Inbox

[skeletonkeay]

INBOX OF GERARD KEAY

Point of contact for Pumpkin Hollow. Gerry can be reached by phone, mail, or a visit to his shop during business hours. Pinhole Printing and Binding is open from 11am to 6pm every day except Tuesday, because fuck Tuesday, or unless Gerry deigns otherwise.

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[skeletonkeay]

"I can see that," he says, not even stopping to jokingly make some gesture indicating to his tattoos at the word "see". Like he normally would. "I really wish I wasn't. I'm sorry."

He pauses, not wanting to just... turn her away.

"...Did we meet in America?"

[cyansoldier]

Anger throbs in her temples, palpably hot where it crawls up her throat. She doesn't know where to place it. Who deserves to feel themselves scotched by heat other than herself. The longer Carolina stands in place, the more fervently it chases through her. Turns nerves and blood and skin cracking black. If this isn't a joke, what is it?

"No, I— we met here. In town. I came in for a newspaper and we talked. You don't remember that?"

Does he remember their shared birthday? The bridal hold she'd had him in, and their talk of a hypothetical wedding? Does he remember the balcony? The kiss? Her name?

Realization, like a shock of lightning.

To trade for your father's love, I will take someone who already loves you.

In her dream- memory- illusion— whatever she's meant to call it— Carolina had assumed this meant her mother. Her wilted garden and the house's absence of noise, evidence to her not being there. It seemed like a fitting trade at the time. Now she's left wondering what's to be gained from taking someone who's already illusory. No, the golden woman would have wanted someone real. Someone like him. Someone who already loves you.

And you ruined it.

Carolina flicks her wrist, a thoughtless, stressed gesture.

"I fucked up. This is my fault. I fucked up. I made a stupid deal I shouldn't have and you were the price— but I didn't know that. I wouldn't have taken it if it meant— this."

Was it worth it? Seeing him? Good. That's all you'll ever get. You should have left well enough alone.

"I'm going to fix this. There's a way to fix this, I know there is, we just have to find it."

[skeletonkeay]

Gerry's heard many unsettling things said to him in his time, but something about what she's just said terrifies him in a way that he hasn't felt since he was very young. A deal? With him as the price? His face darkens.

"What were you working with? Was it a--- like a person with a laugh that sounds like a migraine and really, horribly huge hands?" The Spiral. The Distortion. It has to be. Right? "Or something here? Like--- a man with a deer head?"

[cyansoldier]

"No— no—" deer head? Huge hands? Is this some extracurricular thing she should be concerned about? "It was at the circus. You remember that, right? When the whole town turned all— fantasy and there were tents everywhere? Well, I went into one. I talked to a woman. Tall, pale, golden around the edges. She asked what I wanted most— and I told her."

[skeletonkeay]

Gerry's stomach turns as this only gets worse and worse. He knew this woman yesterday. The Eye within him recoils at the idea of lost information, and the horror of having a piece of his mind just carved out because someone sold off his memories makes him sick.

"The Jolly Dawn stage?" He frowns. "You made a deal with a fairy. You must not be particularly Irish."