catchall for emma

[leaberator]

Comments

[leaberator]

Yep.

[ ... is he gonna like explain or ]

[foodbin]

Are you.... going to tell me what it is...?

[leaberator]

[ there's a long pause ]

Yeah. [ was he. hesitating??? ] You know those wooden puzzle boxes from last week? That was me. Long story short, I get to pick one vague option out of three and hope whatever I picked doesn't accidentally hinder us in the long run.

[ it's fun. ]

[foodbin]

...Oh. Do you pick every week, too, or...?

[leaberator]

Yup. According to Sol, whatever I picked this week will help find the corrupted next time there's a trial.

[foodbin]

...Thank you.

[With sincerity in her voice.]

Does anyone else know?

[leaberator]

I literally pick at random. Thank the universe.

[ he shrugs. ... and has the decency to look a little bit sheepish when he admits: ]

Your roommate.

[foodbin]

Why? Are the descriptions usually vague?

[She nods.]

That’s a good pick.

[leaberator]

[ ha ha ha. descriptions. his smile is sardonic ]

You tell me. My choices this week were "Calamity, Battle, or Purgatory".

[foodbin]

...Jesus.

[She sighs.]

Which did you pick?

[leaberator]

Battle.

[ he shrugs ]

Purgatory and calamity sounded a lot worse.

[foodbin]

...Really? I would have thought that Purgatory would be better.

[leaberator]

An intermediate state after people die? No thanks. Been there, done that.

[ it's a joke, but a little bit bitter ]

[foodbin]

...Wait, really?

[leaberator]

Sorta.

[ well, he's been to what might've been real purgatory, but that's not what he was joking about. ]

It was more like a state of being than a place.

[foodbin]

You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to, but...

[It’s clear that she’s curious.]

[leaberator]

[ he doesn't, actually, but...

... shouldn't he? ]

... Remember when I told you my world fell to darkness? That was about... what, a little over a decade ago? [ time is a wonky thing, haha. ] I didn't exactly make it through it.

[foodbin]

So... You were fifteen or so the first time?

[leaberator]

[ he's actually mathing this out like an idiot. ]

Yeah, that sounds about right. I was a real idiot back then.

[foodbin]

[She laughs.]

You should have seen me at that age. I think everyone is allowed to be stupid at fifteen.

[leaberator]

You never met me as a kid, so I'll take the out. [ anyway... ] Truth is, death's not really the right term for it. I lost my heart.

[foodbin]

...I’m guessing that wasn’t literal.

[leaberator]

Woulda been pretty gruesome, right? Nah, this is more of a ... feelings kinda deal.

[foodbin]

So... It did something to your heart, like - it messed with your feelings?

[leaberator]

... Removed them entirely, but that's a pretty good guess. [ haha? ] It turned me into something we called a Nobody. They're beings that aren't light or darkness. Most of 'em don't even retain a human form. All they've got are their memories.

I guess in that sense I got lucky. I retained most of myself.