030315erisiosami

[11:33] AA: Sami stands before Erisio's door and takes a deep breath. This is going to be embarrassing.

 [11:33] AA: Finally, she knocks on the door.

 [11:33] AA: "...Erisio?"

 [11:34] GC: There*s the sound of something ceramic skidding on the floor, and a choked but muffled sob comes out of the room.

 [11:34] AA: "Hey, I heard about what happened. You want to talk about it, buddy?"

 [11:36] GC: More sounds, more sounds of things rolling across the floor, and eventually the sound of someone getting up and shuffling to the door. There*s a click as it unlocks, then Erisio opens the door. He is incrdibly dishevled. His lapcoat has tears in it that weren*t there before, and his face is wet with tears. It is not a pretty sight

 [11:37] AA: "Oh, Erisio. You look like heck. Have you been crying this whole time?"

 [11:38] GC: As soon as he sees that is Sami, he turns around and walks back into the room, leaving the door open. When he turns around, he has a piece of cloth tied over his eyes. "Po*ssibl*ey"

 [11:38] AA: "Aww, man. Is this going to be a thing from now on with us, Erisio?"

 [11:38] AA: "I mean....I understand why you're embarrassed. I'm embarrassed too."

 [11:41] GC: "I**m sor*ry Sam*i, Ma*ybe it wo*n*t be onc*e i*ve cal*med down? I*... I can ta*ke it off if it b*ugs you"

 [11:41] AA: "No....do what makes you comfortable. I just hate that this had to come between us. I really want to help you through this whole thing you're going through and we can't even look each other in the eye! And it's not like either of us even did anything to be ashamed of." She sounds sad.

 [11:43] GC: Erisio*s room is a giant fucking mess. There are shards of plant pots scattered over the floor, and there*s one spot on the floor that is particurally wet with what one would assume were tears. Erisio sits in the middle, dejectedly on the bed. "I kn*ow, it*s like a st*upid cur*se. No*w I can*t even at *look Y*ou or Ac*ey beca*use I*ll just freak ou*t again"

 [11:44] GC: "An*d now Lil*y prob*ably hat*es me, and that means that Do*ir does do, because I m*ade her cry"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:44] AA: "Lily doesn't hate you, Erisio! She feels terrible about what she said to you."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:45] AA: "She's just....I think maybe she's got a magnet in her mouth that's designed specifically to attract her foot."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:46] GC: The blindfold begins to get wet stains on it. "And sh*e should because she* said some me*an thin*gs, but I sa*id mean thi*ngs too, and there*s a sm*all secti*on of my brain that say*s I should be livid at her, but I ca*n*t bring myself to be*."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:47] AA: "Yeah. I know what that's like. Sometimes my friends do things that hurt my feelings, and I know I have every right to be ticked off at them, but I just feel like such a butt for not standing by them."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:48] AA: "Like for example, my friend Katie--she got dumped by a girl she liked, and instead of coming and talking to me about it so I could help her through it, she ran off to another planet for several years. And not only did it take years before I saw her again, but she set up time loops so that it was like five times as long for her."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:49] AA: "And it made me feel totally unimportant to her. But....she's still one of my oldest friends. Literally, now, since she's like twenty something now."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:52] GC: "Yeah, I gues*s I cou*ld see why..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:55] GC: "..Sami... a*m I a bad broth*er..?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:59] AA: "Why would you think you're a bad brother, Erisio?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:01] GC: "I co*uldn*t hand*le mysel*f when I wa*s angr*y, and sa*d, and I ma*de Lily sa*d, and I yell*ed at her, and I tol*d her that I didn*t want to see her aga*in"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:02] AA: "I think brothers and sisters are SUPPOSED to fight, Erisio."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:02] AA: "Heck, you should've heard about my friend Leon! The stories he used to tell about his sister..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:03] AA: Sami starts to chuckle. "I mean they sounded kind of funny, but I guess I can see why he felt like she was bullying him sometimes."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:05] GC: "Y*eah, bu*t it was*n*t just a* fight"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:08] AA: "It wasn't? You yelled at each other, said some things you wish you hadn't that you're both scared really hurt each other's feelings, and both of you wish you could take it all back."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:08] AA: "I mean that sounds like a fight to me."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:09] GC: "I fou*ght with Ace*y, I fou*ght against her about si*lly things like e*ggshells and s*aplings. I didn*t fight with Lil*y. I honest*ly feel like I cou*ld have kille*d her if I didn*t forc*e her to le*ave."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:10] AA: Sami nods, then realizes that he won't be seeing her nodding and says "Okay. So it was a pretty bad fight then."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:10] AA: "And it was all just because of what she said about Null? Or was there more to it than that?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:10] GC: Erisio nods, the blindfold pretty badly soaked

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:13] GC: "N*o, there was more. Sh*e told me about something, and said she could remo*ve the memory of.. *you* from my mind. I sa*id I didn*t wa*nt to, beca*use it was the coward*s way out, but she insiste*d. She said she cou*ld... remov*e my proble*m."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:13] GC: "I didn*t want to, because N*ull wouldn*t want me to take the cowards way out, I don*t think.."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:14] AA: "Oh. So you felt like she wasn't respecting your principles."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:14] GC: "But Lily.. Sh*e ju*st didn*t kno*w how to sto*p"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:15] AA: "Yeah. She's like that. Once she gets an idea in her head, she goes at it full force."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:18] GC: "She r*an away cr*ying.."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:19] GC: The blindfold gets uncomfortably wet, so Erisio removes it. His eyes are puffy and red

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:21] AA: "Yeah. I think it's because she didn't realize until you got mad just how far over the line she went."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:22] AA: Sami offers Erisio a tissue.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:23] GC: Erisio smiles and takes it. "It*s fu*nny, with all this stu*ff on m*y mind, I can*t eve*n thin*k about You and B*alish"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:27] AA: "Yeah. Sometimes you can find relief in the weirdest things."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:28] AA: "Erisio, did you know that Null and me were almost moirails?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:29] GC: "Y*ou were?!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:30] AA: Sami nods. "In fact....it's kind of all my fault we weren't. I never really understood the moirail thing. Humans and trolls didn't have any contact before the game, and I think the trolls thought of me as a 'paleslut' for a long time."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [12:30] AA: "So I was afraid to agree to be Null's moirail, for fear that I would do something that she would take as cheating without realizing it."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:09] GC: "Do.. Do you think she w*anted to be yo*ur moirai*l as we*ll?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:10] AA: Sami nods. "Yeah. In fact I think she may have even asked me to. She was a little shy about it, but it was pretty clear where she wanted our relationship to go."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:11] AA: "I had finally decided to take the chance, if she would have me....but by the time I had made my decision, she had disappeared." Sami sounds sad.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:12] GC: "So.. that*s when she... di*ed?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:13] AA: "Yeah. For a long time I tried to pretend like I didn't know she had died. Like maybe she was just off on a secret mission. She was really good at stealth, so it was possible!

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:13] AA: Sami shakes her head sadly. "But with Jack about....I should've known better from the start."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:14] AA: "I never liked the fact that she was dating him. I tried to be a supportive friend and not constantly badmouth her boyfriend to her, but....I was always terrified something like that would happen to her."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:14] AA: "But she was so sure she knew what she was doing, and that he wouldn't hurt her..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:15] AA: "...anyway, the reason I bring all this up is that I knew your mom better than anyone. I don't know if the Null who raised you was the same as the Null who was my friend, but I'll bet at their core they were the same."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:16] AA: "So when I say this I'm not just talking out of my butt here: all the stuff you're mad at Lily for right now? Those are exactly the sorts of mistakes Null would make. Those two are a lot alike in a lot of ways."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:18] GC: "..Reminds me of a few of the people I know here.. S*ami, I*m uh.. I*m so*rry for your loss. That*s wh*at peop*le say right?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:19] AA: Sami smiles at him. "It's okay. It was a long time ago. I still miss her, but I've had time to grieve."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:22] GC: "And, your st*ory actually rem*nds me of something"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:22] GC: "The N*ull of this world, My mom, she*s missing too.."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:23] GC: "Libby messaged us all, and told us what sh*e knew about ou*r parent*s statuses.. W*ho were confirmed to be dead, wh*o were confirmed to be alive.. Nu*ll was among the unknown.."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:23] GC: "Sh*ould I start expect*ing the worse now?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:23] AA: Sami chews on this for a moment.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:25] AA: "I don't know. If even Libby can't tell what happened to her..." Sami shakes her head. "I don't know. I don't want to get your hopes up because I know how much it hurts to hope someone's safe and then find out they're not..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:29] GC: "I gue*ss hope is all I can do.."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:31] AA: "Yeah. I don't know what else to tell you. I'll hold out hope for you, too."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:31] AA: Sami chuckles. "You know, Null was the Maid of Hope."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:35] GC: "Eh*ehehe, may*be it*s genet*c"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:36] AA: "Well, no, oddly....none of the Hope players I've met have been very good at being hopeful. I think maybe it's an aspect that almost always goes to someone for whom it's going to be a challenge."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:36] AA: "Nate once told me he thinks that Hope can't go to people like me because if it did, we would burn ourselves out in a week."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:39] GC: "That see*ms to be true for mo*st, he*ll all the Mavi*cos are mind players, because we*re inheritly id*iots."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [10:47] GC: "I suppo*se it can*t be helped.. I shou*ld probabl*y talk to Lil*y, shouldn*t I..?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:02] AA: "I don't know. If you're still not feeling up to it, you don't have to. If she hurt your feelings too bad you shouldn't force yourself."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:03] AA: "I just think you should remember that sometimes people you love are going to say stupid things that hurt your feelings, and sometimes you've got to ask yourself whether it really hurts so bad that you don't want them to be your loved ones anymore."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:04] AA: "I think Lily's going to try to learn not to make that sort of mistake again. But only you can decide if you want to give her another chance."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:07] GC: "I see*, Th*.. Thank*s Sami.. You*ve been a big help.."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:08] GC: "But uh, if you cou*ld indulge me, I hav*e one more question. About the Oracle."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:08] AA: "Sure thing. And I hope you get to feeling better about all this."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:08] AA: "Oh. Sure."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:08] AA: "You understand there are some questions about the Oracle I can't answer though, right?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:09] AA: "It's not a matter of trust or anything, I'm just flat-out unable to answer some of them."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:09] GC: "You know how she*s asked me to help her with her memories?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:10] AA: "Yeah. Did that ever happen by the way?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:11] GC: "No, I ws planning on heading over soon actually, before all this mes*s happened, I was just wondering if I should be uh... bracing myself for any of the memories I might see.."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:20] AA: "Oh. I don't know, to be honest with you. Libby's life has been immensely long, and she's had a lot of tragedy in it. But I would think she must also have had a lot of joy."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:21] AA: Sami sighs. "But she was once lovers with Balish. So I suppose that directly relates to the situation you find yourself in right now."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:21] GC: "Of cour*se it*s Balish"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:21] AA: "It was the other Balish, if that helps any? The nice one."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:21] AA: "Well, nice-ish."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:21] AA: "The Balish with a creamy center."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:23] GC: "J*ust an fyi, but u*h, you have the *worst* word choices som*etimes"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:24] AA: Sami blushes "Oh my god. I'm so sorry, Erisio."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:24] AA: Sami covers her eyes and looks down at her feet.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:25] GC: "D-Do you want a blindfol*d?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:26] AA: "No thanks, I've already got one. And the things I see when I wear it are more disturbing than the images in my head."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:30] GC: "Ok. I*m goi*ng to... tak*e a breather, then talk to Li*ly. Sami, th*ank you"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:31] GC: Erisio looks determined, despite the bags under his eyes and his mostly wet cheeks

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:32] AA: "Good luck, Erisio."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:32] AA: "I'm going to go try to find a place to curl up and go to sleep since Doir couldn't get me into Commander Heston's room."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:33] GC: "Oh, try talking to Vyllen!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:33] GC: "He*s my br*other, and he can talk to technolog*y, it*s cool, he cou*ld talk his wa*y into the room"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:34] AA: Sami nods. "I've been meaning to introduce myself to all the kids anyway. I'll try to talk to him. I guess he must be on the LOBAE team?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:37] GC: "Y*ep! Good luck Sam*i, and thank*s again" Erisio opens the door for Sami, attempting a smile

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [11:42] AA: Sami smiles back and leaves his room, then closes her eyes and decides to follow the wind to her next destination. This is getting to be a bad habit.