2.01 ❄ ( VIDEO; backdated to Mar 3)

[wintershepherd]

((OOC: Please check out Jack's permissions post for whether your characters will be able to see/hear him before responding!))

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[ Here's a face you haven't seen on the consoles in a while, Keeliai. In fact, it's been about 15 months, and he's looking (if you can see him) plain gobsmacked. ]

Uh. Please tell me someone's been messing with the date feature on the consoles.

[ And then under his breath: ]

Or I'm in major trouble.

Comments

video

[backwordscompatible]

[It was by chance that Zatanna found herself sitting at the console, only half paying attention as she was focused on other conversations. Until a voice rang out that she...had not been expecting. One she hadn't heard in more than a year, and yet was as familiar to her as if they'd only spoken yesterday.]

[There'd been a glass in her hand. She dropped it in shock, and barely registered the sound of shattering, or the liquid now spilling around her feet.]

[Mental note--clean that up. Later.]

[She took minutes longer than necessary before responding, wanting to appear as composed and un-teary eyed as possible. She even tried to feign a look of annoyance, but the slight shimmer in her gaze and even slighter quivver in her voice completely gave her away.]

That's one way of putting it, mister.

Re: video

[wintershepherd]

[ Yeah, there was no way that faked annoyance was going to pass muster on a video feed. It also completely deflated his small hope that the date was a glitch. ]

Zatanna...

video

[backwordscompatible]

[She wasn't mad.]

[If there was no other consolation to be offered upon realization of the situation, it was the fact that--poorly feigned annoyance aside--she wasn't mad at him. Not for disappearing. Not for coming back. How could she be? They'd already had so much time together than most in Keelai, and she'd made a point of emphasizing living each day in the moment. No regrets. Except for the moment she woke up and he wasn't there anymore...]

[She'd told herself she'd be ready for whenever that day happened. It still blindsided her.]

[But now, some 15 months later, when the thought of him only now brought about the smallest twinge in her heart...here he was, back again. And he remembered. The former was improbably enough on its own, but the latter...was such a rarity, it felt almost like another trick being played by the Dreaming World. In combination with the recent influx, and...]

[She swallowed once, eyes averting as she braced herself for the question she really couldn't avoid asking. Not if she didn't want to prepare for the worst. Again.]

Do you...have your soul gem?

[Because if not, that meant his reappearance was just a fluke. Another temporary happiness that would all too soon be taken away.]

video

[unetrustworthy]

[It was rare for Midii to look so youthfully wide-eyed with a mixture of surprise and happiness...but, then, Jack had always been one of the few in Keelai to elicit such feelings from her. And his sudden reappearance was no exception.]

You're back!

[He looked exactly the same. Of course. So did she, with the subtle indicators of ongoing maturity in her face and features. Without taking into account his added 300+ years...she was close to his age now.]

...why would you be in trouble?

Re: video

[wintershepherd]

Proooobably because I just skipped out on the last 15 months?

[ Then he does a double take at her appearance. ]

Whoa.

video

[unetrustworthy]

[Well, that's not your fault, she'd nearly replied, until she was taken aback by his double take. And looked to him in mild confusion.]

What?

[Video]

[schrodingersghost]

[Huh. A guy with white hair who didn't look too much older than him. Outside of his mirror, Danny didn't see that too often. ]

Haven't heard anyone talking about it. WHy?

Re: [Video]

[wintershepherd]

[ Huh, here's a new face. ]

Because the last thing I remember was it being the end of November.

Not this past November, the one before that.

Re: [Video]

[schrodingersghost]

Wow. That, uh, it both sucks and is really weird.

Video;

[purrns]

Sorry, I'm pretty sure it's working fine.

[He hasn't seen this face before. ]

Any trouble I can help out with?

Re: Video;

[wintershepherd]

[ A sigh and a mutter of what definitely sounds like something in Russian. ]

Yeah, I was afraid of that.

Not unless you can fix the Dreaming.

... speaking of, you're another new arrival? Or... well, new-ish?

[purrns]

[Russian, huh. Alas, he recognises it for what it is, but speaks none of it to interpret it. His life is suffering. ]

Sorry, that one's beyond me.

[His smile softens a little. ]

Depends on what you mean by new-ish. I came here a year ago.

Video;

[purered]

Ah! I believe we met when I first arrived. Jack, wasn't it?

Re: Video;

[wintershepherd]

[ He perks up. ]

And you're Klaus, right?

[ He wasn't likely to forget that one, Klaus was pretty distinct. ]

Are you still doing the gardening thing?

Re: Video;

[purered]

I am, indeed, Klaus. It's good to see you again.

And Keeliai presents many opportunities for gardening, so I've certainly been keeping at it. There's a greenhouse at the hotel now.

video;

[shroudofgray]

Why are you in trouble? Is something wrong?

Re: video;

[wintershepherd]

I think I took a fifteen-month nap...

Re: video;

[shroudofgray]

That is a long time to sleep.

Did you see good dreams?

Video

[commandandcontrol]

Hello!

People acted so strange when I came back that I started to wonder if I was some kind of freak, honestly.

[ She doesn't think she actually met Jack when he was here, but she'd heard about him from Zatanna. ]

Re: Video

[wintershepherd]

Nah, the Dreaming just likes to mess stuff up, I think. At least, it's been doing it for as long as I've been here.

Or, uh, was here before. I'm not sure how that's going to work now.

[commandandcontrol]

Presuming you've been gone for about the same span as I was, a lot has changed.

audio

[lostundercover]

[Costigan can't see Jack. Between Zatanna's book, his notes, and his fuzzy memories, he has only a vague sense of why that is, that it's something to do with not remembering well enough. Which is why he chooses to switch to audio, hoping to avoid the awkward topic. For some reason, he knows it means a lot to the kid.]

You're Jack, right? My, uh- my memory's a little fuzzy. But I knew you.

Re: audio

[wintershepherd]

[ It's not hard to hear on the audio that Jack's perked right up at Costigan's voice. ]

Hey! You're back!

[ a beat ]

The Dreaming messed with your memory? Yeah, I'm Jack.

[ he assumes it was the Dreaming, anyway. the past tense 'knew' is a bit of a sting, but there are more important things to sort first ]

audio

[lostundercover]

No, it's- I left and came back. That's what they tell me. My memory's coming back, but it's slow. It takes jogging.

[He sounds unsurprisingly displeased by that fact. After a pause, he speaks again.]

I found some old notes I wrote. They say I trusted you.

video;

[wrathfulkhan]

Jack!

[Gene is very pleasantly surprised. People returning is always nice.]

It's good to see you.