video; un: deathweaver

[respired]

[ Koltira's back to his usual self once again--his hair pale as ice, his eyes burning with lichfire. His skin sallow, tinted with hypothermia, and shot through with spiderweb cracks. He wears the black ALASTAIR uniform as he sits on the edge of his bed, twisting a new ring around one gloved finger.

Beside him, his lynx cub rolls around sleepily.

His voice is still deceptively lilting, but the ethereal echo, the underscore of a guttural scratch, haunts him. ]

I must ask for a favor, should you have the capacity to grant it.

[ He glances back at the lynx cub. ]

The dead are not meant to care for the living. If one of you would take responsibility for this creature, I'd consider myself in your debt.

[ A pause. He frowns slightly as he goes on. ]

Recently, some of you met me as I once was. Understand something now. That man is gone. He died nearly twenty years ago, and nothing--nothing--of him remains in me. His house is ash, and cannot be recovered.

[ Not entirely true, though Koltira maintains otherwise.

Another beat, longer this time, as if he's unsure whether to keep talking. But, eventually: ]

Many of you recognized me, yet you did not ruin the past with visions of the future. For this ... I thank you.

[ And that's all. ]

Comments

video; un: redlion

[secondnature]

[The past. Keith can't help but envy someone who just experienced their past. His future haunts him in a way that doesn't seem like it can possibly be real. He lives in denial of the fact, but every time he looks in a mirror he's afraid that yellow eyes will be looking back at him.

What if he's living in that kind of past now?]

How do you talk if you're dead? [Well, it seems fair to ask, right?] Uh, that aside, if you don't have any takers, I'll take it.

[Though he can't help but wonder if the cub is the result of what happened with the bugs.]

[respired]

[ He does not recognize this person. A new recruit, perhaps.

Koltira arches an eyebrow.

Simply, dryly: ]

Magic.

[ He'd like to say he doesn't care what happens to the cub, or who takes it, but he isn't given to lying. ]

Tell me your name.

audio; un: cardmaster

[fateality]

Well, suppose we got that more or less in common. The man you met is gone an' all.

Was it all bad, charming?

[respired]

[ That's right. TF had been younger, too. Koltira wonders briefly what had changed him so much that he considered his old self as sincerely dead as Koltira's own, but it is hardly his business.

Instead, he maintains the video feed, staring into it with his burning eyes. He remembers the kiss, quick and light. Not something he will enjoy again. ]

Yes. It was.

[ He scowls. ]

Do not mock me.

video; un: G.SLQHV

[twinpeak]

[ Oh. Hm. Dipper can't help but wonder if both these topics are related somehow. ]

I don't think you can't have a pet just 'cause you're undead. [ Give yourself a little credit okay.... After a brief pause, he adds on: ] —You okay?

[respired]

[ Koltira awards himself 0 credit on anything. ]

It is not simply the fact of being undead. I did not perform well on the last mission.

[ Understatement. ]

I am fine.

[ Outright false. ]

un: sieglindesullivan / video

[grunehexe]

You remember your time displaced?

[In that case...]

Did we perhaps meet?

[respired]

Every moment, for now.

[ He pauses, frowning. His memory will begin to fray eventually--he has a difficult time holding onto continuous events, though certain images and feelings linger--but for the moment he has a crystal clear recollection of everything that happened. He stares at Sieg, the contours of her face in particular, and remembers someone. ]

... she called herself Lorelai.

voice, @TARANTO

[heavyhitter]

Oh, shit, you're back! [ here's a mood that's a total 180 from the last time they talked; friends are reappearing everywhere, it's like christmas ]

[respired]

[ Koltira stares at this response coming from his jewelry, his expression very much a 'first of all, how dare you' kind of look.

He hisses. ]

Yes. Sorry to disappoint.

1/2

[boneafide]

[...]

Video;

[boneafide]

[Nope, no frowning!! Gotta keep up the smiles!!]

I'll take care of it!! It, um. Might be better than Tim...

...

I had fun with the old you!

video | un: lavellan

[strikingtwice]

[Meallan's hesitant to say much, still conflicted about his own experiences and not certain if he's quite willing to discuss them yet. But he does feel he owes Koltira some apology, both for what happened and the disconcerting insight he has now to what the other man might be feeling.

So his message is brief, and he doesn't quite look directly at the other elf's image.]

Koltira... I'm sorry.

[respired]

[ He bristles, mostly because he doesn't know what Meallan's referring to, exactly. He remembers the madness, the deformed arm, the red crystals--but that was nothing to do with him. That was Meallan's suffering. ]

For what?

video; un: white_lotus

[pummelling]

That was pretty grim. I think you should keep the cat; might do some good for your mood.

[Petting cats relieves stress, right? Might not have the same effect on existential dread, but hey. worth a shot.]

[respired]

[ He grits his teeth. ]

My 'mood' is precisely why this animal must be removed from my care. I do not have the temperament to ensure its health. Nor its safety.

video; un: Darc

[hiddenlights]

So you're dead, huh.

[He sounds neither surprised nor concerned.]

[respired]

Undead, more precisely. Yes.

[ He notes the dispassion, but then ... ]

What of it?

video ; un: man of still

[figureitout]

Yeah... there's definitely something to be said for not ruining the past with the future, dude, I'm so here for that. Or would be, if the bugs hadn't ruined that for me, but, uh, anyway-

[ Oh my god, Stiles, stop talking?? ]

So... where did you get that cub? Find it in the woods? Do felines just flock to you like birds to a Disney princess? [ G O D this is not going any better. He could have just gone with "good to have you back", except is it, really, and also he... doesn't know the guy well enough for that.

So awkward Disney references it is. ]

[respired]

[ He recalls that Stiles had taken pains not to reveal too much about the 'other elf' in Oska, and for this he is grateful. He inclines his head to one side as Stiles keeps talking, wondering: what was so bad about the boy's future? What did he learn? It does not seem like his place to pry. ]

I wish you strength in whatever trial awaits you, Stiles.

[ He glances at Belore. ]

She was a gift. Animals typically avoid me, unless they are undead.

audio | un: JASPER

[hardnosed]

What is that.

[ asking the real important questions, taking away the real important lessons ]

[respired]

[ Jasper, striking at the heart. ]

What is -- what?

[ She can't possibly mean Belore. ]

video; un: latrodectus

[expatriates]

[ smirking, ] Looks like someone's got it out for you.

[respired]

[ She's all too right about that. ]

Such has been the case since my death.

video, un: shirogane

[racking]

[ nice bling, koltira ]

Have you found someone to take the cat?

[respired]

[ Koltira never met Shiro while his other self was here, so as far as he's concerned, this is a new recruit. A stranger.

Guardedly: ]

Some have. I have not yet decided among them.

[ it is very useful bling ]

video; un: butterfly

[digophelia]

[ She isn't about to say she thought he was very kind to her as a child. It's already awkward and painful for her. ]

If no one has came forward yet, I would like to help you, Mr. Koltira.

[respired]

Several people have offered, fortunately. Though now I do not know whom to choose.

[ He remembers tiny Alice, just like the rest. As bubbly and cheerful as he once was. It is sad, but not surprising. Time ruins everything, eventually. ]

video | username: olivia

[winces]

[ while she feels a pang of worry towards the lynx cub, she comforts herself with the knowledge that there are many among them whom she is sure would be more then willing and capable of caring for it.

and so she focuses her attention on the man himself. she lifts her chin, trying to muster all her courage. ]

Koltira. [ but the moment she says his name, she seems to lose all her nerve. ]

Th-That is... If you aren't too busy — could we talk?

[respired]

[ Koltira stares back at her, his mouth a thin line. Guilt and remorse and shame roil in the back of his mind; burn in his throat. He mutters. ]

What do you want to say, Olivia?