[video] once there was a way to get back homeward

[nascensibility]

[It wasn't enough, she thinks, to lose so much back home that she had to return here to another loss she was only just rebuilding. It wasn't enough to take away, it wasn't enough to really hurt, no, to quietly return to a familiar room, empty with its vast walls and dark corners. Slowly she filled it again, odds and ends of furniture and the trappings of a home to which she can never return.

She has a reputation to uphold even in spite of the circumstances, better to nurse the greatest wound out of the public eye, a garish scar across her stomach. Evelyn could swear the blade reached her heart.

The exhaustion nestles deep into her bones, a palpable chill that reminds her what she is.

What she isn't.]

I've been informed I was away for a little while, [she addresses the network, unable to muster more than a tired smile.] Perhaps someone might catch me up. I'll be-

[For a moment Evelyn appears distracted, hand gravitating toward her waist.]

I'll be in the library. I've also got several, erm, dogs that need homes. Please let me know if you're interested.



Private to Philip, 11:31 AM
I’m back. May I come and see you? It's important.
-E

Comments

[krmvgivv]

[Dipper grimaces slightly at the image of Bill. Sure, they've defeated him, both at home and when he made trouble here, but it's still probably his least favorite page. And the one he comes back to more often than he'd like. He needs to be ready. Bill will do something again, and Dipper needs to be ready to fight him.]

A lot of stuff about monsters, mostly. Their weaknesses and strengths. Conspiracies. [He flips backwards, relaxing very slightly as they move past the Bill page, bringing her to the page that reads TRUST NO ONE in such big, menacing letters.] A lot about being careful who you trust. [That's... a generous interpretation of that statement, Dipper.]

I don't know what's down there, but there have to be clues, right? Or maybe.... [He hesitates, because it seems like almost too much to hope, but people don't vanish without a trace. Maybe the Author himself will be down there. Maybe Dipper can really meet him.]

[nascensibility]

[Be careful who you trust. Evelyn could have used the same advice back in January, after New Year celebrations once the glitter had settled, once she sobered from the purported boon of a loved one's return. Be careful who you trust, when those you trust have proven to lie again and again and again.

I know I said I'd leave you alone, but please listen to me one last time.

Wearily, Evelyn turns another page in Dipper's journal.]

Perhaps the author doesn't want to be found.

[krmvgivv]

But... I need to find him!

[It's occurred to Dipper too, that no one who's this good at hiding and this paranoid wants to be found. But that's other people. If Dipper can figure it out, if Dipper can figure out who he is and where he's hiding, surely he won't be upset. Surely Dipper will have proved himself by then, surely the Author will be happy to talk to him.

All he has to do is solve the mysteries before the summer's over.]

I have so many questions!