ƒ 004 [voice/action] open } { i can’t promise to obey you, i can’t swear i won’t betray you

[deathlessness]

[The ambient sounds of Lux Deux is prominent in the background as the feed starts up again, and for a long time it is the only sound aside from the clink of the glass being moved against the bar while Freya tries to get her words in order. She’s ascertained from her siblings at this point that she’s been gone far longer than would be considered “normal” for Wonderland – if there ever was such a thing.

She could simply announce that she’s returned and leave it at that, let those who wish to seek her out come find her, but that has never been her way, and while she doesn’t wish to talk about herself, she’s curious about something else.]

A question for you, Wonderland, though it is a rather specific one.

[Her words are slow and deliberate, likely indicating the amount she’s had to drink at this point – enough to dull the events of the last few months spent home, but not enough to make her sloppy – and the sound of her placing the glass back down on the bar can be heard before she continues.]

At this point, I’m sure we’re all aware of the … complications, involving those of us arriving from different points in the same timeline. For those of us who have come here and then learned of our future before actually going home to live through it, what do you think was worse? The speculation of what was to come, or the events themselves?

[There’s a small scrape as the glass is lifted again.]

Would you prefer to have remained ignorant, or do you feel at peace having lived the truth for yourself?

[And she’ll have the device with her to answer replies, though if you would prefer to visit her in person, she would not say no to company either. She’s probably going to be at the bar for a while.]

Comments

[agentxthirteen]

Must be a busy year.

[ She hesitates for a moment. ]

I suddenly feel like a drink. Would you mind if I dropped by?

[deathlessness]

[There's a slight smile to her tone at the offer as she speaks.]

Not at all. It's much too depressing to be drinking alone.

[agentxthirteen]

[ Sharon nods and turns off the comm. Several minutes later, she stands in the entrance to the bar; it isn't difficult to spot Freya. She sidles up beside her and lifts a finger for a beer. ]

Have you gotten a consensus on your question?

[deathlessness]

[She gives a small shrug.]

So far it seems to be that the before is better than the after. Though it also seems as though many people here come from nicer worlds than mine.

[agentxthirteen]

[ Sharon raises an eyebrow and wonders if her world is one of the nicer ones or not. It doesn't have a zombie infestation like some of the ones she's heard of, but it has its own troubles. Still, how bad is this woman's world that she thinks that so many of the other worlds are nicer than her own? Is she from one of the zombie infestation worlds or something?

Still, she's a spy, and her sense of curiosity will be her downfall. ]

What's so bad about your world that other people's worlds seem so much nicer? Or do I want to know?

[deathlessness]

[She gives a small shrug.]

My family has a lot of enemies there. Of their own making, and they don't deny that, but it can be ... exhausting.

[agentxthirteen]

[ Sharon nearly laughs at that. As the great-niece of one of the world's foremost intelligence agencies, she's familiar with the concept of a family having enemies. ] Tell me about it.

It helps when the enemies are made for the right reasons. [ She watches Freya out of the corner of her eye, wondering if Freya's familial enemies good ones to have or not.

Of course, at the end of the day, it's a matter of whether Freya sees her family as the good guys or not. Hydra saw themselves as the good guys, and from what Sharon had seen, plenty of other assholes saw themselves as heroes, too. ]

[deathlessness]

[It's a mix, really. She certainly can't say that there aren't some they truly deserve - that she truly deserves. But enemies made for the right reasons?]

True. But it's not much of a comfort when they are stronger than you are.

[agentxthirteen]

"A coward dies a thousand times before his death, the valiant only taste of death but once." [ Sharon shrugs. And yes, takes a moment to revel in still remembering that from English class years ago. ] Though I haven't died back home yet, so who's to say?

Actually... [ Her brow crinkles. ] I think Wonderland might have screwed that quote up for everyone here.

But what I'm trying to say is that you have to stand for what you believe, because the alternative is unacceptable. And if they're stronger, then you get sneaky.

[ She wrinkles her nose. She hadn't meant to get carried away. ] Although we might come from entirely different situations.

[deathlessness]

[She laughs a bit at that.]

That is entirely possible.

[She's not sure if this applies to her, in the end, because her family is usually the force that needed to be stood against, but if she believes in saving her family and keeping them together, isn't it right to do so?

Though likely not, if sacrificing a child is the answer.]

But I appreciate the insight all the same.

[agentxthirteen]

That's me. [ Sharon's tone is wry. ] Insightful.

Sharon, by the way. [ She holds up a bottle, offering to clink it against Freya's. ]

[deathlessness]

[She smirks a bit at the wryness of her comment before raising her glass and clinking it against hers in return.]

Freya. A pleasure.

[agentxthirteen]

Likewise.

[ She takes a sip of her beer. ] So. Where're you from? And please tell me you don't have zombies there, because I've had it up to here with these zombie events.

[ Up to here, Freya. Up to here. Note: You'll have to imagine how high that is, because she's too lazy to lift her hand. ]

[deathlessness]

[She considers for a moment, almost as though she's weighing her options.]

I'm from New Orleans. But we have more vampires than zombies.

[agentxthirteen]

[ Sharon half-rolls her eyes and gives Freya a harder look. ] Of course you do.

Did they arrive in New Orleans before or after Interview with the Vampire?

[deathlessness]

Oh, long before.

[She says it so casually, it's almost as though she doesn't realize that Sharon's being facetious.]

I believe my brothers and sister arrived there in the early eighteenth century.

[agentxthirteen]

Oh. Yeah. I guess that makes sense. When else would they arrive, right?

[ Sharon makes a face at her glass. Because what the fucking fuck?

And then she puts her glass down. ]

Wait.

So are you a vampire, too?

[deathlessness]

[She shakes her head.]

No, not at all. I'm a witch.

[Which is so much better, probably.]

[agentxthirteen]

[ Sharon is so, so glad she didn't take a sip of beer before she heard that. As it is, she stares at Freya for a moment. ]

Oh. A witch. Of course. I should have thought of that.

[ Seriously? A witch? She's talking to a witch? Seriously? ]

So. [ Her voice sounds almost entirely normal. ] Are you a good witch? Or a bad witch?

[deathlessness]

[She laughs again.]

Well, that tends to depend entirely on the day. But it's fair to say I have my moments of both.

[But Freya's been doing this long enough that she can tell when she's not believed.]

I take it there's not a lot of supernatural where you're from.

[agentxthirteen]

[ Moments of both. Great.

Now, Sharon is going to take a long sip of her beer. Because what does that mean? "Moments of both." ]

Not a lot, no. Sure, we've got people in flying suits, and people on super-soldier serum - kind of like steroids on steroids... And one guy who tried to recreate the super-soldier serum that ended up not working... And there's one woman I know who was experimented on until she had powers, but it's not really magic. It's all science. No... I know know. Eyes of newt.

[deathlessness]

[She smirks.]

Fair enough. Though that seems like it has quite enough to keep you entertained.

[agentxthirteen]

[ Sharon can't help but grin a little at that. ] I used to work in law enforcement. I was so entertained I almost never got any time off.

How's the witch world? Entertaining? Humdrum? [ She wants to ask if Hela has to worry about teenagers stealing her shoes and houses falling on her relatives, but she manages to keep herself in check. Barely. ]

[deathlessness]

Well, I live in New Orleans and have a two year-old niece, so the world is never completely boring.

[There's a beat as she takes another sip of her drink.]

But when my brothers enemies aren't pouring out of the woodwork on all sides, it's almost ... relaxing.

[But that's a very literal almost because there is never really a moment when that condition exists.]

[agentxthirteen]

A two-year-old niece in New Orleans? Yeah, I can imagine that's not boring. [ But then, maybe Freya's New Orleans isn't like her own. ] Is New Orleans still... criminally-inclined in your world? With the creepy touristy stuff and vampire myths? Back home, you could buy a cop for twenty dollars, pre-K. [ Yeah, yeah, she's also curious if Freya's world had a Hurricane Katrina.

Her head tilts to the side. ] Any of your brothers' enemies here?