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[evocation]

@kyna.medina | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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[withmeinparadise]

Could go out back, see if a punch to the face works better.

[ He's not getting up--he's still got half a beer here--but he's more thoughtful than joking at the moment. ]

Gotta be some way to shake it loose. Whatever it is.

[evocation]

Maybe you're just a late bloomer or something.

[withmeinparadise]

That'd be a first.

[evocation]

[Kyna lets out a laugh that's half a snort.]

What's that supposed to mean?

[withmeinparadise]

[ He shrugs, unruffled by her laughter. ]

Exactly what I said. You want a late bloomer, you're looking for my little brother.

[evocation]

Why? Was he a total nerd?

[Give her the gossip, Sam.]

[withmeinparadise]

[ He snorts. ]

You ever talk to him? Of course he was. [ As much as he's ragging on Nathan, though, there's affection in it. ] We'd go to cantinas and he'd spend the whole night staring at his sketchbook.

[evocation]

Ooh, a cantina. And what'd you do? Sweep everyone off their feet?

[withmeinparadise]

More'n one. We were outta the US by then. [ Wandering all over the place, especially once they'd picked up enough Spanish not to get their asses beat. ] Depended on the place--how the bar girls looked, mostly. Places that let women in, though? Sure.

...Y'know it took him months to figure out his power, too.

[evocation]

Maybe it runs in the family.

[And of course this conversation isn't making her miss her brother at all. Not one bit.]

[withmeinparadise]

Let's hope not. [ Wouldn't be the worst thing--but all things being equal, he genuinely wants to know what it is. ] Sure you don't wanna try a real scuffle?

[ Now he's joking. ]

[evocation]

[That gets her to smile again.]

I could totally kick your ass. I can go all intangible, remember?

[withmeinparadise]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[evocation]

Pfft. I'll show you later.

[When they're not in a bar, she means. It's not like she's hiding that she's a Displaced, but she doesn't want the attention right now.]

I'm surprised you're not like, grilling me.

[withmeinparadise]

[ He waves a hand--not that different from how he waves his hands around whenever he's talking, but this is a sort of dismissal. Of the idea of her showing him right now, of the idea of grilling her. ]

You wanna talk about home?

[evocation]

I don't know.

[It's an honest answer, at least, not a dodge. She swings her feet absently, staring down at the bar.]

Kind of? And then kind of not. But it's weird being here all the sudden again.

[withmeinparadise]

Have to be.

[ She went from no magic to magic to no magic again, which seems like it'd matter to her, not to mention the internet in her brain. ]

Figured everyone else was asking you about it. You wanna talk about what happened, we can talk about it. But we don't gotta.

[evocation]

Thanks.

[It comes out soft and grateful, and she swirls her beer in the glass.]

I didn't remember any of this at all when I was at home.

[withmeinparadise]

[ He frowns. ]

What, just...months of nothing? Or like it never happened?

[evocation]

Like it never happened. Like no time passed at all.

[She shrugs, trying to look less bothered than she is.]

Someone warned me that it happens, but...

[withmeinparadise]

So nothing here matters?

[ Sam gives a low whistle. That's...unsettling, if he's honest.

But who likes honesty? ]

[evocation]

Ughhh.

[She draws it out, low and frustrated. She hates that idea, but she can't disagree.]

That's how it feels. Isn't that fucked?

[withmeinparadise]

A little.

[ There's a lot rumbling around in his head at that moment, most of which he can't even begin to tell Kyna: Nathan might be dead, might not have anywhere to get sucked back into besides purgatory, if that's really a thing, this might be his chance to start over, this might be my last chance to hang around with him, and neither of us is gonna remember any of it when it ends? The injustice of that is a blade against his jugular.

When he speaks again, it's after draining his glass. Whoops. ]

You remember anything about getting taken back? Before you disappeared--anything that happened stick out?

[evocation]

No, it was just... Waking up at home like normal, and then waking up in my bed back here like a year later.

[withmeinparadise]

Shit.

[ He signals the bartender for another beer, trying to keep the frown out of his brow until the girl's turned away toward the tap. ]

If you were gonna pick, where'd you wanna be?