[Voice]

[thegriffinofdeath]

[Ana has been mostly avoiding the network since her loss of the ambassadorial elections, partly out of embarrassment and partly out of relief. She wasn't sure she wanted to be in charge of anything, really. Still, dwelling on the election had made her think of home, her real position, with her people...and her family. Which was why this evening network post happened.]

[There might have been a glass or two of wine involved, too, if she was being honest.]

Hi. [She started, then hesitated, collecting her thoughts.]

I know that most all of us have left loved ones behind when we brought here. Friends, families...lovers. But...

[Another beat and a small breath.]

Is anyone else married? It's so strange. I've spent...mm. Longer than I'd like to admit with Vein. Good times and awful times but always...there.

I've been here nearly a year, now. A year without him or my daughter and...

[Where was she going with this? Another pause.]

Mm. I suppose I just need a distraction.

Tell me about your families. If anyone would like to, at least. Here or...there.

Comments

Permavid

[governorkang]

I have a mate, and grandchildren.

Permavoice on her end.

[thegriffinofdeath]

[The dragon man. She'd met him once before, if only briefly. Hmm.]

Grandchildren. I can't say I'll ever have those. But I'm sure you miss them.

[governorkang]

[He smiles to himself.]

Every day. The oldest are about fifteen, almost adults. It's amazing how time flies - I can still remember the day my first children hatched.

[thegriffinofdeath]

My daughter is...adopted, I suppose would be the word here, but I know what you mean. The first day I met her has been burned into my brain.

[Even after centuries.]

And she'd be so embarrassed I said that.

[She laughs softly to herself.]

private; video

[subourbon]

[While Alison makes no secret of the fact that she's married, having just been ported back means that missing Donnie and the kids is fresh again. And the last thing she wants to be is a blubbering mess on the "network", it could be bad for business. But she feels an obvious empathy for this woman.]

My husband and I have been married for eight years.

perma voice: private

[thegriffinofdeath]

A long time. [For humans, anyway. But she didn't say that part out loud!]

Are any of them here?

[subourbon]

[Alison shakes her head, her voice trembling a little even as she tries to look resolute.]

No, Donnie and the kids are back home. My siblings are here, and that helps a little. But...

[She shrugs a little, sure that the person on the end of the line can understand the feeling.]

voice;

[baetiful]

I'm curious to know, but how long does it take before you move on in this world from the marriage back home? I imagine some people hold their vows to the strictest of loyalties.

But if what happens here has no consequence on the world you know, and if you've been here long enough. [ A pause. ] A year is a very long time, after all....

[ He trails off to leave the implication of what he means. Loneliness will often triumph in the end. ]

voice;

[thegriffinofdeath]

Personally, I...can't imagine it. Not so much for how it might effect me but just...a year is a long time, but not that long.

And most people seem to be fleeting arrivals. How would you take the risk?

voice;

[baetiful]

I cannot say. I was only ever married for a very brief period of time. And unfortunately, my wife passed away. But I also believe we meet and are introduced to people we will never again get the chance to know. And among those, there may come to be those we have a connection with far deeper than our chosen partners back home.

I would never be opposed to the idea, but that is just my personal opinion.

[danceofcurse]

I'm not married.

[Not that he's at all too young where he comes from to take such vows, but a political marriage to a fallen kingdom is unheard of, and there's no one that he...loves. In that way.

Not yet.

But he has a family. A vast family, of friends and refugees, of people as like him as they are different. What a motley band they all are, but they're the reason he can keep going, even world's apart.]

My people, the citizens of Fanelia, they are my family. Merle, whom I've known since I was little and is like a sister to me. And Hitomi, who isn't even from Gaea, but is still...important. Even Allen and his knights and princess Millerna. They're all good people, they're...everything.

[A pause, and then...]

I have a brother, too. Or...I had one. The man he's become...he's not really my brother anymore. He's a traitor.

[Family is more than a little complicated for Van.]

[thegriffinofdeath]

[She can understand that feeling of leadership, that need to protect her people, but something else that he said was far more important to her.]

As someone with some...experience...in that. Do not assume your brother is lost.

[danceofcurse]

Did the person who betrayed you run away from his duty and destroy your home?

voice

[beautifullies]

I'm married. Back home, my husband's name is Jamie.

[ God, how complicated. If this woman truly needs a distraction, Claire supposes she could give it in an unbelievable tale. Maybe she will if things go that way. She isn't sure, though, about telling a complete stranger, but she's finding that in this place, time travel isn't uncommon anymore. ]

We live in Scotland, and have just traveled to his home, called Lallybroch. There are no children, not yet.

[ God, that'd be devastating, and Claire can't imagine it, being separated from both husband and child. ]

voice

[thegriffinofdeath]

Scotland...ah. Another earth. [She was getting the hang of that. Most people here were from some variety of Earth. She'd yet to find another version of Ashan. Probably for the best.]

Have you been married long?

[She would guess no, from the lack of children, but she was a little old fashioned like that...]

voice

[beautifullies]

[ She'd be right, though. ]

This time around, no, not long.

[ Claire pauses for just a moment before continuing. She has to get used to this, to her story not getting her labeled as a crazy person. Especially as this woman just confirmed she's not even from the same planet. ]

I've got quite the story for you if you'd like to hear.

voice;

[notyourfathersosborn]

I'm married.

[There's a brief pause.]

Well, technically I'm not married yet, but I will be. A friend of mine was here briefly... she told me my fiancee and I get engaged shortly after I return from here... whenever that is.

So as far as I'm concerned, I'm married.

voice;

[thegriffinofdeath]

[Well then.]

...Congratulations, I think?

[notyourfathersosborn]

Heh, sorry. That was probably longer than what you were looking for.

voice;

[marriedmedium]

I am.

[For once, Sadie sounds sad.]

It's been quite a while since I've seen my Frank. We've never spent so long apart.

voice;

[thegriffinofdeath]

It's hard to adjust around, isn't it?

How long have you been here, if you don't mind me asking.

voice;

[marriedmedium]

It's certainly been trying at times, but I try to keep a chin up. I've been here for...oh, quite a few months now.

[voice]

[sentielemental]

Yeah, being separated for that long from your spouse is never easy, especially if you can feel the time passing enough to miss them.

[voice]

[thegriffinofdeath]

Yes.

Are you married?

[voice]

[sentielemental]

I was. Some of the best years of my life.