Ximilia Inbox

[morethan084]

// d.johnson

TEXT • AUDIO • VIDEO

XIMILIA

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[malta]

Never met someone Andy couldn't convince

[ convince, threaten, are they not the same thing? ]

[morethan084]

i dont doubt that

but i think we should stay on her good side

[malta]

How better than to deliver her more people on her side?

We'll keep it on the back burner, just in case.

[morethan084]

seems like a risk for her, people might start to notice depending on how good some people are being subtle or not

[Daisy debates whether to send what she types out next, and she knows she should just contact Andy herself...]

hows andy doing?

[malta]

Antsy. I don't know if she's mentioned it but Andy is older than the concept of heaven and hell itself

[ both of them are so vague but it isn't like joe actually knows how old she is himself so his vagueness is mostly unintentional. ]

[morethan084]

yeah she has

which is still crazy to think about

[malta]

Grows easier with time

[morethan084]

and you've got way more time than i do

[malta]

[ that doesn't grow easier, knowing the people they care about will age and wither and die, that they will outlive any children they come to care for or look after.

but that is too heavy to think about in this farce of an afterlife so he refuses. ]

I don't know what you're talking about, Daisy, I'm 33

[morethan084]

plus what? a few hundred years?

[She has absolutely no idea how old he is, just that he's likely to be old.]

[malta]

Would you really like to know?

[morethan084]

[Daisy sits up straighter. You've got her attention.]

are you kidding me?

yes!

[malta]

Turned 954 this past winter

[morethan084]

holy shit

happy birthday

[malta]

Thanks, Nicky and I played skee-ball

[morethan084]

that is probably one of the most old timey things you could say

is nicky the same age as you?

[malta]

He was born three years after me but we came into our immortality together

[morethan084]

how?

[That was a dumb question.]

I mean. I know how, but, Andy said it was rare.

[malta]

Physically, we killed each other

Metaphysically, I have theories but I don't know if I can explain them succinctly via text and I don't know if these earpieces are capable of my tendency to turn letters into Dostoyevskian novels

-> audio

[morethan084]

[Daisy changes the settings over to audio instead,]

I'm not sure what a Dostoyevskian novel is, but I'm guessing it's long.

[malta]

Very long. [ joe laughs, a low, warm sound. it's silly to feel relief at hearing her voice but there is something lacking in text based communication. ]

We have theories. [ joe has theories! joe has them, nurtured like tiny baby plants, he cares for his theories the way nicky cares for his grudges, tenderly and protectively. ]

There were three immortals, before Nicky and me. The world was different then, empires rose and fell within lifetimes, wars were based on resources and territories and expansion, and the immortals born from it were warriors, real warriors. [ he hums, thoughtful. ]

Nicky and I died in the Crusades, we died killing each other. [ which is how all great romances start, right? right! ] Opposing forces, men from opposite sides of the world, yet we were born across the sea from either other. [ his laugh is more of a soft huff, shaking his head; it's hard not to believe in destiny when he and nicky grew up so near and with so much shared culture between them, of course they were meant to be. ] The world changed with the Crusades, not just war but art and and philosophy, religion, writing. Humanity has found a number of ways to hate — who you love, where you're from, the color of your skin, what god you believe in. Nicky and I, we are well suited at spotting that rhetoric.

[ there's a slight pause, heavy, because joe can't decide if he wants to bring up booker at all. he does not and it's obvious he's leaving something out, the way his clunkily moves on. ]

So that's what I think, we're born when we are needed most. Nicky says we're here to do good and the why doesn't matter. If we can do good that's reason enough to be on this Earth.

[morethan084]

[Daisy is quiet as he explains his theory, and boy is it a roller coaster. Especially emotionally. He renders her momentarily speechless.]

That's beautiful.

[In more one ways than one.]

I like that theory.

[Leaning her head against the wall, Daisy looks up at the ceiling. This entire time he's hearing her voice, it's through her mind. It's still weird for her to 'talk' like this, but she can't exactly talk out loud.]

I can't believe you guys were in the Crusades.

[malta]

[ the emphasis reminds him so much of nile that his chest aches missing her. he'd barely gotten to know her before choosing to come here, so he only has himself to blame but still he misses her. ]

Wasn't the finest hour.

[morethan084]

I'm glad you two had each other when you were going through that.

[Daisy remembers how terrifying it was to go through learning her powers, not to mention just how lonely she felt.]

[malta]

[ joe immediately thinks of what a fucking shit bag nicky was at the start... luckily that utter awfulness of his learned hate gave way to learned tolerance and joe got to witness nicky evolve into the man he is today.

could have done without the lack of bathing, feral garbage man. ]

I have always been blessed to have Nicolò by my side. [ he hesitates, the pregnant pause apparent enough since words seem to come so easily to him. ] This is the longest we have ever been parted.