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[heliophilic]

This is M. I'm most likely out punching someone. Don't worry, they deserve it.

Probably.

I'll call you back later.

TEXT | VOICE | VIDEO

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[heliophilic]

[He bumps her shoulder.]

You're old enough to know a line when you hear one.

You going to play 20 questions about me and Apollo? Or are you going to actually talk about your life for a change? Finally fuck that actual husband of yours?

[killtime]

Don't even start with me. [ Dryly: ] This bitch hasn't fucked anybody in a few months at least, and she'll get cranky if you remind her.

[ She bumps his shoulder back. ]

Is that an invitation to play twenty questions about you and Apollo?

[heliophilic]

That sounds like a "you" problem.

[Really, there's no shortage of people to fuck around here.]

Like you needed or wanted an invitation.

[killtime]

[ Can't argue with that. Her romantic life — though she'd strongly decline to call it that — is definitely a blazing disaster. She has no idea what she's doing. Fucking it up, probably? ]

So. Are you together now, or what?

[ Funny that she'd even bother to ask. It's almost like she gives a small shit about M's happiness or something. ]

[heliophilic]

[Unlike the last time they discussed Apollo, M doesn't hesitate, he just nods.]

Yeah, we're together. We've both got our baggage, but we're trying our best.

[killtime]

[ Her eyebrows lift just slightly. She watches him for a long moment, almost contemplative.

After a while, with a quiet sincerity: ]

That's all you can do. [ Briefly, she gives his knee a little squeeze. ] I hope it makes you happy.

[heliophilic]

It does. [A pause.] Makes me feel guilty about it from time to time, but I refuse to let it.

We actually talked about the elephants in the room like we're real adults.

[killtime]

Like real adults, huh.

[ A little wryly, but not unkindly. Not sharp in the way she often is. If anything, despite all the shit she's constantly spouting about how being alone hurts less and attachments only ever end in grief — despite that, it still warms her. To know that someone she cares about has something good. Something that's theirs. ]

Is that what real adults do? Almost makes me feel a little fucking called out.

[heliophilic]

Fuck if I know.

[Seriously, he's just sort of winging this adult thing, and making other parts up wholesale as he goes along. It's worked for him thus far.]

You've been here for over a thousand years. If someone should have some semblance of their shit together, it's you.

That's a no to the fucking your actual husband, then.

[killtime]

I peaked on age-related wisdom before the Christ Child was born. It was all downhill from there.

[ Which is her way of saying she's been making it up this whole fucking time too, same as him.

A bit flatly, then: ]

And will someone please explain to me why the fuck everyone is so interested in whether I've fucked Rex or not? I've fucked about a dozen other people since I got here, and nobody ever asks me about them.

[heliophilic]

I'm more surprised to learn Jesus was real.

[Then again, the fact that someone named Jesus existed and was revered as a god is far more plausible than anything.]

Because you haven't put a ring on those assholes.

[killtime]

[ Pointedly: ]

Babe, I didn't put a ring on him either. Not a literal one, anyway.

[ As if to make the point stick, she holds up both her own hands — ring free. ]

Legal marriage, remember. There wasn't any point in the jewelry.

[heliophilic]

Look, where you all chose to put those rings are none of my business.

[killtime]

[ She gives him an amused little sidelong look.

Naughty, M. ]

We're a lifetime away from that kind of ring. [ Dryly: ] He's never even seen me fully naked. And I'm not sure he actually wants to.

[ Does Rex even know if he actually wants to? She's not so sure. ]

[heliophilic]

Well that would make your bedroom dealings awkward...

[Unsure if he should go with serious or joke, he decides to pick one and let Andy decide if he's made the wrong choice.]

I mean, you could leave the lights off.

[killtime]

Babe, I'm pretty sure my husband has never handled a vagina before. [ Dryly: ] Not sure I want him fumbling around in the dark down there.

[ Funny though, how she says that with a twinge of something like affection instead of frustration. Sure, it's been a while since she's gotten laid and sure, she's doing a lot of self-maintenance right now, but she doesn't... Mind it as much as a person might think.

Oddly, she seems... Almost content with things. ]

[heliophilic]

Then your husbands have something in common.

[M absolutely notices her tone. Though he may be teasing her about her and Rex's unconventional relationship, whatever makes them both happy--sex or no sex--is all right by him. It's nice to see his cynical friend something akin to content.]

[killtime]

[ Wry as ever, giving M a little sidelong glance as she leans to refill her own glass: ]

That's my type: Men who aren't physically attracted to me. Something about the idea of indefinitely unresolved sexual tension really makes me want to commit.

[heliophilic]

You're truly only attracted to your little fleshy friends.

[He takes a big sip so he can hold out his glass for her to refill as well.]

[killtime]

[ She's not a completely terrible friend — so she obligingly refills his glass too, topping him off rather generously. It's a good thing he's steady-handed.

WIth the same dryness: ]

What, like I'm not capable of a little romance?

[heliophilic]

[How kind.

With the exact same dryness:]

I don't know, have you tried in the past millenia?

[killtime]

Yeah.

[ A bit quietly: ]

I have.

[heliophilic]

[Well shit. Way to make her feel bad, asshole.

He shifts as he adds, softer:]

Something you don't want to talk about?

[killtime]

[ She doesn't answer right away. For a second, her grip tightens slightly on her glass, then she suddenly tips the whole thing back, chugging her drink like the seasoned alcoholic she is before she finally responds: ]

Just been a while, that's all.

[heliophilic]

[Slowly, hesitantly, he puts his hand on her shoulder.]

Sorry.