Dragonmail: Reilanin

[transfer_student]

Reilanin:

I think Alex is feeling terrible about the world right now. Could you try to cheer him up if you can?

Comments

[winterwhite]

I could if you wanted to send something. I really just don't know how effective it would be.

[transfer_student]

[when you jokingly threaten to insult someone's waterfowl, Reilanin, you must see it through to the end]

Please be sure to tell them this letter is from me, so they don't become confused and get angry at you instead.

Dear Pendleton and Duck:

I have never met such a pair of pitiful freeloaders such as yourselves! One would think that with all the time you save on taking care of your basic needs, you would have plenty of opportunity to better yourselves, but Reilanin has informed me that the two of you can't so much as read!

What in the world do you do with all of that free time? Clearly you don't spend it caring for your personal grooming. Pendleton, your eyebrows are a disgrace. And Duck, those are some of the greasiest feathers I have ever seen. I really am quite appalled at the both of you!

Disrespectfully yours,

Nova

[winterwhite]

[ she doesn't even think to question that he sent this. she doesn't know how true it all is, though. pendleton's eyebrow feathers are magnificent iho and how can something that spends most of its time in water be greasy? buuuut she promised she'd try it out, so she goes to do that

the answer comes back like an hour later ]

Sorry! I went out to read them the letter and got caught up feeding them and telling them how cute they are...

[transfer_student]

Did they seem mad?

[winterwhite]

Ah, well, they both squawked at me a little while I read it, and I shushed them and they seemed a bit unimpressed... they calmed down after I fed them.

[transfer_student]

Good enough for me. I'll call it a success!

[winterwhite]

Is it, really?...

[transfer_student]

You don't think so?

[winterwhite]

Well, they don't seem angry, and they haven't even slept on it.

[transfer_student]

I thought maybe they were squawking in anger.

Ah well, maybe next time.

[winterwhite]

Mm.... I think they were just hungry...

[transfer_student]

Sometimes it's hard to tell.

[he doubts Alex was just hungry]

[winterwhite]

Really?

Oh, but... not this time?... Mm, with Alex, not the ducks.

[transfer_student]

[MIND MELD]

I am completely certain Alex was not just hungry.

[winterwhite]

Mm, yes, he's very good about eating when he's hungry...

[transfer_student]

It was about players.

[winterwhite]

[ about players?

that's a little different... ]

Why players? I thought you were training.

[transfer_student]

He was trying to say infuriating things to get me to fury.

They spilled over from being things that he didn't mean to things that he did mean

And from things that were only about me to things that were about him, too

So soon he was saying terrible things about both of us, blindly following our players' plans and such

[winterwhite]

[ w...what?

there's another pause here while she considers that. she's still outside, so she gets quacked at a few times before she writes back ]

Like what?

[transfer_student]

[this seems a bit like revealing a secret of Alex's, Reilanin!

...but you're Reilanin, and he's mad at Alex, so here you go]


It was about people we met and formed bonds with before we woke up. Artemis for me, Akhilendra for him. That it was pathetic to continue caring about those people because it was arranged by our players that we should care.

[winterwhite]

[ it's not like she disagrees entirely, she just... hadn't thought about that before. if afera didn't exist, then... doesn't it mean akhilendra didn't really exist, either? but that extends to a lot of people.

it might even extend to her.

does it extend to her?

why is she so afraid if it does? ]

That's a shocking thing to consider.

[transfer_student]

It is shocking!

But it's no reason to go around disowning people who didn't do anything to deserve it.

[winterwhite]

Did he say he would do that?

[transfer_student]

I think he did. I remember trying to talk him out of it.

[winterwhite]

Why would you talk him out of it?