I asked if I could talk to her, told her Brian was dangerous and why, and... It was kind of a back and forth argument thing. First she was sad and trying not to be, then she was mad because I'm a douche, then she said she wasn't mad, and I left because... I left. I don't want to be around Brian and her mind's made up, I guess.

[That same tone, even from tiredness.]

[Good thing she can't see him tense up like this.]

Does it matter what it was?

[Davesprite barks caws somethings a laugh, the kind of sudden one born out of a surprise.]

Both? I accused her of treating him like a puppy to take care of because she was lonely when she showed up. Because she kept arguing that, like, I can't judge him like a "normal" person and he only threatens people who are dangerous or whatever, and kidnapping Clayton doesn't count because that happened before she was here.

[It just spills out, and there's definitely an irritated edge now.]

[Forcefully:]

Yeah.

[Then softer:]

Yeah... That's, yeah. I told her that, but gentler. That her mind's made up, and mine's not changing about not wanting to travel with Brian.

I went and restocked at the school, and now I'm heading south.

[A pause.]

If you want? I don't need someone to come comfort me for my own mistakes.

[He already knows he's a dick, as he keeps saying.]

[That is one tired sigh he breathes out.]

That's the part that's bugging me most about this. Why him? What the fuck even happened?

But alright, tell Clint then. Can't hurt to let him see me alive in person after everything he's been through lately.

Thanks.

The thing is, I don't even think I'm wrong about it. About her. I was still a dick and shouldn't have said it that way, but she's totally going at this like she's trying to teach Pinocchio's creepy cousin to be a real boy.

[Which is about as unsettling a metaphor as he can think of. Puppets, man, they're terrible.]

[Another one of those sighs, more irritable.]

It's complicated because when is anything in our lives not a tangled knot of shenanigans? It's weird time shit. Our friend John and I died three years ago in her timeline, and even though things got "fixed" later somehow and they won the game, she wound up here anyway. If she's been trying to cling onto me like we're besties when she barely even knew me before I died, then I don't know why it wouldn't be the same thing making her cling onto a fuckin' project like Brian.

[It's House who first put the idea in his mind, but since then it's stuck and grown stronger with the more he's thought about it, with the more he's talked to her. If there's bitterness in his voice, it's because it's had time to grow a hearty little tree in him.]

I already said so, didn't I?

[Accused her of taking care of Brian because of it.]

Three years with just a ghost grandma, a cat, and a bunch of lizards and amphibians to keep her company, then meeting up with her friends and winning the game only to show up in fuckin' Norfinbury. Why wouldn't she be?

I told her to call me if anything happens, but I'm not staying with her while Brian's there.

[Jade is... He doesn't want to stop talking to her, but he's not really sure how to talk to her about everything. There's a gap of knowledge and time between them, and every time they've been in person has been overshadowed by the presence of Brian and his discomfort about him. And now this. It's not just a wrench but an entire toolbox dumped into the mix, too intimidating yet to sort out.]

[He opts instead to ask,]

Take care of it how?

[He shudders, audible in the rustle of clothing and feathers.]

Jesus, I can't even rule it out from him. Let's just hope it doesn't turn to that, yeah? The deal's on if it does, but. Christ.

I'm not scared. [Defensive and irritable.] I'm just unnerved and for good fucking reason. Normal people don't resort to kidnapping supposed threats, and there's the brainscrewing by some creepy outer god or whatever it was. Normally people don't go defending that behavior either.

I get what you're saying, so don't worry about it. I'll let you know what happens.