Penance IC Inbox

[deaddrop]

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[hypoxic]

It's that you genuinely believe yourself dead.

[deaddrop]

I know that I am. That was the price of victory.

I can't risk losing that.

[hypoxic]

Might not be a risk. You might've stumbled into a loophole instead.

[deaddrop]

I'm not looking for a loophole. That doesn't mean I don't want to get you and everyone else who shouldn't be here out.

Just means I'm not someone who gets to go home.

[hypoxic]

You mean you've given up.

[deaddrop]

If I meant I'd given up I would have said that I gave up.

[hypoxic]

Then stop talking about being at your end. If you can do something, it isn't over.

[deaddrop]

[She doesn't argue wit him further, not seeing a lot of purpose in fighting about it here.

She shakes her head.]

I guess we'll see what we can do.

[hypoxic]

[He's overstepped a boundary. Said something offensive. He accepts her response as shutting him down, and slows half a step, head drooping. He falls silent without a thought to the pace of the conversation, turtling back into his shell.]

[deaddrop]

[Why are men so fragile? Or maybe it's just human beings.]

We weren't coming out here to talk about me, anyway.

[hypoxic]

I suppose we weren't.

[But he doesn't volunteer anything beyond that, settling into his own fragility.]

[deaddrop]

Or we can just walk if you'd rather.

[hypoxic]

Might be best.

[He's starting to feel unhelpful, so he adds a bit more as a good faith effort.]

My mind has been through a lot. Not always the easiest to parse.

[deaddrop]

There's been a lot going on. Can't blame you if it's not always easy to process.

[hypoxic]

[He gives her a long look, weighing his options.]

D'you remember the Hydra incident of 2014?

[deaddrop]

I couldn't forget that one if I tried.

[hypoxic]

I suffered some trauma as a result of the attack. [She doesn't need to know the hows or the whys. They don't particularly matter.] Processing has been more of a hurdle since then.

[deaddrop]

TBI? [Not to pry, but it is a little different if he means a head injury or if he means PTSD.]

[hypoxic]

Similar.

[He swallows hard.]

My symptoms are complications after I was drowned.

[deaddrop]

I'm sorry to hear that. It's tough.

[hypoxic]

I've learned to live with it. [HE shrugs, hoping to dismiss the issue.]

[deaddrop]

[She'll nod, not pressing further.]

Amazing what we can learn to live with.

[hypoxic]

It's manageable. But. Sometimes, there are challenges.

[deaddrop]

Being down here would challenge any of us.

[hypoxic]

It's. More complicated than that. There's the chance that I might set the community in danger.