04-24-2020, 11:09 PM
[font=trebuchet ms]At 2D's approach, she offered a small nod to him, then turned back to Clony. Watching Clony twitch as if snapped out of a trance, Rin stepped back slightly to allow them more space, and listened carefully to the words that buzzed in her head. There had been multiple of Clony, all able to communicate with each other... and now this one was the only one. It was just them, and it shouldn't have been just them.
It shouldn't just be me.
Oh, how often that thought stuck in her head, the context only different in an academic sense. The silence of being alone could drive the strongest minds to despair; Rin had observed as much far too many times. As iron eroded under rust's consumption, a will would fade over time. No one was truly indomitable... least of all her.
Universal constant, guiding star.
Even stars burnt out eventually.
"...I understand," Rin said finally, sitting down and curling her tail around her paws. After a moment, though, she corrected herself, "Or, well- I wouldn't necessarily understand the mental connection bit. But I understand... I understand losing people. Missing them." Feeling her ears swivel back, she shook her head. She wasn't going to lose her composure now, not when they needed her to stay calm. "I understand... feeling alone," she said, her voice quieter than it had been before.
You think that's comforting? That that's enough to make their pain go away? ...Useless.
Swallowing, she raised a paw to her scarf and tugged at the fabric, as if to loosen the grip of a hungry beast on her throat. The voice, ever-present in her head, was right. Nothing she said could ease the gravity of what they had lost. Nothing she said would help. It will never be enough.
"...I'm sorry," she murmured finally. Clony could decide whether to interpret that as an expression of sympathy, an apology for her inability to comfort them, or something else entirely.
It shouldn't just be me.
Oh, how often that thought stuck in her head, the context only different in an academic sense. The silence of being alone could drive the strongest minds to despair; Rin had observed as much far too many times. As iron eroded under rust's consumption, a will would fade over time. No one was truly indomitable... least of all her.
Universal constant, guiding star.
Even stars burnt out eventually.
"...I understand," Rin said finally, sitting down and curling her tail around her paws. After a moment, though, she corrected herself, "Or, well- I wouldn't necessarily understand the mental connection bit. But I understand... I understand losing people. Missing them." Feeling her ears swivel back, she shook her head. She wasn't going to lose her composure now, not when they needed her to stay calm. "I understand... feeling alone," she said, her voice quieter than it had been before.
You think that's comforting? That that's enough to make their pain go away? ...Useless.
Swallowing, she raised a paw to her scarf and tugged at the fabric, as if to loosen the grip of a hungry beast on her throat. The voice, ever-present in her head, was right. Nothing she said could ease the gravity of what they had lost. Nothing she said would help. It will never be enough.
"...I'm sorry," she murmured finally. Clony could decide whether to interpret that as an expression of sympathy, an apology for her inability to comfort them, or something else entirely.
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