Luceti Appointments

[i_speak_softly]

Need a thread with Don, but don't have a post for it and don't feel like starting one? Stick it here. Please note date, time of day, location, and any relevant circumstances.

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[i_speak_softly]

Really? Never?

[semper_cogitans]

[... That actually strikes Robert as strange.]

Yes.

... [Does that mean Don has?]

[i_speak_softly]

[A strange look, almost as if Don doesn't recognize him.]

[He tries several times to speak, but what can he say to that?]

[semper_cogitans]

[... Good question.

After a moment, Robert realizes:]

... You... mean that is... u-usual, for you...?

[Unlike Don, all he sounds like is sad, really.]

[i_speak_softly]

Um... [He rubs his head, trying to think how he can explain this gently.]

In training, a sourceless, all-over pain is usually a good thing.

[semper_cogitans]

Ah... w-well. [Robert fidgets a little uncomfortably at that. Yet another thing about Don's life he can't conceptualize properly...]

... I... s-suppose I had never seen pain as... good.

[i_speak_softly]

[He drops that subject for now.]

How can I help you feel better?

[semper_cogitans]

D-Distract me. [It's not usual Robert asks for this.]

... S-Something to think about other than... p-pain.

[i_speak_softly]

[Don gets up and leaves the room for a moment, returning with a chess set.]

Usually I play without a board, but my memory's not that good right now.

[He starts setting up the pieces.]

Shiro ka kuro ka? White or black?

[semper_cogitans]

[Ooh, a chess set. The mun can't play chess, oh god.]

... Do... d-do you have a preference...?

[Robert, of course, is all too willing to defer.]

[i_speak_softly]

[He shrugs.] You can go first.

[semper_cogitans]

[That means choosing the white pieces, doesn't it? Robert considers the board before making his first move, slowly and methodically.

... It's been awhile since he's played chess, and he's never done so with a physical board... it's definitely different this way.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don lets a few opening moves go by - neither of them playing very skillfully, Robert from lack of practice and Don from the effects of winter - before he speaks again.]

Robert... Is there anything you want to talk about?

[semper_cogitans]

... Mm? [Robert's gaze flickers up from the board - he'd been studying the pawn structure, in the hopes he could calculate the efficiency percentages of the next possible moves he could take - and it's a second before he registers Don's words.]

... Well... [... Other than the fact he's got a tainted soul now, and he just confessed his drug history to Helios a day or so ago...?]

... I... I suppose, but... I am not c-certain if I... can.

[At least not the former.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Calculating anything is beyond Don's powers right now - he's making moves more or less by rote.]

[He shrugs, as casual as he can make it.]

I thought some conversation might help distract you.

[semper_cogitans]

[At that, Robert's fingers pause mid-grip on one of his pieces, and he hesitates a moment.]

... W-well. ... Things have... c-certainly been... difficult recently...

... I... I... have spoken to Helios, about... [- and he stumbles for a second -] ... m-my drug history, now.

... It... it was a very... e-emotional moment...

[Not one he really wants to get into too much, but this week is going to be full of glossing things over.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Not quite how Don expected that sentence to end, but he nods.]

What did he say?

[semper_cogitans]

... I do not... th-think he cared in the least... [The actual words were ones that were more relevant to Helios' own problems than his.

...

It occurs to Robert that both of the men he loves the most have killed people.]

... It is... s-surprising, to... to know that my failures are... are n-not such a burden to others...

[i_speak_softly]

[Don smiles - forced, but he's good at faking.]

[semper_cogitans]

[Robert is... not so much.

... Of course, he can't tell this smile is forced in the least.]

What about... yourself? Has... anything happened?

[i_speak_softly]

Other than sleeping a lot? Not really...

[semper_cogitans]

[Despite himself, Robert can't help but smile faintly himself.]

... Ah, well... I do hope you have been... a-alright. You at least seem... better, than you were. More... coherent.

[This is good, right?]

[i_speak_softly]

It comes and goes. [He can't remember what he told you about this, but he assumes something, or you would be freaking out more.] Have I said anything especially stupid?

[semper_cogitans]

[Give him a moment - though Robert rarely thinks of what Don says in terms of "stupidity".]

... You... f-forgot what my pendant was. Or... or what it was for.

[Awkwardly:] You... also referred to us as... friends.

[Clearly that wasn't an accurate descriptor.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don blinks slowly, puzzling over this. Is Robert not his friend? And should he know what the pendant is for?]

It looks like a turtle. I'm not sure what you mean by the rest...