pc catchall for ray (selfimmolates)

[requiemed]

[]

Comments

[requiemed]

Wow. You could at least play along.

[selfimmolates]

Have I ever?

[requiemed]

No.

[She sighs.]

Okay, non-fake answer... I don't know.

[selfimmolates]

Still worried about Connor?

[requiemed]

He's one of the people and or things I'm currently worried about, yes.

[selfimmolates]

And the others?

[requiemed]

You want the full list or just the main ones?

[selfimmolates]

Give me the full list.

[requiemed]

[Ticking the following off on her fingers:]

Him, you, Senri, Yu, a bunch of other people including most of the gods, who's going to win, who they're going to choose to help them with their world, whether any of us are going to see each other ever again, how I'm going to manage to seem normal to everyone back home...

[A beat.]

And why I was even brought here in the first place.

[selfimmolates]

[well, that's a lot to unpack, but he'll focus on:]

... Connor's changed. Since the start of the competition, I mean.

[requiemed]

[She pauses before speaking, her voice coming out gently as she looks to the floor.]

...I know he has.

[selfimmolates]

And you know who's most responsible for that right?

[requiemed]

It wasn't enough, though. Or, it was too much, or...

[She trails off, running a hand through her hair.]

I don't know.

[selfimmolates]

It isn't anyone's responsibility to make someone else "enough".

But making any kind of positive impact on someone's life—that means a lot. It's the people we meet in our lives—and, sometimes, the simple things they do for us, not always realizing it—that make living worthwhile.

[requiemed]

[She rubs at her eyes for a second, before:]

What if it wasn’t positive?

[selfimmolates]

... What's on your mind?

[requiemed]

I thought I was helping him, but what if I was just...

[She pauses, before shifting to another point.]

Did he ever tell you why he was so hesitant to admit he felt things?

[selfimmolates]

Not really.

[requiemed]

Because it’s not what he was designed to do.

[She shifts, moving her legs so her knees are pulled up to her chest.]

He asked me once... What do you think most people would do with a machine if they realized it wasn’t working the way it was supposed to?

[selfimmolates]

[bluntly,]

Dispose of it.

[requiemed]

Right. So if it was mostly because of me, like you said... If that happened, wouldn’t it be my fault?

[selfimmolates]

... You gave Connor the freedom to decide what path he wants to go down.

[requiemed]

[Her voice grows slightly teary as she continues, blinking once or twice as she speaks.]

Even if that’s true, what if that path gets him killed?

[selfimmolates]

[...]

Zoe, I never did tell you about the place I grew up in, did I?

[requiemed]

[She shakes her head.]

No, not really.