the truth is, everyone wishes to be saved.

[finalring]

The execution has come and passed with the death of two more Agents. However time moves on without cease and so must the living. There are no celebrations, only the silence that grows heavier and heavier with every day and the feeling that something is pleased with what it has done.

There are two more days before the new week arrives: what will you do?

Comments

[accrowed]

Oh? You'll be disappointed, you know. [ Here, he pauses so he can start leaning against the bed. ] Here it is: I think the only person who can decide what you take away from this is you. Sure, I could tell you my opinion, maybe even tell you what I would've done differently. The problem is, then I'd just be telling you my way of doing things.

At the end of the day, that's not going to help you. You need to think about this yourself—and it's not going to take just a few minutes or a few days. Taking a good, honest look at yourself and considering how your words and actions affect others isn't easy, but sometimes it's a necessary step to understanding how something went wrong.

The only advice I can give you is this. Don't put all of the blame on others—but don't put it all on yourself, either. The world is a complicated place, and sometimes that means lines that shouldn't be blurred, are.

[golden_dream]

...

[He was right, she was disappointed. He was leading her to that? How the hell was she going to have time to re-evaluate how she interacted with others when she could die again next week...

It was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

...

A soft sigh. Maybe... this was secretly good advice. What she'd done just wasn't working, so it had to be something.

She writes a new note, and turns it toward him:

"I'll keep that in mind."

...A pause so he could read it, then one more bit of writing:

"Incidentally... are you going out? Either today or tomorrow?"]

[accrowed]

[ The most disappointing and boring answer is always "soul searching," isn't it? He did skip the part where learning other's viewpoints and experiences helps broaden your perspective. But, hey, learning that is part of the journey.

Crow is, in fact, very not helpful so maybe that "stupid, stupid, stupid" is correct after all! ]

Yeah, I'll probably slip out sooner or later. Want me to pick something up for you?

[golden_dream]

[A little bit more writing later:

"Paper, always.

My nephew Battler probably thinks I'm some sort of vindictive monster who antagonized Rin for no reason and picked a fight with her.

That's not true. I did pick a fight with her, but it was so she'd be so mad at me, she'd vote for me instead of herself. Again: I thought it'd work. And I thought there'd be two culprits so it wouldn't matter. She had already decided she hated me... kind words wouldn't have cut it."

A pause as she reflected: it should've worked, but there was only one culprit and there were other people who were willing to scapegoat her, enough that one vote didn't matter.

"...If you see him, and he isn't crying his eyes out, can you please try to communicate that to him? If he's so distraught he can't think straight, then let him have his space. It'll just wear him out more or backfire on me.

If that's too much to ask, forget it. Or I'll write a note."]

[She flipped it over to show him. She really hoped he would just offer to do it. She was lazy and didn't want to, and she was reasonably sure he could pretty it up for her, if he was going to give her 'just take a good look at yourself' advice.]

[accrowed]

[ He never in his life thought he'd run into a request that even Rean "I'll-take-on-any-task-without-asking-for-a-single-mira" Schwarzer wouldn't take yet. Here he is. 'cause, honestly, Rean wouldn't touch this one. Not even to slap it away.

To be fair, it's a brazen ask. He'd say it's putting a lot of faith in him, too, but frankly the holes in that faith are so obvious they're visible from space. ]

Yeaaah, that's gonna be where I draw the line. It's all well and good that you wanna reach out to him, but if that's your message? You're gonna have to find a different errand boy.

[ A beat. ] Not that I suggest doing that, by the way. This should come from you, nobody else.

[golden_dream]

[She can't help sneering at that. She writes:

"You don't have to be cute. Just say you don't want to do it. ...But do get me paper, please. Maybe a pen too. Or even an inkwell. I don't care, just something..."]

[accrowed]

[ He laughs quietly, good-naturedly, before speaking again. ]

Paper it is. Since you've used up so much of it on me, I might as well go and fetch that for you now. [ A wave and he's walking toward the door! If she wants, she can still grab his attention by making a noise or something. ]