Personal Voicemail

[deathsmajesty]

"You have reached the personal voicemail of Liliana Vess. If you don't know what to do next, you likely shouldn't have a phone. This call probably could have been a text message anyway."

Comments

[chef_chocobro]

There was a part of Ignis that was asking himself why, exactly, he seemed to be particularly insistent on playing at this sort of dance right now, and there was a part of him that had the answer as to why firmly on hand. And there was a part of him that was telling him he should wait for the chance to catch her at her shop, instead, and another part of him that already felt he'd waited too long already.

But he did wait, at least, until the early hours of evening that Sunday to pull up Liliana's number on his phone, hesitate on it for far too long, then scold himself for being absurd. And when it started to ring, he found himself both hoping and dreading that it would just land him in her voicemail.

[deathsmajesty]

Sorry and/or you're welcome. Except Liliana never actually said sorry, so it was just 'you're welcome' when after three rings, the call was picked up and Liliana's cool, amused voice came down the line.

"Hello, Ignis."

Liliana was purely pleased he'd reached out. Because, obviously, she couldn't have. That had been illegal and absolutely not allowed. For reasons.

[chef_chocobro]

The urge to follow-up almost immediately after Prompto had called him yesterday to ask about, of all things, what sort of cupcakes Liliana might like was incredibly strong, especially since Prompto's answer to his question about why he was getting cupcakes for Liliana was a very frantic "I don't know!" followed by a less-than-helpful recounting of the events that lead him to flailing in a cupcake shop in Baltimore. But he held back that urge out of some sense of....propriety? Self-preservation? Respect to the continued dance of denial and giving in that they seemed to be constantly entangled in? He wasn't quite sure, but it did feel most prudent, at least, to wait, and then it was all a matter of deciding, once it felt...acceptable to reach out, how exactly to do it.

The radio's reporting on it had him desperately wanting to go see her, but that seemed like it could be a bit...fraught with danger, on several different levels. And so he figured, a safe compromise (all the while loathing the idea of leaning into the safe option but unable to convince himself not to) was to just send her one of those voice texts, one over which he agonized for far too long before actually sending it.

"Is everything alright? Prompto seemed quite worried after you left the shelter yesterday."

Yes. Prompto was worried. Let's lean into that.

Immediately after he sent it, he regretted not being more honest, but it was too late now.

[deathsmajesty]

Awwwww! If Liliana had known that Ignis thought she was too dangerous to visit, she would have been quite pleased. Except for a small tangle of emotions that felt otherwise, of course, but Liliana was a mistress of ignoring feelings she didn't want.

Mostly. Last night had been an exception and now that the shock has passed, she was delighted, just delighted to know about planar portals.

Any any other small tangle of residual emotions were being wrestled into the mental crypt called 'The Mending' and locked inside to moulder away forever.

Her reply came back immediately.

"Well, this awful din below is making my bath less indulgent than one could wish, but it's for a good cause and so I endure. Are you the reason Prompto knew to get me raspberry and lemon curd cupcakes? They were delicious."

Text message

[sharp_man]

Hello, Liliana, this is Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Radio said you required medical assistance. Would you like for me to visit?

Re: Text message

[deathsmajesty]

I am currently not at my home but staying as a guest of Ignis. So I would need to see if they would be amenable as well.

[hashtag_chocobro]

Could panic be conveyed through text? Because there was definitely a panicked text hitting Liliana's phone at some point in the morning, right about whenever would be most convenient to the plot, actually.

I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING TO ANYONE I SWEAR!!!

And if that didn't get a response for a while (for whatever possible reason that he was not one to speculate on except to panic more!), then there might be a follow-up panicked call in Liliana's near future.

[talentforlying]

"Yeah, ey, just calling to say hi -- EVERYONE SAY HI -- and see what was going on, but I got your machine so I s'poose that's lucky for you and a crying shame for me. Later, sunshine.

Was John supposed to feel shame? Not in this lifetime, mate.

[deathsmajesty]

The following day, when Liliana had fun things like 'thumbs' and 'concepts of phones,' John would be getting a call back.

"Normally I would ask if that is a crying shame for me, since it sounds like I missed quite the party, but it seems this call also came in at a truly ungodly time in the morning, so I'd wager you were correct. Definitely a shame for you, though--now who is this?"

[single_man_tear]

Saturday evening, a phone call came through to Liliana's line. Technically it was business but Dean figured this was a better way to get a hold of her.

"Liliana Vess. It's Dean. I got a favor to ask of you. I got six boxes that contain items of a dangerous nature that I would like to have locked up in a safe place. Mind if I use the Consortium's locker? I'd like them in a safe place."

[deathsmajesty]

"Of course, darling," Liliana said. "That's why they're there. Do you have them now or will they be arriving at a later date?"

Wacky Phone Day!

[single_man_tear]

So last week's class had been somewhat... personally revealing in a few ways. So when Dean tried to send a message to Navaan it definitely went to the wrong place.

Look, I don't regret anything about that night when we flanged but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't bring it up in front of the girl I'm seeing in class tomorrow. Cool?

Re: Wacky Phone Day!

[deathsmajesty]

[Went here, here, here, and here]

Phoooone Daaaay

[x_wondrous_x]

[[ from , naturally ]]

oh? Truly? You've never FLANGED before? Let me inform you, then, that it does come HIGHLY recommended. And while I must admit you are a bit....younger than I am usually strictly comfortable with, as someone who considers you a fried, I do feel it would be my duty....nay, privilege....to at least offer a...thorough introduction, if you find yourself so inclined and curious. Just......

......hmu girl.

Re: Phoooone Daaaay

[deathsmajesty]

[I am a monster so this went here, here, here, here, and here]

[ifwebeworthy]

(From here!)

"...Donald Blake is absolutely not allowed to have sex with you."

[deathsmajesty]

[Went here, here, here, and here]

Phone day!

[thatwaslucky]

[From here]

If I threatened you, you'd know it. I didn't, though.

Re: Phone day!

[deathsmajesty]

[Went here, here, and here]

[mylandmyrules]

Hope your weekend wasn't too terrible. We should plan a girl's day. I can tell you about my indulgence.

[deathsmajesty]

I was a squirrel and if I wasn't sure how it would affect him come Monday, not-Ignis would have been a shambling corpse. So yes, absolutely. Girl's day and I long to hear all about your indulgences, darling.

[somethingwithturquoise]

After some careful deliberation throughout the day and bouncing some thoughts off of Stark during their incredibly handwavy post-Paintball, post-work, Mostly-Victory celebration dinner for managing to finish out that class being bested only by a literal god, Summer had...mostly reached a decision about her unexpected boon yesterday and was sending off a text to Liliana:

if i were to tell u that i have in my possession something that will absolutely rock ur boys world right now, would u be interested, or nah?

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana raised an eyebrow - half in curiosity, half because Summer, your orthography - and sent an answer.

I'd say I already do that on the regular, but I'm certainly intrigued to hear what it is you have that's also so skilled.

Did Summer get a shipment meant for Dite's?

[single_man_tear]

A flower arrangement arrived at the creepy but not abandoned mansion. It had a simple note:

Apologies for the mess,

- Dean

And included in the note were two tickets for box seats to an upcoming Baltimore Ravens game.

[deathsmajesty]

The bouquet of flowers certainly helped Liliana's frosty mood towards him to thaw a bit, though that was immediately undone when she saw the tickets that went with them.

It wasn't 'Baltimore' that arrested her so, nor the color purple, nor even that it was a football game. It was the name of the team.

Ravens.

He wanted her to go to the Ravens. What did this mean? What did he know?!

Had he been present, Liliana might have flown into a rage, demanding that he explain himself immediately, demand he tell her the reasons behind this, did he think it was a joke, did he think it was funny? But he wasn't and that was important. It gave her a chance to breathe, too cool off, to remember that Dean had no idea why should would have any feelings towards ravens at all, never mind such strong ones.

Perhaps it would be better to handle this over the phone; after all, she was still incensed enough by their two week old fight that her palm was itchy, but instead, she was putting on her cloak and sweeping down to the Infinite Consortium instead.

[chef_chocobro]

There was no doubt that Liliana would have noticed, in preparing herself for the morning afternoon, on her dressing table, among all her other usual toiletries and accoutrements, a black velvet jewelry box. It was, after all, quite a large one, all the better to display the necklace that would reveal itself inside: incredibly thin and shimmering black strands, several of them of varying length to create cascading tiers, each of them speckled with a seemingly random assortment of black and purple jewels, small and glittering like dewdrops...

Or small kisses scattered all across one's décolletage.

A small card with a meticulously written message:

When I think about you
I hold you close and place you
around my neck like a necklace.

[deathsmajesty]

It did, admittedly, take slightly longer for Liliana to notice the new addition than it really should have. She'd been brushing out her hair and dreamily admiring the other purpling jewelry that Ignis had given her yesterday, tiny stippling bruises from his teeth, ones she could feel when she stretched her neck.

So, instead of being immediately delighted, there was a three second gap in where she was still brushing her hair and humming to herself before she noticed the black velvet box on her dressing table.

She'd been given princelier gifts before. Gemstones as big as the pad of her thumb. Deeds to lands that no longer existed. Titles that she'd long since forgotten. And none of them, not one had made her feel like this. None of those expensive gifts, chosen because they were expensive, far more than any concern about whether or not she would actually like them, had ever made her breath catch, her smile wobble slightly, as she brushed delicate fingers over the small gemstones or when she picked up the card.

"I love you, you ridiculous man," she whispered into the air.

And proceeded to rush through the rest of her toilette. She had somewhere to be.

A Message for Monday "Morning"

[chef_chocobro]

It was just about when Liliana would arrive at the shop for her no doubt arduous day of work that Monday despite the time stamp, shush that a voice message would have pinged on her phone. Surely coincidence, and not anything meticulously planned, perish the thought.

It was, simply, just some recited poetry, some long overdue payback, as it were:

"Her moon is the everlasting cream
In my coffee of stars.
I stir in the hopes she appears
In half dark twinkles of night.
My hands warm in the bistro of...

Anticipation.

She leans against my lips
& my emotions erupt in hot steam.
A love like hers silk as cream,
Easing down my throat.

I stir until half dark twinkles are covered.
I stir until only the smallest bit is shown.
Her moon the everlasting cream,
In my coffee of stars.

The taste forever lingering on my tongue.

This cream a kiss that orbits much of the world.
A romance I taste with each sip,
In my coffee of stars"

Re: A Message for Monday "Morning"

[deathsmajesty]

And now Liliana had a terrible dilemma. Was this a bid for her to return home to him? Or a bite of her own piece of pie to linger over until he arrived with her treats for the day?

Truly an agony of a decision.

[stykera]

They'd discussed that Liliana always needed cake and Stark had just finished a batch of extremely chocolate cupcakes in today's class. So naturally he decided he ought to send Liliana a text. It wasn't like he could just show up unannounced!

I have chocolate cupcakes to share if you would like some

[ifwebeworthy]

Liliana would be receiving a floral delivery today, with a message in rather distinctive handwriting on the card: With my most sincere apologies for making you row.

The sender had neglected to sign his name, but Liliana could probably figure it out.

[hasaknightjob]

A text came in from Steven's number.

Could use a chat with you when you've a moment. No rush.

[deathsmajesty]

Hello, darling. I have a few minutes to chat if you need. What's up?

[stringstothesoul]

A few minutes after Erasmus left her office--well, the hallway outside her office--Liliana's phone rang and would display a number with a California area code. Sadly, her caller didn't have a PB yet, so you get Erasmus.

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana had no idea what an 'area code' was, nor which ones belonged to California, but there was a call from a number she didn't already have in her phone, which really cut down the number of people that it could be, especially after her threats to the last random caller had gotten her actually put on the Do Not Call list.

"Liliana Vess," she answered crisply. "And to whom am I speaking?"

Since, uh, Erasmus had not given her his father's name.