IC Contact;

[hellrisen02]

"Yo! I seem to have my hands full at the moment, so shoot me a message and I'll get back to ya. Later~."
[functions; voice, text, video, file upload.]

Comments

Text

[d33tached]

Can your colleague be trusted?

[Out of absolutely nowhere with no further context or information.]

Re: Text

[hellrisen02]

[Oh this is an excellent sign]

[Good thing he knows the answer]

Absolutely

Smooth things over?

[lol]

[d33tached]

He's been reading my mind.

[hellrisen02]

He can't read minds, only hearts. You're just an open book.

[Sorry Deedles, it is what it is]

[d33tached]

What do you mean he can "read" hearts?

[A heart is an organ.]

[hellrisen02]

[Jesus Christ, Deedee.]

Do you know what an empath is?

[d33tached]

I don't believe so, no.

[hellrisen02]

They read emotions, not actual thoughts or experiences.

Does that make sense?

By the way, learning some of the terms for the more common imPort power categorizations might be a good idea. For example, yours might be considered both elemental manipulation and stealth. Empaths might be considered to fall under the 'psychic' tree, but they aren't the same thing.

[d33tached]

[So not the point, Dad.]

Is there a way to defend oneself against the use of such powers?

[hellrisen02]

I've heard things. Training to make it harder for psychics to enter your mind, and the like. Some worlds seem to have particular technology for the purpose, but I don't know anything about it.

Not sure if it works on empaths.

Anyway, all this aside, there's no need to fear his powers. He isn't the sort of person to mean harm by it, and he isn't actually capable of not sensing the people around him. He isn't reading you in particular.

[But for him to have decided to latch to D33's feelings... Well, that was probably for a mix of reasons; the severity of them included. Which was regrettable.] How have you been getting by?

[d33tached]

[But he doesn't want him to be reading him at all.]

Perhaps it is best that I keep my distance from him for the time being if that be the case.

[Then, a few minutes later.]

I haven't been sleeping.

[As if that should answer Duo's question completely.]

[hellrisen02]

Perhaps. [Although he isn't sure how effective that will be... Quatre is very determined.]

[Anway...]

[Well. It sort of does.] It isn't something that will be quick to bear.

Don't force yourself.

[d33tached]

It could be worse.

[Could it, though? For once, D33 isn't really sure.]

[hellrisen02]

It always can be. That doesn't mean you aren't allowed to feel badly about the current situation, though.

Have you made any decisions, in light of this? About how to live your life, going forward. There isn't any rush to do so.

[d33tached]

[He doesn't really know how to answer that question, though it's most certainly a "no". Even though Shinigami says there's no rush, D33 feels like he's failed somehow in not having come up with anything yet. It's an issue of the same stubbornness and pride that's always his downfall - it makes it hard to look back at what he did and think of something that he could change. In his mind, what happened between he and K31 couldn't possibly be replicated with anyone else. He still can't see the big picture.]

If I am to be honest with you, Shinigami, I am still rather at a loss in that regard.

[D33 does much better following orders than coming up with solutions on his own.]

[hellrisen02]

That's fine.

[He should have as much time as he needed. With regards to how he thought of and treated himself, Duo wouldn't push any way. That was something he had to discover for himself, no matter how long it took.]

Did you have any questions? Things you weren't sure how to handle differently?

[d33tached]

Most everything, I suppose.

It's difficult to say that I might have done anything differently given the same circumstances.

[hellrisen02]

Give me an example.

A truly neutral review of oneself is important. Not only in how you handle normal interactions, but in how you come across when acquiring information. The problem of your lack of self-review is a tactical disadvantage as well.

You should consider it more carefully, in that way.

[d33tached]

[D33 isn't sure about all that, but he does tend to trust Shinigami's knowledge on the matter more than his own.]

When I left the society from which I came, I left her with it.

I likely wouldn't have been able to escape with her in tow. We both would have died.

[He's looking at that one literal situation as his first mistake. He doesn't see yet that his regrets have more to do with how he treated her in general than in the fact he left her to Royce's whims.]

[hellrisen02]

It's better to die a free man than to continue living under the bonds of slavery.

Was that your thinking?

[d33tached]

No.

I wasn't thinking. I just had to go.

I can't explain it. Truly, I can't.

[hellrisen02]

Survival isn't anything to be ashamed of in and of itself. It's our purest instinct.

But that doesn't mean it can't lead to regrettable decisions. One life for another. It isn't uncommon.

If it meant your survival at stake, would you reconsider? In order to spare her?

[d33tached]

Given what I know now, you mean?

[hellrisen02]

If you knew.

[d33tached]

Yes.

I was going to die on my own anyway. Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure that I haven't.

[Dead ImPorts come through all the time. He can't remember going anywhere while he was ported out for a month, and the last thing he remembers is blacking out in the woods, cold and hopelessly lost.

[He realizes he's probably never told Duo that before.]