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She couldn’t say it had been a surprise, although it was unexpected.
Open Metal was still processing the ramifications of Tender’s unannounced... appointment. Partnership? The dynamics between Excerpt and Divine were a needle she didn’t know how to thread, or even care about, but now the balance seemed more precarious than ever. Knowing that your ex was the sacred representative of your god? Tough, knowing it had been woven into reality. Tougher still, when allegiances were in the air, and the precipice of an end on the horizon.
She wished things didn’t have to be this way.
“So like, I’m probably still going to be Tender Sky,” she continued talking, her words the rhythm of an anxious heartbeat. “Or at least Tender, y’know? It’d be weird not to be. But an Excerpt needs an Excerpt Name.”
“I’m assuming you’ve given it some thought,” Open replied. “Any favourites?”
The silence on the other end was as good as a shrug.
Tender’s projection continued fidgeting, as though part of her mind was a galaxy away. “Signet told me to find a favourite phrase. I have a few, but I don’t know."
“How obnoxious would you like it to be?” Open quipped, already brainstorming.
“Anything new would be appreciated,” Tender replied, immediately regretting her decision when Open sniggered.
"They Broke Bread Underneath A Tender Sky And Paid Open Penance To Metal Marvels,” Open stated.
“That just has your name as well,” Tender giggled, but her brows were furrowed. As though shaking her head at a child.
Open clicked her tongue. “I think it’s a fantastic name.”
“I prefer Signet’s suggestion,” Tender drawled, teasing. "Smoke Wreathes The Hierophant’s Eyes In A Glance Tender, Sky Sculpting A Mirage In The High Priestess’ Devotion.”
“What a mouthful,” Open opened her mouth in mock shock. “I hope that the Tender I know won’t become that stiff an Excerpt."
Tender laughed in reply, but Open could tell that it was a distracted laugh. That Tender wasn’t present, even as the two exchanged barbs and snark, and Open felt the warmth in her stomach yawning and swallowing itself into a pit.
Her introspection was cut short as Armstrong walked into the room, and Open instinctively shifted her body to block the transmission.
“Who’s that?” Armstrong asked.
“It’s… Tender,” Open replied, deciding that hiding would do no good. She also observed that Tender was completely unperturbed by this interruption, her head in the clouds.
The anthropomorphic duck raised his approximation of an eyebrow.
“Look. Things have happened,” Open justified, and then proceeded to tell Armstrong the news.
“I see,” Armstrong nodded sagely, before sniggering, and Open regretted seeing a beak take that kind of shape. “Put me on."
"What? No.”
Armstrong walked over anyway, leaning into the transmission. “To A Duck A Pond Is A Tender Sky Cradling His Wings,” he quacked. “Try that one on for size.”
Open’s groan was as loud as Tender’s silence.
“Thank you, Armstrong,” Tender responded, after a pause. “It would have made a lovely excerpt.”
“I can’t tell how much sarcasm is dripping from your mouth,” Open quipped, but Tender seemed preoccupied enough that Open knew her answer. Armstrong gave a thumbs up, before waddling away - as if he needed to waddle.
“It’s a genuinely heartwarming phrase,” Tender finally replied. “But my theme is cats, not ducks.”
A grin crept across Open’s face. But it quickly creased into a frown as she saw how aloof Tender was. "You have something, don’t you,” Open stated. “A name?"
Tender’s eyes shifted. "I don’t like it.”
"Tell me anyway."
Tender exhaled. "They Pray At The Altar Built Atop A Tender Sky And Untangle Dark Clouds With A Bated Breath.”
“That has a heaviness to it,” Open nodded. “It’s getting to you, huh?”
The smile on Tender’s face was like smudged watercolours on a cracked portrait. “I guess."
Open’s expression forced itself to match Tender, before it softened, and Open’s fingers reached out to touch the hologram, a helpless gesture of affection. She whispered.
"Roses Rest On My Cheek As Your Kiss Delivers Me To A Tender Sky.”
.
For a moment, Open had a glimpse into Tender’s undivided attention.
"I remember when we were young and stupid and in love,” Open started, as she began to stroke Tender’s holographic hair. “I remember the promises we made and then broke, because we were foolish enough to believe there were easy answers to changing this world.”
Tender closed her eyes, a soft purring sound building in the back of her throat, but never releasing.
"I was so eager for us to become divine that I hadn’t considered that the weight of the world would’ve crushed our tiny fragile shoulders,” Open continued. "But you are a pillar now. And you've never wanted this. But you serve as you must in whatever capacity you can, and Anticipation has chosen you.”
Open’s hand moved such that her thumb rested on Tender’s ghostly cheek, and she rubs gently, tenderly.
"I know you don’t know what you’re doing,” Open said. “But promise me that… promise me that you’ll do right by yourself, alright? Above all else, I want you to be okay.”
And Open knew that it wasn’t the right thing to say. Because Open knew that her ex was prone to impulse, prone to indulgence, prone to breaking and doing the silliest of things. That the burden of gods shouldn’t have rested on her, that any fuck up now would be a fuck up that might not ever be fixed, whose consequences would echo eons from now, entire universes away.
But Open loved Tender, once upon a time. Maybe loves her, even now.
“I will,” Tender smiled. Open knew Tender was not lying, but that she would be soon enough.
And then Open took back her hand, and Tender shook her head as if out of a trance and into another, as if remembering something she had forgotten. “I’ve gotta- I haven’t seen Fourteen in a month, and-"
“Go,” Open said. But that’s not really the reason, is it? she thought. "You take care, Tender."
"You too, Open."
"We’ll need another miracle to pull through… whatever comes next.”
And Tender’s glance back at her was a name spoken only once, and then lost to time forever.