THE MOMENT
"This is a new situation...," Dread made the comment as she settled into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt. Her best friend, Dirge, was at the wheel, and the car was stationary when Dread arrived. They were on a highway with cars extending forward and back as far as she could see. She emerged from a portal next to the car when Dirge eagerly waved her inside.
"I'm stuck in traffic," Dirge giggled as she explained the joke. "I'm doing some side collecting for the Void Court," she added enough for Dread to catch on. The Void Court was particular about rules. They were also currently in charge of the multiverse, and that required more manpower than they really had. Dirge was a Unique Soul; La Muerte, and they were the ones delivering souls to the afterlife. They could also control time, but she was actively deciding not to for some reason.
"So, Aury really messed up, huh?" Dirge asked after a quiet moment. Their friend group and roller derby team recently fractured thanks to the actions of one member.
While Dirge and Dread were best friends, Dirge was the most neutral, and Dread was almost always guaranteed to be aligned with Jenny. Aury and Jenny had a major blowout the previous day, and Dirge knew Jenny would confide in Dread.
"She's genuinely more disappointed than angry," Dread laughed gently with the phrase. It'd taken on an extra dimension of humor thanks to Jenny's recent motherhood. "This doesn't get back to Aury," Dread asked for secrecy because she didn't always.
"So, obviously, the whole thing was a setup, right?" Dread asked to make sure they were on the same page. Dirge laughed and nodded.
"Well, yeah. Jenny knows Aury better than anyone. I just assumed she wanted to leave him a fun project," she said. Jenny had gone away for an extended business trip, and she entrusted Aury with an important artifact with strict instructions not to study it. The thing Aurelio didn't notice was that it was mostly performed.
"Right. So, she's not even mad about that part, but she's pretty hurt by how he treated the twins," Dread said. At this point, the car moved for the first time since she got in; they rolled forward about a foot and stopped again.
"Yeah, it's not ideal," Dirge shrugged.
"And so now Aury's gone off pouting because Jenny yelled at him, and she's been momming with the twins."
"But... we're still a team, right?" Dirge asked. Jenny was the team captain, and she took the responsibility seriously. If she were mad enough, she'd either kick Aury, kick herself, or disband the team entirely. Whatever the situation called for, if it needed to end, she would end it.
"Depends on Aury, I guess," Dread shrugged. "If he's still gonna have hurt feelings, Jenny said she'd replace him with one of the twins if they wanted to play. Oren's tournament is probably going to be announced soon, so he has until we start practicing to get over it. THAT you can tell him," she added. Being the most neutral meant Dirge was often the messenger. She hadn't been in contact with him yet. However, he'd reach out when he wanted to get a sense of everyone's mood. "Some teams are already practicing," she added just as a general complaint.
[/p Taking the twins out to Derby. Anyone else? - Jny] As Dread finished her thought, she felt the Whisper on her wrist, and she happened to catch blue text also glow on Dirge's wrist. The message had gone out to the whole team.
[/p I'll be there. - Dread] Dread replied as she looked at Dirge.
[/p Can't. Reaping. - Dirge] she sent her Whisper, then smiled at Dread.
"You'll have to explain it," she said. "I feel dumb telling the group I'm stuck in traffic." The explicit reason hadn't been laid out yet, but this wasn't the first time Dirge had done reaping work for the Void Court. Although, this was the most creative excuse she'd seen so far.
"What's the delay this time?" Dread asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door again. There was no sensible reason that Dirge hadn't collected her client's soul yet and completed the job. Dread had arrived through a portal and was going to leave through one. Dirge had that capability and more.
"His son was stuck in a blizzard," Dirge explained with a nod. "He's still a couple of hours out from the hospital, and I don't know how long this traffic is going to last," she giggled. "It's gonna be a close race."