Chapter 011 - [Voice]/[Action]

[consultmybooks]

It has been a good few days. It's been quiet and a little lonely, isolation broken only by a surprise visit from Grune. But it's been good. For once, being alone in his own head proved to be a good thing for Giles. Those few days alone on the beach had given him time to think, to process, to deal with the events of the experiment and everything he'd lived through.

The sight of Twilight's...of Angel's face twisted up in fear just before Giles delivered the killing blow has kept him warm on a few cold nights already, and he knows it won't be the last time. He feels...alive. He feels real. The sheer, exultant triumph of being able to kill his killer, coupled with the strange certainty of his soul having been read by Grell, have combined to steady Giles in a way that hasn't been possible for this long of a while in months upon months. And taking a few days to sort himself out on the beach, out of the way of the hustle and bustle and the concern of the many and sundry people that he seems to have surrounded himself with, has helped Giles realize that and comprehend it.

Even so. All good things. It's probably time to go back.

He packs up that morning and starts the walk back to the fort. There are a few tense, bad moments as Giles tries to sort out the teleporter, and several more when he does and has to sit quietly against the wall with his head in his hands, trying not to throw up, once he has sorted out the teleporter and found himself back in the barracks. But overall, a success. At least he arrived in one piece.

Giles stops off at home long enough to drop off his things. The last thing to be unpacked is the small glass jar of seashells - those that didn't wind up on a necklace of twine and given to Grune. But they were still quite nice shells, if he said so himself. No reason they should just sit in a jar.

That's when he realizes that he hasn't seen Ingrid in a while, and has she ever seen a seashell ? Has she ever been to the beach? Well, if she hadn't, they could go ahead and make a good start of it.

The first sign Giles has that something is wrong is when he checks the clinic for her. All right, he'd advised her to move out, to find a new place, but it had to be a good place to start. But his search proves fruitless, empty. Not only is there no sign of Ingrid, there's no sign of her bubble, of her equipment.

Would she really take that with her?

A filtered message to the girl breaks before Giles can so much as breath, and that's when the panic really sets in. He goes walking, then, searching the village for any sign of the girl, checking apartment buildings and the housing roster in the Welcome Center and asking after her in the shops.

It's the Item Shop where Giles finally realizes that his search is in vain. Because there, in the corner, bright and shiny and new, is a purple bicycle with a bell and a basket.

She wouldn't have left that for just anyone to take. She wouldn't have.

...she can't have.

He sounds...upset, when he finally musters up the energy to speak over the journals that afternoon. He and Ingrid had their fights, their arguments, their conflicts. There were things unsaid...things that will never now be said...that held them back. But he cared about her, he enjoyed her company, enjoyed guiding and protecting her, and the letter in his pocket shows him that the feeling was mutual.

And he will miss her.]

For those of you that knew her...

[He sighs, feeling so very tired and impossibly old.]

...Ingrid Grimmholtz has been sent home.

[He remembers the old mantra from Buffy - that they're always better back home - but he can't tell himself that for Ingrid. Not for the girl who spent her life in a bubble and had never so much as pet a kitten before arriving here.]

[Locked to Archie Kennedy and Robert Hastings]
She left letters for the both of you. I have them. I haven't read them. If you want them, I'll bring them by.
[/Locked]

[Several seconds go by.]

...and, in case it wasn't terribly obvious, I'm back. Hello. It was quite a nice vacation while it lasted. I finally see what all the fuss is about with regards to that beach.

...still. [And here he tries to regain some of that peace, some of that good feeling, that's surrounded him like a new cloak all those days at the shoreline.]

Life goes on.

...how is everyone?

[Find Giles around the village today - largely by the river, as he attempts to continue his newfound contact with Sona that has finally started going so well. He'll swing by the grocery store for fixings for dinner before he heads home, and spend most of the evening working on the boat. In another few days of good, hard work, the basic structure of the Unnamed Boat should finally be finished up.]

((ooc: Feel free to run into Giles before or after he realizes Ingrid is gone - just specify which. Location is very much flexible))

Comments

[voice]

[simplestgift]

I can...I can come by, Giles.

[A letter for him, of all people? Why?]

Re: [voice]

[consultmybooks]

If you want. [Giles is trying very much to keep the frustration out of his voice. It isn't entirely successful. Why Ingrid? Why one of the ones who probably was better off here?] I'm just outside the Item Shop.

[Voice] | Filtered 100%

[semper_cogitans]

[Robert knew. How couldn't he have known? Not when Ingrid was the person he spent so much time trying to care for in Luceti. Not when Ingrid was one of the few friends he'd made here who was a fellow scientist, who had that same mindset, that same inquisitiveness. But there wasn't any way he could have put it into words for the village.

... He'd seen some others disappear, too. Like Cameron and Kryten. But he hadn't had the connection with them that he'd forged with Ingrid. And he hadn't had those same confused, conflicted feelings for anybody else as he had for her.

... He hopes that Ingrid's home will find the cure that his world already has. But for now...]

... I... I would like them very much, Giles.

Thank you.

[It may be obvious to Giles that Robert is... still very sad. Profoundly sad, even. But maybe he's just getting used to this, because apart from a few hot tears, he doesn't really cry even if part of him is still grieving.

It may not just have really hit him yet.]

Re: [Voice] | Filtered 100%

[consultmybooks]

[Ingrid wasn't someone Giles knew very well. There wasn't enough time for that. But he wishes now that there was. And the pain of losing her isn't anything on the pain of losing Willow, or Xander, or Andrew - he cried when he lost them, because they were and are family.

But it doesn't make him regret her departure any less.]

Of course, Robert.

I'll bring it right over.

voice;

[byakkoyagirl.livejournal.com]

Every day is a vacation when you aren't home.

Re: voice;

[consultmybooks]

Precisely. And I wasn't home. I rather thought that was the definition.

action;

[folklorist]

[ And Helios is just going to be taking a nice little evening stroll when he hears the racket from behind the building. He knows who it is and what they're doing, either way he'll be coming up to watch Giles work on the boat. ] Need a hand with anything?

[ Obviously Helios has been rather slack in his duties towards this boat so the helpful gesture isn't entirely unfounded. ]

Re: action;

[consultmybooks]

[Sorry about the racket, Helios. Giles has tried, but there's only so much you can do to keep a hammer blow quiet. He looks over the side of the boat at the helpful question asked in a familiar voice.]

We might actually be ready to start applying epoxy soon.

[Voice]

[unseenspy.livejournal.com]

...You were on vacation?

[Spoken in an "are you insane" kind of tone.]

Re: [Voice]

[consultmybooks]

Is that not a good word? I was away from home for a while. I thought that it applied.

[Action]

[blessedbyfarore]

['Sup, Giles. Need some friendly company?]

[Specifically, some company that's ignoring the on-and-off drizzle and plunking himself down next to Giles at the river bank, offering him a smile.]

I've been practising that song we were working on. It sounds really good now.

[Yes, he's heard about Ingrid. Somehow, though, he can't quite bring himself to mention her and sour Giles' mood again.]

Re: [Action]

[consultmybooks]

[Giles could definitely use some friendly company. Especially some company willing to ignore the drizzle and not sour his mood. He looks up and smiles happily as Link sits down.]

I'm sure it does. And I've been keeping up with those songs you showed me. I'm happy to report that they're actually proving to be easier than I thought they'd be.

[ action ]

[refinedmaestro.livejournal.com]

[Frederic having some trouble sleeping, comes out for an even stroll and stumbles upon Giles working. His eyes peer at the boat his friend is working on as he comes towards him.] That is quite an amazing boat you have, Giles.

Re: [ action ]

[consultmybooks]

Hm? [Giles peers over the side of the boat, and then holds up the hand not currently holding the hammer. After taking a second to spit out the nails he was holding in his mouth, Giles leans over the side of the boat again.]

Do you think so? I'm quite pleased with it so far.

Placeholder tag until I get back in a few hours!

[lostinmyway]

[Grune often takes walks by the river, and so it's not too surprising that she'd be in the area. When she spots Giles up ahead, a quick smile crosses her face and her pace picks up marginally.

She's not exactly on top of things with the journals at the best of times, and so when she sits down next to him, her greeting is cheerful.] Hello, Giles! Do you like watching the river, too?

See you then <3

[consultmybooks]

[A faint "plop" in the water, as though someone dropped a skipping stone, is the only sign that Sona has taken her leave. Giles can't help but smile at that - it's progress, definite progress.

Concentration once again freed, he looks up at Grune and manages a warm smile for her.]

Very much so. I didn't know you did as well.

[the-mighty-foot.livejournal.com]

[And when the drizzel is a little less, and the sun a little more, Giles will find that he's somehow managed to become the 'engine' in a train of cats, lead by Foot and strung out by kittens.]

[consultmybooks]

[It will probably take Giles a bit to notice said train - it's not exactly something he's trained himself to look out for. But once he pauses long enough to become aware that he's picked up some followers, Giles glances over his shoulder and his eyes go wide.]

Foot?

Um, hello.

[He turns around to better look down at the cat and her litter.] Am I in your way?

voice

[risingwinds.livejournal.com]

Ingrid's gone?

[Aw, man. Ven thought of her as a friend, too.]

Re: voice

[consultmybooks]

Yes, I'm...afraid she is. I can't contact her over the journals, and there's no sign of her in the village.

...I'm sorry.

[mikangirl.livejournal.com]

[By the river, you say? One small magpie stops in her terrorising of the worm wildlife to peer up at him curiously.]

[consultmybooks]

[Giles pauses very briefly to watch the magpie at its work.

...is it the season for magpies? He's not sure - Giles has never been very good with birds.

He turns to go before realizing that some sand is still gritting up his glasses. Giles takes them off to clean them.]

[Voice]

[gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com]

The beach is really wonderful, isn't it? I hope you had fun.

[It's been a while since they talked, but there's still a distantly warm feeling for him; and it's never easy when someone else goes home. So she talks about what's pleasant.]

Re: [Voice]

[consultmybooks]

I did, actually. It was a very nice time. I...I was able to sort out a lot of things.

[It's been a while, and he's sorry about that. But there's definitely a warm feeling towards her in turn, and not just because they were family for a while.]

Most notably, it seems to be exactly what I needed to sort out my complications with Sona.

[action]

[ch-rell47.livejournal.com]

[Ch'rell has been spending a lot of time these days wandering about, cautiously exploring each hidden niche that Luceti has hidden. Today he is walking on his way home when he accidentally bumps into a man carrying groceries.]

Ah, my apologies.

[Ch'rell says quickly.]

Re: [action]

[consultmybooks]

N-No, sorry. My fault. [It takes a bit of fumbling for Giles to save the groceries, but he does before offering Ch'rell an apologetic smile.] Tend to get a bit, um, distracted.

voice;

[openfuture.livejournal.com]

A friend of yours, Giles? [he sounds... well; resigned. she imagines this wears on him, being here much longer than she has. forming bonds, not knowing when they'd be forcibly dissolved.]

I'm sorry... I'm sure she was happy she spent the time she did here with you while she had the chance.

Re: voice;

[consultmybooks]

Rem, hello.

[Resigned is probably the word. Ingrid wasn't the first person he's lost in Luceti - he received news of Xander on his first day back, Willow his first night. But that doesn't make it any easier.]

...yes, she was. I...well, I know she liked it here. There were so many things here that she never got to do back home.

[He doesn't touch on the issue of how they felt about it. Not because he doubts - the letter is enough to dispell any doubts - but just because the letter is private.]