IC Inbox - Deerington

[mypartnerintime]

Max Caulfield! Leave a message after the beep... Beeeep.

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[mypartnerintime]

So he's still talking to you?

[So much for this all being over with.]

God, is he ever gonna stop?

[tagartist]

I dunno. [ Some of the anger leaves her with a sigh and she can probably almost hear her pull off her beanie to play with her hair. ] It was weird.

[ A beat as she tosses the beanie to the side and Bongo makes an indignant meow because it probably hit him. ]

But I didn't exactly want him knowing who the people I care about are.

[mypartnerintime]

I know.

[A pause on her end. She knew full well what Chloe would think of her conversation with Reaper. But she had thought she could rewind it all away regardless.]

...I'm sorry.

I just wanted to protect you.

[tagartist]

By putting yourself in - [ She cuts herself off, knowing Max knows full well she put herself in danger. What would Chloe had done if the positions were reversed?

Hell, at least Max had had the sense to do it over the network. Chloe probably would have found him and tried to punch a murderer in the face.

There's another pause, another sigh, the quiet sound of purring as Bongo came closer. ]

... I know. I get it. Just - just be careful, okay? Rewinding can't get you out of everything.

[mypartnerintime]

I will be. I promise.

[And she knows damn well by now that rewinds won't help all the time. Not in Deerington.]

You're... you're not mad?

[tagartist]

I don't know. No. It's -- ... It'd be pretty hypocritical, I guess.

[mypartnerintime]

Speaking of which. You better promise that you'll be careful, too.

[And not talk to Reaper.]

[tagartist]

Yeah. Yeah, I know.

... It's gonna sound fucked and overconfident, but I don't think he's gonna kill me again.

[mypartnerintime]

[You can practically hear the raised eyebrow over the phone.]

Really? That's... good but oddly insightful.

[tagartist]

I dunno. I'm not gonna play around with it, I promise. He said he did it for info. And I thought I was gonna get pissed and hang up on him, but it was... different.

[mypartnerintime]

Wait a second. You weren't pissed?

[tagartist]

I tried to wait until I calmed down so I wouldn't lose my shit and end up in the same place. I mean, I yelled for a little bit, and I called him an asshole, but we just kinda... talked.

I told you, it's weird.

[mypartnerintime]

Weird is an understatement.

[Unless it's all a trick on Reaper's end.]

What did you talk about? And what're you thinking about the whole thing.

[tagartist]

[ She'd thought of that. More than once. But maybe she's still stupid enough to have hope. ]

Dying. [ ... Duh. ] I mean, like - more than once. I guess he figured it out from some shit I yelled and asked me how many times it had been.

[mypartnerintime]

[She's quiet on the other end, unsure of how to react. It's a sensitive issue. And Chloe has every right to talk about it. Talking about it is supposed to help.

But with Reaper of all people?]

What did you tell him...?

[tagartist]

[ She can probably almost hear the shrug on the other end. She should probably give a verbal answer, huh?

Her voice is a little quieter when she answers. ] A complicated nine.

[mypartnerintime]

[...That's too many. Even with the two here in Deerington, and the huge alternate timelines... and...

No, but she's not going to talk about the big one. She won't.]

Chloe, that's-... You... You shouldn't count the ones that didn't actually happen.

[tagartist]

Define "didn't actually happen" for me, Max.

[mypartnerintime]

...

[She doesn't know what to say to that. It's upsetting.]

[tagartist]

That's what I thought.