watch_dogs / wynonna earp } { i been lost somewhere between heaven and hell

[stupetballs]

[The fog has been rolling in for weeks now. Curling up out of the trees, messing with people's minds, and while Waverly and Wynonna did go through a stretch of forgetting things, there's also things that she remembered too.

Things from somewhere else.

Things from Hell.

She doesn't know if Wynonna remembers, and she doesn't want to ask. She doesn't want to think that if for some reason she doesn't, her question is the thing that triggers the deluge of memories of the pain and suffering they spent there. So she keeps it to herself, toiling away with Jeremy and regular cases and hoping that one day, she'll be able to put it all behind them.

They get a call one day, about someone having been found in the fog. It's unsure how much of an affect it's had on him, but Jeremy manages to divert him back to Shorty's so they can get a better look at him. He doesn't have any ID, any phone, and he's definitely not one of the locals. But the moment they place him on the pool table to get a better look, Waverly almost drops the bottle of whiskey in her hand.]

Oh my god, Aiden.

Comments

[stupetballs]

Yeah.

[But also, agreed. She makes a face as she studies the invisible line between demon Aiden and normal Aiden.]

I'll have to do some research. Too bad the Iron Witch cut out of town.

[But hey, a problem to focus on. She loves having one of those.]

[the_vigilante]

[Aiden sighs and mutters an apology, feeling a little like he's being a dick]

[it's understandable maybe, though. much as he was expecting something terrible to happen when he crossed the border, there was also something like hope there. no one hopes for something bad to happen, after all, and maybe, just maybe, since everything looked like it was normal, it would be. so much for that idea, and the idea that he's safe so long as he stays put really isn't helping. he's still the monster he fears]

[he'll try and get over that. again]

[he'll at least change the subject]

Who's the Iron Witch?

[stupetballs]

The Iron Witch used to be the local white witch of Purgatory. It used to be the local blacksmith, who was very cool, but she died in a witch fight. Then her sister inherited the title and got pissed about how her sister died and decided to take it out on Wynonna, but we worked that all out and she skipped town to go build a new life for herself.

[She sighs.]

She probably wouldn't come back just because I asked.

[the_vigilante]

Gonna guess getting her in a Nudle Meet wouldn't help.

[he's going to be real confused when she tells him Nudle is Google here]

[but anyway]

[if they could at least get her on a video call, maybe they'd be able to bait her into coming back using him as the bait. shouldn't -- whatever the hell's going on with him be enough to pique her magical curiosity?]

[stupetballs]

[Yep, confusion incoming when she turns to him and frowns:]

Is that a restaurant?

[It sounds like a restaurant. Because she totally heard Nudle as "Noodle."]

[the_vigilante]

[he blinks, confused now, himself]

It's a video chat app.

[stupetballs]

[Blink ... blink ...]

Oh, like Google Meet?

[They did not talk about computers enough in Hell.]

[the_vigilante]

[ ... ]

What the Hell is Google?

[stupetballs]

It's a search engine? It's like, the search engine.

[She pauses, pulling up her phone and opening the search engine in the browser.]

When you want to find something out, here they say to Google it?

[the_vigilante]

[Aiden takes out his phone, too, almost reflexively, and if he had any doubts as to whether or not his experience in Hell was real, there's a lot of software from there still on it. it also has all of his usual toolkit on it, too, for all that he merged both devices onto one, his, shortly after arriving in Hell in the first place, but that's beside the point]

[what is the point is that he leans over her phone, briefly -- ] Huh. [ -- and then holds out his, so she can see all the Nudle software on his apps page. obviously, Nudle is his Chicago's version of Google]

Weird.

[he should have made that logical leap in the first place, but look, it's been kind of a long day]

[stupetballs]

Well, if there were ever any proof that you're definitely not from this universe.

[This would be it. But, now that they're somewhat speaking the same language:]

Let me text her and see if she's willing to talk. Unfortunately with all the angels dead, she may be the closest thing we have to an expert on why the Ghost River Triangle does what it does.

[the_vigilante]

[Aiden hums. can't hurt to try, at least]

[though, in the meantime] What're we gonna tell your sister?

[stupetballs]

I dunno.

[The "I" portion of that sentence drags out a bit, almost as though she was hoping the plan might spring to mind the longer she held it. Then she sighs.]

Maybe I should quit waiting for her to remember and just come clean about Hell.

[the_vigilante]

Think she'd buy it?

[not that there's much to buy. it's just a lot to dump on someone, even if they both know it to be true]

[stupetballs]

I think we've been through crazier things. If you're going to be sticking around a while, you'll learn that Purgatory likes to defy the rules of expectation.

[Meaning there's always crazy happening.]

She'll be worried, and she'll still give you a hard time until she gets bored. But she won't shoot you.

[the_vigilante]

Which's the important part.

[he's going to hate Wynonna just -- not knowing him. he'll live with it, though. he'll probably be a hard ass right back at her, but he'll live]

[for now, he folds his arms over his chest]

Think we should wait here for her? Or head back into town?

[and immediately come right back]

[stupetballs]

No, we shouldn't give her an opportunity to kick you through it.

[Not that she thinks Wynonna would. But still better to limit her options.]

She's going through an overprotective phase.

[the_vigilante]

[he snorts]

Phase?

[from what he knew of Wynonna, she was protective, period]

[stupetballs]

[She glances back at him and then nods because ... well, fair.]

As far as she's concerned I was recently kidnapped by the Garden and things got really messy while we were gone so she's just ... trying to hold it all together.

[the_vigilante]

Yeah.

[that's allowed with no small amount of discontent, his not-quite amusement fading at the mention of the Garden. he's assuming she means literal Garden or something close to -- that there were probably angels involved in that case and all things considered. and well]

What's the last thing you actually remember from Hell?

[does she remember how she was before she disappeared? dark, different?]

[stupetballs]

Wynonna died. After that things go a little ... hazy? Kind of?

[She feels like there was something else happening, but Hell also decided she couldn't know too much of her own future, even if she's getting some Hell memories slipped back in.]

I also remember being Geralt and Yennefer's kid at some point in Hellburbia. That was around when Nicole disappeared, I think?

[the_vigilante]

[he huffs out a humorless breath of a laugh]

Yeah, everything was kind of a clusterfuck for awhile.

[and to be fair, it all blurs together a bit for him, too, plus or minus certain very specific moments like her going dark. he's more than happy to lean into that not-quite-lie to dodge telling her about that, though]

[stupetballs]

[She nods and while part of her wants to ask ... maybe it's better for her not to know.]

I'll keep an eye out for Ray. I know Black Badge is monitoring the fog banks, so I have a friend who can keep me in the loop.

[the_vigilante]

Guy's name was Dolly or something, right?

[he remembers her and her sister mentioning him a couple of times]

[stupetballs]

Dolls. And yeah, but he actually passed away.

[Whether or not that happened while they were in Hell, she can't remember. Things get blurry.]

Current guy is named Jeremy.