Thirty-Seventh Hex - [Voice/Action]

[hisdarkmark]

[Hi Luceti. Today if you happen to be walking anywhere in the village, you might notice an overenthusiastic malamute attached to a leash. At the other end of said-leash is a rather disgruntled British wizard, more or less glaring at the dog as he's dragged along.

Stupid Arumat. Of course he had to disappear and shoulder him with the responsibility of yet another life. It was strange knowing that the man, the last original housemate, was officially gone. Not necessarily sad, though there was a hollow feeling he hadn't been able to shake off ever since he'd realized what had happened.

He didn't get much time to reflect on it though, seeing how the malamute has been working him. On their walk today, the dog's busy barking at pretty much everything, trying to pull Draco in all directions to sniff all the things.]

Gods, you're obnoxious, aren't you?

[He wraps the leash around his wrist to make it a tighter hold, using his free hand to make a grab for his journal while Edge is still pulling him along.]

I can't believe I'm asking this...

Dog training. What do any of you know of it? Time's a factor here, I'm half-tempted to toss him into the lake at this point.

[Later in the day, in fact, he will be at the lake. His lake. The South Lake. Edge the Malamute seems to have calmed down, but Draco's sitting up and a bit on edge. His wand's in front of him, and he seems to be concentrating.]

Expecto Patronum. [Nothing.] ...Expecto Patronum! [Still nothing. A frustrated sigh later and he's back to consulting Luceti as a whole. Though the journal's in his hands, he's hesitating for a moment. It'd be much easier if Hermione were still here, but she's not. That's a fact. She won't be returning anytime soon, so he'll have to make do with the resources he has.]

...second question for the lot of you. When do you reckon it's appropriate to give up on something?

Comments

[herotypical]

And then? You have to go on living. It's the hardest thing to do and it sucks and it's awful. But you have to. And, eventually, you remember how to breath.

[ she assumes draco is talking about caroline. that's about all she knows about the boy. ]

[hisdarkmark]

[Caroline is one of the things, yes, among others. However, what Buffy's saying? Seems to hit just all of the right places and apply to most of the things.]

What if living isn't the ideal choice in some cases?

[herotypical]

Then you deal with the unideal until it becomes the ideal choice. Anything else is the coward's way out.

[ she's given up her own life, yes. but never because she didn't want to live. it's complicated. ]

[hisdarkmark]

There are some things that will never be the ideal choice, Summers. I can't exactly give them up yet, but I wanted to know if there would ever be a point it would be acceptable.

[herotypical]

Sometime? Eventually? Yes. You'll feel guilty at first. After my mother passed away, I remember the first day I didn't think about it. Tore me up inside. But the first day turns into more. And then life gets normal, again. As normal as it ever gets.

[hisdarkmark]

When was the last time your life was ever normal? [A question based solely on curiosity since he knows she's the Slayer and that it means weird stuff from all sides.]

[herotypical]

Hah. Oh, let's see. I was fifteen. I was trying to convince my dad to let me get a new dress for the school dance. And I was on the cheerleading squad. That was the last time things were normal.

[hisdarkmark]

...how old are you now?

[herotypical]

Twenty-six. As of last January.

[hisdarkmark]

Even a decade later things still aren't normal. Great. Suddenly I've so much hope for my future. [Don't mind if he's grumbling to himself, or if Edge is barking at Draco.] On the other hand, your circumstances are things you can control, aren't they?

[herotypical]

[ a decade. sigh. she feels old. ]

Hey. It hasn't been all bad. It's not like every second of that decade was sucksville. [ just most of them. ]

[hisdarkmark]

Just most of them? [Because she really doesn't even have to say it for him to guess. He's pretty much got a second residence in sucksville himself.]

[herotypical]

...Just most of them.

[hisdarkmark]

Summers, mind if I ask you a personal question? [He might anyway just because, but he's learned it's at least nice to pretend to be polite.]

[herotypical]

...Go right ahead. I'll tell you if I mind after I figure out what the question is.

[hisdarkmark]

What was the worst thing you've ever faced?

[herotypical]

Mm.

Gimme a sec. Y'know, to think about that...

[hisdarkmark]

Take your time. [Just not too much. It's important to some theories he's working out.]

[ filtered; 60% ]

[herotypical]

...There were lots of things that felt like the end of the world. And I'm not talking about the real apocalypses -- those were easy. But -- take your pick:

[ she pauses to work on a filter. ]

Killing the guy I loved. Learning that I was destined to die, too. Dying. Coming back from dying. Facing off with the first, original evil.

Questioning my entire reality. But that's become kinda old hat, here. Hasn't it?

[ filtered; 60% ]

[hisdarkmark]

[All of that sounds like normal, world-saving stuff, but something strikes him and pretty much veers the conversation in a whole other direction.]

Hold on. What do you mean questioning your reality?

[ filtered; 60% ]

[herotypical]

Hallucinations. Actually, hallucinations that tried to tell me that my real life was a hallucination. Not very cozy.

[ filtered; 60% ]

[hisdarkmark]

How certain were you that they were merely hallucinations though?

[ filtered; 60% ]

[herotypical]

Not very certain at all, at first. But they passed. I made my choice.

[ filtered; 60% ]

[hisdarkmark]

So you're entirely certain you're real. One-hundred percent positive that everything you've ever lived through actually occurred. ...what were the choices between?

[ filtered; 60% ]

[herotypical]

Between insanity and madness.