@vdova ; video

[waytodie]

[Her hair is in two messy twin braids. Her eyes are glassy. The sharp-eyed might notice she's probably, definitely drunk. The less-so might just assume she's overly tired. Her tongue presses into her cheek as she considers how to start this one, but in the end she just rips the bandaid off quickly: ]

So, tell me, how is it that you handle grief?

[She probably won't be elaborating on why she's asking, unless she has a certain level of familiarity with you, but you can try. People closest to her probably already know what this is really about: Her sister is gone. From Moorecroft. From Etraya. From the top side of the dirt. Gone and back to dead, and Yelena is spiraling.]

Comments

@beary

[accelerate]

[ Change the timeline.

Barry wishes he could ignore this post. ]

I find it's like juggling a few balls. Sometimes, you're really, really good at keeping them in your hands and the air at the same time. Sometimes, you're fantastic at adding more to it. And, sometimes, you miss a ball and drop them all.

[ How do you handle grief? Take it one step at a time. ]

[waytodie]

I cannot juggle, your analogy is bad.

[Which is not to say she's unappreciative of it. Just.

Humor to cope? It's a thing she clings to desperately at times.]

But how much is one person supposed to lose in a lifetime? It isn't fair.

[accelerate]

It's not.

[ He's been burying the grief for his father deep down since arriving on this Earth. This conversation threatens to bring it all back up, and… Barry's best when he's not living in reality. He prefers the alternate realities he can create.

He presses his lips together; his voice remains low and gentle - ]

Sometimes, we just get the bad draw for no reason at all. I'm sorry that you're feeling it a lot today. It's not easy.

[waytodie]

Suffering for no reason is so cruel… [A cruelty she knows all too well, unfortunately.]

It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault, I just—

[She takes in a breath and blows it out slowly.]

When does life stop being nothing but pain?

[accelerate]

My dad would tell me that a life without pain isn't a life at all. It's worth it because of the ups and downs, even though I'm pretty sure we'd all say life isn't really fun when it feels like this.

[ He presses his lips together in a sympathetic smile. ]

But grief is just a different way of expressing love. It feels like it has nowhere to go, but I don't think that's entirely true.