Forty-Fifth Spool of Thread - [Voice/Action]

[so_shik]

[There's a bit of a static feed as the journal turns on, and Shiki doesn't say anything for a moment. She's busy reading over everything from the last few days, but she finally decides to talk to the village at large.]

So. Hypothetical question. ...how long is too long to wait? For people, for objects, for anything. Give me your thoughts on this.

[Filtered to Angel]

Have you figured out your answer yet?

[/Filtered]

It's fall now, isn't it? I should get back to decorating. So another question...favorite thing about Halloween? Decoration-wise, holiday-wise, anything. This is pretty important.

[Important in the sense that when she's done addressing the journal, she's busy flitting about her shop. She's been spending the last few days rearranging all of the furniture and putting up new shelves and such with Haruhi's help. And now. There are fake maple leaves all over the walls. And outside. Along with some cut-out paper pumpkins strung along the walls. Villagers are free to find her outside on the porch of All Passions staplegunning things to the building and such.]

Comments

[ action ]

[herotypical]

This is the part where it gets complicated. Souls? Vampires don't usually have them. Angel's an exception. That's why he's off the dusting-list.

[ action ]

[so_shik]

So...when are you going to tell me the story of how Angel got a soul?

[ action ]

[herotypical]

The problem is...well -- some parts of the story are his to tell. That's one of them. He got his soul a long, long time before he met me. He didn't re-lose it until after that, though.

[ action ]

[so_shik]

But I mean...you must have put it back in him. He seems kind of normal now, you know?

[ action ]

[herotypical]

A...a spell. There's a spell. Willow can do it. Has done it.

[ a frown. seconds after it had taken effect, she had rammed a sword through angel's chest. doomed him. ]

[ action ]

[so_shik]

So he can never go back to being soulless, right? [She's trying to piece all of this together from what she's heard from Angel and what Buffy's telling her, but she knows she's missing huge chunks of information.]

[ action ]

[herotypical]

Oh, he can. He -- he did, here. Last time he was here. A Shift'd do it. And the spell -- the curse -- keeping him a soul?

It can be broken.

[ action ]

[so_shik]

...scary thought. So...what's the next part of the story?

[ action ]

[herotypical]

The next part of the story is where I broke that curse. Once. Accidentally. [ and she knows, now, that the sex wasn't the problem. it was the happiness. the togetherness. the brief spark of hope or joy that came in the hours after; however, the terror is still there. enough to make even a light touch on the arm inspire guilt. ]

He terrorized us for months. He killed...there was a lot of badness. Things got so bad that even when they didn't seem that bad at all, he had to leave. We couldn't be -- if we could've, maybe things would've changed. But he left. No goodbye. We moved on.

[ action ]

[so_shik]

And then you never saw him again? Doesn't make sense.

[ action ]

[herotypical]

He only moved about two hours away. To Los Angeles. I was born there, you know. We...met up. Now and then. When we needed to. But before I showed up here, I hadn't seen him in over a year.

[ action ]

[so_shik]

He told me a little bit about LA. The things he's doing down there, but he hasn't told me much. Did you miss him before you saw him again here?

[ action ]

[herotypical]

...I think I'll always miss him. But me and him? Our time's gone.

[ action ]

[so_shik]

...and Jack knows that, right?

[ action ]

[herotypical]

He's been told. Repeatedly.

[ action ]

[so_shik]

Then what's his deal?

[ action ]

[herotypical]

...I'm thinking that his deal is he doesn't think he can compete with a first love.

[ action ]

[so_shik]

Well duh, of course he can't. [She just rolls her eyes.] That's like two different levels though. He shouldn't be trying to compare himself to a first love, what's important is that you love him now. Why do people not get that?

[ action ]

[herotypical]

I guess...[ she puffs a sigh. ] I guess people are just scared of being left alone. Of being not good enough.

[ action ]

[so_shik]

Let me ask you this. Are you scared of that? [She knows Buffy's got a good point. After all, she herself was scared of that a lot with Neku.]

[ action ]

[herotypical]

...Jack's got a pretty high opinion of me. When he realizes how wrong it is, the fall's gonna be a long one. Lots of distance to cover. So yeah. I'm worried -- but it's not about whether he's good enough.

[ action ]

[so_shik]

I think the most important part is that you're at the bottom to catch him after the fall. And knowing you, you're already planning for that. It's really just...you know, trying to figure out how long it'll be before he reaches that conclusion on his own.

[ action ]

[herotypical]

...Thanks. [ for not taking the easy route and mollycoddling her and telling her that there's no fall to be had. ]

[ action ]

[so_shik]

You're thanking me for telling you the truth? That's a new one.

[ action ]

[herotypical]

It should be the standard.