❧ ic inbox. (RYSLIG)

[dialetheism]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, LION USHIROMIYA.

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*** GOLDENTHREAD has joined 100.412.578.917
<goldenthread> Hello, this is the inbox of Ushiromiya Lion.
<goldenthread> Evidently, I'm not here right now, but...
<goldenthread> Leave a message, and I'll reply as soon as I can?

(credit)

main: < goldenthread >
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retired: < million >

Comments

[ikutachi]

[ See, Niina has every right to take shots after what happened. Unkind, but fair. She'll take them with a smile every time. Lion however.

A swing and a hit, but harder than expected. Way too hard.

Lion gets turned away from entirely, so they miss how the expression fractures. All misery and anger in equal measure, visibly gnawing at one lip to keep whatever the reaction is inside. It's her own fault - too tired and too pained to keep a better handle on herself. Do better. Niina's few syllables is a few scant seconds, but more than enough time to smooth it back down and stare back with the acceptable level of Mild Annoyance. ]

'Subtle' and 'tactful' are the same thing, Ushiromiya-san.

[ And like nothing even happened, Wakaba sits back down where Niina first grabbed her and resumes being face-first in the concrete table. One long, liberated exhale. How jealous she is of the her ten minutes from now when the drugs start kicking in.

Mm. Something about that phrase feels wrong. ]

...Wasn't it beating the air?

[dialetheism]

[ Poor Niina. If they knew anything practical about how Simulacrum worked, they'd feel bad for accidentally setting off... whatever's going on there, really. But they don't know anything the guide hasn't told them, and more importantly, they don't know her. The victory is claimed with delighted surprise. ]

They're different things entirely, Nogi-san, but you're welcome to be wrong if you like. [ Wow???? ] And the original expression is 'beating a dead horse', I believe.

[ Their nose wrinkles in faint distaste. They're not a fan of gruesome metaphors like that at the best of times, but it feels worse then usual. ]

It's a rather morbid one, honestly. I'm not sure where it came from. Why would you beat a dead horse in the first place, let alone as an example of needlessly belabouring a point?

[ Says someone needlessly belabouring a point, with zero irony whatsoever. ]

[northeworld]

[It's a weakness she'd rather not have known. Better to look like she's taking a fall or giving up. That said, something was very obvious. Wakaba might not have been looking at Lion but that meant she had a view of her expression. There it is. The wall.

That's no good.

Ignoring the way the wind blows against her shoulders, against her back, she sits next to Wakaba. Pointedly, she doesn't between her and Lion. She won't hide her but... Niina puts a hand on her friend's hand.

Aneki is here and it's better to ruin her pride.]

Why would I know? [She murmurs.] A donkey or a horse, it doesn't really matter. It's a stupid as hell thing to do. Why push something that's already dead?

cw: terrible puns in hovertext

[ikutachi]

[ Honestly? Getting pedantic over definitions is the dumbest thing to get upset about, let alone take pot shots over. Okay. Well. Positives. The conversation at least confirmed she needs to extend her meditations in the morning. Both eyes close, letting pain and thoughts drift past in equal neutrality; leaves floating downstream.

Lion continues to beat the dead donkey, punctuated by clanking steps - advancing, not leaving. Servos grinding against each other as a presence settles at her left. She's staying? Odd. Probably just concerned. The injuries are still horrible to those unused to them, so it makes sense. And - thoughts still at that last sensation. Definitely concerned. But about something different. A secret for Niina alone; a finger knocks against the palm of her hand in two precise beats. It's okay.

There's no attempt to sit up again, but when the hypothetical question ends is when the head lifts. Still looks like a corpse, but the smile is excited in all the worst ways. ]

To idle one's Life away.

[ The four syllables of the idiom are still said with the same poetic rhythm, but rather than the slight lift of emphasis being placed on the second word - sei, life - it's placed on the fourth. Shi, death. Effectively, it is a horrible suicide pun that roughs out to "Why push something that's already dead?" "To push yourself to death" and it's using extremely archaic phrases as the medium.

It's okay. The narrative hates explaining it as much as you just hated reading it. Suffer. ]

[dialetheism]

[ The narration was going to make a delightful point here, some long and detailed thing about observers not possessing the right to tarnish such a fragile moment, but no. Lion is, frankly, too deep in the argument paint to even notice it to begin with. What attention they have to spare for non-argument related things is spent on the bottles and boxes scattered across the countertop, gingerly sorting through what Wakaba is keeping and what needs to be shoved back in a bag for Later.

Until the pun, that is. That horrible, perfect pun.

Slowly, they turn to stare at the charred corpse who is far, far too proud of herself. ]

.... This is worse then saying I was named after a one rin coin, you know that? I know, truly, that I shouldn't continue to be surprised that you're such a living fossil, and yet you keep finding ways to remind me of it.

[ Just. Really, Wakaba???

The half-offended, half-incredulous look is turned on Niina. ]

And you asked her to keep an eye on you? Willingly??

[ ......... it's honestly hard to tell if that's an insult or not, at this point. ]

[northeworld]

...I like word play as much as anyone else and I like old poetry but a one rin coin?

[Look. She memorized western poetry because she was bored. Fine, make weird old puns. That's all and good. Niina raises a hand to her forehead.]

We all have our quirks, Lion.

['She's a fossil but she's my fossil.']