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abrightboy

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From:

neverwaitslong

You know Will and I were brother and sister in the last breach, right?

I have a question for you.

From:

abrightboy

You were? Oh, that’s nice. He l… [Wait, she has a question.] Oh. Question. Sorry. Go ahead.

From:

neverwaitslong

You could have finished your thought. I wouldn't mind.

But I was talking to Jasper about something nice I could do for Will. To celebrate him graduating. He's a brother to both of us, from different lives. And we decided it might be good to have dinner in my cabin.

You haven't been there, but it's a tiny beach with an underwater grotto and a balcony. We can catch fish and cook them on a fire.

And he said that if Will is family now, so are you, so I should invite you. [Surprise: sister in law]

What do you think? About dinner, or about any of it?

I'm trying, with Will. Trust doesn't come easily for me, but I'm doing my best. And he's good. He checked on me last week. He treats me like I matter.

From:

abrightboy

[He’s feeling so many different things.]

Honestly? I’d love to come. That sounds amazing. But… I just… want to make sure you know that… that you don’t have to invite me just because you want to invite Will. I don’t want to… to intrude because you think there’s some sort of obligation or a package deal there.

From:

neverwaitslong

I don't feel obligated, or like you're intruding.

Will would want you there.

I'm not doing it until after Laura's death toll, so Jasper doesn't have to worry or rush back to her.

The same goes for you, you know. I was tolerated by most people in my life before the Barge. Years of care out of obligation, or because I might be useful. I don't want more of that. Will considering me his sister doesn't obligate you.

From:

abrightboy

I actually always wanted to know you better. You seem like a really... good-hearted and interesting person. I know you help new inmates a lot.

From:

neverwaitslong

See, I'm not used to that.

That's why I'm never going back to my old world again. We went once, after I graduated, to deal with unfinished business.

I help new inmates because I was helped when I was one, and also because Lark talked me into it. Very irritating of him, really.

From:

abrightboy

Yeah, he has this really annoying way of pushing people to be their best selves whether they want to be or not.

From:

neverwaitslong

He's not as bad as my warden was, but I've willingly chosen to deal with them for the rest of their lives, so I'll probably be annoyed for decades. [She sounds much more fond than annoyed right now, though.]

From:

abrightboy

Yeah, we're going to live there too. Lark gave us a beach house for Christmas and now that Will is graduated, he can come and see it.

From:

neverwaitslong

[Ulla smiles brightly.] Will hadn't mentioned.

I graduated when Warren asked me to come with him and I said yes. Infuriating as usual. He'd told me months before that he thought I needed to want something beyond revenge. But it didn't seem possible to want anything else until that was done.

He hadn't decided where yet, but I didn't care as long as it's near the ocean.

And since he's in Lark's pack, he chose L.A.

I want to travel, but I'll be there a lot of the time.

From:

abrightboy

We're going to travel, too, but that'll be our home base! [He's enthusing like a puppy now.] And will says we can build our own boat and even the engine and we can sail it!

From:

neverwaitslong

[His enthusiasm is endearing, and she laughs warmly.]

I would go sailing with you, if you like, but I'm jumping off the boat once we're away from shore.

From:

abrightboy

How fast can you swim?

From:

neverwaitslong

Mm. Considerably faster than a human, and keeping up with sailing ships is no problem, but I'm not sure how fast boats with an engine would travel.

From:

abrightboy

[His eyes go wide with delight.]

We could race!

From:

neverwaitslong

[She laughs.] You might win and have to wait for me.

[A pause, and then...] Do you want to keep me company while I work on something else I hope Will might like? Taylor is in a coma, and if I stay in her cabin much longer I'm going to remodel another room. I already did a mosaic mural in her bedroom last time.

I was about to go home to my own.

From:

abrightboy

You're working on something for Will? I'd love to help. What is it?

From:

neverwaitslong

Come and see. My cabin is the one on Level 5 with mosaics on the door. I'll meet you there. [The outside of the door is simple geometric motifs, but he'll see that she's gone way overboard inside the cabin.]

From:

abrightboy

[He's very curious, so he goes there, examining the mosaic while he waits for her.]

From:

neverwaitslong

Ulla is in human form today, in a pair of leggings and a t-shirt that says "Sting like a butterfly, float like a bee" (obviously stolen from Taylor) rather than her usual gowns, since she plans on kneeling in the sand for the next few hours.

"Hello, Malcolm." She opens the door onto an unconventional cabin. Inside it is a small beach, dark grey sand sloping down to a grotto that's usually underwater. It's like low tide now, the only water filling a couple of tide pool trenches Ulla dug to either side of the cavern entrance. Off to the side, a curved ramp leads up to a balcony.

The door and the ramp are all covered in mosaics in pearl and shell and precious stone. Ulla needed a hobby. Unlike the patterns on the outside of the door, the inside, notably, is more personal, featuring a wolf, butterflies, a barnacle goose, and a pool of water with a pair of chimera fish. That side is on full display as soon as he's through the doorway so she can shut it.

The ramp is ocean themed, from deep and dark at the base up to filtered sunlight at the top. And her balcony is definitely designed for human shaped people, filled with a lamp and a pair of comfy armchairs and Ulla's wooden harp carved with Celtic knotwork.

"The thing for Will isn't really a gift. But it's something I hope he'll appreciate."

From:

abrightboy

He’s still looking, rapt, at the mosaics around him once he’s inside,

“What is it?” he asks without looking away from them.

From:

neverwaitslong

"I'm going to scour and remake the mosaic inside the door. He knows everything on it is a symbol for someone who matters to me, and I don't really have room to add anything new. I want it done before we all have dinner here."

There is already a wolf, but, "The wolf on there now is for Warren, not Will."