a struck link // christopher lightwood {3}

eight // cause for worry

{ correspondence: grace, and lucie. }

Wednesday, December 2nd, 1903

Lucie,

Don't worry about what you told them. I told Pluto myself that they should ask you. They never would have known otherwise. I needed it said, so that they would know how serious my situation was, and why I felt I needed to leave. But obviously, I couldn't say it myself. I wasn't there to do so.

Pluto is one of your friends, right, if I'm not mistaken? Christopher's—actually, I'm not sure that entirely clear on what those two are to each other. I have heard both that they are friends and that they are lovers. Ariadne said she thought they had an understanding, that they might even be engaged. Meanwhile, the consensus among Charles and his friends is that Christopher is some kind of mistress of Pluto's, but somehow that doesn't feel entirely accurate.

As for Jesse, I have not seen or heard from him at all since I left. He is in London and should be close enough to reach you. This worries me, too. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's attempting to contact me. Please, do not start doing reckless things in the hope of forcing him to show up to save you, or anything like that. Trust me, I shall hear about it.

Thank you for your concern,

Grace Blackthorn.

< & >

{ the post office. }

To Lucie's surprise, she actually found a reply from Grace in the post office box, and only a couple days after she'd sent it. She couldn't really explain the relief when she tore it open and recognized Grace's handwriting, when the first sentence began with, "Don't worry." Of course, there was still cause for worry, Jesse was still missing, but Lucie could tell from the tone of Grace's letter that she was alright. The strained formality indicative of fear in her was noticeably absent. She even bothered to thank Grace for her concern in the signoff.

Lucie would have to send a reply back as soon as possible. But...wait. She couldn't exactly fill Grace in on the Pluto and Christopher situation when she herself didn't really know what they were to each other. Well. That was a problem. And not one easily fixed, either. She had done some of her best prying in the service of trying to find out what was up with those two, and even seeing them together a couple of days ago hadn't really helped to provide answers. Maybe she'd just have to leave Grace in the dark.

< & >

{ castle. }

Pluto opened xyr door and found Christopher standing out in the hallway, holding a vial of ash and a stack of papers.

"Your results came back."

"And?"

"Inconclusive," said Christopher. "They were inconclusive."

"Inconclusive? What does that mean?"

"It means that we can't tell for sure whether you're from this dimension or not," said Christopher, stepping into Pluto's front room and plunking himself down on the sofa. As expected, it swallowed him, and he pulled his feet up onto it with a faked grumpiness that suggested he'd caught onto the prank by now.

"I know that," said Pluto. "I meant what am I supposed to do with it?"

Christopher shrugged. "I don't know. How do you feel about it?"

"It...takes some of the weight off, I think. Some of that feeling of, oh, I'm the time traveler, if this timeline gets messed up and turns out different it's my fault. But I can't know that this timeline turned out the same way as mine, simply because there are some different factors at play here, that didn't exist in my world."