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[The feed starts out of focus and when it comes back into focus, the view isn't much better. Mostly just a glass of amber liquid, but then these days Seth isn't much seen without one. Not unless a certain friend has been saddled with talking him down again. After a moment though the view shifts, showing the man himself. Midnight black suit, snowy shirt, even his tie is neat and knotted just show.

So much for predictions that after a while he'd start dressing down, though the girl that made the prediction had been shipped home so that might have something to do with it.

Anyone that knows the area though might recognize a booth at Lux. The same one his child self had occupied a few weeks earlier.]

Right so it hit me just now that I've been in this place over a year, which given I haven't stayed in a place longer than about six months since I was eight would be impressive. You know if not for the fact that this is about as mandatory as my last stint, and without the fun knowledge of a release date but with just about as many visit from my brother so that evens out.

[Even without Richie there, Seth's taking jabs at him. Not that he could fault Richie not visiting him in prison, but logic has no place in Seth's rantings.]

Whatever though. Most seem to keep a calendar here and the holidays and all. Christmas. Thanksgiving. What? Arbor Day's coming up, right? What about the rest though? Given we stay our same youthful, beautiful selves [He bites back saying Grunkles not included because dude, what even with the fez] does the rest matter but for ourselves? Do we count the years, or just the celebration of being alive to be stuck in this place? What about anniversaries and other dates from before?

Or does it all just become when you got here, and when all the people that matter left?

[Because for some barely functioning alcoholics without jobs to distract them, that's what's sticking in their heads, apparently.]

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[Boy that's a thought he's not even sure if he should take seriously, and yet...]

If that's saying I'm being a pain, go for it. I can keep my shit to myself. All good.

[Because he shrugs at her comment, trying to be dismissive.]

Yeah, I know. It's why I can talk to you about it. But again, if it's a nuisance, say so.

I'm saying that... I think being honest with me has been good for you and I think that having that with someone else would be good for you, too. I'd say that even if we were still together.

[ She wants to see him keep opening up and connecting with people, especially now that Richie is gone. ]

You're never a nuisance. A dick, yeah, but not a nuisance.

I don't feel trust with a lot of people, Chloe. Hard to be honest with people who I don't trust.

[Which was the literal story of his life.

He nearly smiles then.]

Yeah well, I told you that from the start.

So, I have this friend back home, right? Ella. She's pretty religious, so when I was going through some stuff with Lucifer and his devil thing, I actually had some of his blood and I was going to get it tested... It was a whole thing. Anyway, I asked her about God and angels and all that, and she told me that, uh... The point of faith is putting your belief in something even if you doubt it. I threw away Lucifer's blood sample because I realized that putting my faith in him was more important than one of us being right.

[ Chloe pauses. She's not sure where she was going with this, exactly, but it seemed important to bring it up. ]

You have to have faith in people, Seth. Even if it means you risk being wrong.

And I put my faith in you. A cop. The moment I met her. That paid off. My odds aren't good now.

[And while he's smirking, there isn't quite as much game in his words. That does worry him, because she's been a better friend than anyone he has ever known, and he's not sure that will ever come close to being replicated.]

I don't know if I have it in me, Chloe. I can try, and I can't say I'm not. [There were a couple of people he would share the cache he's been building, and to him that is a huge deal.] But you and I? We're different in that. You have hope, and I'm glad you do.

Yeah, I guess so.

[ She hated this. Chloe was good, but sometimes it didn't make her feel any better. For everything she was, she never thought of herself as better than anyone else, and it was frustrating to know that both Lucifer and Seth had this bizarre attitude that they somehow didn't deserve her.

She wishes, sometimes, that they could see themselves the way she does. ]

But if you're trying, that still matters.