ic inbox [box]

[unknowable]

"Please leave a message and I'll return it as soon as I'm able."

[if necessary, you can also leave a message for Ronan Lynch here]

Comments

[mintly]

whatever, parrish. if your hair wasn't nice helen wouldn't flirt with you. her standards are astoundingly high.

also it's really the pulling that'll get you in the end. with chainsaw, not helen.

[unknowable]

All things considered, Chainsaw and Helen are sounding pretty similar. Are you sure your sister isn't a raven?

[mintly]

only by virtue of aglionby being an all-boys school. she went to the girls' version. also inherited all the ruthlessness and left none for me.

also, she is much taller than chainsaw and would never be seen in public with her feathers ruffled.

[unknowable]

With Ronan and I around, you're better off without any ruthlessness.

But you're also rarely seen in public with ruffled feathers, so there is some resemblance.

[mintly]

different kind of ruthlessness. i'm just singleminded, which is a poor second.

gansey feathers do not ruffle in public, it's genetic. mother's favorite thing to tell us was that everyone’s face is a mirror and we ought to endeavor to make them reflect a smile. it would be rude to express anything less.

[unknowable]

You, Richard Gansey III, are a poor second to nothing.

That does sound like something your mother would say.

[mintly]

don't laugh too hard, but i'm the black sheep of the family.

she said it often. at least daily. sometimes more frequently than that until we learned.

[unknowable]

I think that might apply to all of us. A collection of black sheep, flocking together.

[mintly]

that's a good way to put it. i like it. at least a herd of black sheep all fit together.

[unknowable]

I don't know if we always fit, but we do well enough.

[mintly]

people aren't puzzles. we fit together. something just feels right about all of us together, jagged edges and all.

[unknowable]

I don't know about that. People always seem pretty puzzle-like to me.

[mintly]

more like onions, i think, just without the smell.

[unknowable]

A little bit of the smell, sometimes.

[mintly]

i guess that bit depends on who you're talking about, huh.

[unknowable]

Sorry for utterly destroying your metaphor.

[mintly]

you're not sorry in the slightest, parrish.

[unknowable]

You've got me there.

[mintly]

i'll forgive your mockery just this once.

[where 'just this once' means 'every single damn time'.]

[unknowable]

You're too kind.

[mintly]

maybe just benevolent toward my friends.

talk to you later, parrish. take care.

[unknowable]

You too.