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(She's rifling through her bag while he talks, and eventually straightens up, frustrated.)

I forgot it. (It makes sense. She'd left the house quickly, still stressed. Whoops, Cain is still talking.)

It's– wait, not magic? (That doesn't make any sense.) What is it, then?

We can talk about it later, I'll remind you to write it down then.

[ It isn't much of a mystery what she was looking for, after all. ]

No, it's just... sight. Genetic fluke, special sensitivity, whatever you want to call it.

Oh, thanks. (She looks a little surprised at this, but slowly puts her bag back down again.)

That's... strange. Um, sorry. But how do you feel about having it?

It's life.

[ Funny thing to say about seeing death, but true. ]

There's nothing special about it when it's all you've known, but knowing there's something so fragile you have access to is... a burden, if you think about it certain ways. Thankfully, you also learn better eventually.

Sure, I can understand that.

(Yes, certainly, it must weigh heavily on him to always have access to such information. Especially if he truly doesn't let anybody know– though, he hadn't said that in so many words exactly, had he?)

Have you ever told anybody?

Nah.

[ Easy enough. Even if there's been temptation, it always sits sour and acidic in his gut. After Remus... well, it's never been a real consideration anyway. ]

Doing that would just lead other people to die if the first one tries escaping death. Just this big, cascading problem.

Oh, I can only imagine.

(Perhaps she should be a little more anxious about the idea of her impending death, but Lucretia has been dying and coming back for thirty odd years in a row, so death has started to feel quite trivial to her.)

What do you do with this... uh, 'gift' exactly, if you can't tell anybody what you know?

[ He leans back in his chair, still close to Lucretia but letting her have the space she wants if hug time is truly over. Shame, but whatever. He did it to himself. ]

Live with it? I don't know that it's especially a gift so much as just... what it is. I see ghosts, too, and that's more of a bother.

(For now, she's content just to be close.)

That sounds awful.

(Actually, screw that– she takes one of his hands in hers, and just kinda holds it for both his and her own comfort.)

Is it... scary? Seeing ghosts.

[ That motion makes him smile, and he shifts to make a better hold for them both. ]

Not really. They don't have shadows and their clocks are different, but they generally just look like you or me.

(She's blatantly stealing his own friendship moves and using them against him but appreciates his cooperation all the same.)

Strange. Have you ever mistaken a ghost for somebody who is alive?

[ That's okay. She's a quick learning, he's not surprised at all. He just considers that. ]

Maybe from behind, once or twice.

(She surprises herself by laughing at that, but it just seems so silly.)

That must have been awkward.

[ He laughs back at that reaction. ]

Yeah, you could call it that. You learn to play it off eventually.

Good grief.

If you ever accidentally mistake me for a ghost some day, that will be the day I'll know I haven't been getting enough sleep.

Oh, don't worry. You're much more lively than a ghost.

[ ... depending on the ghost. ]

Thank you, that's good to know.

(She gives him a friendly nudge with her elbow, then sighs and reaches up underneath her glasses with her fingertips to scrub at her eyes.)

Especially since I haven't been sleeping well at all for a while now.

[ He just laughs softly for the nudge, then shifts to give her a more direct look with some concern when she says that. ]

Anything in particular?

Nope, just... (she gestures vaguely with one hand,) all of it.

(Nothing he doesn't already know about. It won't leave her alone.)

I'll get over it eventually.

Get over it, get through it. Either-or. If I wasn't in the communal housing, I'd say you could come and stay at my place for a while...

[ Hm. There's a reason to move out. He hasn't really needed to lately, but... ]

But let me know if you ever need some time away. Or lunch or... hell, breakfast. I cook a mean breakfast.

(She nods slowly.) I've... been wondering about that. Whether I should move out of the house, I mean. That little bit distance might help everybody concerned.

(There's a part of her that feels horribly sad about this prospect though. She can't imagine ever not living with Lup and Taako. She smiles, but it's tight, a little forced.)

Thank you Cain. I might take you up on that sometime.

You could probably just check into a hotel for that. Nothing drastic, but make your own place temporarily while you think about it.

[ He smiles back. ]

Just say the word.

Oh, true. (Okay, she's quite relived by that idea.) I'll think about it.

(She exhales, and slumps down in her chair. There's not a lot of people she feels comfortable with enough to act like this around, but Cain has seen her cry so all bets are off now.) I'm really glad that we're friends, Cain.

[ He'll just keep holding the hand he's got and stick around. He's not in much of a rush right now, and she obviously needs his time. ]

Yeah, me too. You're a good one.

(That's very nice of him, and it's definitely helping.)

Thanks. I try.

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aw, cain <3

he's a secret cutie. and not-so-secret.

please he's a big obvious cutie

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