harmonial | (no subject)

( slightly nervous laughter where he can't hear it...

though lbr she's also employed that watch and wait tactic, so... )

I wouldn't want to put you or anyone else at risk to sate my sweet tooth.

( ... but there's a thought. )

You've avoided the food and drink that's been tampered with then?

I apologize... I realized I'd nearly served you something that could've carried that danger.

( ... the martini... )

Please, you don't need to apologize for that. Both of us were... new, at the time, to the machinations of this place.

[The secret is that he would consume anything Robin handed to him without question. Siscon privileges.]

So far I've avoided those foods or beverages I suspect to be tainted. Most often, it's quite obvious — some places even advertise their 'enhanced' properties.

Ideally we would be able to make our own food. [Ahem.] It's unfortunate that our suites don't come equipped with the necessary tools.

( ... she's going to aphro him on accident... 😰 )

... I wonder if they'd allow use of the kitchens somewhere...

Although I understand upgrading our rooms is also a possibility... Perhaps it can be done with luck at an actual card game.

( ... and not by having sex? unlikely... but if she can just be idealistic for just a message longer. )

[okay but what if i want that to happen personally—]

It's possible. I'll try to raise your rank as soon as I can, but in the meantime, let's see if we might be able to find a spare kitchen for our own use.

[😇]

( i phrased it as a statement for a reason i mean— )

... Raise my rank?

( forget dessert for a moment, she's picking up a trend, and she's still not sure what she can do about it. )

I would ask and beseech for your every comfort, Brother. So I cannot speak against such a sentiment when I am so touched by your kindness... But truly. A communal kitchen and a bed to sleep in is more than I could ask for.

[He's not surprised by the pushback of her denial. Perhaps he shouldn't have said anything at all.]

Isn't it natural that I would wish to improve your circumstances?

[That has been his goal, all along. To brighten the world around the pearl of her presence. She deserves nothing less.]

Ideally, we won't remain here long enough for it to matter.

( ... easier said than done.

if they're talking about ideals, then of course this isn't it — not the freedom that she'd hoped he'd find, and not the reunion she'd hoped for... even if his care and concern lights the same space in her heart as his letters always seem to do, leaving her too warm to give the coldness of his lack of self-interests any real thought.

... but. )

I'll keep searching for alternative means of escape. This entire facility is so vast, after all. An exit could be overlooked.

... and I will play the Game only after exhausting those options. There is no small population composed of similarly minded people, who are reluctant to engage in it. It still feels exceptionally cruel to force the contact.

( ... )

Please, Brother. Won't you promise me that you will only have someone kind too?

[It is cruel, isn't it. Forcing an intimate connection.

Only after — yet he knows what is being said underneath those words. He knows what she'll have to do to play along. Not only with the Game that might allow them an exit, but all variety of games that this resort likes to throw out at its guests, all of its secrets and promises and lies. Temptation is like a meal they could eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.]

You're worrying about me... aren't you? I'll be all right. I've gotten back up before, haven't I?

[Failure is difficult, but it didn't destroy him then.]

Have faith in me. If you weren't here, I think that it would be worse, selfish though it might be to say.

... I would worry more if your sister were to not worry for you at all.

( simply said. because they'll be in each other's thoughts inevitably, and pretending she isn't concerned otherwise seems like an impossibility.

still. his resolve does shine through somewhat, which emboldens hers, and that's always the first step. )

I do believe in you, dear brother.

Even if it might be a selfish thing to confess, I'm so happy you're here.

[That sentiment sits with him gravely, because it feels so good to hear.

He swears to himself — he will never abandon Robin to this place alone. He'll stay as long as necessary in order to protect and support her, even if he knows it is only motivated by his desire to remain at her side.]

We'll go out for dessert soon. All right? I promise.

I will mark the date.

( for their date

... suspend disbelief, for a moment. because here, he doesn't have a busy schedule to tend to that would impose upon his freedom to spend time with his sister otherwise. )

I won't ask for all of your time, but I hope we will get to see each other often.

Preferably before you have enough experiences to fill an entire letter to me.

[It's such a small thing, that polite little hope offered out to him. That here, perhaps they can make up for all their time apart despite new and difficult circumstances.]

Well. With these Watches, I doubt we'll be as limited in communicating with each other as we were with letters. I'm sure it won't go so far.

[The practical answer. And then, more true to himself —]

Thank you, sister.

( ... to be fair, they had phones, too. but business as usual meant that texts were sparse between tours, between family meetings, and the more that she thinks about it, the more she wonders what else might've slipped between the cracks. if she had called more often. if she had been there at all. if his flowing script could have been traded for his soft voice in her ear, before bed, more often, and if it might've kept them closer so things wouldn't have blindsided her so severely.

... but there's no point thinking of what could've, should've, would've happened. not here, when the happening happens whether she likes it or not. )

... you're so silly, brother. You have nothing to thank me for.

[He has plenty to thank her for, yet not enough courage to argue the subject — understanding that she will forgive it all, one excuse right after another, without question. Because that is how she is, and how much love she carries for the world around her even when it remains undeserving. When he is undeserving.

So, he leaves it there.]

(no subject)

you mean they won't get matching rings 😔

after his crisis he'll buy them rings 😔

😇

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not me deliberately ending the thread on comment 69 of this post