altimit | catch all >> september

[ The look Michel shoots Fandaniel ought to be withering... if it were possible to look withering while all but tripping around drunkenly with a sword. ]

I have no desire to meet any friends you might have—

[ ...Though the goblins might be fitting, in fairness. Michel dodges the first two with surpassing deftness (18, 20); but his quick steps seem to have carried him right to their much more competent compatriot just in time for him to stumble (5). The goblin skewers him neatly — probably right in the kidney —
sending an annoying jolt of feedback through his side and leaving him staggering as his HP bar drains out.

Spite can surely carry him for one more attack. He flails towards Fandaniel with one more Razor's Edge no more graceful than the last attack (4) because the dice love a bilingual joke. ]

I'll... see about that rematch...

Why don't you go befriend dear old Fai and decide whether he's annoying or not, hmm?

[ There it is; the identity of his friend, likely the same one he referenced as being in California before when Shoka had been glitched. ]

But until then, I believe I am done with this particular curse. Have a good evening, Ms. Swallow.

[ And that's that. He disconnects, blipping out of existence just like that. ]

He was very excited about it, as far as I could tell. I've sent him along my earlier work to see if he has any feedback before I send the rest.

[ Just a test of his roommate's knowledge, nothing more. ]

Ah, though... you may want to advise him not to share your actual name.

[ Fandaniel gives a quiet hiss as Hector lifts himself off of him, but that's all apart from lingering on the cool stone ground before pushing himself up. In part, he's pausing briefly to clean up, uh, outside the game. He'll move soon enough, though, sliding back into the hot spring to be alongside the older man once more.

Together, they can taint the warm waters with their digital leavings... for all of five minutes until it all just goes away, since none of it is real. ]

There are some perks to it, I'd say.

[ Easy sex, no worries about STDs, some level of anonymity, no clean-up needed, uh, in the game, anyway. At this point, Fandaniel does give a faint huff of amusement and peers up at Hector as he sidles in close to him, to lean against him comfortably. ]

Although, [ Pause for suspense here. ] You may want to check your pants.

Edited 2023-09-22 00:23 (UTC)

[ The roommate would be sending such in-depth feedback and be excited... Hien can guess that's what will happen when he opens his email to that.

But then Hien pauses with the eel preparations when Fandaniel mentions that last part. He resumes though, not much later on. ]

I guess that's expected. I never told him my in-game name.

[ Fandaniel merely watches the digital life fade from Michel as at least one of the goblins proves to be worth the SP spent to summon it. He'd been wondering how well that spell worked on other players! ]

Haha... I'll be looking forward to it.

[ Which is true! He loves it when people come after him for revenge. It fuels such a fun loop, back and forth, back and forth, kill for kill, eye for eye. Ah, but until then, Mr. Winter, until then! ]

Oh, there's always Owen. We're more or less on the same level there but after ending up telling him all my plans, I'd rather not have him trying to convince me otherwise.

[ With sex, probably, which is a shame. It had been very fun sex. ]

Hector is fun. Maybe if I can convince him to top...

[ Anyway, seems like Fandaniel's been busy and Fai gets to hear aaaall about it, but what else are friends for, right? ]

[ They'll be the nerdiest and most difficult-to-comprehend correspondence of all time, truly. ]

Not really the name I anticipated. [ Chatty roomie, Hien, better talk to him. ] Have you considered changing it?

[ Roomie has no shame in being nerdy about the things he likes, fortunately.

Hien shrugs. It's the usual response he gets regarding his name. ]

Can't change it even if I wanted to.

[ wobbles hand something something politics ]

[ That's exactly what friends are for! Fai will just soak up all the details he can, no matter how specific they are. He's here for the specifics, after all. ]

Just ask him to top. I bet he'd be happy to. You know well by now that even guys like me will top from time to time.

-Huh? Hey, wai-

[...And he's gone.]

...Asshole.

[Ughhhhhhhh. Still, Fai - that's something to go off of.

>Shoka will remember this.]

[ There's an annoyed huff from Fandaniel. ]

Can you truly change nothing about your own life? Please. Stop acting so miserably helpless. You can change your name. In fact, you should! Moreso, you should quit this god-awful job!

[ Fandaniel comes in close, and Hector's got the sake already poured for them by the time he arrives. He hands him one of the cups and loops an arm around him. This is nice.

—Except he doesn't get to relish in the wind-down for very long. ]

Hm?

[ He blinks and his avatar freezes for just a moment, but comes back roaring to life with loud laughter. ]

Oh, I'm the mess.

[ It takes him a moment to calm down from this. Hold on.

Deep breaths, a sigh... ]

I'll deal with it later.

[ And he settles in to finish his drink. ]

Rest assured. If I could, I would have done it already. Having this "name" makes it harder on me for so many things and that was probably the purpose when I got unpersoned and became an entirely different person. If the government is the only one that can officially "rename" me, then they won't allow it.

[ ... ]

If I quit then who'd be able to handle all of you?

I'm not sure I could call what you do handling us so much as tormenting yourself.

[ Why suffer so much for this job? Seriously? But... unpersoned? Could that even be done? How? ]

You should give yourself a name, anyway. Be Hien for real if you like.

[ He supposedly chose the username, so why not? Although, that isn't ultimately what Fandaniel has on his mind. If he's being honest about how things are for him... He brings out what he'll need for the ramen broth and begins fiddling with that. Keep busy, don't turn and look at Hien, even as he asks after those last few grumbled sentences, ]

If things are that bad for you, would you leave that world for another? Start a new life, given the chance?

[ Just friends talking about dicks, aw yeah. ]

That is true. Maybe whenever we run off to try out the cabins over in that skiing area.

[ With Hector coming back laughing so much, Fandaniel can't help but burst into laughter as well. It's rather contagious and he's left grinning as he gets around to sipping his own glass of sake. ]

Mm, no need to rush off. Just the slightest of downsides, I suppose.

Oh? You're meeting up again, are you?

[ Interesting information. Very interesting information! Don't mind the annoyingly smug look on his face. ]

Tell me how good the amenities are. Maybe I'll make use of it if Yael ever wants to hook up in-game again.

If we find the time? Absolutely.

[ Find a reason to do it in every recreation area. Make it a goal. It's achievable and fun! ]

I can at least highly rate the hot springs but do be sure no one else is there first. [ It didn't happen to them but... it sure could. Don't need someone like Ramiel or whoever stumbling over anyone doing it in the springs. ] Although if Yael prefers real life... That is a shame. Consider some of the dungeon effects out there. There's one that creates a double of you somewhere, is there not?

Are you talking about VR escapism? Why do you think I'm here all the time? I don't like talking about what-ifs.

[ But he shrugs, going back preparing eels. ]

... But in seriousness, no. I think I'm done.

[ Hector grins at Fandaniel when he laughs in turn. That's...a pretty cute laugh, though he won't admit it.

No need to rush off, indeed. He'll get around to cleaning that up later. But for now, he's content here to sit in the warm water with his arm around Fandaniel, finishing off the sake and the snacks. ]

[ Ah, there it is. It's hideous how alike the two of them are in these cases and rather than act horrified, Fandaniel just lets out a laugh. ]

Of course, you would be like that. [ There's no surprise, either. Really, it seems to fit. ] But you like it here, don't you? When you're in the game, being Hien?

Mm. I don't like the aspect of people treating me like I'm a god that can solve any problem and then people getting mad at me for defying their self-placed expectations. But if I were someone else, I'd hate "Hien" too.

[ Like how he could fight people all he wanted? And kill all he wanted? Without legal consequences. That's great, tbh. ]

I, for one, do not mind Hien. You must realize that by now.

[ Or else he'd be out of the guild already, not invited to this dinner, not allowed in this kitchen. He turns from his own work to stare ponderously at Hien a moment, considering... ]

What if you let someone else take over?

catch all >> september

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1/2

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cw suicidal ideation

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