toi.

[oathic]

:/

Comments

[soba]

It's really aggravating.

[oathic]

Oh.

... Sorry?

[soba]

It's your personality. Don't apologize.

[oathic]

I mean, if it aggravates you...

[soba]

A lot of things are aggravating me right now.

[oathic]

... I guess that's fair.

Still... I'm sorry.

[soba]

[ he just shakes his head. ]

No, it's... the longer we're here, the closer everyone is going to get to each other. So people getting more and more hurt isn't going to be shocking.

[oathic]

... Even so, the bonds we have with one another are important, no matter how much grief they might bring.

[soba]

... are they?

What's even the point in connecting if it always ends up like this?

[oathic]

Without anyone you care about, or anyone who cares about you, are you really living at all?

[soba]

[ he glances away, looking down at his hands. ]

No. You might as well not exist.

[oathic]

... Everyone's life has value. That's what I believe.

And I think we find ourselves through others—both the good and the bad.

[...]

No matter how alone someone feels, there's someone out there who can understand or accept them. After all, the world's a place of millions of people. It would be stranger for there not to be.

[soba]

Just because there's someone out there who might understand you doesn't mean it'll work out. Things happen that just... make it so it won't work out.

Like us being here.

[oathic]

Then, you keep trying. One failure isn't always the end of the world.

[soba]

[ it looks like he wants to say something. instead, ]

Right.

[oathic]

... Don't take this the wrong way, Toi, but you're still pretty young. You've only lived, what, a fifth of the average human lifespan?

For you, the future is still unknown.

[soba]

It's not that unknown. I already know what's waiting for me.

[ ... ]

Whether I get out of here alive or not-- that won't change.

[oathic]

Then, what is it?

[soba]

[ his expression turns into something that's almost... amused? but not quite.

he lifts up his hand, arranging his fingers so that they're mimicking a gun. he presses it to his head, and then makes a gesture signifying that a bullet is being fired. ]

Like I said, it won't matter.

[oathic]

[...]

Well, you never know. I mean, just as you're certain of that, you were probably pretty certain that you weren't going to be abducted to a place like this, right?

The thing about the unexpected is that you can't expect it.

[soba]

You're right. We don't know for sure what will happen.

... but that also means something bad is just as likely as something good. I don't want to keep hoping for something that might not even come true. It's exhausting.

[oathic]

... Fair enough. Then I'll hope for you.

[soba]

[ ... ]

Everyone here is such a weirdo.

[oathic]

So I've been told!

[soba]

Don't sound so happy about it!