ettersberg | duplicity

yeah, but there's no such thing where I'm from. at least not that I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot

I'm from a whole different galaxy. it's honestly kind of strange to me that so many people here are all from the same planet

The vast majority of people in my world believe that magic isn't real, too. But I've come to understand that it doesn't exist everywhere. Perhaps yours is a galaxy without it.

[ it's somewhat strange to him that there are people from other planets, but he's learned long ago to roll with the punches. ]

maybe. if you asked me ten years ago I probably would have said it doesn't, but I've seen a lot of things since then that I didn't think were possible

so how does it work? can anyone from your world do it or do you have to have some kind of innate ability?

[ it's strange to him that so many people here only know of this one planet, so yeah, it's a new experience for all of them ]

I suppose either is possible.

It isn't innate ability. Anyone can learn, but it has to be taught.

sorry if I'm bothering you with all these questions by the way. I'm assuming that this has something to do with the critters that keep trying to bite me

It's quite all right. I believe the creaturs had something to with my writing to you in the first place as well. So I suppose if anyone ought to apologise, it's me.

hey, at least that wasn't half as embarrassing as a lot of the other messages that have been flying around

I wouldn't mind hearing the whole story if you felt like sharing it

It's not a particularly involved story. I fought in a war; the other side employed tanks, so I fought against those.

[ that isn't nearly the whole of it, but the entirety of it involves a whole lot of politics and terribleness and the truth is-- ]

It was quite possibly the worst time of my life. Well, the war and what followed it, that is.

[ he definitely hadn't meant to share that. ]

[ no one he knows from earth has mentioned a war before, though he knew it wasn't a foreign concept to them. talking to someone who had direct involvement is different, and the tone reminds him a lot of how his parents used to refer to their days in the rebellion. when the subject came up at all

he understands that now in a way he couldn't have before ]

because of how it ended?

[ at his core, nightingale is still a soldier. it's been decades, and more than a police officer, that's what he is. (he'll always be a wizard first and foremost, but that isn't a profession. not anymore.) ]

Because of everything about it. Because of how many people died, because of the blood I've seen spilled and spilled myself.

[ unseen, unheard, he drags in a heavy breath. ]

Because of the nightmares that followed, because it brought the weight of an entire institution onto my shoulders alone, because damn near every British wizard died or broke their staff after.

[ that's even more relatable than poe was expecting and it's... well, it has him exhaling a similarly heavy breath ]

We just ended a war. But the more I think about it, the more it feels like what's ahead of us is going to be an even harder fight. I don't know how we're even going to start putting the pieces back together, but we have to. I have to find a way, or we might be right back where we started in another thirty years.

[ well. apparently he hasn't quite shaken off that honesty bug either ]

[ ah. rebuilding after a war--

the very thought makes something settle heavily in nightingale's stomach, weighing him down. ]

There was no rebuilding after the ar. Not for the Folly. England, certainly, and most of the rest of the world.

[ he shakes his head. he doesn't mean to discourage. ]

I don't envy you the task. The only advise I can offer is to make sure that people have their basic needs met. [ he's always been focused on keeping the peace more than anything else. it's peter who dragged the folly into the day and age of community policing more than nightingale. ]

I know there aren't any easy answers. I saw how things fell apart last time, no matter how hard some people fought against it. Before this was about living up to what they did, now we've got to be better.

[ there's a reason he doesn't talk about this. that weight's never budged, not really, but he's been distracting himself with what little he can do here instead of worrying about all this makes it feel somewhat less overbearing ]

So what do you do now?

I think [ he hesitates. almost doesn't type it at all. maybe it's the forced honesty that brings the words out in the end; maybe it's just that he's been alone for too many decades, shouldered it all because there was no one else. ]

Whatever you do, don't do it alone if you don't have to.

I'm a police officer, when I'm not here.

I won't be.

[ he's got Finn and Rey. They've all lost a lot — too much — but they still have each other ]

Well I can understand why you're not doing that here. I hear that the SIN guards are hiring, but I'm sure you know what they're like.

I have very little interest in perpetuating their regime.

Yeah, I think that's a common sentiment around here.

From what I've heard the leadership options around here have been ranging from bad to a different kind of bad.

That has been my impression as well. Although it seems I missed rather a lot.

Yeah? You were here before?

For a number of months, yes. As a Dominant, at the time.

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