[not again] catchall for belph

[fishingforcompliments]

Comments

[axilium]

... Yeah. It was like that for us. The depressing positive side of all this, I guess.

[fishingforcompliments]

[aha! the water is boiling now. flayn measures out some rice, pours it in, and then places the lid over the pot.]

...as long as any of us still has consciousness— it is not over.

[even the dead are "alive" enough to write to them.]

[axilium]

[i'm glad that flayn managed to boil water finally]

Be careful about how you word that. Consciousness, for some, can be an eternal hell.

[fishingforcompliments]

[she glances back at him and - perhaps surprisingly - doesn't protest it. instead, she nods.]

...yes, you are right.

[axilium]

Being long-lived sounds rough. Did you bond with Hikage over that?

[fishingforcompliments]

I...

[she wants to deny it - but, she brought it up to him in the first place. if it gives him something else to focus on, so be it.]

Not exactly. He thought, perhaps, that I had been dead. [...] I was not. He was kind enough not to press me for too many details.

[axilium]

... It wouldn't surprise me if he was looking for a kindred spirit. I don't think most people have gone through the kinds of things he has.

[fishingforcompliments]

...if that is the case, then I am sorry I could not be that for him. Being different from others around you can be... very lonely, even when you are surrounded by people.

[axilium]

Honestly, if he liked you at all, that's pretty impressive given that he just thinks most people are pathetic and annoying.

[fishingforcompliments]

Well... I cannot say how he felt about me. But I liked him well enough. I would have liked to become better friends with him.

[ :c ]

[axilium]

... Well, you can send him messages, at least. He might appreciate it.

[fishingforcompliments]

I shall certainly try to - though if they are limited in the number they can send back, I will not be expecting anything in return.

[that'll be going to him and steph, she's pretty sure]

[axilium]

Don't worry, I'm pretty sure the only thing he'll be writing about is how much we all freakin' suck for not catching his killer. You won't be missing out.

[fishingforcompliments]

...well, even if he only writes to scold us for not finding the truth⁠—

[time to check on the rice... ah, it needs a few more minutes]

⁠—at least it will mean he is well enough to write at all.

[axilium]

Well, for better or for worse, he's had more unpleasant purgatory experiences, so he's probably kind of used to it by this point.

[which. does not mean he might not have a breakdown because it's hikage, but.]

[fishingforcompliments]

...

[yeah, that sounds like a "for worse" thing, belph. flayn fidgets, trying to come up with something to avoid saying that, and checks on the rice again. there is no difference between it three seconds ago and now.]

...that is an unfortunate thing to be used to.

[axilium]

Hikage's life was pretty unfortunate in general.

[and now he's dead again.]

C'est la vie, I guess.

[fishingforcompliments]

[belph she doesn't speak french.]

...what?

[axilium]

It's a saying. "Such is life."

[fishingforcompliments]

I see... "c'est la vie," then. [...that's. honestly kind of sad.] Is there a saying for when life gets better?

[axilium]

[uhhhhhhhhh]

...

"It gets worse before it gets better"?

[fishingforcompliments]

...then that means things will get better from here, yes? Because it has gotten much worse than when we first arrived.

[axilium]

Do you want me to say what I actually think or what sounds nicest?

[fishingforcompliments]

...

[god, she wishes what sounds nicest is what he actually thinks, but she knows it probably isn't.]

What you actually think.

[axilium]

Things can always get worse.