2020-09-10 The Secret Cathedral
The Secret Cathedral
Location: Underneath LA
Date and Time: September 10th, 2020
Summary: Urban exploring and new understandings
Mood Music: "The Lost Rivers of London" - Coil
With the Fall slowly starting to drape itself over the country, California is its own little oasis of warmth. Buffered from the deserts by the mountains and warmed by the Pacific ocean, any day that it gets below 60f is considered a strange one. Snow? Unheard of in the city. Perhaps if you go to the mountains you'll see some, but on the city? Not a chance. Being the city, and being as established as it is, there are Things that most people don't know about - things that Jinny is very, very familiar with. "The Los Angeles Tunnels." she says to Luu as they walk down a fairly deserted side street towards a boarded up doorway in the side of a brick building. "Were used for prohibition and storage. I just use them to get from place to place during traffic. My Vespa can fit in most of the major ones." Yes, it seems Jinny is giving Luu a tour of the underbelly of the City. Dressed in comfortable clothes and a pair of Doc Martens, she turns on her toe, the rubberized sole squeaking as she does. "I thought seeing the inside of the city might give us some ideas."
Dressed for inconspicuous adventuring, Luu has on a pair of black yoga pants; a black hoodie, quite well-tailored pulled up over deep-sea blue hair; a pair of high-top chucks; and her iconic Celine frames. Walking besides Jinny, Luu has opted for a plain black messenger bag strapped over her shoulders, to carry supplies without being easily identifiable. Nothing 'bad' is planned, but when exploring through buildings that don't belong to you, it's always good to be wary of such things. "A different perspective," Luu responds in agreement, regarding where they will be journeying. "For most people," she begins to say, "what they think of as the city is just a fraction of what the city truly is, and they still only experience a fraction of what they think of as the whole. Like reading a book by it's cover or considering it's beauty only skin deep."
"She extends for miles underground. Tunnels, caves, grottoes, cisterns, wells. You could explore for a lifetime and never find it all. And the spirits down here..." Jinny chuckles. "The spirits aren't just from the city, but from the earth and water as well. It can get kind of wild, Umbrally, down here." She walks side by side with Luu as they approach the door and, with a quick rummage in her black bag, out comes a small cordless drill. Standing on her tiptoes, Jinny backs a screw out from one particular spot and with a 'clunk,' a chunk of wood falls off, the door opening slightly to reveal darkness. Jinny reaches inside and fumbles, finding a switch and, with a click, a poorly-lit landing, a staircase leading down, and a lone glowing bulb halfway down illuminate, leading the way. Stepping inside and waiting for Luu, Jinny takes the board (t-shaped with a wider top than longer bottom) and holds it on the other side of the door, closes it, and runs the screw through the door and into the wood. When she releases it? The door stays closed. Easy in, easy out, with no-one the wiser.
Clicking on her ridiculous flashlight, Jinny aims the beam down. "It'll be dark for the first little bit, but once we get to the main junction, it's well lit. We might be able to find the old civil defense bunker for the City council if we get lucky enough and find the right tunnel."
As Jinny drills into the door to open things up, Luu just watches. This isn't something she's used to or used to seeing Jinny do, but it doesn't perturb her, so much as fascinate. Still, she remains cool to the whole things, trying not to seem like too much of a tourist in her own city, even if it's part of the city she's never seen before. Given Jinny's connection to Los Angeles, she trusts the other woman's understanding of these things. "I bet it changes all the time too," Luu notes of the City, adding, "and then there are parts that never change, more ancient than most know." Thinking about this, she says, "What's that book where they see across a side-street a whole different city? Nevermind, I'll just have to look it up when we get back."
As the chunk of wodd falls to the ground, Luu steps back and out of it's way. Following JInny into the darkness and then the light, she looks about the space they've now entered as Jinny closes the door behind them. Taking out her own flashlight, Luu turns on the beam and adds to Jinny's illumination. "That I can manage with," Luu notes as she walks along with Jinny.
Illuminating her face with the flashlight in the classic 'oooh, spooky!' style made famous around campfires with s'mores involved, Jinny nods. "The main paths are pretty much established, but new ones are always being made and old ones are being re-discovered or covered up all the time. Thus the comment about the civil defense bunker. And a good wander does unveil the wonder of a city. Come on." Jinny reaches down to take Luu's hand, aiming the flashlight down the tunnel. "There's one place I call the Cathedral that I really think you'll like." And down the stairs they go.
There's a little giggle, and Luu looks, "You still look good, even when lit like that." With a flashlight in one hand, Luu takes Jinny's offered hand with her other. Together they begin to walk down the stairs, moving further into the city's mysteries. "I'm sure we'll make or discover a fine path to walk together," Luu says with confidence. "You have me curious with all these things," Luu notes, after Jinny speaks enigmatically of the Cathedral. The space they move through already has much open space around them, making Luu wonder just how much it might open up in other places. There will likely also be some tight squeezes as well, but she's ready for that as well. As they journey together, it feels like it's just the two of them, and sometimes Luu has to remind herself of the millions of the souls living just above them, who have no idea of the places they are or the places they will go. If they ever decide or need to look for them, they will have available to them the choice of the path Luu and Jinny have taken.
Jinny is thankful for the pale light as they head down the stairs. That little giggled compliment from Luu draws a blush, her ears pinkening faintly, easily missed thanks to her red hair and the darkness surrounding them, her heart pounding in her ears. At the bottom of the staircase, light starts to appear and, coming out of the doorway, they find a concrete-lined tunnel, painted gray, about the width of a two lane road. Well, lit, too. "Okay so we're here, that means the cathedral...." She looks down one way, eyes narrowing, then the other. "Decreasing numbers." She points to the left, takes a bit of chalk, and marks the doorway they came out of with a small scribbled J. There's no phone signal down here, of course, but her iPhone has a use. Resetting the pedometer, she tucks it away. "That way."
Sometimes, when she needs to center herself, Jinny will come beneath the city, turn off her light, and meditate in the darkness. There are sounds down here, of course, but not ones that you might have even considered. Even pipes, with liquid flowing through them, sound like the sea, and thunderstorms, wild and chaotic, down here seem like a grandfather with a booming voice telling stories to their grandchildren. "We probably will need a bath after this." Jinny notes.
As they wander within the City, Luu flicks her flashlight about, trying to take in some of the enormity before them. "You know that book 'Less Than Zero' ?" Luu wonders, name Bret Easton Ellis's first novel about spoiled LA teenagers lacking a moral compass. "It was written while the author was a college student," she continues to explain, "and he brought it to his mentor at school, who advised him to retitle it 'Minus Numbers' instead. I guess when he heard that, he realized he should be getting his advice elsewhere." A beat as she adds, "and that his professor knew nothing about Elvis Costello."
Following Jinny to the left, Luu watches as she chalks the door. It's always good to have a thread or bread crumbs or such, to help you find your way back through a labyrinth. Chalking doors seems like a good alternative in this case. A nod is given as Jinny mentions potentially needing a bath after. The occasionall puddle on the ground makes it feel to her almost like they're walking across a think mud plane, and she can imagine it will only be more so the further they go.
Here isn't bad. when you get later, into the tunnels that aren't paved, you might get a little mud on you. Luu choosing non-designer clothes or, rather, clothes that more easily can be cleaned than her usual fare, was a good choice, and it seems to have been mirrored in Jinny's style as well. "I picked it up, since it was based in Los Angeles on LA tropes. I scanned through it, put it down, and came back to it a week later." She makes another mark on the wall, an arrow, pointing in the direction they came. "It was just so crazy, and I know a lot of it was based in truth. I mean, you look at these extreme, exaggerated characters' ridiculous activities and the bizarre, soulless ways they live and relate to each other and it seems so sickening and meaningless, but then in a certain way it forces you to look at activities and life and relationships generally with a wider scope, and you start to wonder about how meaningful any of it is." She blinks, proselytizing for longer than she might have before hand, and grins. "That was before I met you, though."
"Oh, definitely," Luu agrees on the almost autobiographical elements of 'Less Than Zero' and it's story of LA teens. "I like totally knew those archetypes growing up," Luu explains to Jinny, "I easily could have been one of them, I suppose, had I not had my own internal thing going on. When you have parents like that and no supervision, it's sort of easy to go down those paths. From time-to-time I would in fact cross paths with such people, but while we'd be in the same places, we'd often be in different worlds. I knew one girl who got condoms and cocaine from her parents as her thirteenth birthday present. How do you tink you would have turned out if that's the way you were raised?" Walking through the darkened tunnels, Luu ponders, "Meaning? It's usually the meaning we give to things that matter, and perhaps is the only meaning there is. I mean, it can be about the journey as much as a destination, but if you don't know where you're going and you've got no compass or guidance, it's like totally a different kind of journey. There might be some learning from it, but you might have to wait until your next life to take advantage of it."
"I think we both did, even if we weren't in the exact same circles." Jinny says, side-stepping a puddle as the concrete tunnel widens to a large antechamber. She makes another chalk mark next to the tunnel they came out of and, as the light plays over it, it reflects quite well. A sign that shows up in the flashlight's beam but not really obvious otherwise. The perfect waypoint. "I can't imagine. My family raised me with hard work, love, and understanding. I mean, they expected me to make decisions, expected me to make mistakes, and would be there to help me recover from them. I mean, the first time I got drunk, my dad came and picked me up at 3:00am at Cindy Gilmore's house without a question. The hangover the next day was punishment enough, and I learned to work on my limits. No limits? That's...." She shakes her head. "That's an invitation to depravity and doom. I don't want any of that."
She pauses and sweeps her light around the antechamber, the footsteps in the soft, powdery dirt leading to the right, showing that there was traffic, the left showing none, the sand pristine, smooth, untouched since the water flowed over it last. "My whole life has rearranged itself, now that we're doing what we're doing, Luu. Ascension for everyone. The first steps for true enlightenment. The middle road. The path untaken. The difficult path." She takes a step towards the right tunnel, looking back to Luu from her place in the middle of the room, her light illuminating the darkened tunnel beyond. "The play's the thing, as Shakespeare said."
"My family just worked," Luu responds, as they walk further passed the chalk waypoint. "I mostly raised myself," she continues to explain, "that's not to say there wasn't love or anything like that, I think. They just had priorities other that me, or perhaps priorities they thought best for giving me a good life. I don't know -- " Luu gives a shrug to this as she continues, " -- we just don't really know each other that well. I've taken the time to try, but our thinking on things are just so different, it becomes hard to really connect." A beat as she adds, "and that's before all this stuff we do. It's like we're two completely different species of aliens." Continuing along with Jinny, Luu agrees, "I think that's right in multiple senses of the words." A little squeeze of Jinny's hand is given as Luu says, "Glad I have someone to walk this path with."
"It's a lot easier to walk with friends." Jinny agrees, squeezing Luu's hand back, the pair walking hand in hand through the darkness, their feet leaving tracks in the soft, dry sand behind them. "Hey." She says softly. "Turn off your flashlight." There's a click and she does, and, when Luu does, the darkness crashes in instantly. "Now...listen." Jinny says quietly, carefully stepping to stand in front of Luu, never letting go of her hand, her other lifting to rest on Luu's shoulder. "Listen to what you can hear. Your breathing, your blood, my voice. And when I stop talking, listen to what else there is here." She goes silent, the echoes of Jinny's voice fading away and then...absolute silence.
A cool breeze brushes over them both from the tunnel that they are in, their clothes barely fluttering from it as a subway in the distance changes air pressure just enough to send it that far. A low rumble. Hissing, sloshing. Barely noticeable but in this darkness, very much there.
Jinny so very much wants to kiss Luu. So much it hurts. But she doesn't, her eyes closing.
As Jinny suggests they turn off their flashlights, Luu looks to her for a moment of uncertainty, but she trusts the other woman. Reaching her thumb forward, Luu clicks off her flashlight, as darkness surrounds them. In time, maybe her eyes will adjust, but in those first moments it is an almost inky shadowy presence. Following Jinny's words, Luu pays attention to the various sounds of their bodies, focusing on and integrating them one by one. Once she has done so, they fade, leaving just the two of them in the tunnel. As the air moves through, it's ephemeral form becomes quite material to fill the absence, or perhaps it is that there material forms have joined the ephemeral. Of this, Luu is unsure, all she's sure about is that right now she wants to kiss Jinny, but knows she should not.
This is a moment. One of many they have shared. One of many thousands of others long forgotten, in days, weeks, months past. Lives past, perhaps. Images of a snowy afternoon spent in a tub on a deck in the middle of a forest. Of a ring, buried beneath a stone in France. Of a house in Oregon, filled with junk but having a bed set up in the middle with two pillows. Her breath catches in her throat. Jinny grips Luu's hand lightly, letting out that soft breath, the images fading. And in the quiet and the darkness, that breath seems loud. After a few more moments still, Jinny speaks. "Close your eyes." she says sadly. "If we turn the lights on and our eyes are open, it'll hurt." Said so matter-of-factly, that little statement. Hopefully her sadness at having to break the moment, at being unable to do the thing she very much wants to do, doesn't bleed through and, with a click, her eyes are closed and her flashlight, aimed at the ground, comes on.
There are things forgotten to be remembered, and Luu can feel their soft presence. It's unclear to her what they might be, what part of her is out there seeking to commune with her. Some day she's sure she'll reconnect in anamnesis, but right now she is guarded. These unrecalled memories seem to fade, and yet they remain there always, for now just out of reach. Following Jinny's instructions, Luu closes her eyes. A moment after Jinny clicks her flashlight, Luu clicks hers on as well. With the lights aimed at the ground, forming a bridge on their path, Luu slowly opens her eyes. Moments are taken where her eyes adjust, and she adjusts along with them. A small squeeze is given to Jinny's hand.
"Come on." Jinny hesitantly takes a step down the tunnel, not letting go of Luu's hand just yet. "The Cathedral is down this tunnel a little ways." The moment that she just had - that they just had - echoes of a past that may, or may not, have even happened, still fresh in her memory. She could almost feel the cold on her skin. Smell the snow and the simmering water that she was sitting in with another woman, painted from head to toe it seemed. Where in the world did that come from....
Jinny gives a shake of her head and blinks, her pupils starting to adjust to the light.
Still holding Jinny's hand, Luu steps forward along with her, their lights just slightly leading them. It's just of the two of them in this tunnel, but it feels like in some way there are more, and in others there are not. Whether confusion coming from the darkness and shadows, or something more real now illuminated, she is not sure. If this is the path she is to walk, that they walk together now, it's possible they are not the first. That other footsteps still echo through time, watching and guarding them as they move forth. Perhaps it is that third consciousness that is sometimes said to come to small groups traveling on lonely journeys, when they're not real so alone. The Cathedral is nowhere she's been before, and yet somehow, she is expecting it to be familiar when she gets there. This might just be from the way Jinny speaks of it, but it might be so much more.
Still holding Jinny's hand, Luu steps forward along with her, their lights just slightly leading them. It's just of the two of them in this tunnel, but it feels like in some way there are more, and in others there are not. Whether confusion coming from the darkness and shadows, or something more real now illuminated, she is not sure. If this is the path she is to walk, that they walk together now, it's possible they are not the first. That other footsteps still echo through time, watching and guarding them as they move forth. Perhaps it is that third consciousness that is sometimes said to come to small groups traveling on lonely journeys, when they're not real so alone. The Cathedral is nowhere she's been before, and yet somehow, she is expecting it to be familiar when she gets there. This might just be from the way Jinny speaks of it, but it might be so much more.
Their footsteps echo through the tunnel with each step, the pipes on the ceiling coming lower, forcing them to duck to continue, their hands still lightly clasped together. The dry layer of dust crunches as they step, their weight breaking through it into the softer, damper stuff beneath, their shared footsteps left in the half-dried muck left behind until the next rainstorm, the next passerby, the next anything that changes this place. Except, judging from the smoothness of the ground, it's been a while since anyone has walked here. Perhaps years. And as they walk, hand in hand, glimpses of what might be, what is, and what was flickering past in the dim light, a soft glow at the end of the tunnel heralding their destination.
Crouching beneath the final pipe, a large blue one that's already rusting through, Jinny's handprint left in the grime covering it as she passes beneath, trying to make sure Luu's beautiful hair doesn't come near, they stand at the entrance of what Jinny calls the cathedral. Blackness yawns out, each shuffle of their footsteps sending an echo that takes several seconds to return. High on the wall is a breaker box - unlocked - and with an illumination from the flashlight, it's opened and switches are flipped one at a time, lights high on the ceiling starting to light. The lights closest light first, revealing columns stretching to the left and right for at least a hundred yards. The next lights, the next row of columns, ten switches, ten rows of columns. 100 yards by 100 yards of concrete and columns. "This." Jinny says, her voice echoing. "Is the cathedral."
Moving through the tunnel hand-in-hand with Jinny, Luu feels an overwhelming sensation of familiarity and yet foreignness. She knows she's never been here before, and yet she feels like maybe she has, or maybe she returns here and shes feeling echos into the past of her future journey. Maybe it's just Jinny, but she feels like there might be something else guiding them forward on this path. Crouching beneath th epipe, only a little bit of illumination coming from their flashlights. Even with all the darkness, she can still feel the enormous presence the room as they enter it, and she understands why Jinny calls it The Cathedral. When the lights fully go on, she's awed and it takes her a moment, just staring around with her mouth half open. Looking back to Jinny, Luu says, "Ok, this is pretty amazing. What is it?"
Closing the panel with the lights, Jinny turns back to stand next to Luu, the railing they're standing at preventing them from falling off into the abyss below. "Honestly....I don't really know. I mean, I thought it was some kind of flood control chamber when I first ran into it, and it's got some channels that look like water should come in and fill it..." She shines the light up into the tops of the room corners, the blackness there, but seemingly plugged with something. "And I've been down here during a thunderstorm. The only water that makes it in here is from the door we just walked out of." Which explains the smoothness of the ground they just walked over. "So...I'm really stumped. I haven't done any kind of research on what it might be, but it's big. That's kind of obvious."
Giving Jinny's hand a squeeze, Luu looks around The Cathedral. "It's definitely big," Luu concurs, sounding a bit stunned, "bigger than us. I assume it has to have some purpose, otherwise why would they have taken the time to build it? I'm assuming that means you haven't checked in with your city bureaucracy contacts regarding what it might be?" Slowly exhaling, Luu scans the space, her words still echoing even though she's stopped speaking for the moment. After looking a bit, she turns her head to face Jinny, unsure what to say for a moment. "I'm sure this is just the beginning of what's underneath Los Angeles," Luu notes to Jinny, but she's well aware the other woman already knows this, and probably has a few more things to show her.
Jinny shakes her head in the negative. "I really...yeah, I know I /should/ find out about it, but I really don't want to bug Ollie about it. I mean, this would probably be easy for him to figure out, but I'm sure just searching would throw up a flag or two and then Everyone knows about the cathedral and it's just..." She laces Luu's fingers with hers. "It's a secret, quiet place in the heart of the city. I don't think anyone knows about it. I mean...you saw how we got here. Winding tunnels, dark, tight places. Not for someone who's afraid of the dark or claustrophobic. And there are other places like this. A speakeasy in a hollywood neighborhood. An underground train yard that has a few trolleys from the 1920's. An art deco amphitheater half buried in concrete from the 405. I mean..." she shrugs. "I explore. It's what my Avatar does. And I share my stories with those that I care for."
A nod is given to what Jinny has to say, as Luu notes, "It would take some of the mystery out of it anyway. I mean, right now it's 'The Cathedral,' but I doubt any information we could dig up would have any name as perfect as that one. Probably just name it by some map coordinates or something, if it even has those." Looing around some more, Luu says, "Gives us more possibilities for stories to tell about it anyway, more chances to let our imagination run wild." Luu hmms lightly, and agrees, "Yeah, best not to search and best to keep our secret. Maybe others know, maybe they don't, but no point letting just everyone know. It will ruin what's special about it for those that end up finding it, right?"
"Right now it's a secret to very, very few. Maybe on one hand, the number of people that know about this place at this point. Most of them are probably gone due to old age or just have so many jobs going that they can't remember at this point. I mean...judging from the graffiti down here, no-one's been here since the sixties." She illuminates one large mural of Beetle Bailey punching out a fairly terrible caricature of Richard Nixon, not realizing she's getting her decades wrong by about ten years. That really doesn't matter, though. What matters is that they're here, together, in this place that's very, very quiet, very, very still, and very, very just for them to have a moment. "This place is...amazing. Built for a purpose, and forgotten. The stories write themselves."
There's a slight smirk at the mural that Jinny illuminates, and if she realizes the image is from a different decade, she doesn't say anything. "It is amazing," Luu agrees, her voice echoing lightly, as she looks about to take more of it in. "Amazing isn't the word for you," Luu notes softly, but she doesn't quite have the right word for it either, but she definitely has some stories. "I'm glad you decided to take me here," Luu says to Jinny, and notes, "but I suppose while you might not want to tell everyone about this place, it's also the kind of space where you don't want to just be there alone. I mean, maybe to make some art or something, some graffiti, but it's when you have someone else with you that it really comes alive."
"You wanted to see something you hadn't seen before, so I figured..." Jinny gestures to the room behind her, as if to say 'all this!' without actually saying it. "I figured I should go with something impressive. I thought you would appreciate it just as much as I did and it might spark a little inspiration in here." Jinny taps Luu's forehead lightly with her right hand, leaving a black mark from where she hit the pipe. Her eyes widen at the print on Luu's forehead and she quickly takes her hand away. Ooops.
"Well, I -- " Luu starts to say, before she realizaes that Jinny just got some gunk on her forehead. "Yeah, definitely going to need a bath after this," Luu says a bit softly, not quite wanting to think about what Jinny might have just got on her. "I'm sure we'll get some interesting stories out of this place," Luu notes, glancing around their secret Cathedral. Loosening the black messenger bag, Luu swings it around to her chest, and opens it, begin to rummage in the bag for a napkin or something like that.
Now Luu sees why Jinny dresses cheaply when she goes out, head to toe covering, even in the warmest weather. It's to stay clean. It's much easier to wash off sweat in a shower then scrubbing off caked-on grime, and it comes out of clothes a lot easier, too.
"I think I have some baby wipes in here..." Jinny starts to rummage around in her bag, too, moving aside cans of spray paint, batteries for the flashlights, first aid kit, water and snacks until...ah! Triumphant, she holds up a small package of Huggies Baby wipes, still sealed even. "This should work." She says, offering the package to Luu. "If it's good enough for a baby's butt, it's definitely good enough for your face." IS that an insult? She's not sure. She hopes it isn't.
Reaching forward, Luu gives Jinny a slightly funny look as she takes the packet of baby wipes. "Thanks?" Luu says a bit hesitantly as she takes the package of baby wipes from Jinny. Opening the package, Luu takes out one of the wipes and cleans off her forehead with it, before putting the wipe back in the package, which she puts away in her messenger bag.
Jinny turns away, blushing, thanking Gaia for the darkness and the fact that she can't be seen blushing. Real smooth there, Jinny. Let your mouth get away from you. Why don't you make it obvious she's got you tongue tied just by being around her. Goodness, this is hard! She tucks the baby wipes back into her bag and closes it, looking out into the darkness, playing her flashlight over columns while Luu cleans herself up. "I'm sorry." She says quietly. "For ruining the moment."
"There's nothing to be sorry about," Luu says, reaching forward to give Jinny's hand a squeeze. "It's just -- " Luu begins to say as she tries to come up with the words, " -- it's just been a weird few weeks, I'm still trying to process a lot of things." Giving a little sigh, Luu looks around the space, and says, "I really do appreciate that you took me here. I'm just trying to figure out what to make of this place, what kind of stories we might be able to tell here." Luu's tone is soft and full of sincerity, she just seems to be processing a lot right now, but she is glad to be here with Jinny.
"It has been a weird few weeks, with the Chantry, the visions we've been having, all that strange stuff happening in the house, the cloth orders....it just adds up and up and up. I don't know how you do it, Luu. I don't know how I do it, but I think it has a lot to do with you being with me. I don't know." She takes Luu's other hand in hers, taking a step closer, nodding. "The seed is planted and that's....that's enough for now. You've seen. You know. Maybe we'll visit this place in dreams."
"I don't know either," Luu says softly, and there's a small nod as she agrees, "The seed is planted, it does seem like that. We may very well visit this place in dreams," she agrees, contemplatively, as she takes both of Jinny's hands into her own, and gazes into her eyes for a moment. While Luu knows from Jinny that likely only a few people know of this space, at the moment, she really feels like it's just the two of them in The Cathedral. There's a future they're building together, that things for sure. Along with that, she's also sure she wants to kiss Jinny, but instead gives her a smile.
Jinny bites her lower lip and, for a second, considers impulsively leaning in to kiss Luu, right here, right now, damn the consequences but...it's important to not. Even though she wants to, very much wants to, she doesn't. Leaning in, she rests her chin on Luu's shoulder, one arm slipping free to hug the other woman tightly against her, Jinny's eyes closed tight to keep from crying. "You're my very best friend, Luu." she whispers. "Thank you for being with me."
Still holding Jinny's hands, Luu pulls her Chantrymate closer and give her a big hug. "You're mine as well," she whispers softly into Jinny's ear. "I don't know if I could do any of this without you," she adds, assuring her, "it's been quite a journey so far, and I know there's going to be more to it. I'm so glad we managed to find each other and put this together." Luu inhales slowly, doing her best not to try not to smell the other woman's hair, and to just be there for her now.
