Daan

[residentflorist]

code

Digitalis
Old English folklore said that foxes wore the flowers on their paws
to silence movement and stealthily stalk prey.
Healing, pain, insincerity, insecurity

Comments

[residentflorist]

At this point, Daan, I have to wonder if the cult even knows what they're doing. But fair enough point. [there's a half-smile, even if her eyes are on the cube. her emotions have leveled out to something, but uh. the something is that they ain't there, chief. she's just empty at the moment.]

Yeah. I don't know if one of the others told you much about it. [gauging how much he knows before she talks...]

[recession]

I've heard enough context about the island from Lucas and Mathis themselves, and even got a brief glimpse into it from these flickering memories from Izutsumi.

[ Apparently he was there. He liked reading and was religious. Extremely OOC of him. ]

Not enough to get the clearest of pictures, but it doesn't seem like the plot of the ventures in themselves are typically relevant. Sometimes they're related to someone's memory or experiences, other times they're not.

[residentflorist]

[it's fine the church is evil.]

These ones were. I know exactly what these aligned with, and...I don't know if that's better or worse, actually. None of it was great for any of us.

[recession]

Would you rather move on than linger on it?

[residentflorist]

...I don't know, really. [aerith is so great at being nosy and asking questions, but she is terrible at just talking about terrible things.] Feels kind of like these are made so you can't help but linger for a while. Even when you don't want to.

[recession]

[ All he's ever done is linger. He gets the feeling -- or, in another perspective, he hadn't ever noticed that it'd be different. ]

Acceptance and closure needs time to process first. I'm sure you're aware, but sometimes, it takes reminders.

[residentflorist]

[there's a little smile.]

Probably feels a little hypocritical of me to tell everyone else they need time to process and heal and I can't really figure out how to do it myself yet. But maybe it's just...easier, when it's not you.

[recession]

Always easier to espouse your beliefs on what's right to others even if you feel it's hard to act them out yourself, for one reason or another.

[residentflorist]

I guess it doesn't help I've never really had people to act these things out on until recently. Still...figuring it out, I think. What's the line between talking about things and saying too much, you know?

[recession]

Whatever people are willing to lend an ear to.

And I hardly think I'm in the position to judge anyone else on anything.

[residentflorist]

[fidgeting with the cube still...]

Daan, how much do people usually confide in you? In general, I mean.

[recession]

...

I wouldn't really have a good scale to compare it to, but...

It does feel like a decent amount.

[residentflorist]

And how do you feel about that, usually? [daan what is your mental capacity for people trauma-dumping on you, actually.]

[recession]

I don't mind it.

Nice to get things off your chest every now and then. And it's hardly as if I'm going to talk, or think differently of most people unless you've told me something seriously groundbreaking.

[ And even then he doubts he can judge still. ]

[residentflorist]

[for whatever reason, there's a ping of anxiety in her emotions when he says the last part. but she's quiet, pushing that away. that's not important right now. it's fine.]

I have now had sharp objects impaled nearly all the way through my torso three times since coming to this place. [is what she starts with.] Would've died all three times if whatever happened in the bar didn't put us to sleep and close our wounds instead. I think...it's been better here. People are more settled here, but at the same time sometimes it feels hard to vent to people who aren't, like, Famine because everyone has their own stuff going on. I don't like the idea of expressing things and then giving people a reason to hold back on telling me things themselves.

[recession]

It's not pleasant.

[ Getting stabbed through the torso... ouchies. ]

It does feel a bit easier to talk over here, in comparison to where we were. The pressure is less overwhelming when you know one of us won't suddenly disappear on a Thursday or Sunday or even outside of that, and the last thing you said to them was something you won't know if you can ever take back.

...

I probably won't change stances on what I will or won't say though? I'm just not so forthcoming to begin with, that's all.

[residentflorist]

Nope! Pretty unpleasant and surprising all the same, really.

[she says, as someone who has been impaled four times actually.]

That's also true. There were things I said to people before I left that I worry hurt them in the longrun, and sometimes I wish I'd had more time to write a second letter to leave behind. But wishing for that kind of stuff doesn't always help, huh?

It just...feels constant. Like this place will find ways to try and break your trust for the people you care about the most, or trick you in ways that make you question everything you say and do. For instance, I'm still not entirely sure it's just you and me in this room, so I'm not sure how much to try and make sense.

[sure. let's just casually say we're hallucinating, aerith. that's fine.]

[recession]

[ YOU COULD PHRASE YOU'RE HALLUCINATING IN A LESS VAGUE WAY AERITH. ]

As in the whole thing about the hills having eyes and ears?

[residentflorist]

That too, yes. Though being here that's less. It feels less like we're on the cult's radar in this place.

[no, she's just going to squint instead, eyes slowly following some invisible figure out the door.]

[recession]

[ Well. That's familiar to him so he's leaning in so he's interrupting her field of vision. ]

Seeing a good someone or bad?

[residentflorist]

[hum. oh. hello daan. she blinks a little now that he's in her line of sight.]

Both, maybe. Good in this world, a little less good back there. Funny, right? [not the word for it, but sure.]

[recession]

Not sure I understand, but I trust you know you're hallucinating.

Nothing that can just go away when it's forced on you the way things are here, but...

Take a nap? If you can. I can get you tea to help.

[residentflorist]

Probably. He's been gone for a few years so, logically, showing up now makes no sense. But you know how these things are. Even the dead can come back and still walk around as if they never left at all.

[she frowns a little deeper though.]

...tea for both of us? I found out they make electric kettles, so there's one in the cabinet. I think falling asleep is a bad idea because I don't want to wake up in the lab again. Again, I know that's unlikely now that we're here but...how can we really know?

[recession]

Sure. I can arrange tea for two.

We can have it until you feel better and at peace, Cloud returns, or you do end up nodding off peacefully.

[residentflorist]

That sounds great. Everything should be over there. [pointing to a cabinet across the room that does in fact have an electric kettle and some scaresco tea. she's still focusing on this puzzle cube.]

...if I'm being completely honest, I don't think I've been at peace since we've come here. [well, no, that's not right.] Or more like...there were still things that couldn't be at peace by being here at all.