"What's a banjo?" Glimmer asks, immediately confirming Ellie's suspicion that Glimmer has no idea what in the hell that is.
"Yeah, it was weirder for me to not feel it. Having it back, at least sort of, here in Thedas... it's better. At least it feels better?" Glimmer adds, her cheek tucked against Ellie's shoulder.
"It's like a guitar, but worse," Ellie says with a half-laugh, but quiets to listen -- and leans back into the way Glimmer holds onto her. Maybe she shouldn't be so shameless about wanting the contact, but Ellie is slowly starting to not give a fuck.
"Better. Kind of. I mean, I got tossed into the middle of a war that's not really mine and the people here can be jerks, but... there's magic. And I can actually do something instead of just. Hiding in my little apartment and going to my stupid job and... whatever," Glimmer says quietly. The only sound up here is the occasional beat of Artichoke's wings and the rush of the air around them. It's quiet, peaceful almost. Which belies the fact that they're on the way to do violence to some folks who probably deserve it.
"I still miss home, though," there it is. The cold fact that this isn't home and never will be. Glimmer's arm tightens a little around Ellie. She wants the contact as much as Ellie does. The warm comfort of a friend close at hand.
"How are you handling all this?" From what Glimmer's seen, Ellie is doing well. No fungoid creatures to worry about and Ellie's always been used to hard work as far as Glimmer knows.
"Yeah, really," Ellie sighs. Going on missions for Riftwatch is far more exciting than bouncing the same drunk assholes out of a bar every night. She ignores the twinge when she thinks of the girls she worked with. Wonders what Ruth makes of her disappearance. Hopes they're not too worried.
... wonders if Joel is still there.
Ellie's quiet for longer than a second, but settles in Glimmer's grip.
"I go back and forth," she admits. "But I like this. Not having to hide all the time. Getting to fight. I just... miss the people. Lance, and Nate, and Gene, and..."
"Yeah--yeah, me too." Glimmer replies and gives Ellie a bit of a tighter squeeze.
"I hope Lance is okay. He was one of the first people I met in New Amsterdam and he was always really nice to me. He gave me some good advice after that whole alternate reality thing." Glimmer doesn't talk about it much. Partially because of the horrid memories about her mother that it conjures. Partially because talking about what had happened between the two of them felt somehow awkward.
"And Joe. I miss Joe. He--He was always so understanding and he taught me how to play backgammon and--" Glimmer has to choke off her words. If she keeps talking about the friends they've lost, she isn't sure she can hold it together.
"They were really good people, Ellie." She presses her face tighter into the back of Ellie's cloak and if there's going to be a little damp spot there later, it's not like anyone is going to notice, right?
Ellie's heart sinks; she knows what Lance's ultimate fate was, back in his world. But she can just hope that he'd hopped worlds again, like he'd done from where he was before. It seemed too cruel to have him of all people come to an end like that.
Him and Nate.
"Hey, it's not over until it's over," Ellie says softly, though the optimism feels false even as she says it out loud. "And at least we found each other again, right?"
"Yeah. We did." Glimmer murmrus against Ellie's back.
"I'm really glad I'm not alone here, Ellie. I dunno what I would have done if it was just me again. By myself." The thought is horrid. Even if her friends from home aren't here, the idea of being here and knowing no one makes her stomach churn a little.
"You bet," she says softly, rubbing her thumb across Glimmer's knuckles. Artichoke flaps his powerful wings under them, a huge roll of muscle that Ellie lets herself move naturally with.
"But I refuse to believe you wouldn't have made more friends," she points out, this time with confidence.
"There's too many cool people here. Derrica, Holden, Adrasteia..."
"Adrasteia is nice," Glimmer says. "I've helped her out at the Apothecary. We have tea together sometimes."
"I'm just... not really good at making friends, I guess? I didn't have many when I was growing up, so it feels weird trying to make them now," she continues with a low groan.
"...Did meet some other Rifter at the Apothecary though. I bought her a potion she didn't have the coins for. She seemed nice."
"She's cool. She taught me how to ride Artichoke," Ellie points out, giving the griffon a good scratch on the base of his shoulder, where his wings meet. He fluffs up his feathers, shaking his head in pleasure. "-and I remember you telling me that. Never made sense to me."
Considering how easily Ellie got on with Glimmer from the beginning. Then again, Ellie had trouble making friends as a kid, too- most of the people she's close to have decided to keep her, whether she's been willing or not at first. Or the other way around.
Or they're random old dad-types, but Ellie doesn't want to unpack that.
"Oh yeah?" Ellie asks, to get away from the thought. And she thinks she can detect that note in Glimmer's voice. "She cute?"
"I--She--!" Glimmer splutters a little at Ellie's teasing question. If she weren't riding a griffon, Ellie would have risked a shove or maybe a slug in the shoulder for that one.
"She was tall and kinda buff, so I guess," Glimmer says with a slight touch of indignation.
"It's not like that's the first thing I was thinking about. I just wanted to help her out, that's all!" The queen perhaps protests too much.
Ellie's kind of a shameless shithead, and once she gets going, it's super hard to get her to stop.
"Was she a former commander in an evil army? Did she have sparkling blue eyes and a long blonde ponytail?"
She might be taking advantage of Glimmer's current concession to the fact that they're hundreds of feet in the air, because she's a great friend like that.
"NO!" Glimmer says, half groaning and half laughing because Ellie is being just the worst. She thonks her head down against Ellie's shoulder, rolls her eyes.
"Moons above! Shut up! She was blonde, I guess. But not like Adora blonde, like a really dark blonde. I don't know if she commanded any evil armies but I somehow doubt it. How many evil armies can there possibly be out in the multiverse, huh?" Ellie is really lucky that Glimmer doesn't just teleport her off the griffon at this point, honestly.
Ellie's laughing already, even if she gives a small oof under her breath, because Glimmer's got a hard head. She does bring it down to soft, muffled guffaws though, listening.
"Dude, so many evil armies," Ellie says, gesturing to the north, where Corypheus is no doubt marshaling up more troops. "That's like, the plot of every comic book."
Still snickering, she wraps the reins around her hand, leaning forward as Artichoke starts leveling off, then dropping down, they're nearing the edge of the mountain paths, and she can see smoke in a couple of places.
"I know, it's so weird. How come you all get to read about evil armies and I have to live it. So not fair," Glimmer quips. She has to laugh so as not to cry. She turns her eyes to the north, sighs.
"She was attractive. I wasn't really thinking about it at the time, though..." Glimmer shakes her head. Even if Ellie won't believe her, she's being truthful.
Looking on the bright side, of course. Ellie decides to lay off her for the time being, but she still grins over her shoulder, eager to keep this new mood going.
"I'd like to be bored for just a little bit at some point..." Glimmer sighs. Thankfully Ellie is giving her a break and the conversation moves on from her supposed crush on the new girl.
"A healing potion, mostly. I don't think she'd ever seen one--she said she didn't have magic where she came from--but she did have a holster for like, a gun? I remember them from New Amsterdam and uh... you know. The Aerie."
It happens just a little and then all at once -- Ellie's body stiffening inside Glimmer's grip as the pieces all suddenly slip into place.
As far as she knows, there's only one Rifter that matches that description, and the realization leaves her feeling vaguely sweaty and lightheaded, her fingertips cold. That breakfast wants to crawl up her throat.
Glimmer feels Ellie tense and senses that something must be wrong. She just can't tell what. It worries her and her grip on her friend gets a little tighter, as if she's worried Ellie might slip off Artichoke's back.
"...Um. Beginning of last month. What do they call it, uh... Solace?" She's quiet for a moment, doesn't know if she should ask, but then she does anyway.
The grip both helps and doesn't. She wishes she'd squeeze tighter. Instead she adjusts her hold on Artichoke's harness, gripping hard so her hands won't shake. Her mind's blurring at the edges with static, but she manages to block it out.
"Nothing," she says, and the word sounds really empty, but she doesn't have the presence of mind to make it sound otherwise.
"You have?" Glimmer isn't sure what's happening, but the change in Ellie's mood is apparent, even to her. She's quiet for a long moment, then murmurs, almost too soft to be heard.
That's the one. Ellie stays quiet in Glimmer's grip, staring hard at the mountains below them, concentrating on keeping her breathing even, thankful for the hold. It's a good touchstone.
She wonders if Glimmer remembers the name. Hell, she wonders if she ever told her her name. She knows the story, knows probably more details than anyone else. Is one of the few to see Ellie really break down about it.
Glimmer stays quiet. There's a question that she wants to ask, but can't quite bring herself to, at least for a moment. She's always done her best to respect Ellie's privacy, to not pry too hard into the things that Ellie wanted to keep from her. That was her prerogative, right? And yet...
"How do you know her?" The question slips out, but Glimmer has a sick feeling in her stomach that she already knows.
Ellie wets her lips, and her stomach dips again as they descend, down towards the mountain trails, the trailing smoke.
"She's from my world," she admits, as they go lower, and Ellie goes quiet again as they come to a stop, as Artichoke reaches out and takes the landing with a small, galumphing canter, and Ellie looks back over her shoulder at Glimmer's face.
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faderift2021-08-27 09:27 pm
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Ellie flashes her a grin over her shoulder, wondering if Glimmer knows what the fuck a banjo is. But hell, it makes sense.
"I've never been able to feel anything but my own powers," she says, thoughtfully. "Being able to feel the magic in the air must be fucking wild."
She pauses, reconsidering. "... but I guess it'd be weirder for you if you didn't feel it."
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"Yeah, it was weirder for me to not feel it. Having it back, at least sort of, here in Thedas... it's better. At least it feels better?" Glimmer adds, her cheek tucked against Ellie's shoulder.
"I'm still getting used to this place, honestly."
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"Better or worse than New Amsterdam?"
No matter what, she knows it's not home.
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"I still miss home, though," there it is. The cold fact that this isn't home and never will be. Glimmer's arm tightens a little around Ellie. She wants the contact as much as Ellie does. The warm comfort of a friend close at hand.
"How are you handling all this?" From what Glimmer's seen, Ellie is doing well. No fungoid creatures to worry about and Ellie's always been used to hard work as far as Glimmer knows.
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... wonders if Joel is still there.
Ellie's quiet for longer than a second, but settles in Glimmer's grip.
"I go back and forth," she admits. "But I like this. Not having to hide all the time. Getting to fight. I just... miss the people. Lance, and Nate, and Gene, and..."
Well. Glimmer knows.
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"I hope Lance is okay. He was one of the first people I met in New Amsterdam and he was always really nice to me. He gave me some good advice after that whole alternate reality thing." Glimmer doesn't talk about it much. Partially because of the horrid memories about her mother that it conjures. Partially because talking about what had happened between the two of them felt somehow awkward.
"And Joe. I miss Joe. He--He was always so understanding and he taught me how to play backgammon and--" Glimmer has to choke off her words. If she keeps talking about the friends they've lost, she isn't sure she can hold it together.
"They were really good people, Ellie." She presses her face tighter into the back of Ellie's cloak and if there's going to be a little damp spot there later, it's not like anyone is going to notice, right?
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Ellie's heart sinks; she knows what Lance's ultimate fate was, back in his world. But she can just hope that he'd hopped worlds again, like he'd done from where he was before. It seemed too cruel to have him of all people come to an end like that.
Him and Nate.
"Hey, it's not over until it's over," Ellie says softly, though the optimism feels false even as she says it out loud. "And at least we found each other again, right?"
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"I'm really glad I'm not alone here, Ellie. I dunno what I would have done if it was just me again. By myself." The thought is horrid. Even if her friends from home aren't here, the idea of being here and knowing no one makes her stomach churn a little.
"We'll get through this too, right?"
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"But I refuse to believe you wouldn't have made more friends," she points out, this time with confidence.
"There's too many cool people here. Derrica, Holden, Adrasteia..."
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"I'm just... not really good at making friends, I guess? I didn't have many when I was growing up, so it feels weird trying to make them now," she continues with a low groan.
"...Did meet some other Rifter at the Apothecary though. I bought her a potion she didn't have the coins for. She seemed nice."
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Considering how easily Ellie got on with Glimmer from the beginning. Then again, Ellie had trouble making friends as a kid, too- most of the people she's close to have decided to keep her, whether she's been willing or not at first. Or the other way around.
Or they're random old dad-types, but Ellie doesn't want to unpack that.
"Oh yeah?" Ellie asks, to get away from the thought. And she thinks she can detect that note in Glimmer's voice. "She cute?"
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"She was tall and kinda buff, so I guess," Glimmer says with a slight touch of indignation.
"It's not like that's the first thing I was thinking about. I just wanted to help her out, that's all!" The queen perhaps protests too much.
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Ellie's kind of a shameless shithead, and once she gets going, it's super hard to get her to stop.
"Was she a former commander in an evil army? Did she have sparkling blue eyes and a long blonde ponytail?"
She might be taking advantage of Glimmer's current concession to the fact that they're hundreds of feet in the air, because she's a great friend like that.
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"Moons above! Shut up! She was blonde, I guess. But not like Adora blonde, like a really dark blonde. I don't know if she commanded any evil armies but I somehow doubt it. How many evil armies can there possibly be out in the multiverse, huh?" Ellie is really lucky that Glimmer doesn't just teleport her off the griffon at this point, honestly.
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"Dude, so many evil armies," Ellie says, gesturing to the north, where Corypheus is no doubt marshaling up more troops. "That's like, the plot of every comic book."
Still snickering, she wraps the reins around her hand, leaning forward as Artichoke starts leveling off, then dropping down, they're nearing the edge of the mountain paths, and she can see smoke in a couple of places.
"She sounds pretty hot, though."
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"She was attractive. I wasn't really thinking about it at the time, though..." Glimmer shakes her head. Even if Ellie won't believe her, she's being truthful.
"I just wanted to help, honest!"
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Looking on the bright side, of course. Ellie decides to lay off her for the time being, but she still grins over her shoulder, eager to keep this new mood going.
"What kind of stuff did she need?"
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"A healing potion, mostly. I don't think she'd ever seen one--she said she didn't have magic where she came from--but she did have a holster for like, a gun? I remember them from New Amsterdam and uh... you know. The Aerie."
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As far as she knows, there's only one Rifter that matches that description, and the realization leaves her feeling vaguely sweaty and lightheaded, her fingertips cold. That breakfast wants to crawl up her throat.
Abby.
"When, um- when was this?"
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"...Um. Beginning of last month. What do they call it, uh... Solace?" She's quiet for a moment, doesn't know if she should ask, but then she does anyway.
"Why?"
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"Nothing," she says, and the word sounds really empty, but she doesn't have the presence of mind to make it sound otherwise.
"I've just- think I've met her too."
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"Her name was Abby?"
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That's the one. Ellie stays quiet in Glimmer's grip, staring hard at the mountains below them, concentrating on keeping her breathing even, thankful for the hold. It's a good touchstone.
She wonders if Glimmer remembers the name. Hell, she wonders if she ever told her her name. She knows the story, knows probably more details than anyone else. Is one of the few to see Ellie really break down about it.
Fuck, she should have told her.
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"How do you know her?" The question slips out, but Glimmer has a sick feeling in her stomach that she already knows.
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"She's from my world," she admits, as they go lower, and Ellie goes quiet again as they come to a stop, as Artichoke reaches out and takes the landing with a small, galumphing canter, and Ellie looks back over her shoulder at Glimmer's face.
"She's the one who killed Joel."
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