la_belle_rogue | Backdated 4th wall

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[And Rogue's day is very suddenly ruined. She's so mad she could explode. But she doesn't. She squashes it down hard so that when she talks, it has to be through gritted teeth.]

Anyone who's been talkin' ta "me" today up until now, unless it was a private chat or face ta face, it wasn't me. Someone decided ta stick her nose in all over the place, and didn't even bother ta show her sorry hide ta me herself.

Ignore anythin' she told any of ya.

[She's soooo angry.]

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[ You know who is also having a very bad day?

This guy. In fact his eyes might be a little red rimmed, and the room is only lit by candles, which have burned low and kept the condo in Genosha in even darker shadow. ]

I haven't seen her.

[ It only dawns on him that it could be one person. ]

But you are a sight for sore eyes.

[Talk about the unexpected visitor. Not that she's not glad to see this particular familiar face. She is. Though the red rimmed eyes aren't something she's happy to see.]

And you're not bein' metaphorical. What's wrong?

[Leave it to Rogue to skip right past the how-do-you-dos and go straight for the parts that really matter.]

For once, no, leaving all poetry aside. Old ghosts are haunting me tonight, and it seems they have some help, which isn't quite how I wanted to spend the night. Though I don't believe your message was meant for me either, but I am glad to have found it.

[ ...He hopes she didn't expect an entirely straight answer, but it is the truth, and her concern is a balm he actually needs right now. Even without the sudden appearance of his long dead daughter, he probably would need it. ]

Ah'm sorry, sugah. This boat does have a bad habit of bein' a bit callous.

[She'd have left a while back if she hadn't been paired. That's how callous the Barge could be. But Rogue was not a quitter. Not when someone was depending on her. ]

Is there anythin' Ah can do?

I'm sure it's not more cruel than nature herself.

[ Maybe. ]

Could you explain what is going on?

[She'll let that one go, because, no, Magnus, you have no idea what's happened in this place. None whatsoever. And she won't be telling you any of it either.]

Well, the short version is that this is a pocket dimension where folks are brought ta earn a second chance at their lives. Sometimes the ride gets a little bumpy and things go haywire. Which is why you're gettin' phone calls from a lot of...unexpected folk.

[And that is a super condensed version, that leaves out a lot of details.]

[ He doesn't, but he can still taste Cassandra Nova's bombs in the air, so he's being a bit more...difficult than he normally would be. ]

I'm ignoring most of them, actually. I had been trying to sleep.

[ Anya had shaken him out of it. ]

A second chance, what do you mean?

[She hesitates, thinking of what to say, how much of it to say. And then decides maybe it'd be easier if she didn't feel like everyone was watching. So she switches it to a private filter.]

Alright so, there's two kinds of folks that are on this ship, we're classified as Wardens and Inmates. [Not really her favorite terms, but she didn't make the system. She was just working in it.] The Wardens are volunteers, and the Inmates not so much. Those folk get picked up at some point after they die. They get brought here t'try and get their shit together. Once that happens, the get t'go back. Try again.

How are you picked? Do you know? By 'going back' you mean they return, only live? What happens?

Ah'd say on both sides, it's just whoever the Admiral thinks will work best here. Don't ask me who that is. All Ah know is he's the guy who offered me the getaway and drives this crazy train.

When the Inmates graduate -that's what it's called- seems ta be they get the choice of what's next. Some go back home. Some go other places. Other worlds.

How did he offer it to you?

[ He's more grateful than he can say for this, it gives him something to focus on, something that despite the topic, he can be analytical on, rather than emotional. ]

And some stay there?

Kinda like ya'd imagine some mystical, invisible guy ta offer ya anythin'. Which is pretty vague, cuz Ah'm not sure everyone was approached the same way. Ah was just thinkin' Ah wanted away from the mess at home, just for a little while, and it just fell into mah lap.

Yeah, some come back ta pay it forward, and ta get somethin' they need.

(ooc: Sorry for vague answer, this was not something I'd ever thought about before XD )

Is he trustworthy?

(OOC: It's cool! )

Seems ta be. Just a real bad driver.

My daughter is there.

[ Hence his crying earlier. ]

Anya.

[She wondered, but she knew better than to bring it up first. To be fair, she also only sort of knew of Anya by reputation on the Barge. They hadn't really crossed paths yet.]

How ya doin' with that?

[ He nods. ]

I don't know. I don't know.

[ Be he blinks hard. ]

Realistically, I know other worlds, she had to have survived somewhere. But I-I never allowed myself to think on it. She looks so much like her mother, I always thought she would.

[The impulse to hug him is so strong in that moment, to offer him the comfort that he wouldn't ask for otherwise. But she's beyond too far away. It hurts.]

Is there anythin' Ah can do?

[ He'd take it right now - you never really 'get over' a child's death, and Anya has always weighed so heavily on his mind. ]

Nothing that is fair of me to ask, or my place.

[ Because he wants to ask her to look after his child, but he knows that would be meddling when he doesn't have the right, even if it's what he wants to do, and would place a burden on Rogue that he shouldn't. ]

I haven't seen her in over fifty years Rogue. And the last time I did, she was so small. I don't want to push too hard, but I don't want to lose her again either, even if she isn't mine, she is. I don't know what to do.

[She's not much use here. She can't tell him what he should do. Because telling him to come here would be presumptuous. And to be honest, the Barge is an unforgiving place to every one of its passengers. The Warden's are just lucky enough to have a choice in leaving if it comes to it.

So, she'll offer what little she could do.]

Ask anyway.

Try to watch over her?

[ He laughs, but it's not happy. ]

I don't have any right to ask, for her or of you. She's my firstborn, I honestly never believed I'd see her again.

[ He also never spoke of her. ]

Ah'll do what Ah can.

[Which was saying a lot, and yet not. Because he'd asked, she'd keep an eye on Anya, jump in places if she needed it, and Rogue could help. But they didn't know each other either, so it would make things strange. Still, it wouldn't be the first time she was asked to be the protector of someone she barely knew. She'd done pretty okay by Hope.]

Promise.

Thank you.

[ It's breathed out, grateful and warm and shaky all at once. ]

You're older than I was when she was born, you know.

Ah don't know if Ah should say thanks or be offended by that.

[She's teasing, very very gently teasing. Trying to give him a little something lighter than what he's dealing with.]

[ That gets a small, but genuine laugh out of him. ]

We weren't old enough. we were barely more than children ourselves.

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