maskormenace inbox and overflow threads

[cannotrest]

I do a lot of tagging by e-mail, and e-mail commenting doesn't work once Captcha's on. So - personal overflow!

Comments

overflow threads

[cannotrest]

Did you know that if you try to e-mail comment to a post that's hit Captcha, Dreamwidth thinks you're spam?

inbox | text

[eloquentness]

Hey, Ashley. Iris from Buds n' Bulbs here. (:

Just checking to see how your bouquets went!! Everything all good?

[cannotrest]

Oh hey, I didn't know there was followup service!

The office looked nice. The client wasn't really impressed but the important thing is they didn't sue and my boss didn't reprimand me more.

But it's okay because I got out of there! I'm teaching hand to hand at a gym now - it's much more me.

(frozen comment) Impress - account deactivated March 2019

[cannotrest]

Ashley, 28	7

Voice

[dun_moch]

Ashley Williams. My name is Count Dooku. Please pardon my boldness in contacting you when we haven't spoken before, but I was hoping you had a moment to discuss the current elections.

voice

[cannotrest]

[It takes Ashley a moment to place the faintly remembered voice, but towards the end she realizes it's the guy who finished off a cut off video post two weeks later (?????) with a speech about freedom.]

It's Spectre Ashley Williams, but sure.

[After a few months, she's relatively sure that this USA does not have Count as a title, so if he's going to use a title from home, so is she.]

text;

[romancekiller]

[ shortly after this text, clarke looks up ashley on the directory to follow up on this]

hey ashley. my name is clarke and iris just contacted me and said that you needed a healer?

text

[cannotrest]

Hi Clarke, thanks for contacting me. I'm looking into that weird video that went up earlier: It doesn't seem like it was just an act and special effects, and as a technopath [oh, that's weird to type out] I've noticed some weird things happening to the communications tech in Maurtia Falls. I've hired out a meeting room in the city library to work from - would you mind coming along in case someone needs you? [She feels better saying this to a healer and potential partner on this case than to her friend:] Might be me. Using my power like this is a new to me.

inbox | text

[eloquentness]

guess who has a boyfriend now???

[cannotrest]

Oh my - you????

action » backdated to late September / early October

[eloquentness]

[ Now that the space mission had returned to Earth, Iris asks Ashley to come to her apartment for their usual Girls' Night In - cheesy Earth movies, good take-out, and even better company. This week, though, marks a celebration: one for Ashley returning to Earth alive, and another for Iris getting that fabled boyfriend.

When Ashley arrives, Iris rushes over to embrace her friend, wrapping her arms tight. ]

God, I'm so glad you're okay.

[ tbh between this tight bear hug, and the dozens of texts sent, it's hard to believe Iris wasn't worried... ]

[cannotrest]

Oof -

[Ashley hugs her back, though it's not with her usual energy. She wasn't hurt on Mars any more than the usual scrapes and bruises of her job, and she was lucky enough to not get the radiation poisoning that's struck down some of the Alke team, but the nanite sickness on the way there and back (Ashley having saved her boosters for the Phobos assault) took a lot out of her.]

Thanks. I hadn't guessed that from all your texts.

[But her voice is warm. She does genuinely appreciate the texts and he concern.]

It's good to be back - I'm just glad I didn't get radiation poisoning or anything. [Hastily:] Don't worry, I'm not a carrier or anything.

text

[knaval]

cayde, huh?

still text, I just don't like coding on my phone

[cannotrest]

What about him?

[Immediately after sending, Ashley remembers that she wasn't exactly checking for cameras when they'd left the Aegis movie night together.]

[fauxmarth]

Ashley,
Jacob is gone.
Whatever's been happening in everyone's dreams has gotten to him.
It got him from outside a dream, too.

[cannotrest]

[ fuck ]

Thanks. You didn't find him, did you? Are you okay?

And do you know if he had succession plans?

[ She misses having a nice straightforward chain of command. ]

Text But Like The Physical Kind That's On Paper Wow

[lootsnshoots]

[After the hubbub at the Base has slowed to something of a manageable pace, Ashley will find an Ace of Spades playing card resting atop a folded over piece of paper that looks like it's been torn from an old journal. The handwritten note reads as follows:]

Hey. I never know how to start these. It's been a helluva time lately, hasn't it? About that. Part of that.

I lied. Well, me-in-a-dream lied which means ... I lied. About the Dare. Sure, Hunters get it on a level other folks don't, but it's not some kinda secret that you wouldn't understand. But I'm rambling, better get to the point 'fore I run outta paper.

The Dare's an honor thing, about keeping your word, no matter the consequences. As a rule us Hunters aren't keen on Vanguard duty; we belong out in the Wild, blazin' new trails and recovering lost treasures. But it's necessary ... so that's why there's the Vanguard Dare. Whoever loses the Dare has to hang up their hat and lock themselves away in a Tower.

Well, a while back the Hunter Vanguard spot was empty on account of Kauko Swiftriver goin' MIA and his Dare never showed. So me and Andal were up late, drinkin', and we got the idea to dare each other to hunt Taniks the Scarred, as he'd just made things hell for us. Long story short? I got him. Well, I thought I got him. So Andal up and left us and went to work for the Vanguard.

But Taniks didn't stay dead, so the Dare was still in play. And ... yeah. You can figure the rest. That's the short version, anyway. But I thought it was fair for you to know.

—C6

[Cayde is conveniently not on-base, out on a long walk.]

text of the digital kind, mostly

[cannotrest]

[It's a while before Ashley's reply comes through, because first she thought it over, then she tried to find him, then she rethought her wording since she wouldn't be able to get instant feedback, then she made a valiant and terrible attempt at handwriting her reply which she had to type up because. Well.]

Hey. Sorry I didn't write back but my handwriting sucks. You can wait to read the rest of this until you get back if you want, I'm not expecting anything right away.

Yeah, it's been intense lately. That's probably why I figured that what we have means I'd have your six. Except I think I just assumed you'd know that instead of actually giving you my word, so this time it turned into me having your six whether you liked it or not.

I'm not going to pretend I get basing your chain of command on a drunken dare but I get honor, and I've worked out the rest. So I think I'm starting to get why you lied. I was expecting honesty in our relationship, at the very least when both our lives are at risk and/or I'm trying to help you, so I don't like it, but it's making more sense now. Better than me hoping I'd just had a nightmare that you disliked me enough to lie to me so you could run off on a suicide mission (not a preferred breakup method if you ever feel the need), and then waking up and realizing it was really you in there.

Thanks for clearing that up. I could never figure out how you ended up Hunter Vanguard, and that dream left me with more questions than answers.

[Something about Hunters seeing Vanguard duty as locking oneself away struck a chord with words she knows by heart. So there's also a Post-It at Cayde's work station:]

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life!

[Ashley's self deprecatory assessment of her handwriting was entirely accurate - a side effect of being from a society that mostly uses digital communication is that her handwriting's as (il)legible as a doctor's. Her best effort to improve it was to just write bigger, taking up almost the entire Post-It with three lines. As if anyone else on the Force might be chicken scratching him poetry, there's a little "AMW" squeezed into the corner. She got as far as thinking of signing it but not to the fact that she hasn't told Cayde her middle name.]

voice

[h2no]

[the clear noise of the porter hub is in the background of archie's call-- he's literally just ported back in.]

I--I'm back. Sorry, Ash. I'm so sorry, y'know I didn't do that on purpose. I... [he exhales.] I saw we lost Kanaya as well. Does Jacob know?

voice

[cannotrest]

Well. At least you weren't permanent.

[She sounds a little annoyed - she is, but trying very hard not to be, because she knows no one intentionally Ports out.]

Not yet - you can do the honors if you want.

text »

[eloquentness]

I got Ported out and I didn't even get to visit home 😡

jfc, Ash!! I thought everyone got to see home but no, I just missed a whole ten days for nothing

[ s'up, bff. ]

text

[cannotrest]

[At first, Ashley's laughing too much to send more than:] Welcome back.

[Okay, no, compose yourself, Williams. A few minutes later, she follows up.]

Maybe you just didn't have anything awful to go back to?

Tapdances into ur inbox

[fauxmarth]

...Ash?

[a wild Lucina peeks her head into the briefing room.]

Are you here?

does a shuffle triple time step

[cannotrest]

[With Jacob tied up by government meetings and trips to Washington, Ashley's picked up some of his workstreams, and as such is examining some of the mission reports in the briefing room when Lucina pops by. She looks up at her, and is in fact somewhat surprised that Lucina's here - kid's been up to a lot lately.]

Yeah, you found me. What's up?

untraceable text

[maskormods]

//

n•-e-r
l•-l-e-l
e-m-r-u
e•-n
e-b-d-a-i-e
r-s-r-o-e•-s
h-l•-l•-l-f
i-h-m

audio;

[redcosmedic]

[ Darin had referred to her as "co-commander", so that's the form of address that Knock Out is going with. ]

Commander Williams, my name is Knock Out. At Darin's behest, I'm contacting you regarding joining Aegis Force. He made a compelling case for Aegis' strength and focus.

audio

[cannotrest]

[Oh, interesting. Given they haven't actively recruited at events in a while, she's taking this as a personal recommendation, and she trusts Darin's judgment in matters like this.]

It's good to hear from you, Knock Out. Did you get everything you needed to know from Darin, or do you have any questions for me? Because if you're good with what you've heard so far, I'd love to hear about what kind of work you'd want to do on the Force.

text;

[cognitivism]

I just killed Lucina.

text

[cannotrest]

[What. The actual fuck.

[Ashley takes a few deep breaths before replying, all the better to not reply with simply "WHAT".]

She'd better have gone rogue or something similar, because if this is over some interpersonal issue, you can consider yourself fired.

[For God's sake, the whole Jedi and Imperial homeworld squabble has had a murder-free truce for over a year. Even Darin with his inhuman possession problem hasn't had to have a teammate take him out!]

My office, NOW.

Text

[lootsnshoots]

So, babe. Got some ... news. Not sure if it's good news or bad news? Kinda both but neither? But definitely big in the news department for you.

text

[cannotrest]

That's cryptic. Should I be sitting down? Is this face to face news and I should come to you?

[fauxmarth]

Hello Ashley...
I apologize for asking over a text -- I can ask more properly when I'm next scheduled, but may I request something?
Could the schedules be arranged so that Luke's and mine do not intersect? At least for the time being.

thank u for your patience!!

[cannotrest]

Hey, Lucina.

Yes, I can factor that into your scheduling, though I'd like some idea of why. Interpersonal thing, work troubles, breach of the code of conduct on either side?

[She hasn't noticed anything the rare times all three of them are in the same room... The subtext: Did he hurt you, or alternately are you, Little Miss Strong Thing, going to kick his ass?]

Do Darin and I need to take any additional steps in this?

[Hm. Awkward that Luke is currently half of their mediation team.]

Text

[rimuru]

Good evening miss Williams. My name is Rimuru Tempest. [ that sounds very western, Rimuru is proud of himself ]

I don't believe we have met before, however I was told you run a Hero organization called "Aegis". I'm curious about it, how you run it and its relations with the government.

I may have a proposal as well, but without information about Aegis, I don't think it's fair to bring it to the table just yet.

I will wait for your answers, thank you for your time. [ yes, this sounds good and professional and serious, yes he is pleased with himself. He hasn't forgotten how to be a human just yet. ]

sorry this is so late!

[cannotrest]

[Huh, this sounds interesting...]

Hello, Mr. Tempest. Yes, I'm a co-commander of Aegis Force, along with Darin Altway.

Aegis Force is a Registered hero group which protects civilian life and preserves security between imPorts and locals. We are authorized to patrol Maurtia Falls and investigate cases involving imPorts, metahumans, and/or national security. As well as patrols and investigations, we also respond to crises, mediate conflict, and offer imPort training.

We only accept Registered heroes because we're largely funded by the United States Department of Defense, as part of their national security, and we regularly report back to the government. We're somewhere between military and police, though we do take government assignments given to imPorts, cooperate with local emergency services, and encourage imPort cooperation with the government. We answer to both the government and the imPort community.

Do you need to know more before you can give me an idea of this proposal of yours?

[She's thankful the Force's previous commander set up much of this information ready for her to more or less cut and paste... As passionate as she is about the Force, she just doesn't have Darin's way with words.]

Physical Text

[lootsnshoots]

[A neatly-folded piece of paper falls out of a book the next time Ashley goes to open it. It feels as though it has laid outside in the hot sun for hours.

The warmth does not fade as you hold it in your hands; in fact, it never will.

The unexpectedly elegant handwriting is familiar. It reads:]

My Darling Ash,

If you're reading this, it means that the Traveler's called me back to the other end of reality or time or what-have-you. Got a job that needs doin', aliens that need shootin', Humanity needs savin'. I'm sure you of all people understand that.

Look, I never told you this, but, I never knew love in this life. 'Least, that's what I thought 'til I met you. So. Thank you. For that. And in case you were wonderin'—yeah, it was very mutual.

I ain't good at these things ... these good-bye things, you know? I don't do 'em. Don't like thinkin' 'bout them. So ... I won't say it. I'll see you starside, okay?

Yours,

Cayde-6

P.S. Take care of Colonel II, would you? Make sure she gets fresh parsley and clean spring water.

i/?

[cannotrest]

[Ashley knows before unfolding the paper that it's from her love. No one else she knows is able to leave the sun's warmth on something like he does. The greeting in his cursive only vindicates that instinctive knowledge.

[There's a sinking feeling in her stomach as she reads, despite the bloom of affection at the confirmation of their unspoken love being mutual. Still, she tries to reason her way out of it. How could he possibly time this? If he's no longer in this world, how would he know to leave it in this book - on a love poem?

[Something to tease him about, then. A sweet letter, but how was he going to pull this off? She gets out her phone to text him, to invite him over.

[He's not in her contact list any more. She checks it again on the mental network even though she knows they're the same system.

[She'll check again tomorrow. People Port back in all the time. She herself exPorted for three weeks and felt like she was back home for only a week. Maybe he and Sundance are just on a brief visit home.

[The Williams women are a decisive bunch. They do things when they’re ready. Not before, not after.

[And she's not ready to lose him.]