Inbox the Second

[guylining]

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Inbox the First

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over a year later whaaaaat

[guylining]

[ Sometime after he returns, he finds this. He reads over it several times. He knows she sent it a long time ago, but... ]

i don't know if i was asleep when you sent this, or if i was already gone

i forgot about the suited me. the son i never was. things are different with my family now, but i'll never be that guy, don't worry. he was always just a bad dream

and i love you too. you said that was the last thing i said to you
i guess it was the last thing you said to me too. i just didn't wake up in time to see it
but i see it now.

thank you for it.

[cosmicmistake]

[ the message comes and, with it, the message she'd sent before; it takes her a while to absorb it all again. she remembers how she'd woken up to the stake on her nightstand, the only evidence to her that he'd gone. no one had told her, no one had let her know. she'd found out "officially" when his submissive had told the city at large by network post and she'd been angry.

a random janitor had suffered, but she'd made sure there was no evidence of her crime.

now, reading his response, her heart aches. she doesn't require breath, but she inhales deeply now, simply to have the effect of calm. there isn't anything to say that she hasn't already said, but she holds her device as thoughts come and go. finally... ]

You don't ever have to thank me for loving you, Nate. I always will.

[guylining]

you said it while you were missing me. if i'd woken up and seen that, it would've meant a lot. i'm glad i got the chance to tell you so

i was keeping the stake for you before.
tell me you got it back. i never told anyone about it, but i did enchant it to go to you if i was ever gone.

[cosmicmistake]

It's how I knew you were gone. I woke up that morning and it was on my nightstand.

Everyone was talking about it and I just knew.

[guylining]

well, thank god that worked

but it's a shitty way to find out. i didn't think of that, i was just trying to be practical
i'm sorry.
maybe there's something better i can do, if it ever happens again

[cosmicmistake]

I gave it to Methos. I don't know what he's done with it, which is a good thing.

[guylining]

he's your sub, right?

[cosmicmistake]

Yeah. Permanently.

He was here before, too. We had a thing then and now we're more than a thing.

[guylining]

you love him? it sounds like you love him

[cosmicmistake]

I do. I love him.

I've loved three people in this city and two of them are here right now. Because I love you, Nate. That won't change, ever.

[guylining]

i know

i love you, hope. you don't ever have to worry about that changing

i'm glad you have him too, and that you love him and trust him. you deserve all of that. he sounds like a special guy.

[cosmicmistake]

I think you'd like him.

I KNOW he'd like you.

[guylining]

maybe we should meet. he clearly has good taste

and if you trust him, i can too

[cosmicmistake]

I do trust him.

I told him about you. How you were the one that saved me from myself. Protected me. Loved me. Were there for me when no one else was.

He knows what you mean to me.

[guylining]

hey

you saved you. i just knew you would, because you were always there. you hadn't gone anywhere. you would've done it without me

but i'm glad you didn't have to

[cosmicmistake]

You stopped me from killing anyone else. That's not something I would have done without you and we both know it.

[ the next text is harder to send because of what it reminds her of. ]

You were the only one who didn't give up on me. You made sure I had a safe place to land when I was myself again.

The point is, you were you and you helped me.

[guylining]

[ You were the only one who didn't give up. Those words send a flare of anger through him. There were others who shouldn't have given up. She had always deserved better than they gave her. ]

you were worth holding onto. you still are. it sounds like i'm not the only one who knows that now, and i'm very glad

but for what it's worth, i'll always be a safe place to land when you need it. you won't be alone so long as i have any say.

[cosmicmistake]

[ there's so much she wants to say. so much emotion she feels when she reads his message, but instead, she screenshots it, saves it, and waits a moment to stop that rush of feeling from overwhelming her. ]

Thank you ❤️