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

[petsthedog]

they don't...know how they bring people back?

[goddamn it. there's a door slammed in his face, then, huh. it was stupid to even consider it a possibility.]

nevermind. if people can't join up and learn it i don't need to know, i guess.
don't suppose the manager takes requests, either

[It's dangerously close to a direct request, which just goes to show how desperate Shinjiro would've been to achieve that goal.]

[icanfixer]

[ ... mmmm-- ]

IT MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE DEAL WE HAVE STRUCK WITH THE ONE WHOM RUNS THE BUS THAT WE LIVE UPON
OUR MANAGER DOES NOT KNOW HOW IT WORKS, NOR DO WE, BUT WHEN WE DOTH REQUIRE IT THEY "TURN BACK THE CLOCK" AND WE ARE RETURNED TO LIFE
OUR WOUNDS MENDED, BLOOD RETURNED, SO ON AND SO FORTH
I DO NOT THINK THOU'RT ABLE TO JOIN, BUT I WOULD NOT WISH FOR THEE TO EITHER
IT IS NOT A DEAL ONE SHOULD LEAP AT THE CHANCE TO ACCEPT

[ ... ]

I SHALL SPEAK NO MORE ON THAT HOWEVER!!!
I DO APOLOGIZE FOR PERHAPS GIVING THEE FALSE HOPE, BUT IT CONSIDER IT A SIDE-EFFECT OF MINE EMPLOYMENT OVER AN INNATE ABILITY I WAS BORN WITH

[petsthedog]

[...]

[Shinjiro is, as a cagey person himself, not typically nosy. Other people's private business is none of his, and vice versa, and he's comfortable with that. But this particular topic is still one that is pretty sensitive for him, so --]

i thought you said fixers were heroes everyone should aspire to being
why wouldn't you want other people to take whatever deal's involved in being one

[sounds like he's about to find out that catch after all]

[icanfixer]

WE ARE NOT ALL FIXERS
ONLY MYSELF AND ONE OTHER ARE
ONE CAN BE A FIXER AND DIE AS ANY OTHER DO; IT IS THE COMPANY WE WORK FOR THAT IS DIFFERENT
FIXERS ARE HEROES WHOM ALL SHOULD ASPIRE TOO, INDEED!!! THAT IS TRUE
THE DEAL IS SEPARATE

[ ... ]

WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TALK OF IT EVEN AMONG OURSELVES
THEY ARE ALL VERY PERSONAL

[petsthedog]

so that's the real catch
this deal thing
seems kind of shady you ain't allowed to talk about it even to each other

[Like...SEES were required to keep their Shadow hunting activities quiet from the general public, but at least they can talk to each other? Seems almost like trying to keep them from learning too much by comparing notes.]

[icanfixer]

[ yeah. and even then, every time it gets brought up even in passing, don remains silent.

just as she does now, less noticeable in text than it would be out loud. still, still, she smiles at her phone as if they were speaking, or sitting face to face. ]

IT IS MERELY A REQUIREMENT OF OUR EMPLOYMENT!!!
MANY OTHER OFFICES AND THE LIKE HAVE MUCH THE SAME
IT IS NO DIFFERENCE THAN ANY OTHER PRACTICE IN THE CITY

[ ... ]

ARE THEE TO FALL IN BATTLE?

[petsthedog]

there's a lot of companies makin these deals, then?

[Seems complicated to keep track of.

The question earns a pause, though. He debates how much he wants to bother explaining, how much needs more context than he has the energy for, and settles on:]

something like that i guess
it's a long story

[. . .]

i ain't worried about me though, if that's what you're thinkin
there's
someone else i'd want to turn the clock back for

[icanfixer]

[ making all kinds of deals. they have a whole office for contracts, actually, keeping track and ensuring both sides keep to their end of the deals. it's a very serious business in the city, particularly because... well, spoken word is cheap. if you want something done, you put pen to paper and dish it out that way.

no doubt, don had to sign something herself. the spoken truce lays heavy on her mind. ]

THEN I AM SORRY TO SAY IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE EVEN IF THEE HAD JOINED OUR COMPANY
IT IS SOLELY FOR EMPLOYEE USE
OR RATHER, TO BE USED ON EMPLOYEES

[ ... not by choice, mind; there's a number of people their manager wished they could help, surely, that were left to rot instead. ]

A FRIEND OF THINE?

[petsthedog]

[Figures. He was an idiot for even entertaining the notion that he might be able to change something that happened years ago.]

nah
just someone who shouldn't've died the way they did
like i said, it's a long story

[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.]