i_speak_softly | Luceti Appointments

[Robert seems to be doing okay right now, so Don puts Carbon on his shoulder and heads to the kitchen. He hasn't eaten anything all week and he's pretty hungry.]

[Robert doesn't accompany him. In fact, Robert doesn't really go anywhere. He just... kind of stands there until Don leaves, and eventually sits with a leaden heaviness on the edge of his bed, staring into the nothingness in front of him and slowly, methodically kneading his hands together.

His head is a blur of emotions tinged with pain of all kinds and he really just wants to lie down and sleep, but he's too frightened of the Pandora's Box of possibilities that opened up to actually be able to rest.]

[Don comes back after a while carrying two trays of food, one of which holds a bowl of plain rice and a mug of weak tea. This he holds out to Robert.]

Here. Be grateful I don't know Master Splinter's hangover remedy.

[Robert takes the tray, fingers shaking very slightly as he lowers it into his lap. His face is wet.]

... Th-Thank you...

[He takes the offered spoon then (good thing it is a spoon, he probably couldn't have handled anything else) and begins to eat very slowly, seemingly oblivious to his own condition.]

[Don sits down with his own, more heavily-laden, tray, and stuffs his face for a while before speaking again. He chooses his words carefully, translating his feelings the way he's learned to do for his partner.]

I'm angry because I love you. The things I saw you doing the last few days, I don't ever want to see again. Do you understand?

[Robert's hands shake hard enough that he actually drops the spoon he was holding.]

... S-Some of what you witnessed... I am not c-certain I can completely control...

[You're not expecting him to stop all of it, are you, Don?]

[Don automatically reaches to make sure the whole tray doesn't tip over.]

We'll talk about it when you're sober.

[Robert nods mutely at that and refocuses his fractured mind on his food, though he really doesn't want to eat anymore. It's probably the best that he gets some actual food in himself, though...

As he eats, he keeps his eyes on his tray, shamefully silent. This is bringing up all sorts of terrible memories, though at least so far this is going better than before.]

[Don eats in silence too, processing the morning. Finally he asks:]

Robert, did something else happen that I should know about?

[Robert has moved on to his tea by now, but when Don asks that question he puts it down immediately. Clearly the answer is yes.]

... P-Perhaps I should... explain from the b-beginning... [Now that he's closer to sober it will even be coherent.]

[Don resettles to face Robert, his expression impassive. Gon on; explain yourself.]

[He'll try.]

On the t-twenty-sixth of May, an event occurred in L-Luceti whereby... many residents gained what I can only e-express as... amplified Filial Magic from a sort of s-symbiotic arrangement with Filial Spirits.

I... I r-received power from Tsinku, the like I had... n-never even begun to imagine... [He trails off softly, here.] It was... an experience unlike any I have kn-known...

... And it e-ended so quickly, with you still gone... [His tone softens again, turns inward.] That ease, that simplicity... it must be how most others in this place feel. It... was a r-reminder that I will always be... d-different, here... inferior. Helpless...

[He pauses here, throat tight with emotions he can only partially explain.]

[Don furrows his brow and rubs his beak, thinking.]

After I was with the Malnosso a few days, they were suddenly very interested in my Filial magic. I wonder if there's a connection.

Most l-likely... [It would make sense at least if they were trying to explain the phenomenon.]

At any rate, I... I s-suppose that feeling so helpless after... having such ability was p-painful enough that I... felt too unable to affect change...

[Quietly:] I... wanted to regain that connection with Tsinku, but... it was much d-different once I was no longer inhabited b-by him...

[Softly:] I felt pretty useless too.

[He leans over, just enough to rest his shoulder against Robert's.] I missed being able to touch you.

[Robert doesn't quite lean back into the touch, but there's a noticeable shift of pressure to the shoulder.]

... I... I m-missed that too...

...

[Wait.]

... You... you could not?

Mm. [He turns his head to rest his beak in Robert's hair.] A few times you rolled over at night and I woke up inside you, but... this is better.

[...]

... Wh-what exactly do you mean...? [Any interpretation of that Robert can come up with doesn't sound like something he shouldn't have noticed.]

[Don pulls back, blinking at the scientist in confusion.]

Robert, I've been here. I was invisible and... [He searches for the right word.] - incorporeal. With enough focus I could briefly affect the physical world, but ... you didn't notice me.

... [Suddenly it makes significantly more sense that he didn't notice Don was in the house.]

I th-thought you meant that... you had been here o-ordinarily and I simply had not noticed...

[His expression turns to one of disbelief.]

Robert, no one can be that drunk.

[With a shameful edge:] I was not m-merely drunk.

[A sharp look. What else was going on that he doesn't know about?]

As I s-said... my contact with Tsinku produced... u-unusual effects once I attempted to... re-establish the b-bond. Combined with alcohol, the effects have been... a-almost hallucinatory...

[He stops then, twisting his fingers slightly, before continuing once more.]

It was... pleasant, I s-suppose, or... or more pleasant than... w-worrying all the time.

[Robert, how could you. Don's expression hardens, and his voice is dangerously quiet.]

You told me you were done with all of that.

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