update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/mitzvot/033.md

@@ -6,13 +6,13 @@ Ey just wanted to be bored.
 
 At least they'd settled into a routine once more, and it was far more comfortable than either of the previous ones --- when True Name had first moved in, and then after End Waking's merge --- so ey couldn't complain too much.
 
-True Name managed May's merge much more easily than she had End Waking's, and ey could see now the benefits of that week of negotiation beforehand. Nearly two months later, and she still occasionally mentioned a pressing memory or two from End Waking demanding attention.
+True Name managed May's merge much more easily than she had End Waking's, and ey could see now the benefits of that week of negotiation beforehand. May had whispered to em one night about the final merge with Michelle and Sasha, about memories crashing down in a cascade of centuries and just how mad that final instance of True Name must have been in those final moments. Even with just one merge, she still occasionally mentioned a pressing memory or two from End Waking demanding attention nearly two months later.
 
 It was just another part of the routine. A rocky routine, and an exciting one, but still a routine.
 
-It wasn't all bad, of course. For every talk they had about meeting with Jonas or what Zacharias had become or some boundary one of them had crossed, there were still the pleasant meals, the shared quiet, and, ey had to admit, ey rather liked who True Name had become.
+It wasn't all bad, of course. For every talk they had about meeting with Jonas or what role Zacharias played or some boundary one of them had crossed, there were still the pleasant meals, the shared quiet, and, ey had to admit, ey rather liked who True Name had shaped herself into.
 
-Ey had certainly liked who she was, of course. Three years of coffee dates stood as testament to that, but a large part of this, ey'd come to realize, came with just how much more settled in herself she was. Even that drive she cherished about herself had been tempered into something smoother, less laser-sharp. She was more well-rounded, more able to relax, more able to work without it occupying the whole of her. 
+Ey had certainly liked who she used to be, of course, though in a vastly different way. Three years of coffee dates stood as testament to that, but a large part of this, ey'd come to realize, came with just how much more settled in herself she was. Even that drive she cherished about herself had been tempered into something smoother, less laser-sharp. She was more well-rounded, more able to relax, more able to work without it occupying the whole of her. 
 
 The weirdest part, though, had to be sleep. They spent two nights staying with True Name while she processed first the memories and then the conflicts before trying to go back to sleeping separately.
 
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ She spent the next day distracted and out of sorts, first begging off breakfast
 
 May had shushed her and held up the covers for her to climb in, letting her settle back into much the same position she had those first two nights.
 
-It had certainly worked well enough, with Ioan rising at eir usual eight o'clock while the two skunks slept in for another two hours. Later that day, May had instructed her how to get at least some comfort out of sleeping curled up with a fork.
+It had certainly worked well enough, with Ioan rising at eir usual eight o'clock while the two skunks slept in for another hour. Later that day, May had instructed her how to get at least some comfort out of sleeping curled up with a fork.
 
 Still, once a week or so, they'd wake to her asking to join them, and eventually Ioan had given in and expanded the bed by a foot to at least make it roomier when she did join them. She'd at least been quite understanding when May had requested that it not be every night.
 
@@ -30,9 +30,13 @@ Ey was unsure of eir feelings on the matter. On the one hand, it was still inten
 
 On the other, so had eirs. The nights when she joined them weren't unpleasant, even if it would be a while before ey was used to sharing a bed with anyone other than May. This was to say nothing about the shyness ey felt about eir body. The first few times she had joined them, ey had wrapped emself up in a sheet before leaving the bed to maintain some sense of modesty, though given that these nights had often included the skunks sleeping in, ey eventually gave up on that.
 
-And ey was genuinely pleased to see her happy, or at least on her way to happiness.
+They'd all begun seeing Sarah regularly again, which was a relief. The three of them had even met with her together on one occasion, discussing the path that had led them here, and sharing some of their thoughts on how things had wound up in a structured session.
 
-((they have been seeing Sarah again))
+Ioan found eir own sessions particularly helpful when it came to disentangling eir thoughts on the past. Sarah had urged em to trace eir relationship not just with True Name or May, but with the entire Ode clade from that first message of Dear's through to the present, charting eir feelings about each of them and how they differed or were the same. It helped to pull apart what it was that ey liked about them as well as what it was that left em more stressed, exasperated, or just plain tired about their interactions.
+
+Ey didn't know what the two skunks talked about in their sessions, whether apart or together, but it seemed productive. Not always pleasant, *per se;* both were left in tears after a few meetings, and ey suspected that, as much as it had been lessened, that resentment May had felt had never gone away completely, and likely never would.
+
+Still, through it all ey was genuinely pleased to see them happy, or at least on her way to happiness.
 
 It took some convincing --- on all three of their parts; ey needed to convince emself as much as True Name and May --- but eventually, Ioan worked up the courage to leave the house, seeking out some much needed solitude, even if it was only in the anonymity of public spaces.
 
@@ -46,11 +50,11 @@ This library had eschewed the flashy exterior of eir normal haunt, opting instea
 
 Ey liked it immensely.
 
-The busiest section of the library was far and away the wing that had been built to house the massive information dump from Artemis. This took the form of a squat, pentagonal building --- one wall for each race and one for their shared knowledge --- that bored its way deep into the ground, a slow-sloping spiral winding down along the shelves to allow visitors to browse their way back in time until, at the very bottom, only firstrace had any material.
+The busiest section of the library was far and away the wing that had been built to house the massive information dump from Artemis. This took the form of a squat, pentagonal building --- one wall for each race and one for their shared knowledge --- that bored its way deep into the ground, a slow-sloping spiral winding down along the shelves to allow visitors to browse their way back in time until, at the very bottom, only firstrace had any material. Translation efforts were still underway, but there was more to read every day.
 
 Ey stayed away from this for the day. Ey wanted cozy, not awe-inspiring.
 
-Eventually, having loaded up on a few random finds --- trashy sci-fi, some intriguing contemporary fiction from decades after ey'd uploaded, even a bit of furry fiction from early in the 21st century ey considered bringing home to show May --- ey parked emself in the glass garden and arrayed eir finds out before em on the table.
+Eventually, having loaded up on a few random finds --- trashy sci-fi, some contemporary phys-side fiction from decades after ey'd uploaded, even a bit of furry fiction from early in the 21st century ey considered bringing home to show May --- ey parked emself in the glass garden and arrayed eir finds out before em on the table.
 
 The sci-fi proved to be a little *too* trashy for eir tastes, and while the contemporary fiction was certainly intriguing, it was far too dense for reading when ey was trying to have a lighter, easier day. The furry book struck a nice middle-ground, at least, even if ey couldn't keep the species straight in eir head.
 
@@ -58,13 +62,13 @@ Eventually, though, ey gave up and just sat in the sun, watching the way it filt
 
 *No better way to realize just how tense you are than by relaxing,* ey thought. 
 
-Ey didn't doubt that the two skunks also would appreciate some time out of the house, too. Doubtless there were some sims they could visit that would be reasonably safe. Douglas's field, End Waking's forest...well, no longer Arrowhead Lake.
+Ey imagined the two skunks also would appreciate some time out of the house, too. Doubtless there were some sims they could visit that would be reasonably safe. Douglas's field, End Waking's forest...well, no longer Arrowhead Lake.
 
 "Hi Serene," ey began, starting up the simplex sensorium message before ey lost both the nerve and the train of thought. "I know it's been a while since we've spoken, so I hope you're well. I have a strange question that might turn into a really big request. After some...very dramatic events, one of our favorite places is no longer safe for us. I guess that's what happens when you just kind of adopt an abandoned sim without knowing much about it.
 
-"Still, it's become personally meaningful to us over the years, and we're finding ourselves missing it. I don't know if we necessarily need a copy of it, but would it be possible for you to come take a look at it and see about what all would go into creating something similar? Would be a modification of my home sim. There's no rush, and if nothing else, it'd be good to say hi sometime. Talk soon."
+"Still, it's become personally meaningful to us over the years, and we're finding ourselves missing it. I don't know if we necessarily need a copy of it, but would it be possible for you to come take a look at it and see about what all would go into creating something similar? It'd be a modification of my home sim. There's no rush, and if nothing else, it'd be good to say hi sometime. Talk soon."
 
-Further reading was largely a failure. Ey couldn't get back into any of the books ey'd started, and a certain listlessness tamped down any desire to head back to the shelves to hunt more. Ey left them on a page's cart, an act that almost certainly just reshelved them, and hunted down tea.
+Further reading was largely a failure. Ey couldn't get back into any of the books ey'd started, and a certain listlessness tamped down any desire to head back to the shelves to hunt more. Ey left them on a page's cart, an act that almost certainly just reshelved them, and hunted down a cafe cart.
 
 Serene sent a gentle sensorium ping just as ey picked up eir tea.
 
@@ -92,7 +96,7 @@ There was the sense of a sigh on the other end of the message. "Yes, I suppose y
 
 "Oh goodness, I did not say I would not do it! I will, just...not yet. Please give me some time, my dear."
 
-Ey frowned, looking down at eir shoes as ey scuffed one against the parquet floor. "Right, okay. May I ask how you're feeling about this, then? I've had precious little contact with...well anyone."
+Ey frowned, looking down at eir shoes as ey scuffed one against the parquet floor. "Right, okay. May I ask how you're feeling about this, then? I've had precious little contact with...well, anyone."
 
 There was another sigh. "I do not know yet, Ioan. I am not unhappy for her. I am not displeased that things are coming to a head with Jonas, as that will mean there will be a change, for better or worse. I am just not yet able to engage."
 
@@ -118,7 +122,7 @@ Ey shook eir head. "You guys seriously have your hands in everything, don't you?
 
 "I haven't the faintest."
 
-"How many of us do you think there are?"
+"Well, how many of us do you think there are?"
 
 "Right." Ey smirked. "'Nominally' a hundred."
 
@@ -178,15 +182,15 @@ Ey nodded. "What about friends' sims? You've been to End Waking's and Douglas's
 
 She laughed and squirmed around until she was laying on her front, tail draped over eir lap. "You are right, as always. I will ping one of them at some point."
 
-A motion from the couch drew eir ey. True Name slumping over onto her side and stretching out. "So many names," she said, voice distant. "I have not seen Debarre in centuries, and yet I saw him just a few months ago. I have not met Douglas and yet I know him well."
+A motion from the couch drew eir eye. True Name slumping over onto her side and stretching out. "So many names," she said, voice distant. "I have not seen Debarre in centuries, and yet I saw him just a few months ago. I have not met Douglas and yet I know him well."
 
 "You will see them one day, my dear," May said. "I do not know when, but I do not doubt you will."
 
-"Not today. Not yet," True Name mumbled. The skunk shook her head, then smiled over to May and Ioan. "But *you* should, May. Go make fun of End Waking for his cooking. Go sit too close to Debarre and make eyes at him until he squirms."
+"Not today. Not yet," True Name mumbled. The skunk shook her head, then smiled over to May and Ioan. "But *you* should, May. Go visit the field and Douglas. Go make fun of End Waking for his cooking. Go sit too close to Debarre and make eyes at him until he squirms."
 
 May laughed. "I do not know if End Waking has welcomed Debarre back, or I would get to do both at once."
 
-"Of course. Go visit the field and Douglas. Do not lose your mind when you have options yet. I will have the plain. I will have the deck. I will have planning to do, and I can lean on experience from End Waking."
+"Of course. Do not lose your mind when you have options yet. I will have the plain. I will have the deck. I will have planning to do, and I can lean on experience from End Waking."
 
 May looked to Ioan, who said, "I'm with True Name on this. Go on, get out of here."
 
@@ -216,11 +220,11 @@ Ey furrowed eir brow. "I was expecting in a few days or so. Maybe, I guess?"
 
 "Well, ask me before you head out, then, maybe I'll get some work done in the interim."
 
-She leaned up to dot her nose against eir cheek a few times, laughing. "It is nearly six. I was going to head out now, my dear."
+She leaned up to dot her nose against eir cheek a few times, laughing. "It is nearly six. I was going to head out now."
 
-"Wait, really?" Ey frowned, twisting around to see the darkness already falling outside. "Damn."
+"Wait, really?" Ey frowned, twisting around to see the light slowly fading outside. "Damn."
 
-"Just stay. Do your work. Enjoy a bit of solitude."
+"Just stay. Do your work. Enjoy a bit more solitude."
 
 "Alright, alright."
 
@@ -234,9 +238,9 @@ Once May had changed her clothes and stepped away, a few long minutes of silence
 
 It was, ey realized, the first time they'd been alone together in weeks. The three of them had been cooped up together since both skunks had overflowed. The circumstances had rather forced their hands in the matter, at least until today when they'd apparently started feeling well enough to get out. 
 
-There was some lingering discomfort in the air, though, some careful distance between them. Something about what memories True Name had of em --- something ey couldn't possibly know --- and what that meant for them still made its presence known. It wasn't that they hadn't interacted. Far from it, actually. She'd opened up far more than ey'd expected after the merger, watching May practice her monologue, talking about the decades and centuries before ey'd known her, about the time lost between her and May.
+There was some lingering discomfort in the air, though, some careful distance between them. Something about what memories True Name had of em --- something ey couldn't possibly know --- and what that meant for them still made its presence known. It wasn't that they hadn't interacted. Far from it, actually. She'd opened up far more than ey'd expected after the merge, watching May practice her monologue, talking about the decades and centuries before ey'd known her, about the time lost between her and May.
 
-And it wasn't as though they'd not touched. The nights she'd spent in their bed were beyond simple casual touches.
+And it wasn't as though they'd not touched. Though far from intimate, the nights she'd spent in their bed were beyond simple casual touches.
 
 But it was all still very cautious. Those nights felt like a necessity borne out of overwhelming emotion. She and May had touched plenty --- True Name had taken to resting her head in the other skunk's lap, enjoying doting affection --- but she'd maintained a sheen of that True Name-brand polite professionalism with em. Friendly, to be sure, but still distant.
 
@@ -248,23 +252,23 @@ But it was all still very cautious. Those nights felt like a necessity borne out
 
 "Have things been awkward since the merge?"
 
-She  yawned and levered herself up to a sitting position again, rubbing her paws over her face. She certainly looked like she'd dozed off. "Awkward how?"
+She yawned and levered herself up to a sitting position again, rubbing her eyes. She certainly looked like she'd dozed off. "Awkward how?"
 
-"Well, I mean, we spent all that time talking about May and I's relationship beforehand." Ey pushed emself up to sitting on the beanbag, as well, adding, "Which I have no clue how to feel about, to be clear. Just asking."
+"Well, I mean, we spent all that time talking about May and I's relationship beforehand, and how that would impact you." Ey pushed emself up to sitting on the beanbag, as well, adding, "Which I have no clue how to feel about, to be clear. Just asking."
 
-"Well, we are of one mind on that front, at least," she said, grinning. "I have no idea, my dear. I am...I remain confused about the conflicting memories. Something about the base of my experience of you from the point of view of me *qua* True Name over the last few years feels more...real, perhaps. May I tell you something in confidence?"
+"Well, we are of one mind on that front, at least," she said, smiling. "I have no idea, dear. I am...I remain confused about the conflicting memories. Something about the base of my experience of you from the point of view of me *qua* True Name over the last few years feels more...real, perhaps. May I tell you something in confidence?"
 
 Ey knit eir brow and nodded. "Of course."
 
-"Even at her friendliest and most open, May believed that these merges would make me, in some way, a more complete person. Even I began to believe such. The whole clade has spent too long accusing itself of being incomplete people based on our origins, perhaps." She paused to collect her thoughts, looking down at her paws. "But she killed me, in her own kind way. She who was True Name is dead ((bring this up when Ioan's mumbling)), and now I am of three minds. I am True Name and I am May and I am End Waking. There is some unified core --- there must be --- as I am not strictly May or End Waking, and perhaps that core will yet have some other name, but I am of three minds."
+"Even at her friendliest and most open, May believed that these merges would make me, in some way, a more complete person. Even I began to believe such. The whole clade has spent too long accusing itself of being incomplete people based on our origins, perhaps." She paused to collect her thoughts, looking down at her paws. "But she killed me, in her own kind way. She who was True Name is dead, and now I am of three minds. I am True Name and I am May and I am End Waking. There is some unified core --- there must be --- as I am not strictly May or End Waking, and perhaps that core will yet have some other name, but I am of three minds."
 
 "In terms of conflicts?"
 
-She tilted her head thoughtfully. "I do not feel the pressure of merge conflicts. Not many, at least. I feel tripled. I feel now like True Name, perhaps, and then I feel like May and some time later I will feel like End Waking. I lack the language to describe it. I felt something similar when I was Michelle and Sasha, but even that was not the same. The reconciliation that remains is one of ensuring that those facets can coexist peacefully, as Sarah says."
+She tilted her head thoughtfully. "I do not feel the pressure of merge conflicts. Not many, at least. I feel tripled. I feel now like True Name, perhaps, and then I feel like May and some time later I will feel like End Waking. I lack the language to describe it. I felt something similar when I was Michelle and Sasha, but even that was not the same. I become less and less sure that I will be a singular person again, and so the reconciliation that remains is one of ensuring that those facets can coexist peacefully, as Sarah says."
 
 "I'm sorry, True Name, that sounds...I don't even know. Impossible."
 
-"Oh, no, do not get me wrong," she said, smiling. "It is not unpleasant. It is not what May --- or even I --- wanted, but it does not feel like a bad thing. It is difficult, however, as some contexts remain confusing. You are one of those contexts, dear."
+"Oh, no, do not get me wrong," she said, smiling. "It is not unpleasant. It is not what I --- or even May --- wanted, but it does not feel like a bad thing. It is difficult, however, as some contexts remain confusing. You are one of those contexts, dear."
 
 Not knowing what to say to that, ey simply nodded, feeling the flush of warmth to eir cheeks.
 
@@ -272,11 +276,11 @@ Not knowing what to say to that, ey simply nodded, feeling the flush of warmth t
 
 "You're telling me," ey said, smiling cautiously. "Every time I think about it, I just wind up feeling super awkward and freeze up, so I have no clue as to how to even begin to approach it."
 
-"Well, here. May I sit next to you? If it is awkward, then it is awkward, but then at least we will know and quit fucking tiptoeing around the topic, yes?"
+"Well, here. May I sit next to you? If it is awkward, then it is awkward. If we find a boundary, we will discuss it, but then at least we will know and quit fucking tiptoeing around the topic, yes?"
 
-Ey stiffened, trying to cover a wave of anxiety with a chuckle of eir own. "Uh...well, sure."
+Ey stiffened, trying to cover a wave of anxiety with a chuckle. "Uh...well, sure."
 
-For all the confidence in her words, the skunk looked as jittery as ey felt, if the bristle to her tail and cant to her ears was anything to go by. Still, she pushed herself up off the couch to pad over to the beanbag and settle down next to em.
+For all the confidence in her words, she looked as jittery as ey felt, if the bristle to her tail and cant to her ears was anything to go by. Ey wasn't quite sure what it was that had led her to this particular suggestion, but her expression was in flux, so perhaps it was those three aspects of her searching for harmony. Still, she pushed herself up off the couch to pad over to the beanbag and settle down next to em.
 
 Or try to, at least. One does not simply sit next to someone else on a beanbag. The mechanics of an amorphous cushion had the skunk almost immediately slouching against eir side. She flailed, nearly elbowing em in the stomach in the process.
 
@@ -288,11 +292,11 @@ Or try to, at least. One does not simply sit next to someone else on a beanbag.
 
 Ey leaned away from her as best ey could to give her some space. "Sorry, True Name."
 
-After a few slow breaths, she shook her head and slumped over to the side, draping herself across eir lap, face buried in the beanbag on the other side of eir legs, a jumble of skunk. "This is stupid, Ioan. This is stupid and it is awkward and it is confusing, just as expected," she grumbled. "Pet my ears, please."
+After a few slow breaths, she shook her head and slumped over to the side, draping herself across eir lap, face buried her arms on in the beanbag on the other side of eir legs, a jumble of skunk. "This is stupid, Ioan. This is stupid and it is awkward and it is confusing, just as expected," she grumbled. "Pet my ears, please."
 
-"Uh...yeah. Stupid, awkward, and confusing is about the long and short of it-- What? Oh." Ey hesitantly brushed fingers over her ears as ey'd done countless times before with May. Her fur felt exactly the same, her voice was very nearly the same, and were it not for the difference in clothes and the benefit of two and half decades of time spent living with May, ey could probably have confused one for the other. "Too awkward?"
+"What? Oh." Ey hesitantly brushed fingers over her ears as ey'd done countless times before with May. Her fur felt exactly the same, her voice was very similar, and were it not for the difference in clothes, the slight changes in body shape, and the benefit of two and half decades of time spent living with May, ey could probably have confused one for the other. "Too awkward?"
 
-"I do not know. The closer to another I get, the more May I feel, so the greater part of me is simply pleased to be touched, and by none other than you," she mumbled against the beanbag. "But I am not her, so the rest of me is unsure of what to make of it. Completely baffled, even. Do I feel like her to you? We are cut from the same cloth, are we not? This ought to feel the same, yes? Does it?"
+"I do not know. The closer to another I get, even in just simple proximity, the more May I become, so the greater part of me is simply pleased to be touched now that we are close, and by none other than you," she mumbled against the beanbag. "But I am not her, so the rest of me is unsure of what to make of it. Completely baffled, even. Do I feel like her to you? We are cut from the same cloth, are we not? This ought to feel the same, yes? Does it?"
 
 "Almost exactly," ey said, then laughed. "And not at all." 
 
@@ -302,13 +306,13 @@ The skunk squirmed enough to get her tail off to the side and her face away from
 
 She nodded. "It may yet be enough for Jonas, but even if not, I think that it will be enough for me. It is stupid and awkward, but-- no, do not stop," she interrupted herself, laughing, when ey pulled eir hand away. "Awkward, but not bad."
 
-They fell into thought, then. Or at least ey did. Ey kept up the careful petting while trying to tease apart eir feelings on the matter. It all felt too big, leaving em feeling in far over eir head. Even trying to define what True Name was now felt far above eir pay grade. Ey'd read up on plurality in the past, and this felt similar, yet inexact. The comparison was there to be made, and doubtless much that had gone in to working with plurality would prove useful here, but the addition of the concurrent nature of their memories added a layer of complication.<!--this feels like an apology-->
+They fell into thought, then. Or at least ey did. Ey kept up the careful petting while trying to tease apart eir own feelings on the matter. It all felt too big, leaving em feeling in far over eir head. Even trying to define what True Name was now felt far above eir pay grade. Ey'd read up on plurality when she'd first mentioned it, and this felt similar, yet inexact. The comparison was there to be made, and doubtless much that had gone in to incorporating plurality into one's life would prove useful here, but the addition of the concurrent nature of their existences apart added a layer of complication.<!--this feels like an apology - better, but still...-->
 
 Doubtless there was some way ey could just approach this simply, could just share uncomplicated time with friends. Something about the Odists just made that feel inaccessible, though. All of them were so complicated in such roundabout ways, and now True Name triply so.
 
 *If only I could just turn off the overthinking,* ey thought. Aloud, ey said, "What do you think you'll do after all of this?"
 
-The skunk started at the sound of eir voice. "Sorry, dear. I was dozy. What was that?"
+The skunk started at the sound of eir voice. "Sorry, dear. I must have dozed off. What was that?"
 
 Ey smiled and ruffled a hand through the fur between her ears before petting it down again. "What will you do after this stuff with Jonas? You mentioned the change would be enough for you, but what will that look like?"
 
@@ -338,13 +342,13 @@ There was a long silence, the skunk's features drawn in in thought. "I remain of
 
 She sighed, bringing her tail around to groom it absentmindedly. "She is scared and unhappy and lost. She, of the three of me, is of two minds. Half of her would like to plan and scheme and wargame and rip that smug look off Jonas's face, and the other half would...but, well, there has been enough quitting in the clade."
 
-Unsure of what ey could possibly say to those thoughts, ey just nodded.
+Unsure of what ey could possibly say to those thoughts, ey hesitated, then put eir arm around her. Ey at least knew how to comfort the May portion of her, if nothing else.
 
 "But come, that is enough of that," she said decisively. "Five sixths of me still want to rip that smug look off Jonas's face, so that sad-sack part of me can go have her sulk another time. I would also like to get out. I would like to go to restaurants again, yes, and even see one of your plays, should I be welcome. I want to eat greasy food and drink myself silly after performances. I want to hop sims and dream. New deadline: one month. I want out of here within one month."
 
 "You mean for the meeting with Jonas?"
 
-"Yes. I will not schedule it with him yet, just pencil it in, but having that deadline will only help."
+"Yes. I will not schedule it with him yet, just pencil it in --- I will exert my own power by giving him short notice --- but having that deadline will only help."
 
 "Well, we'll help you get as ready as we can until then," ey said. "And probably get ready ourselves. We'll need to tell End Waking, too."
 
@@ -356,17 +360,17 @@ They both froze.
 
 "Well, that was--" ey said at the same time, then shook eir head. "Sorry, True Name. Wasn't expecting that."
 
-She pushed herself quickly to her feet and began pacing before the beanbag, paws brushing over her face, from whiskers all the way up over her ears. "Do not apologize. That crossed a boundary, and I need a moment."
+She pushed herself quickly to her feet and began pacing before the beanbag, paws brushing over her face, from whiskers all the way up over her ears. That of her that was May visibly fled her expression and that which was True Name asserted dominance. "Do not apologize. That crossed a boundary, and I need a moment."
 
 Ey frowned. "It was unexpected, but I don't know if it crossed--"
 
-"It crossed one of *my* boundaries," she said, then forced herself to stand still and slow her breathing as she stared out into the night through the windows. "Sorry, dear. Like I said, it is awkward and confusing. I feel like I have been given control of some new, unwieldy machine and am only learning how to use it through trial and error."
+"It crossed one of *my* boundaries," she said, then forced herself to stand still and slow her breathing as she stared out into the night through the windows. "Sorry, Ioan. As I said, it is awkward and confusing. I feel like I have been given control of some new, unwieldy machine and am only learning how to use it and then only through trial and error."
 
 Ey nodded, tamping down the urge to apologize again. "Take the space you need."
 
-Her shoulders slumped. "I would like nothing more than to disappear out on the plain, but I should probably stop just running away from such things." She smiled tiredly to em and held out a paw to help em stand. "Come. The least we can do is make dinner. Then we can discuss it further when your partner returns."
+Her shoulders slumped and identities once more warred in her expression. "I would like nothing more than to disappear out on the plain, but I should probably stop just running away from such things." She smiled tiredly to em and held out a paw to help em stand. "Come. The least we can do is make dinner. Then we can discuss it further when your partner returns."
 
-<!----->
+-----
 
 May's response to the discussion of encroached boundaries, later that night when she'd returned, knocked both Ioan and True Name off-kilter. She laughed and tousled both eir hair and the fur atop True Name's head, saying, "Well, took you long enough."
 
@@ -444,7 +448,7 @@ Ey laughed and ruffled a hand over her ears before petting the fur down again. "
 
 "Well, perhaps all of our preparations only made her more anxious," May mumbled, chin dipped low as ey rubbed behind her ears. "She still has all of those memories of solitude and professionalism, as well."
 
-Given what True Name had said in confidence, ey could certainly imagine a boundary around physicality being tested even in the slightest pushing the May portion of her back and letting that of End Waking and True Name come to the fore. Ey supposed, had ey internalized that better beforehand, the conversation that had followed True Name's spike in anxiety would have been different, and perhaps more productive. Ey could have spoken to her as ey might have spoken to True Name *qua* True Name, rather than as ey might to May.
+Given what True Name had said in confidence, ey could certainly imagine a boundary around physicality being tested even in the slightest pushing the May portion of her back and letting that of End Waking or True Name come to the fore. Ey supposed, had ey internalized that better beforehand, the conversation that had followed True Name's spike in anxiety would have been different, and perhaps more productive. Ey could have spoken to her as ey might have spoken to True Name *qua* True Name, rather than as ey might to May --- even if that version of her was, as she had said, dead.
 
 The context shift had just been so fast, though, and despite all the differences ey was primed to see between them, the two skunks still looked and sounded so much alike. Oh well. If it had been fast and confusing for em, doubtless such a shift would have been triply so for her.