001 🔥 TEXT - WANTED: PLUSH TOY MAKER

[headhunt]

Type: Text
Sender ID: headhunt (Karlach)
To: Public
Subject: WANTED: PLUSH TOY MAKER
Warnings: N/A

Hey-
Can any of you make plush toys? I can bring you the materials.

Can work out payment too.

Like this:

( attached to the message is "artwork" of a teddy bear plush (or at least her best attempt at it), drawn by the hands of the very barbarian who once to used terrorise the hells. )

Let me know! Thanks!

Comments

[headhunt]

Karlach doesn't worry.

( she says, trying to still offer him a lop-sided smile. she isn't the type to worry, she's the type to act. every day, every day. until she can't any more.

on the other hand, she is also nothing but realistic about her situation. the reality is far too inescapable for her to be anything but. this furious machine churning in her chest has never let her forget its existence.

not once. not in all these years. )

You can't promise that.

( her tone is gentle, almost careful. )

I'm already past my expiration date. This magic tattoo is the only thing that's keeping me going.

( it would be a disservice to darin not to be clear about that. if the clock happens to run out in between applications, karlach is going to be little more than a scorch mark left on the ground.

then she taps her claws against the metal opening on her breast. )

If I kick it before then, you can keep this thing if it doesn't burn up with me.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin wants to offer a rebuttal. But he can sense Karlach's resolve. She's probably had hope dashed so many times, to give her more now would just seem cruel. No one wants to die...but sometimes dying is preferable than thinking about the life that could have been lived.]

[So, instead, Darin nods and offers her a confident grin.]

Hey now, you can't just give away your heart like that. I'm in the business of mending harts, not breaking them.

[He shoots her a wink. Times like this, if you don't joke, you'll just sink deeper into despair.]

[headhunt]

( karlach laughs. )

Yeah, you're going make a whole business of it now?

( it's a light-hearted question.

but she's not ready to move on. not yet. )

I mean it. That thing might be all that's left of me at the end. I'd like it if it could get put to some use.

( she makes a loose gesture with her hands, unsure. )

Like it made a difference that I got out of there.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Listen, if I pull this off? I'll add it to the damn sign out front.

[Darin can recognize with Karlach is doing here. He could fill her head and heart with as many promises as he can, but Darin understands better than anyone that daring to dream is dangerous when your fate might be set in stone.]

...Alright. It's a promise. If the worst comes to pass...

You'll live on in some form or another.

[He hates talking like that. He can feel the emotion tugging at his own heart. He hasn't known Karlach long but she's so...kind. And warm. He wants to...]

[He wants to save her.]

[He wants to save her. Give her a life. He wants to be the first person she can hug when this is all over and then watch as she gets to enjoy the life she'd had taken from her. It's why he lives the way he does after all— to carry on his brother's spirit.]

[Darin may have a lifetime of regrets, but he lives as Dromas would have: with none.]

[He won't let Karlach down. Ever.]

In the meantime, I'll have to make sure I study that thing as much as I can along with the magitech of this world.

[headhunt]

Thank you, Darin.

( karlach says, lifting a hand to press against where she knows the access port on her chest is. it means a lot that darin is willing to be realistic with her and that he's not refusing to accept the reality where she dies suddenly. there is a lot that could happen out here and no guarantee that she wouldn't get stuck somewhere while the inks fades off her skin.

but she likes to think he'd uphold his promise and search for her remains if that came to pass. he seems earnest like that.

it's more than she could ever articulate so karlach ends up just offering him a small nod. )

Whatever you need, don't hesitate to name it.

( then a brief pause as a thought occurs to her. )

And I'll find some other heads to bring together on this. Someone's gotta be familiar with something like infernal machinery.