i_speak_softly | Sixty-Fourth Theory [Action/Voice]

((First part is backdated to yesterday, November 10.))

[Would it really be so difficult for John's droids to just bring Don home?]

[Apparently, because they instead leave him in a side room of the barracks. On their way out, they drop his journal on the floor, just beyond his reach.]

[He can't feel his legs.]

[He woke up this way on John's table, and while part of his brain tried to assess the situation rationally and offer the mitigating factors that it's just for a week, thank goodness he didn't get this as his death loss, the rest of his brain was screaming too loudly to notice or care.]

[And now he's back in the village, half-paralyzed, still uncertain of his speech, and completely alone.]

[It takes a while, but he pulls himself together, drags himself a few feet across the floor, and painstakingly constructs a filter in the journal.]

Voice to Beast | Unhackable

Help. The barracks. Please...

[He closes the book when he's done. Beast won't get any reply from him through the journals, but will find him prone on the floor of the barracks, just wanting to go home.]

Voice for Everyone, November 11

[By the next day, Don has rediscovered his voice, and wants everyone else to hear it too. Being couchbound, he has nothing better to do than broadcast his every thought over the journal system.]

EVERYONE. Citizens, denizens, residents and inmates of our village of Luceti. Those of you who have just arrived, please find adequate shelter, because this is miserable weather to be out in. You're fortunate, though, to have missed our recent tornado. Also an infestation of ghosts and some messy business involving zombie viruses. Never a dull moment. I advise reading the guide, which can be found in your journal.

Those of you who are already jaded by such events, please entertain yourselves on this dreary day by suggesting a topic of interest: a fascinating subject, an intriguing project, or a hypothetical occurrence that you would find truly surprising. Jokes and stories are also welcome.

[He'll stop there. Finding words is still difficult and tiring, and like exercising any other faculty that hasn't been used in a while, he should take it slowly. Full recovery will come from patient practice, not from exhausting himself all at once.]

((Initial action is locked to Beast. Friends of Don are welcome to handwave hearing of his return and come visit, yesterday afternoon or any time during the week. Today's voice post is open to all.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

[SO EMBARRASSED.]

- I also think she's about twelve.

[Though he's bad at guessing humans' ages so he could be completely wrong.]

Actually, I believe she'll be turning 23 soon.

[Don almost falls off the couch, which would be bad, considering his current state of paralysis.]

What?!

Don't worry, people tend to make the same mistake when they first meet her. She doesn't exactly do much to discourage that impression either.

[In a kind of hopeless moan:] Why do I always fall for older people...?

[Probably for the same reason Richard keeps falling for straight guys. But this arouses his curiosity.]

How old are you?

Nineteen?

The same age as Isamu, then. I was nineteen when I arrived here, but that was more than two years ago.

What are you, um... ["Implying", but the word escapes him.] Are the two of you with older people also?

[Richard blinks. He wasn't actually implying anything, though he can see how it might have been taken that way.]

The two of us aren't with anyone at all. Let's just say it hasn't been a priority for either one of us lately.

I know what you mean. [And he drops the subject there. No need to pry further.] Am I keeping you from anything? Or do you want to talk a while?

Not at all-- I'd be happy to talk for a while. Did you have something particular in mind?

[Distractions are good after that draft, so he won't say no.]

Not really. I'm just - glad to be able to speak again. And... I'd like to get to know you better.

Because I'm Isamu's friend?

[Even after two years in Luceti, he still has a bit of trouble believing that people want to be friends with him for HIM.]

As they say, any friend of Isamu's. [He'll let you fill in your own ending to that sentence.]

But seriously, I'd like to be friends with you also. You're an interesting person.

... thank you. I suppose I'm still not used to people thinking of me that way here.

Are you considered boring at home?

[He says it lightly, as a joke, but as the words leave his mouth he realizes they could be true. He hopes he didn't just upset Richard...]

Not exactly, but when you're the king, there aren't many people who get to know the real you.

[It's not something he really broadcasts here, but he figures it can't hurt to let Don know.]

[...]

The king? [Really?] The king of what?

Of my country, Windor. It isn't exactly something I make common knowledge here in Luceti, for obvious reasons.

[It's not so obvious to Don. He understands secrets all too well, but being king doesn't seem like something to hide.]

You like being... normal, here?

I don't want anyone to feel like they should treat me differently just because of my title in my world. I'm just an ordinary person here-- I'm no different from anyone else.

And... I do like being normal. I've never had the chance to live like this before.

I know what you mean. My secret is hard to hide, but I won't tell anyone yours.

I appreciate that. Besides, if I ever feel the desire to be treated like royalty, I can always simply ask Isamu to be a temporary servant.

[Don laughs.]

I'm sure he enjoys that.

[Voice/Filter]

ledbythewind - 2012-11-29 04:20 (UTC) - Expand

i_speak_softly - 2012-11-30 02:31 (UTC) - Expand

ledbythewind - 2012-12-08 08:38 (UTC) - Expand

i_speak_softly - 2012-12-09 02:59 (UTC) - Expand

ledbythewind - 2012-12-10 04:02 (UTC) - Expand