Moiraine, it is Yusuf. Hope you are enjoying your stay in Taeum, despite the circumstances.
[ he still can't decide which half would be preferable. red is definitely not his colour though. ]
Please let me know if you're alive otherwise I will have to deal with the indignity of speaking to myself and that would be unfortunate. Not uncommon but usually I know I'm talking to myself.
Thanks. [ this man is so put upon. the worst part is how used to this nonsense he is since andy is queen of answering a week late with "oh my phone broke" because she threw it off a cliff and then a goat ate it. ]
[ not to put too fine a point on it! joe himself is faring as well as can be expected, but he lives his life by duck mechanics. calm on the surface, paddling feet underneath. ]
It seems many of our number believe they might deserve to be here, which is ridiculous. [ he makes a noise like tch. ] Some of them are practically children.
I'd agree with you about the strangeness of the concept but this idea of afterlife itself is strange to me. Though from some of the conversations I've had this idea is common in many places.
( she'd only ever before considered what she knew, what she hoped for. and that was living with the knowledge that her mission would likely be a death sentence. if something else didn't claim her first )
Though it seems the rules are strong in both our places.
[ difficult for him to imagine, though he's known plenty of people over the years who don't believe in an afterlife and at times he's wondered the same himself. death may not make a home with them, but it certainly visits enough that his own thoughts on an afterlife have changed and evolved over the years β is not immortality with nicky paradise itself?
but religion is so ever-present in so many of earth's cultures, and unlike andy he does not predate the concept, it is curious to him. ]
Ah, [ he hums, understanding as she explains. much less unfathomable than it was only moments ago. is that not what their souls do, in a fashion? reweaving their lives onti the loom not to begin again but to continue. ]
I think when NicolΓ² and I end, I'd like us to return as two fig trees whose roots are so entwined to separate them would mean certain death for both trees, trunks and limbs grown around each other. Perhaps not the same concept of rebirth but the one I've found the most comforting.
( the smile she has can be heard now in her voice, the idea of him wishing to be with someone, to return in a new life with them... she knows what having that want is like )
It sounds simple. And that would be nice, to have something simple with someone you care for.
( because that's all she wants. she won't get it in this life, not until her cause is over, the mission she began with siuan years ago, but maybe in the next life. to just be with her, simply. quietly )
In battle. [ another chuckle, this one heartier and yet slightly hollow, like he had to force the laugh. nicky should be here to share his half to the storytelling duties. ]
Not an auspicious start, we were on opposite sides of a holy war though there is nothing holy in war. His people had been taught to hate mine, but we have more in common than not. He is kind and just despite what he learned and he has spent every moment since proving himself to be the best man I know. Our 920th anniversary was this past summer.
[ the depth of joe's love is clear in only his words, fond beyond telling. though if she rethinks her opinion on the state of joe's selfishness after 920 years, he won't mind. ]
[ he doesn't know, but he can make gross assumptions based on vibes alone and from the way moiraine says everything he would say if their roles were reversed. ]
[ moiraine may be stubborn but yusuf is unswayed, he's spent over 900 years with andy after all and a man who has never lost his native accent despite centuries. ]
[ he will continue to guess at things until she asks him to stop or he gets a reasonable picture of their circumstance because he is a gossipy auntie at heart. ]
I can't imagine, truthfully. [ he has been with nicky far longer than he was yusuf alone, he is so adjusted to nicky's presence, to all his idiosyncrasies and habits, accommodating without conscious thought because they are so woven together that it feels natural to follow the name nicky with joe. he is much more unused to being alone. ]
I don't think I thought so far ahead as to accept being parted from him when I chose this. A foolish mistake, but I will blame it on my old age.
( and accepting that it would be necessary doesn't make it any easier to bear, doesn't make her miss her less or wish in moments of selfishness to just be with her and nothing else.
but it's not who either of them are )
Belief is what we have, especially here. That we'll return again.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
text β un: joe
[ he still can't decide which half would be preferable. red is definitely not his colour though. ]
Please let me know if you're alive otherwise I will have to deal with the indignity of speaking to myself and that would be unfortunate. Not uncommon but usually I know I'm talking to myself.
no subject
no subject
and then helps her figure out how to use it before he gets a-- )
I'm alive.
( the thought-to-text concept was too strange for her so get the nice sound of her voice )
I couldn't let you bear that indignity.
no subject
Thanks. [ this man is so put upon. the worst part is how used to this nonsense he is since andy is queen of answering a week late with "oh my phone broke" because she threw it off a cliff and then a goat ate it. ]
You're well?
no subject
( she didn't have much to complain about )
You're on the other side. How is it?
no subject
[ not to put too fine a point on it! joe himself is faring as well as can be expected, but he lives his life by duck mechanics. calm on the surface, paddling feet underneath. ]
It seems many of our number believe they might deserve to be here, which is ridiculous. [ he makes a noise like tch. ] Some of them are practically children.
no subject
( she'd only ever before considered what she knew, what she hoped for. and that was living with the knowledge that her mission would likely be a death sentence. if something else didn't claim her first )
Though it seems the rules are strong in both our places.
no subject
[ difficult for him to imagine, though he's known plenty of people over the years who don't believe in an afterlife and at times he's wondered the same himself. death may not make a home with them, but it certainly visits enough that his own thoughts on an afterlife have changed and evolved over the years β is not immortality with nicky paradise itself?
but religion is so ever-present in so many of earth's cultures, and unlike andy he does not predate the concept, it is curious to him. ]
no subject
( not everyone came back, not as themselves but it was a hope to hold )
no subject
I think when NicolΓ² and I end, I'd like us to return as two fig trees whose roots are so entwined to separate them would mean certain death for both trees, trunks and limbs grown around each other. Perhaps not the same concept of rebirth but the one I've found the most comforting.
no subject
It sounds simple. And that would be nice, to have something simple with someone you care for.
( because that's all she wants. she won't get it in this life, not until her cause is over, the mission she began with siuan years ago, but maybe in the next life. to just be with her, simply. quietly )
no subject
But I am selfish.
no subject
( another pause, and then a simple question )
Where did you meet?
no subject
Not an auspicious start, we were on opposite sides of a holy war though there is nothing holy in war. His people had been taught to hate mine, but we have more in common than not. He is kind and just despite what he learned and he has spent every moment since proving himself to be the best man I know. Our 920th anniversary was this past summer.
[ the depth of joe's love is clear in only his words, fond beyond telling. though if she rethinks her opinion on the state of joe's selfishness after 920 years, he won't mind. ]
no subject
It's hard to be parted from someone. I'm sorry you are.
no subject
[ he doesn't know, but he can make gross assumptions based on vibes alone and from the way moiraine says everything he would say if their roles were reversed. ]
no subject
no subject
[ moiraine may be stubborn but yusuf is unswayed, he's spent over 900 years with andy after all and a man who has never lost his native accent despite centuries. ]
no subject
but lan isn't this conversation, as much as she does also miss him )
We trained together. It was shared cirumstances that took us from our homes, to let us meet.
no subject
[ he will continue to guess at things until she asks him to stop or he gets a reasonable picture of their circumstance because he is a gossipy auntie at heart. ]
no subject
( moiraine, do better )
I've been on the road for twenty years.
no subject
Hm. You're traveling and they're not. That must be difficult, but you return sometimes?
no subject
Sometimes. ( but only alone can they ever be together, in complete silence and privacy. they lead a difficult life )
It's something we accepted when this began even if it's not simple.
no subject
I don't think I thought so far ahead as to accept being parted from him when I chose this. A foolish mistake, but I will blame it on my old age.
[ he's elderly, moiraine! ]
no subject
( and accepting that it would be necessary doesn't make it any easier to bear, doesn't make her miss her less or wish in moments of selfishness to just be with her and nothing else.
but it's not who either of them are )
Belief is what we have, especially here. That we'll return again.
(no subject)
(no subject)
π