maskormenace | Entry #004

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Entry #004 | Video

[ Here is Gansey, looking a little strange. He’s wearing a navy-blue sweater emblazoned with a raven – an Aglionby school sweater, over what appears to be ordinary clothes. His shoulders and hair are damp, like he’s been rained on, and he looks strangely pale. Despite that, he’s displaying a welcoming smile, and his hazel eyes are bright and vital with some emotion he’s holding back. ]

Apparently, I vanished yesterday.

I say apparently because it feels more like several weeks ago, but according to this – [ he holds up one of De Chima’s daily newspapers – a tabloid, headlined with speculation about the upcoming import elections ] – it’s only been a day.

A lot can happen in a day. Sometimes things that give you perspective.

Can I ask – the school year is almost over. Some of you will be graduating. I will. Which is odd, because I was here for eight months, and then I went home and it was Fall again, and Senior year was just beginning. I’m not completely sure what age I am now. I turned eighteen a couple of months ago.

[ Which, he actually never mentioned. It had seemed like there were more important things to be getting along with, and the thought of getting older in the wrong world had annoyed Gansey anyway. He’d kept quiet. Now, if he could do that over again, he thinks he’d celebrate it more – even though he’s only mentioning it now because it’s relevant to this. ]

Then I go home, and I’m seventeen again, so now I don’t even know what counts. Graduation will, though, I know that much.

So: to everyone else who’s graduating. Or even if you’re not, even if it’s just that you see change coming for you. What are your plans? Will you work, will you travel? What would you like to do, ideally? I think I’m ready for it to be summer again.

Private to: Billy Kaplan, Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch, Noah Czerny, Matthew Lynch

[ This part goes to everyone’s private inboxes. Gansey’s smile is less presidential here, but his eyes are even sharper. He seems energized, like he’s on the edge of something. His voice is trying not to sound like it. ]

Hey, everyone. I very much hope I didn’t worry you. I think I was mid-conversation with you, Billy. I’ll have to blame my rudeness on the Porter.

Listen, I’m on my way home. Could someone bring the car and pick me up? I’m getting pizza from that Italian place near the porter in De Chima. I’m absolutely famished.

I’d…like to know if anyone else vanished, too. Ronan, Adam?

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I don't think most people get any choice about that.

[ Gansey says it with a slight smile. ]

It's different for us. I was always so focused on getting home before. I didn't stop to think about how odd it would be to just lose eight months, and not even remember it. Some people have been here years. Would it just be as though that never happened?

[ Gansey points at him. That's not malicious either, though. He's not as warm as he once was with Dorian, but he's not being aggressive, either.

He's being quite polite. That may or may not be a bad sign, depending on your perspective. ]

You'd be surprised what can happen in a day. Even here.

You're still a bachelor, then?

I don't know yet. At home, I hadn't made plans.

[ This is very true, despite him being in Senior year. It hadn't been a lack of foresight; it had just been that he didn't know what time he had left, and planning for time he didn't have had seemed foolish.

Now it's different. It's still difficult to get his head around the fact that it's different, but it is. ]

I think I can't discount the time I spent here. I think that makes me eighteen, and I think I have time to make plans. My girlfriend wanted to travel. She isn't here, of course, but...

It's a possibility.

Does it really count as still being a bachelor if you're to be married in less than a week?

[ That's the answer. Yes, he technically still is a bachelor. ]

[ He gets home.

That's good.

But Adam's never really been worried about returning to Henrietta. ] You can tell me about it when you're back. And you've eaten. You look tired, Gansey. [ He's so worried. He can feel it pulsing through him. ] Don't worry, okay? Lynch'll be there soon, m'sure.

All of us together? That's a tall order. I hope we don't scare him off.

[ He says 'we', and what he actually means is 'Ronan'. Kitty probably knows that, though.

He also notes that this arrangement would make Kitty the only girl, due to their usual only girl not being here. Gansey's heart skitters at that thought.

Blue. Christ, he wishes she were here. ]

We could do that. You could come to The Meadows, if you like, we've plenty of space. And Billy can show off his wards. I got the impression he wouldn't hate that idea.

[ You look tired.

Gansey's smile flickers crookedly at that. He's sure that he does. He's had a seriously busy day. Even so, his smile flickers again at Adam's Henrietta accent.

He pushes a hand through his hair, in a vain effort to make it more manageable. He needs to get a shower. ]

It's been a long night.

I told you about Blue, you know. At home. [ His eyes glitter, more of that strange life coming into them. ] And you told me about Ronan.

At home.

Yes, it still counts. I'm assuming you're ready not to be, though. I can't actually believe so little time has passed.

[ He feels changed to the core, and yet he's here, and everything is still the same. It feels quite wrong. ]

Probably would, [ the Doctor simply answers, with a little shrug of his own. Terrifying? Yup. But also something that could definitely happen? Also yup. ]

I'm not an expert on this, but from personal experience? Back in my universe, I didn't remember what happened here at all—and I would have known if there was a memory block or anything of that nature.

Oh.

[ He pulls in a breath, a small smile threatening the edges of his mouth. He and Ronan may have fought, but that doesn't mean he doesn't still want what they have. ]

So it's not just here.

[ For both of them. ] That's good.

That's how this place works, though. [ Dorian mused, with a small little laugh. ] A year and a half ago I ported home for a week here but it was seven years back home.

[ Gansey's smile is very slight, but knowing. That's exactly why he'd told this part; it's not a spoiler for the future when it's happening in the present.

The rest might take him a while. ]

It seems not. I think you and Ronan are here to stay.

Good news?

Oh, that would be lovely, actually. I was going to offer my place, but my place really isn't so large. I expect I'll have to bring my own tea out there?

[ His ears are burning a little. ]

Yeah.

[ He didn't know if he had it in him to be this way back home. But Gansey's confirmation settles something inside of him. ]

We kind of fought. [ He delivers it with something of a smile. As if he knows it's ridiculous. As if he knows Gansey will figure it out anyway. ] But we'll be okay now.

I'm not stupid, Dick.

[He knows. He knows he's being unfair, but he can't always get a grip. He's mad but he'll calm down. He's mad because he was afraid, because this led to a fight with Parrish, because this made him realize how precarious things here could be.]

Where are you?

Did you get a rundown of what you're getting in return?

[He scowls just a little.]

Yeah, it's disorienting. Take a couple of days to sort through things. Do you remember that time you made out with Kitty?

[Billy is sort of teasing. Okay, 100% teasing.]

[Noah's satisfied with the promise. If he's going to be gone from Gansey's life, one day in the near future, he can at least go with confidence and peace that he his life wasn't traded in vain.]

That's my plan, for as long as they give me. [He sniffs, trying to keep his face steady.] I think it's almost over, back home. Even before the demon.

[Cosima wants to ask what happened to him back home, make sure he's okay, but first, a congratulations are in order.]

Graduation, huh? Congrats.

Welcome back, brother! I'm afraid that if high school were ever a reality in my life - which it was not - it would have been many, many years ago. So instead of telling you of my own plans, I would like to inquire into yours instead. What do you intend to be the next step on your journey?

Oh -- I didn't know you had a girlfriend! Congratulations!

[That's always something worth congratulation, in Jaime's opinion. Having someone to share your life with in that way is great.]

It'll be different without her, of course, but you got friends here, right? You should totally do it! I mean, what've you got to lose?

always daddoy
r u going 2 college

( hi, gansey. it's been a while.

and while the sort of time shenanigans he's referring to sound like something out of a sci-fi novel, with everything he's seen and had happen over the last few years, it doesn't seem all that odd to him. still, it's pretty specific. )

Age is just a number, anyway. ( he smiles, just a little. ) At least you'll be finished with high school. What do you want to do once it's over?

( this one, he went to college. wanted to be a lawyer. that seems like so far in the past, now, that it shouldn't even qualify. )

[ A young girl of eighteen, looking pensive as she contemplates Gansey's question. She's been thinking a lot about her future plans, yet still hasn't come up with anything concrete. ]

... I think I would like to travel. Maybe California? [ A beat. ] Big Sur.

[ Gansey's lips tick up in a smile. He'd begun to think of something similar, but... ]

That's quite specific. Why there, in particular? Though, I'm sure it's lovely, of course.

[ He would have known? That makes Gansey frown. If it hadn't been a memory block, then what could it be? ]

So, then...how do you account for the memories disappearing, as if they never happened? Presumably you regained them when you came back here, like I did.

They can't simply have been gone.

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Entry #004 | Video

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