Camp: private conversations

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Respond here for a private conversation with Red! All comment threads are screened.

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[fallbymyhands]

Cichi-anami'e-gizhiw.

[surprisingly, Mitsuru repeats the word with almost on-point pronunciation]

"Big Blue" is far easier to say, it's true. I've noticed this camp has an interesting selection of fauna. The moose, the "lake cats."

[hm]

It's certainly nothing like what we'd see on Earth.

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It certainly is very different, I agree. This planet can be amazing at times.

[fallbymyhands]

This planet. . . [hm!] What is the planet named, Red?

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Earth.

That seems to be a popular name for planets, just going by what I have heard from the campers. Just from this group, there's at least eight different versions of 'Earth' represented here.

[fallbymyhands]

. . . it's curious, that you call it Earth, when the fauna doesn't resemble any Earth animals with which I'm familiar.

But I suppose many Earths are different from each other.

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So you don't have squirrels and crows and frogs on your Earth? How strange.

[fallbymyhands]

[. . . red!! Mitsuru flusters, cheeks pink]

You're teasing me.

[huffs!]

I was speaking of the peculiar moose, and the lake cats. We do have squirrels and crows and frogs.

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[She is so teasing her.]

Yes, those are not standard for Earth, I don't think. Cloudbank certainly didn't have anything like that.

[Ayyy there's the name for Red's world!]

[fallbymyhands]

[it's good for her to be teased every so often!! and she'll accept it from cool ladies much more than she would dumb boys]

Cloudbank? Is that where you're from?

May I ask what it was like?

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[She nods.]

It's a large city, settled on the coastline of my world. Millions and millions of people live there, and it's quite the sight to behold.

We have some leaders, but most decisions are made by a popular vote among everyone in the city. The idea being that if everyone gets a say, then everyone will be more invested in the world around them.

[fallbymyhands]

Such is the ideal behind democracy.

[nodnod, she's following along]

Did you like it there?

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I did, very much. It was my home, what else could I say about it? But...

[She looks a little sad now.]

That world is gone now. There's no use reminiscing on the past, I suppose.

[fallbymyhands]

[. . . it feels a bit awkward to say this, since Mitsuru didn't get the information from Red herself. but. . .]

Ashikawa told me.

[ah]

That you were the only living person left on your world. I can't imagine how painfully lonely that was for you.

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[The corner of her mouth twitches up slightly.]

Twelve hours. One night. That's how long it took for my world to end.

[fallbymyhands]

[her brows shoot up in surprise]

How--?

[she shouldn't be shocked. Nyx was supposed to end the world in that little of a time period, too. it's just. . . her ground had managed to stop it]

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Four people in my world thought they had invented something that would help our world. In reality, it took it apart. And when I finally found a way to stop it all, I was the only one left. Everyone else had died or had faced something worse than death.

[fallbymyhands]

Red. . .

[:(]

I'm so sorry.

[. . .]

To say that I empathize is. . . perhaps a bit cheap sounding, seeing as my world did not fall into destruction as it was supposed to. But. . . you knew Mochizuki.

[she knew what was supposed to happen to Mitsuru's world. and so, she must understand that Mitsuru gets how terrifying it is to face down what is essentially the apocalypse]

[backspacing]

I did know him, yes.

[She looks off in the distance across the lake for a moment, focused on something that might not be there anymore.]

Before my world ended, there was a man there. My bodyguard, Blue. The original Blue.

Ryoji reminded me of him. The similarities were uncanny.

[fallbymyhands]

[oh no. Mitsuru can't help but wonder if that's why Red latched onto Ryoji so much. not that it was difficult to like Ryoji-- he was bright and vibrant, despite his purpose in the world]

. . . would you like to talk about him? Blue, I mean.

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...

[The answer to that is complicated.]

We...never could be together, officially. He was my bodyguard, and I was a very predominant member of the music community. Given how closely we worked together, and the public attitude of young unmarried women being around young unmarried men when feelings were involved...it never would have worked. The scandal alone would have destroyed both of us.

But sometimes I did wonder what it would have been like, to be married to that man. Sometimes I think I would have said yes, if he had asked.

[fallbymyhands]

[for the first time, Mitsuru feels like she's seeing a little more of Red the person, and a little less of Red the counselor. there's something about this story that tugs at Mitsuru's heartstrings after all-- it's tragic, but she relates to it, in so many ways. even if Mitsuru's own situation was different]

I understand. . . what it feels like to be restricted by people's expectations of you.

[she stops, tilts her head up to gaze out at the lake, arms folded]

And how those restrictions can truly prevent you from grasping what you wish to have, before it's too late.

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[That response...

By the end of it, Red is smiling.]

We're a lot alike, you know. And not always in the best ways either.

[Same strengths, same flaws.]

[fallbymyhands]

[that gets a chuckle out of Mitsuru. a bit wry, but. . . perhaps that's why she was drawn towards Red even long before she knew about Ryoji]

If circumstances were different, perhaps we could sit down at a cafe somewhere and just talk over a cup of café au lait.

[it's not every day Mitsuru gets to spend time with someone without anything businesslike overshadowing the entire interactions. she's too busy for that. she's too restrained for that.]

[but that certainly doesn't mean she doesn't want it. and as she turns towards Red, she links her hands together and bows her head]

I apologize for how abrasive I've been towards you these past two weeks. I want answers, but I am realizing that I am not always. . . at my best, when demanding them.

[Stan slamming a door in her face was kind of an eye opener]

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In Cloudbank, I probably would have taken you on as a pupil and would have taught you how to navigate the social sphere. You would have been good at it, I think.

[It would have been nice, Red thinks. To have a protege like that.]

It's a sign of your forcible personality, I would say. It's good that you don't back down when you want something.

[fallbymyhands]

. . . I would have appreciated such guidance.

[really. which she's a bit embarrassed to admit, but her upbringing is often far more sheltered than she realizes at times]

Perhaps it is. But I suppose force doesn't always help those who need the assistance.

[see: Stan. who apparently doesn't respond well to force at all]