you. That's my shit.

[braveoff]

[ Drake cannot teleport, so he isn't there yet, but he did leave basically the second he got that message. The last time someone said "Ephemera needs you" he was. Fucked up. He shoots a text back on his way. ]

Whatever it is, keep him talking. I'll be right there.

[evocation]

[Kyna sticks her tongue out at Ephemera.]

Yeah, I know. Plus, you're a jerk.

[It sounds almost affectionate, though, the way she says it. She's really starting to like Ephemera, which is weird to think about. Drake gets a quick answer—"He's up and talking"—and then Kyna looks up again.]

Drake's on his way.

[requiemshark]

You're an ass.

[He says it fondly, despite everything. He gets Kyna, most of the time. She makes sense. One day they might even be friends. She hasn't made a move to pull away and he doesn't either. Just holds, careful not to lean on her. With all his armor on, he could hurt her. That wouldn't be right.

Then she says Drake's coming.]

Oh.

[He's quiet for a moment.]

I fucked up pretty bad, huh?

[evocation]

No, you didn't. God, you and Wash...

[She hesitates, not sure if she should make that comparison, but then decides that leaving it hanging is worse.]

You guys always think you did something wrong.

[requiemshark]

[Him and Washington. Once, the thought that they had anything in common would have made him bristle. Ephemera feels too tired for that right now. And she has a point, in the end.]

Being crazy does that. I think. Even if you're not crazy all the time.

[He remembers the dream. The room with soft walls. Washington begging for clarity. Lost in his own skull.

Yeah. That. Sometimes Ephemera wishes he didn't understand, in small ways. It would have made things so much simpler.]

[evocation]

[She thinks of Lance giving her a lecture for using the word "psycho", and she frowns.]

You guys aren't crazy. You just... You know. You've been through a lot of shit and you're way too fucking hard on yourselves.

[requiemshark]

What?

[Ephemera blinks, glancing down at her.]

You're...you mean that.

[evocation]

What? I mean... yeah. I'm not saying you both didn't fuck up, but...

[She shrugs a bit.]

Your world sucks. No offense. I probably would have fucked up way more.

[requiemshark]

[Their world sucks. Ephemera thinks about that for a moment. Tries imagining Kyna in armor. She wouldn't be a Freelancer, no - something else. But she'd be different in their world, inevitably. Changed by it.]

I guess it does.