selfeffacingly

[ the message does not reach its intended guest for a matter of days, and by the time it does - she’s wrung out, weary, and unbearably sad. it takes even longer for her to wrangle a reply. ]

Sam,

Please forgive the lateness of this correspondence. I hope you weathered the blizzard without any great trouble.

I am better, now. It is very kind of you to extend your concern.

[At that, Sam switches to voice. It's harder to fake concern over voice, but for some reason, he wants to hear her voice.]

Hey, is it okay if we talk like this?

[ francesca’s initial instinct is to say no. she would be one of those people that hates answering the phone or making calls, on a good day. right now typing is draining, but speaking even more so. however, she makes a little sigh and concedes, hitting the “voicecall” option. ]

Yes. This is fine.

Edited 2025-01-31 01:32 (UTC)

[Sam nods silently and tries to think of how best to show empathy in this moment.]

Got through the storm alright. Were you... were you okay?

[ tightness rises in her throat, a ball of emotion. there is a long stretch of silence, save for her thready breathing.

finally, ever so small: ]

I went outside.

[Sam is quiet for a heart beat or two. If she went outside, then...

Dean had mentioned that people who went out into the storm disappeared and possibly died due to conditions.]

You heard voices, didn't you. People begging you for help.

[He heard them to, but his brother talked him off the ledge.]

[ her body shudders with remembrance. ]

I thought — I thought I heard my younger sister. Hyacinth. And my brother, Gregory. It was... I could not ignore them.

[Another silent nod from Sam.]

I heard someone too. Someone I never thought I'd heard again. If it wasn't for Dean, I would've walked out the door of the library.

I understand.

[ a long moment. she wonders if it is appropriate, or respectful to pry. but she thinks they have opened up enough to each other to ask. ]

May I ask who?

A woman I used to love. She died a few years ago.

[Sam pauses before surrendering,] Her name was Jessica.

Edited (text to voice because i am a dumb) 2025-02-01 06:11 (UTC)

[ this is another moment she feels entirely unequipped to handle. if there was emotion in her voice before, it's tripled now. there is a heavy intake of air. ]

Oh, Sam. I - I cannot imagine.

[If Sam had a soul, he'd feel bad about dumping all this emotional trauma on a clearly tired Francesca.

That said, he doesn't.]

It was difficult for a while. [Sam is working to put up that facade of how a normal human being would react.]

[ heaviness aside, she does not feel burdened by what he has shared with her. it simply breaks her heart on his behalf. ]

It must have been.

[ it feels insufficient; she dearly wishes she could say or do something to try to ease that pain. ]

I know how hard it was for my mama to lose my father. He was the dearest love to her, and she was never the same. Or so they tell me.