PC: Valerie

[westedge]

Comments

[huntressinred]

[ well she can't tell if he wants to talk to her unless he actually says so. but she is watching him for a good few moments while he's concentrating, amused. ]

Takes that much effort to focus, huh.

[westedge]

[ he still jumps a little. ]

Give me a break, I'm still getting used to this. We didn't think this was an option until...nowish. [ but there's a little grin. ] I guess I really do have to concentrate on who I want to see?

[ he does seem to mean he was summoning her on purpose, at least. ]

[huntressinred]

You're not summoning me like it's a seance, you know.

[westedge]

Sorry, sorry. The last time this happened we were using Alex's radio, not this. [ ... ]

It's still weird to think this is the only way we can talk right now though.

[huntressinred]

I mean, texting is still there. But I think this is better. I guess I'm like an old crone for wanting to talk on the phone instead of texting.

[westedge]

[ that gets a laugh out of him, albeit a small one. ]

Yeah, no, I kind of do a lot better with face to face, too. Voice to voice? You get it. It makes it a lot easier to read people's tones and understand what they're trying to say instead of reading words and getting mad about something they might not even mean.

[huntressinred]

Ugh, god, yeah.

Plus, like. Especially with how it is here, where we only get messages a few times a day max? It feels like everything I write has to be sooo important. It's not really like hanging out.

[westedge]

I was wondering if the delay was the same on your end as it was here. I'd always write back pretty much right away and still not hear anything for a while. [ he folds his arms over his chest loosely, sort of watching her for a moment. ]

Fei Du mentioned things are nicer over there than they are here. Should I take that to mean you're taking care of yourself?

[huntressinred]

...well, how are you defining "taking care of myself"?

[westedge]

[ and this is why i'm glad it's not text.

not that valerie can hear his thoughts. ]

I'm trying to think of how that one can be taken negatively, but okay, fair enough. I'm just defining it as...doing the best you can with the circumstances given. Or something close to it.

[huntressinred]

[ switching briefly to emotionshare so he can get some confused vibes off of her for that "taken negatively" thing

but then it turns kind of hesitant and uncertain ]

I mean...I guess? I didn't get killed again, so that's a plus.

[westedge]

[ this week is confusing because all of the effects are everywhere, so he picks up those vibes and his own switch over to kind of sheepish but also kind of. relieved, maybe. ]

I would call that a plus. [ but...he sighs. ] I don't really get what all has happened now. We were all kind of speculating the whole being dead thing was fake, but I don't get what we're doing here if that's the case. And now you guys...we're still trying to figure out what the next strategy is to bring back everybody we can. Your early appearance was a surprise.

[huntressinred]

We...do have something planned, still. I don't know when we'll be able to use it, exactly, but it should get us all back. I thought that was gonna be our first chance to see you guys face to face, but then this started up out of nowhere.

I don't think I can get too specific about the details.

[westedge]

[ his shoulders sag a little in relief. ]

That's...all that really matters. Having a contingency plan. I'm glad. Don't worry about details, it's...probably better that the less of us alive who know, the better. Just in case. That stupid thought thing is still going around along with just about everything else.

If it helps, all of us were caught off-guard, too. The Player pins just started glowing for a second before it quit, and suddenly we found that we could concentrate and tap in to where you are.

[huntressinred]

Huh.

...do the Reapers know about it?

[westedge]

[ a lil frown. ]

God I hope not. That's part of why I wanted to move off the grid and I think others did, too. Less chances of things looking really noticeable. So, you know, less chances of them having to report it.

[huntressinred]

"Off the grid"?

[westedge]

Not...anywhere where there's anybody else? [ gestures to where he is very much alone. which honestly he's not sure what it looks like to valerie, come to think of it. ]

[huntressinred]

Oh, pff. You made it sound like you were doing some deep hacking.

[westedge]

[ an amused little noise. ]

Despite popular belief--[ it is not popular, and his tone says he knows it. ]--I am actually not that smooth.

[huntressinred]

[ laughs ]

Believe me, you do not have to be smooth to hack into stuff.

[westedge]

Oh yeah? Okay then, maybe you should educate me a little. What's the easiest way to hack into something?

[huntressinred]

Oh, I have no idea. But I know a guy who can hack into pretty much anything, and the last thing I'd call him is "smooth."

[westedge]

[ me gently reaching through the fourth wall to pat tucker on the head. ]

Fair enough. I've never really been interested in that kind of stuff anyway. I know how to use what I need to use and I don't care enough to figure out the rest. There's always other stuff to be doing. [ ... ] Pretty sure it's about the only reason I've made it this far, but what do I know?

[huntressinred]

[ gently deposits this in your patting hands ]

Me too.

...except it didn't actually help me in the end, so what do I know? Not enough, apparently.