Digitalis Old English folklore said that foxes wore the flowers on their paws to silence movement and stealthily stalk prey. Healing, pain, insincerity, insecurity
[she doesn't mind if he wanders off. she easily lets him go, hands folded behind her as she begins to drift on her own to explore a little. over to the instruments, over to the piano, and sort of settling into the idea of this building existing. the music's nice, at least.]
Some reprieve from everything, I see. [as you do.] Was it literally underground?
[this question is less stupid when you consider she's lived under a giant metal plate for the last like 15 years.]
It's similar to this one. A basement type. It wasn't far underground... the entrance was right outside, and led pretty much under the building like a cellar.
[ Looking at what crystals they have, turning over a bottle or two to look at its label. ]
Had its own secret cellar though, with guns and a map and notes. Turns out it was being used as a base for the NLU, a resistance group involved with the war and all. Just so happened one of the other people stuck with us was a member herself, had a handful of things to say.
[pressing a few keys on our piano here just for the sound.
also...she sort of laughs to that.]
Funny how that works. Tifa's bar was a base for Avalanche, too. Pretty sure it was in the basement, but I never saw it. Just heard the stories about how they'd meet down there to plan their missions. And Barret and Marlene lived there. [she tilts her head.] Was the handful of things good, or bad?
Bars tend to be good covers. Speakeasies, you know? All the things you can't say in public where there might be prying ears, you do it where there's crystal and smoke.
...
I don't know. It's...
[ Frowning just a little bit. ]
It's similar to this. Talking about solutions. Getting an idea of where to head, some kind of lead that might help. Nobody could be sure, but it was better than the alternative, which was to die or kill everyone else.
[ Just as equally unrelated to his own personal plight, nothing that'd give him the things he was looking for, but a potential avenue for survival. ]
[drifting back to the bar, she's leaning against it to watch him in his element of searching around for the moment.]
Killing everyone else is never a great option. And of course dying isn't. So...you always hope for a third thing that'll work. Even if it won't get you all the way, at least something to buy time. That's what blowing up the reactors was about for them, I think. Slowing down the draining of the lifestream to stop the demise of the planet. But it's still a little difficult being in that in-between when you don't know what plan will actually work.
Kinda feels like you think most of the things you tell me aren't exactly comparable, but it's about the best I can do when I want to understand you. [she assumes he means their two lives, and she gets that. no offense here, she's just stating that.]
When you think about it, our continued existence is kind of proof of being more successful, isn't it?
Do I need to remind you again that I wouldn't care if it was droll? [a light tease.] But you're a person who doesn't like to say too much too fast. And I can understand.
[or rather a person who doesn't seem to think it's necessary to say a lot of things.]
We're making new progress each week. Connecting back to that other side. If there's some way to create a bridge maybe, or something to transfer everyone out...but it'll all depend on outracing the cult.
I know. [and it's why she doesn't push. just takes the scraps he gives her and files them away for later. the question makes her think though.]
Better than before, at least. When I first got here, we were barely just getting the option to speak to the other overseers. Now they're able to show up and everything. We can send letters that get to them, and their letters get to us. Whatever connection we've established is only getting stronger. And this isn't what dead really feels like, I think.
[...well. she's not about to say "i know" because she doesn't want to drop that fun surprise on him when he just got here, and also she's still trying to piece together her own death at home and what it means.]
Yup. I think. If we can still feel things, and we can still experience everything...we're just as solid as anything else. Life after death doesn't stop, but this isn't quite that either.
Signs are pointing to good things! They seem to change when we unlock the tomes each week, and there are other things that shift each Monday. The more we build here, the more it feels like we're getting closer to them? After all, all of the trees you guys had on the other side end up here permanently anyway. Are those places any less real now just because they're here?
I still have a little bit of apprehension about "getting closer to them", but that might just be me. Everything that happens here comes with a bit of doubt.
That being said, I'm not trying to be a nihilist. You do make good points and I'm not doubting you.
You could be a nihilist if you wanted. You wouldn't be the first to think I'm a little weird for thinking the way I do. People don't always believe in planetology either. But...that does make me a little happy to hear. I'll admit that much.
[mostly she likes knowing she's not just spouting bullshit he wishes she'd never say, or anything that might actively hinder him.]
Supposedly a little sense of doubt is healthy anyway.
[...this also makes sense. daan has struck her as someone who's more a product of circumstance than anything, and it's what makes everything so much more frustrating.]
...is it hard for you to believe because everything that's happened continues to be hard to cope with? [let's talk and pick the brain a little.]
It's harder to see a bigger picture when it sounds impossible. You can't just say "hey we're going to come back from the dead and live happily ever after" and expect everyone to believe it with no questions. And...it's probably also hard to look forward to something because this isn't something that's easy to get your hopes up about.
[...she considers this again.]
Can I ask you something? If you could...do you have an idea of what something like that would even look like for you at all? To look forward to.
Really. I think he's...[man.] The man says he has no ambitions of his own now. It doesn't matter to him. But he did at least acknowledge that wasn't the way to go.
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Some reprieve from everything, I see. [as you do.] Was it literally underground?
[this question is less stupid when you consider she's lived under a giant metal plate for the last like 15 years.]
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[ Looking at what crystals they have, turning over a bottle or two to look at its label. ]
Had its own secret cellar though, with guns and a map and notes. Turns out it was being used as a base for the NLU, a resistance group involved with the war and all. Just so happened one of the other people stuck with us was a member herself, had a handful of things to say.
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also...she sort of laughs to that.]
Funny how that works. Tifa's bar was a base for Avalanche, too. Pretty sure it was in the basement, but I never saw it. Just heard the stories about how they'd meet down there to plan their missions. And Barret and Marlene lived there. [she tilts her head.] Was the handful of things good, or bad?
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...
I don't know. It's...
[ Frowning just a little bit. ]
It's similar to this. Talking about solutions. Getting an idea of where to head, some kind of lead that might help. Nobody could be sure, but it was better than the alternative, which was to die or kill everyone else.
[ Just as equally unrelated to his own personal plight, nothing that'd give him the things he was looking for, but a potential avenue for survival. ]
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Killing everyone else is never a great option. And of course dying isn't. So...you always hope for a third thing that'll work. Even if it won't get you all the way, at least something to buy time. That's what blowing up the reactors was about for them, I think. Slowing down the draining of the lifestream to stop the demise of the planet. But it's still a little difficult being in that in-between when you don't know what plan will actually work.
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Hopefully, this one will prove to be more successful...
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When you think about it, our continued existence is kind of proof of being more successful, isn't it?
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...
I wouldn't know. I didn't stick around long enough in Prehevil to find out. But it probably is a good sign, yeah.
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[or rather a person who doesn't seem to think it's necessary to say a lot of things.]
We're making new progress each week. Connecting back to that other side. If there's some way to create a bridge maybe, or something to transfer everyone out...but it'll all depend on outracing the cult.
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[ Care, he means. Because yeah again, his life is kind of a lot. ]
You've been here longer than me. How do you feel about our prospects?
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Better than before, at least. When I first got here, we were barely just getting the option to speak to the other overseers. Now they're able to show up and everything. We can send letters that get to them, and their letters get to us. Whatever connection we've established is only getting stronger. And this isn't what dead really feels like, I think.
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Signs are maybe pointing to good things, then?
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Yup. I think. If we can still feel things, and we can still experience everything...we're just as solid as anything else. Life after death doesn't stop, but this isn't quite that either.
Signs are pointing to good things! They seem to change when we unlock the tomes each week, and there are other things that shift each Monday. The more we build here, the more it feels like we're getting closer to them? After all, all of the trees you guys had on the other side end up here permanently anyway. Are those places any less real now just because they're here?
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That being said, I'm not trying to be a nihilist. You do make good points and I'm not doubting you.
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You could be a nihilist if you wanted. You wouldn't be the first to think I'm a little weird for thinking the way I do. People don't always believe in planetology either. But...that does make me a little happy to hear. I'll admit that much.
[mostly she likes knowing she's not just spouting bullshit he wishes she'd never say, or anything that might actively hinder him.]
Supposedly a little sense of doubt is healthy anyway.
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[ He wasn't always that way. It was never his intention to become one. ]
A little sense of doubt is healthy, sure. I just don't want to feel like I'm taking away from anything with the skepticism.
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...is it hard for you to believe because everything that's happened continues to be hard to cope with? [let's talk and pick the brain a little.]
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It'd be nice to have something good to look forward to, but I'm not really finding any... that's all.
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[...she considers this again.]
Can I ask you something? If you could...do you have an idea of what something like that would even look like for you at all? To look forward to.
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Not really.
[ Unfortunately... ]
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[taking "it'd be nice to have one" and "i don't want to be a nihilist" as daan would like one good thing, maybe. possibly.]
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Try telling that to Nehan. [don't worry, she's working on him, too.]
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[ Nehan, this is not a bar you should be going lower than. ]
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