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Post by Racetrack on Aug 22, 2011 21:48:18 GMT -5
His eyes widened. Whatever he'd been expecting, it wasn't that.
But still he paused to properly consider the question. "Well, yeah. Mostly in regard to loan sharks or Brooklyn turf wars. I'd really prefer none of the above, though." He eyed her with concern. "Why d'you ask?"
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Sapphy
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I'll die living just as free as my hair.
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Post by Sapphy on Aug 22, 2011 21:50:59 GMT -5
Sapphy shrugged. She reached for some bred and buttered it idly.
"If none of the above, then what would you prefer?"
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Post by Racetrack on Aug 22, 2011 21:55:21 GMT -5
He considered that, too, as his tortellini dwindled. "I feel like the right answer has to do with a big fight and going down in a blaze of glory or something, but...I'm thinking white hair and wrinkles, warm in bed, with grandkids next door who know how to palm an ace." He frowned, a distant look in his eyes as he tried to envision it. "I guess I don't...really believe it'll happen like that, though."
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Sapphy
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I'll die living just as free as my hair.
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Post by Sapphy on Aug 22, 2011 21:57:23 GMT -5
"I hope it will be," Sapphy said softly, considering the knife for one more second before putting it down and taking a bite out of her bread.
"I think I'd like to drown," she said. "I know people say it's one of the worst ways to die, but there's something intimate about being in the water when you die... Or just go to sleep and never wake up." She didn't specify at what age, however.
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Post by Racetrack on Aug 22, 2011 22:06:01 GMT -5
He put his fork down slowly and looked at the table, not her, because there was too much in his face for her to see right now. "Sapph, is something going on with you?"
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Sapphy
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I'll die living just as free as my hair.
Posts: 1,514
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Post by Sapphy on Aug 22, 2011 22:08:29 GMT -5
"Everyone has things going on, Race," she said, watching him.
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Post by Racetrack on Aug 22, 2011 22:16:08 GMT -5
"I mean, are you sad about something?" He looked up at her. "Sometimes I think you've been sad the whole time I've known you, except there are times here and there when you're not." Like a sun slipping in and out of a raincloud, except that both of them were Sapphy. He thought he knew her, and then he felt like he knew nothing about her. "I just...you can talk to me if you want. About things that aren't...happy or simple or..." He didn't even know if he was making sense.
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Sapphy
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I'll die living just as free as my hair.
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Post by Sapphy on Aug 22, 2011 22:19:47 GMT -5
A rush of breath released from Sapphy. Her eyes started to dart around the table, thinking. Yes, I'm sad. You tell him, you tell anyone, they'll be able to stop you.
She instead focused on telling him the number one thing, because she felt like she did trust him. Not like she trusted Kennedy -- who could never keep her mouth shut. Sort of like Stagey, but, more...
"It's been... Seven, eight months? I can't remember anymore, all the days run together... Since my brother's last letter. They should've called for me by now."
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Post by Racetrack on Aug 22, 2011 22:27:08 GMT -5
He nodded slowly. He'd always known her family was on her mind, and he'd wondered why she hadn't talked about them since that first night. "Mail's unreliable...letters could've been lost." And yet...seven or eight months. "Do you think something happened to them?"
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Sapphy
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I'll die living just as free as my hair.
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Post by Sapphy on Aug 22, 2011 22:38:42 GMT -5
"Yes, but I don't know what. And that's what kills me." Bad choice of words. "My brother, Kevin, he's my best friend in the entire world, Race. I love him more than anything else... We're only a year and a half apart." She smiled to herself.
"When he was born, I was so mad at my parents. I was their kid, ya know, and no one else. I hated him at first, we used to fight so much as kids... But now? We're like the same person sometimes. More than Matthew. More than my ex-friends, he has the ability to slaughter my heart."
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Post by Racetrack on Aug 22, 2011 22:51:49 GMT -5
As much pain as there was behind her words, Race felt practically faint with relief that she was saying them. Like Raven's tears, they meant that she could still express what she felt, that she wasn't completely lost in the maze of her emotions--or worse, lacking any emotions at all.
That said, he processed the words themselves, trying to imagine this boy who was so much like Sapphy. The idea was fascinating, if not a little frightening. "I've never had anyone like that," he said, though he thought of Rae for a moment. "My brother died when I was little, so I don't really know if we would've been close. But from the way you tell it, it must be hell not knowing if something happened to him. I'm really sorry, Sapph," he finished softly. "I hope you find out soon, and that everything's all right."
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Sapphy
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I'll die living just as free as my hair.
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Post by Sapphy on Aug 22, 2011 22:54:44 GMT -5
Kevin's face was hard to remember at times. As soon as she stopped talking about him, it got fuzzy again.
"Thanks," she said, smiling sadly still. "Me too."
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Post by Racetrack on Aug 22, 2011 23:07:42 GMT -5
He kept wanting to cover her hand with his, to the point where he ended up picking up his fork again and poking at the remnants of his food. It wasn't a romantic impulse, just a comforting one, but he couldn't know how she would take it. "Is there anything else?" he asked hesitantly.
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Sapphy
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I'll die living just as free as my hair.
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Post by Sapphy on Aug 22, 2011 23:09:01 GMT -5
"No," she said, knowing it was such a blatant lie.
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Post by Racetrack on Aug 22, 2011 23:22:05 GMT -5
The frustration of it all was almost too much. He couldn't slay Rae's demons for her, though she at least seemed to be doing better; he couldn't pull Tristan away from a path of destruction; and Sapphy wouldn't even tell him what was wrong.
And something was wrong, something more than her brother or anything related to Race, something he didn't know a thing about. And it scared him.
It scared him even more than what might happened if he pushed the matter, so he said, very softly, "You sure?"
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