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[onegreeneye]

[For private conversations/stone of farspeech communications!]

Comments

[onegreeneye]

Shy isn't the word I would use, either.

[He huffs quietly and sits back, tail thumping on the floor.] ...I guess so.

[vagabone]

Secretive?? [C'mon man just tell him the word before he hurts himself.

A suspicious frown...] You guess? You're not happier?

[onegreeneye]

[Ginko hesitates, because - well, he's not exactly eager to say this out loud.

But, if he doesn't, Hector is just going to keep guessing.]

I was scared.

I still am. --I'm happy, too, of course I am, but I can't... pull a complete turnaround, just like that.

[vagabone]

Scared? [Happy bubble burst. He fumbles around in the dark for the bottle only to find it's still empty. Bah.]

Scared it'll go wrong?

[onegreeneye]

[Honestly, if there were still anything in that bottle Ginko would be tempted to ask for some. He doesn't love the idea of having this conversation while Hector is drunk and he's stone-cold sober.]

Along those lines, I guess.

[vagabone]

[Shame on Ginko, he has so many chances for food and drink. Héctor... does not.

A smile starts to sneak back onto his face.] You know, I asked you once about Epsilon. And I never heard you talk about anyone else like that and... and it hit me. It was so sweet.

[onegreeneye]

[He knows it wouldn't be fair!! Actually, if it didn't feel so much like running away - or at least like he might be accused of running away - he might still be tempted to go to the Denny and see if he can pick something up for himself instead.

Especially when Hector keeps talking. Amazing how smoothly Ginko's expression can go from carefully-controlled neutrality to a unique kind of discomfort, like if one were listening to a parent or sibling share a particularly embarrassing anecdote.

It's not like anyone else is there, but still.] I don't talk about him that differently.

...Do I?

[vagabone]

[That's the best kind of teasing in the world and he ain't stopping. Can't stop, won't stop, he's loving it.]

Yes, you do! You do. But. But it's not a bad differently. It's good.

[onegreeneye]

[He just... groans, and scrubs at his face.] Great. And here I thought I was keeping it to myself.

[NIGHTMARE.]

So, if you've been bursting at the seams all this time, why didn't you ask before now?

[vagabone]

What? [What. Well, hm. Did he say it or just think it very loudly?]

You'd get all flustered and weird about it. I thought I said that! You don't like... feelings.

[onegreeneye]

It's-- well, no, I probably wouldn't be thrilled. [He can't completely deny it, after the last few minutes.] But it wouldn't be that bad. Probably better than leaving me to keep making a fool of myself.

[He might be sulking a little bit.]

[vagabone]

[Sulk all you want, he's not sorry. It's so refreshingly normal.]

But! It was for a good cause! Is. A good thing. Something to make people smile, not laugh at you. [He frowns...] Am I making sense?

[onegreeneye]

[Ginko squints at him.]

Maybe?

[He... still doesn't really know he feels about people reacting like that to something he didn't even know he was doing.]

[vagabone]

[He's half turned away suddenly, typing something on his stone... and grinning.]

I like seeing it. Seeing people be... be fools about each other.

[onegreeneye]

Eugh.

[Wait hang on. He frowns and leans toward Hector.] What are you doing over there?

[vagabone]

Not eugh!

[Too late, message sent. Mission accomplished. Don't ask him what the goal is, he doesn't have a clue.] Talk...ing...?

[onegreeneye]

[There's a lot behind that 'eugh'. But he'd rather not get into... any of it right now, frankly. He's spent enough time lately lecturing Hector when Hector was in no shape to process it.

He has no qualms, however, about pressing on this new issue, because that was suspicious as hell.] Really.

[vagabone]

[It would be far too easy for Ginko to take the stone from him. Only one way to prevent that... he sits up a little straighter, hiding the stone up inside his ribcage. Haha! There's just enough room for him to get his hands in there too and keep on texting, craning his head down to see.]

Of course really!

[onegreeneye]

[Wow, okay. OKAY. He wasn't particularly interested in trying to see the screen before, but THAT is more suspicious than ever.

He scoots over closer.] Who are you talking to, and why are you hiding your stone?

[vagabone]

[He hunches down even more, doing his best to curl into a ball. An impenetrable fortress of idiotic bones!!]

It's--it's personal! You reminded me of something, don't worry about it!

[onegreeneye]

[Hector, nothing you have said has been reassuring.]

Personal to you, or to me?

[vagabone]

Me! Me, of course, who else would it be about?

[There's that old sleezy charm. He's so bad at it.]

[onegreeneye]

You're full of shit.

[He knows what you sound like when you're full of shit, Hector. And he is trying to reach around the wall of bones for that stone.]

[vagabone]

Oye! [He shrinks back, trying to push Ginko away with a bony foot, since his hands are jammed inside his own ribs.] Stop that! Personal space! And I'm ticklish!

[onegreeneye]

[He keeps trying to grab at the phone for a couple seconds before giving up, because having a skeletal foot jabbing at his torso is exactly as uncomfortable as one would think. And also he doesn't want to screw up and accidentally crush Hector's ribcage or something.

So he backs off (kind of, he's still sitting very close by) and pulls his own stone out of his pocket.] Well, in that case, it should be alright if I have a second conversation too, right?