I'm decently sure I can keep up, but I can always offer you a few reasons to slow down.
[Ah, speaking of keeping up... The timer actually went off at a reasonable rate this time. He glances back towards where a few of the others participating start to get up from their own tables—or not.
Well, he doesn't have any schedules to worry about today; if this goes nowhere, he can always come back and "play" properly. He turns back to Rogue, threading his fingers together on the table.]
I don't think anyone will complain if we use the table for a while longer.
Oh. [ He supposes he is rather unwieldy. Of course, it does occur to him to suggest that he swing Caelus around instead, but that's probably rude.
If there are beasties, Viktor has little doubt he could address them one-handed, but he'd rather not have to. The hand-holding is suddenly inconvenient, again. ]
Well, I'm sure we'll figure s-something out! Can you still fling that hat, then?
Date, friendly acquaintanceship, brief run-in at the market... I don't think there's too many contexts in which theology isn't interesting. There's so many belief systems out there, after all!
[ That's just Claude for you -- pleasant enough to barge his way into a conversation, thoughtless enough not to actually introduce himself first. Still, his smile is warm, and his expression as inquisitive as his words. ]
It beats the question I got, [ he says, sliding it across the table to her. It reads simply: chest or butt? ] Anyway... that's a very pragmatic answer. Do you believe that souls are real?
[Illicit copies of a version of this program that was prone to nearly collapsing in on itself and also never seemed to manage to actually "save" any of its prior groups of alleged criminals? Hmm.]
I have yet to hear anyone has succeeded in accessing any of said copies. So. Perhaps.
[...But he doesn't really want to get corrupted into a lizard person or whatever, so,] I have zero desire to live in that unstable world again.
[A shrug from his end. At least they agree on some things.]
Rest assure, I’m content here. If it was anything else well, you’d know. [More like a cautious. He has no reason to hate this, in fact, he’s actually enjoying this bit.] Hmm.. let’s see. Ah, let’s go with this one. Describe a perfect day.
[ Granted, Ange doesn't like the idea of the entire hand holding thing here in the first place, but it seems like she's at least more or less been talked into this now the compromise has been struck of him pretending to be scared..
Which means that she starts looking like she's about to kill him - that sense of magic about her immediately fading away - and instead Ange looks more resigned as she grabs his hand to hold onto.
Matter settled, apparently. ]
Well, let's hurry in there. As soon as we can be done with this entire thing, the better. And there better be something worth all this in there!
[Morph considers that for a moment, then decides with a smile,]
Then you can keep it safe until you see her again. Just in case it is the same one and isn't a copy. Do you think she'd mind you wearing it in the meantime?
[A silent protag to the silent protag. Aether smiles warmly, but truth to be told, he's here to just talk to people and get to know them better. His gaze shifts to the question when he's asked to go first, but he decides they're all... not exactly a perfect start, so he sets the list down on the table. May it be forgotten there.]
If you could travel anywhere you wanted to, where would you go?
I think a lot of people consider it a bad omen. It's all superstition.
[Still... She rubs her finger over the picture and reaches back to gather her hair back and pin it in place with the clip.]
I don't know how I feel getting something like my mother's, though. [She eyes Kurt a moment, curious despite herself] Do you have a good relationship with your mother?
Miu gives a soft snort, rolling her eyes, but her expression is one of understanding. "I get that. I was a real menace when I was a kid. I'd get into fights a lot-- not so much with my fists, though. I was just pretty mean."
She still is, if she's going to be honest. She doesn't think of herself as a nice or a good person regardless. "It's a bit embarrassing, really...I was really childish. I didn't really have any friends-- ah, I guess I still don't, really..."
First because she was too mean, too strange, and now because she was a model and an actress, putting her in a class separate from others. "well, it's not like it bothers me. I've been making a lot of interesting friends here. There are people with all sorts of wild powers, you know? It's like being in a superhero movie."
[He knows, as someone who has lived life looking like a blue devil. He leans on a chair as they speak, frowning as it becomes apparent that her connection with her mother seems less than ideal. He realizes he shouldn't have assumed otherwise, especially given his own experiences.
He pauses at her question, as he thinks of how to put it to someone he's practically just met. He answers with my a small smile.]
It depends on the mother. My mom and dad who raised me - we all get along great! They're the best. But... My birth mother? That's... It's complicated, but definitely not good.
[ Well, there's the dozens of years of training in healing magics, he supposes. And the Light corruption. Oh! And that whole... soul resonance clairvoyance thing. But... he's fairly certain those aren't the reasons that the line between blue the color and blue the flavor is so easy for him to connect. And, anyway, no one needs to know those other things.
One shoulder pops up and down. ]
Joie de vivre, perhaps? [ He flattens a palm on the table. ] Why don't you try? Shut your eyes and tell me what you s-see when you think of blue!
Do I want you to yell at me? God, no. Getting yelled at by you sounds like it would literally kill me from boredom. Like getting lectured by a really self-righteous hamster.
[Quentin plucks the last cherry out of his drink and gestures at Kotone with it.]
But you wanted to. [He gives her a shrewd look briefly—yep, he's calling you out, Kotone—and then shrugs dismissively, like she's obviously just a lost cause.]
Aaand then you chickened out. As usual. It's like... I'm an obvious shit-starter, and I read minds. But you still do the charade like I'm some braindead normie who's gonna eat corny-ass platitudes out of your hand. Disappointing, honestly.
[ Viktor grins. Perhaps he should be embarrassed by that saccharine heart of his, but he isn't. Somehow. In spite of everything. ]
Actual devotion? Would such a thing be so bad, truly?
[ The question is posed earnestly, bright eyes studious, interested. Easy to see Morph wrestling with some bit of homesickness. Difficult to fight the urge to find a way to soothe that plain ember of sadness in them. ]
What would they do, exactly? I do not think that such loyalty must needs be romantic in nature, for what it is worth.
[He's correct, at least to an extent. This place does things to people. Makes them do things, makes them see things, makes them speak about the things they aren't yet willing to talk about...
They've been on the other side, even just recently, and that's without considering the circumstances back home. Or the circumstance they carry with them every day.
Right now, it doesn't appear to be an emergency, so they see no reason to push. Though they do allow for a moment of silence before they respond, just in case he wants to say what he saw.]
< Another time. > [Not that they don't appreciate the offer] < I might see what else is here while I'm around and then head back. >
< ...Which will probably be longer than I think. >
[She puffs out her cheeks at being called self-righteous, which does nothing to help the hamster allegations.]
I just don't wanna make people feel bad, or feel sorry for me. That's all.
[So yelling, crying, or lashing out seems like a definite no. Scott and Yu and so many others had told her that they like it better when she's open with her feelings, but that so much easier to do with them than to just do with whoever. It's a hard habit to break, feigning cheer in a bad situation so people don't ask her about it.
...Scott would probably be really disappointed that she's pretending, huh? She goes quiet and digs her chin into Phoenix's head.]
[ he realises immediately how this is at odds with what he just said — or might sound like it is, when in his mind, the two sentiments are completely different. ]
I did mean it... the part about intruding. But I am not sorry you were not there alone, this time. If my being there made things even a little bit better... well. [ he shrugs, looking down at the table, a little uncomfortable as well, and yet meaning this fully. ] Then it was worth it.
[ he may not know altius all that well, but the horror of it all; he'd have to be truly terrible to wish for him to have gone through it alone, to wish to have, what? spared himself the experience? no. no. ]
I guess I picked the right guy to ask questions about the whole thing. [ He is being absolutely genuine when he says that too, sorry?! ] I guess I'll have some ideas if the opportunity ever comes up.
[ But, hm. ] You ever wonder who made all of this...? [ Vague motioning to everything around them. ] Like the simulation and AI had to be made by someone so I'm wondering if there's a way to ever find it out.
[ Shigeru will lean forward a bit his eyes having that look of curiosity in them. ] Do you know how to cook?! What's your favorite dish then? I can make us something no problem!
[ He gives a pleased smile with a thumbs up. But it's switched to something amused as he gives a short laugh at that. ]
It would probably be one of the weirdest things I've drawn...
[ He's not one for discussing pseudo-psychological mumbo jumbo like this, but still finds himself giving a small nod in response to her answer ─ at least the first part of it. That should be a no-brainer, no? The mind ─ or the "soul" as it were ─ means more than the body, even if the latter isn't insignificant either. What she says in relation to the latter is... alarming. Ragna can't help but glance over the parts of her that appear to have been damaged, his eyebrows drawn into a scowl.
But before he gets to give it more thought, he's presented with a question for him to answer, and this one does nothing to dispel his unease. ]
... Being used as guinea pigs in some crazy experiment.
[ Ragna answers, probably the first time he's actually voiced the thought that's accompanied him for a while now. And while he's visibly frustrated, it's not with A2 herself. No, it's becoming increasingly obvious these questions are meant to make them feel anxious and paranoid, which only serves to prove his earlier point. The man hesitates for a brief moment, wondering if they should even continue with this charade... but ultimately, it might give them some clues about their situation. He exhales slowly, then looks back to his sheet. ]
"Do you have a right to be happy or should you earn it?"
If there's anything that Claude likes to do, it's to skip the small talk to get to the really important things in life. Theology! Politics! History! And yes, most of all, harmless gossip that does nothing but fill his head up with nonsense he doesn't need to care about, but enjoys nonetheless. Young love definitely ranks chiefly among his favourite gossip topics, even if romance rarely touches him personally. He grins, clearly pleased by Kuwabara's transparency.
"Yukina..." He tilts his head. "I know that name. She works at the Clinic, doesn't she? I do quite a lot of business with them."
If you could even call it business; most of what he provides the Clinic with, he provides free of charge. But he certainly takes every opportunity he can to poke in there and make a menace of himself every now and then, if not only to cheerfully and lovingly harass the owner. "I've never really spoken with her, but she seems like a nice girl. Someone you know from home?"
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
expiationmods) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
expiationlogs2025-02-10 12:12 pm
Page 30 of 56