Sixty-Ninth Theory [Voice]

[i_speak_softly]

[Yesterday the village grew quiet, as many villagers were called on a draft, and many others began the anxious wait to see if their friends and loved ones would return to the village safely.]

[Also yesterday, a breath of warm weather arrived in Luceti. Don has been out enjoying it, trying not to dwell on those who are fighting on a flying island right now. He has enough other things on his mind, and around midday he does something about one of them.]

Filtered to Beast || Unhackable

Beast... I haven't thanked you properly for what you did for Robert and me. For everything you've done for us.

End Filter

[Later, he leaves a brief, unfiltered message:]

Would anyone be interested in learning how to program computers and fix cars?

Comments

[i_speak_softly]

[Don is silent for a long time - possibly until Robert has moved around to the other side - before he brings up another subject.]

I did a lot of thinking in the mountains. About what "forever" means.

[Action]

[i_speak_softly]

[He smiles, not bothered.]

That's okay. Combining lessons would be pretty confusing.

[semper_cogitans]

[Some part of Robert is filled with a mild but foreboding sense of trepidation. He pushes that down.]

... Did you... come to any conclusions? [He tries to keep his tone lighter as he cleans Don's right wing, but his anxiety might be evident anyway.]

[i_speak_softly]

No, but I had some hypotheses.

[Translation: This is a discussion, not an ultimatum.]

[semper_cogitans]

[Discussions are good. They're better than ultimata at any rate. Robert tries his best to relax and focus on this.]

Hypotheses...? Such as...?

[i_speak_softly]

I still think it's important for us to be honest with each other.

[Translation: I still think you're not honest with me.]

[semper_cogitans]

[Translation in Robert's head: I'm obviously miswording myself still.]

... Do I perhaps... need to c-clarify myself better...?

[Robert wonders exactly what Don wants him to be honest about. Out of any of his traits, most people could hardly fault him for honesty when he's so damn blunt about everything...]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don considers his response to this carefully. He's realizing that he's not being blunt enough himself right now, and that's something he always needs to be aware of for his partner.]

I don't always understand you when you tell me things... but the more important problem is that sometimes you don't speak up at all.

[semper_cogitans]

[This is actually enough to make Robert hesitate a moment. When he next speaks, the man's voice is quiet.]

I suppose I am... a-anxious of what you might think, s-sometimes...

[Action]

[geniustheveil]

If you want to speak Japanese while we work, I don't mind that. [She likes those chances - rare when she'd been studying in America, and rare here.]

[Action]

[i_speak_softly]

< I will enjoy that. >

[As usual, the words are mostly right, but the grammar is kind of a disaster.]

[i_speak_softly]

Even when it's important?

[semper_cogitans]

Even when it is... i-important.

[...]

Perhaps... e-especially when it is important...

[i_speak_softly]

[This pains Donatello to hear.]

Is it because of something about me?

[semper_cogitans]

[Again with hesitation, although not as long this time.]

... B-Before I met you, I... did not usually need to... a-associate with individuals to any great extent, and though Luceti has... d-done much to change that, and to enable me to have friendships which have sh-shaped me so extensively, I... still remember when I was a-alone much of the time...

... a-and I remember how easily I was able to... e-end acquaintanceships, solely by saying the wrong thing...

... Y-You are very important to me. I do not wish to... d-do or say something that would... cause you to regret being with me, even if the chance is... quite low...

... And sometimes even that worry feels... l-like something I should not mention, because of the seeming absurdity of it...

[He trails off, then, and his fingers noticeably shake as he picks through Don's wing in silence.]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don pulls his wings away, folding them tightly and propping himself up on his elbows.]

Robert...

[semper_cogitans]

[The man allows the wing to leave his grasp, but rather than take his attention away he just continues to stare at Don's shell.

Even now he is worrying that his candid statement was in poor taste. Is it stupid to always be so worried about what you say to a person? Especially when you know that what you say is often poorly-worded, or strange, or just downright eccentric?]

[i_speak_softly]

[Don really isn't sure yet what he wants to say, but he feels his way through it as best he can.]

Robert... I don't understand what that part of your life was like, and I probably never will. I didn't have acquaintances before Luceti. But if that's your frame of reference, and you still don't see us as being different from that, then... I feel like a failure.

[semper_cogitans]

[An edge of anxiety creeps into Robert's voice, making it slightly shrill even though he doesn't quite look up.]

I understand this is d-different... or, by all rights, ought to be different - but I worry, perhaps e-entirely irrationally...

... [Softer, now:] It... is n-not you. Or, at least, I... am not certain wh-why it would be you... I have just never been p-particularly good at phrasing myself in such circumstances, and... the m-more troublesome the topic, the... more my poor phraseology is l-likely to... make the situation difficult to resolve...

[He's already done it even in conversations they've already had before. Even if they've managed to negotiate them...]

[[Action]

[geniustheveil]

[One of the good outgrowths of their lessons: She's learned to correct him without being overly embarrassed about it, even almost by habit now.]

< I would like that. >

[Action]

[i_speak_softly]

< "Would like"? >

[Please clarify why this is more correct. While you do that, Don will add to his diagrams, thinking about the next part of the lesson.]

[Action]

[geniustheveil]

[This requires a short lesson on a couple different verb forms, which Ami supplies in unfortunately thorough detail. She tends to get distracted by the intricacies.

She seems to realize it after a few moments, and looks sheepish.]

I'm sorry. I should be giving you my full attention, and I was talking for so long instead.

[Action]

[i_speak_softly]

< It's okay. I must to learn these things. >

[Action]

[geniustheveil]

The verb stem changes again there. You can say < I must learn these things .>

[Action]

[i_speak_softly]

[In a sort of half-hearted mumble:] < I must learn these things. >

[Then:] < Ami-sensei, Leonardo leaved some notes to me. In our Japanese. >