text; un: aragaki

[petsthedog]

[Alright. He didn't want to be the first one to bring this up, but now that there's already been some Nonsense™ involving (attempted?) murder, he might as well.]

so how sure are any of us that we're actually alive here anyway
i dunno bout anyone else but i was definitely about to bite the big one before i woke up on that train
and if people don't actually remember it if they try to kill someone or when they're about to die here maybe it's because we're already dead and this is some kind of fucked up afterlife

Comments

[icanfixer]

[ oh...

...

mmm. this isn't her forte. ]

I SHALL NOT ASK THEE TO RECOUNT IT, FOR IT MUST BE A PAINFUL ONE INDEED
SUCH THINGS ARE COMMONPLACE IN THE CITY (THE ONE I HAVE COME FROM)
BUT IT MAKES IT NO LESS EASY TO SWALLOW

[ more seen secondhand, as of late, but she has her own demons too. no one signs onto that contract because they want to -- they do because they have no other choice. ]

INSTEAD, ALLOW THIS ONE TO GIVE THEE A BIT OF HOPE
IF THEE WISHES TO HEAR IT

[petsthedog]

[...]

[It's funny. Shinjiro hasn't really been much of one for hope, for quite some time now. He'd given up on himself, on everything, really, and it always pissed him off whenever Aki would insist he needed to forgive himself and move on already. But something about the way she phrases it -- about being asked if he wants to hear it, strikes a chord in him.]

go ahead
i’ll hear it

[icanfixer]

IN MY CITY, THERE ARE MANY THINGS WHICH CAN BE CALLED A MIRACLE
I COULD SPEAK OF THINGS I HAVE SEEN AND EXPERIENCE AND THEY WOULD BE UNBELIEVABLE TO THINE EYES AND EARS
THE DEAD DO NOT COME BACK TO LIFE

HOWEVER, THAT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THEM TO

[ it's more in the future, but there's no way a Singularity hasn't existed that could do such a thing -- it's just that the city considers it a taboo, because nothing is truly "impossible". just commodified. ]

NOTHING THAT IS LABELED IMPOSSIBLE IS IMPOSSIBLE
IT IS MERELY DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE
IF THEE TRULY WISH TO REVIVE SOMEONE WHO FELL BEFORE THEIR TIME, THEN A WAY WILL EVENTUALLY BE FOUND
BUT NO MATTER THE FORM IT TAKES, FROM MINE OWN CITY TO ANYTHING THIS ONE MAY OFFER, IT WILL COST THEE DEARLY
IT IS NOT MY PLACE TO ASK THEE TO RECONSIDER IT, FOR I KNOW NOT THY CIRCUMSTANCES
IT IS SIMPLY SOMETHING WORTH WEIGHING UPON SHOULD THE CHANCE EVER APPEAR

[ she can't in good heart cheer someone who'd die, for instance. but she's an honest person who wouldn't hide the possibility. ]

[petsthedog]

[It should be hardly anything; a crumb, at best, a candleflicker of nothing more or less than what she’d said—hope. Nothing actionable, and yet...it’s maybe the first time anything’s pierced through the despair that’s shrouded him for two years now.

His mouth twitches up slightly, a pale ghost of a smile. He can’t really put a finger on why it makes him feel just a shade less awful, but it does.]

if one ever came up, i’d take it
the cost doesn’t matter
...i owe it to this kid i know, and it’s too late for me anyway


but thanks

[For telling him, for the warning, for giving a shit at all? All of the above, maybe.]

what’s your name anyway?

[icanfixer]

[ his answers are what anyone'd expect from someone with less time on their side than the average person, but the gratitude is a little unexpected. though she's glad to have helped, a little. ]

THOU ART MOST WELCOME

I AM DON QUIXOTE!
AND THINE?

[petsthedog]

[Why does her name give her the faint impression of English homework he neglected to do back when he still went to school...

There's a brief pause, as he considers what name to give her in return. Then:]

been goin by aragaki
but my given's shinjiro
don't have any damn clue how to say quixote anyway, so i guess you can use it
if you want

[icanfixer]

AND THEE MAY CALL ME DON, OR DONQUI IF IT DOTH PLEASES THEE!!!
MY COMPANIONS HAVE GIVEN ME NICKNAMES SUCH AS THAT, AND I DO NOT MIND THEM

[ makes her happy. ]

[petsthedog]

don's good

[You need to up your s-link before Shinji calls you by a nickname okok. The first name basis already makes him feel a little itchy from the familiarity, and he was the one to suggest it.]