WHO: Dante and Others
WHAT: Catch-All for Dante for end of February to end of March
WHERE: Various locations
WHEN: Last couple weeks of February to end of March
WARNINGS: Will list in subjects as they happen
[No memes, but feel free to toss in a starter if we've talked about threading!] 
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[A beat of hesitation. But they suppose they were told they should let someone know.]
< ...Looking into some of the surgeries LILITH provides. >
[A shrug.]
< I've got the money for it so I might as well, right? >
no subject
[ she sits up with a yawn. at least she isn't wincing so much lately whenever she does that. ]
Normally I'd ask if you'd be all right with surgery without anesthesia, but... That's par for the course of your abilities, isn't it.
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[They nod to her second comment.]
< Yeah, there's no way it'll be the worst thing I've felt. It's the one that'll be, um, making up for that, so there's probably something to be said for taking care of all the pain up front. >
[A handful of ticks approximate a thoughtful hum as a hand drifts to where their chin would be.]
< I wonder if the nanobots would be a good idea too... >
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[ ah, the good ol' days. ]
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[They always worried it would go long enough that they'd end up having to turn the clock to fix someone's hearing, but it never happened. The throat of the person who'd been screaming on the other hand...
They wonder where that Abnormality ended up.]
< Sure was useful, though. Maybe I will go through with it. >
no subject
[ a bout of silence follows after that, as ishmael closes her eyes. ]
Dante... what would you do if I actually did die back there? Be honest.
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It weighs on Dante's chest and smothers their voice, an image easy to imagine for all the times they've had to witness it. An image that doesn't reverse--that refuses to reverse, the hands of their clock spinning wildly backward in an endless, fruitless cycle.]
< ...I don't know. >
[Yuri, devoured by the Golden Apple. Effie, impaled, killed to spare him a more painful end. All those foes they could find a shred of sympathy for but couldn't save, circumstance spurring the order to kill. All dead now. Gone. That's just how it is. They accepted that long ago.
But always, always they've been able to save twelve people. Only twelve. Through their own suffering, bracing themselves, learning to stand from what would have once dragged them to their hands and knees.
Always.
Always.
Until now.
How can they explain the unthinkable? The unknowable? The thought that one day the body on the other side of that door only they can see might be nothing but a corpse?
All they can do is repeat themselves, slumping forward with their elbows on their knees.]
< I don't know. >
cw suicidal ideation
then, she speaks slowly. ]
I was serious back then, you know. Inside the Whale. Once I finally kill Ahab with my own hands, I knew I wasn't going to live for long, too. After all here was I gonna go after fulfilling my life's purpose?
[ ... ]
But you stopped me. All of you stopped me. You all made me realize that there's more to life than getting revenge for something that was out of my control. Being in this world helped in reinforcing that, too.
Which is why... [ her hand blindly searches for dante's hand, tightly covering theirs with her own as if her fingers are an elaborate knot holding onto a fellow skiff. ] You have to keep going, too. Don't you fucking dare let go of your helm before the voyage is over. Because... I won't either.
no subject
< Ishmael... >
[Their own words from back then, said to them now.
They still don't know why the Sinners follow them. Maybe they'll never know. But Ishmael trusts them, and they'll make sure that trust is paid in kind.
They turn their hand over in hers and hold it tight. A promise.]
< I won't. >
< I'll keep moving forward. Until this journey ends, and on to the next. >
no subject
[ she knows they can do it. they have to. not even this world is merciful when it comes to the ones who are chosen to save it.
her eyes flutter open as she puts on a more determined look on her face. ]
That being said, you also have to consider other possibilities. I may not die today, but LILITH might dismiss me from out of nowhere and I'll be sent back to the City. [ she squeezes her grip around them. ] That's why you have to get those surgeries. You won't be limited to us Sinners anymore while you're here. You might even be able to heal Vergilius, but knowing that guy, he might not even need it.
[ the blood has to come from somewhere, after all. ]
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And there's nothing they can do for anyone else here as they are now.
A nod.]
< All right. I'll wait until you're able to move around a little better and go in. I'll step up my self-defense classes too. So... don't worry about me. >
< Although... it's probably too late for me to say something like that, considering you've already got people keeping an eye on me. >