cold_dry_pieces | |[ 019 ]|

Entry tags:

|[ 019 ]|

It's funny that such a remote place gets as much tourist traffic as this. No way in or out, except once every couple of months, and generally you can't ~~or won't~~ give us a clue on how to find our way back where we belong.
Back home we usually just get the elderly crowd looking to escape wintering up north. Right time of year for snowbirds, too, or almost.

~~I'm getting pretty sick of wondering...~~

[ooc; no duplicates plz and try to be vague re: spoilers unless you clear it with me first. I'd appreciate in-game folks not finding out about his murderous habits via 4th wall shenanigans. Tagging back later sob <3 TY and ilu poly!!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Dexter stops but doesn't look at Brian, not immediately. He'd like to think Harrison was too young to understand, too small to have that darkness eat up his heart. But he doubts they'd be so lucky.]

...yeah. I do.

Hmn.

[He takes another drawn moment to consider it, looking at his brother intently. These are things he's never considered. For Brian they are what they are and no one else is like them, killers or not; it's a sense of identity the City's been kind enough to complicate. But... Family. Family means something, the way so few things do to him, enough to strike a dim chord of discontent with what he's hearing.]

What are you going to do?

[Harrison, Harry's son. Brian's doing his best-- as a sign of respect, nothing more, their visits are such rare opportunities-- to keep the bitterness of the past from creeping into his tone.]

....leave him all alone and talk to you, apparently.

[As he looks up to Brian, he just seems lost.]

He won't even notice.

[Is it greedy for Brian to prefer having Dexter here? Yes. Fortunately, he doesn't give a damn. Emotional maturity requires actual, comprehensible emotions, after all. Brian's been stuck in the same spot since he was five.

This is probably the point where he should come up with some advice, isn't it?]

I don't know what to tell you. We both know there isn't anything to undo that.

Right. The rules. [His voice is lackluster and vaguely sarcastic. He's fairly certain he's just lost it entirely. Psychotic episode would be a good explanation for today.]

I know. If someone was there who understood...do you think it would make it easier? [He should know better, but right now Dexter doesn't feel like he knows anything. Maybe if he and Brian had more time together, maybe if they'd found each other earlier...could they have been content with their hunts?]

[He's perfectly still, looking for the right way to answer that question. These are things he's long wanted to say, and if he had a heart to break, knowing he's never quite going to manage to say what he means to in the real world would do the trick. That mad moment of elation when he'd realized he wasn't alone-- years, long years after Dexter had forgotten his name-- the first real moment of joy he'd had since Laura died and they were born in blood, rushes through his memory.]

It would... [he picks his words carefully, tone hollow with the gravity of what he's trying to say,] make things different. Don't abandon him. It wouldn't help, making him find his own way.

No. I won't abandon him. [He should go back home, return to the world of reality (if he really has had a mental break). But he really doesn't think he has control of that. Besides, he doesn't really think he could handle such a thing right now, leaving this place and going back to...that.]

But I'm here for now. [They have a little more time, as much as that may mean.]

Right. [And he starts walking again, if only because standing around staring for too long's likely to draw attention, which is something neither of them want. Not that it matters much, here.] For a day or two, probably. I'll give you the grand tour. Anything more interesting is... impractical here.

[He nods, walking and looking around for a long moment as he gets his bearings.]

That's too bad. I could really use something like that right now.

[His head tilts and he glances back at Brian, the right side of his lips twitching up.] Maybe if they didn't see you....? [shakes head] No, there's not enough time, I know.

People come back. [There's a definite scowl, now, less fleeting than his usual expressions. No reason to conceal this frustration.] I haven't found a proper way around it. [It's an uncomfortable admission of weakness. He's fairly sure he could, outside the pleasant circumstances of a curse, manage to kill without revealing himself; but he knows already how often things come back to haunt Citizens, and it's a risk he's not inclined to take. So far, by and large, he hasn't been pushed to a point of desperation, though Dexter being here-- the opportunity for a long-desired collaboration-- certainly makes him need more than he might, otherwise.]

There's no surefire way, if they all come back. [Dexter sighs, thoughtfully.] What a frustrating City.

[He still hasn't given up on the idea- he feels lost, on edge...similar to when he's gone too long without. Watching that blood drip to the ground, knowing it's not Rita's- it might restore a sense of balance. And here he'd been thinking he could stop altogether.

-well. He certainly doesn't want to think about that. Here he is, a few minutes in and he's already having to fight his self-control. He can just imagine how difficult it's been for Brian.] So have you not been...? How long have you been here? [There's a hint of sympathy in his eyes, because that sucks.]

[He doesn't say tell me about it, but his gaze does quite plainly.]

I've been here... Ten months. [There's a long, slow breath there.] Not entirely dry, but nothing... satisfying. [Again, that little twitch of a lip, unintentional but telling. He glances back at Dexter.] You've been here, too. But you never stay.

Ten months... [He's so used to his routine, ten months would be difficult even for him.]

[The news about being there before makes him narrow his eyes. He'd never considered that.] I don't remember anything like that. Is it always during these Visitor Days?

[He'd like to say yes, because of all people he knows how uncomfortable is to have been here and not remember.]

Mainly.

[yes, that does cause some more frowning] Great.

But maybe I'll come back to stay someday. And if that ever happens- I'll figure out some sort of solution for both of us. [Things could be so much easier when Deb isn't involved.]

[Typically the City's the kind of place you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy, but Brian would give quite a lot to have Dexter stay. That's not easy to express, though; too many subtleties, too much baggage. If Dexter were here he'd be happy to paint the town red and to hell with consequences.]

Maybe, [is all he says, with the faintest ghost of a smile that lingers a moment.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

|[ 019 ]|

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Ugh, HTML fail is mine today. :P

<3