update from sparkleup

writing/post-self/mitzvot/020.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ There was still work to be done, of course. May still had her monologue, which s
 
 For eir part, ey still had a few projects on eir plate, not least of which was the upcoming book project that had been requested by Jonas. Ey poked at this every now and then, outlining the events to date and throwing a few thousand words at it here and there.
 
-Mostly, though, ey dealt in letters to and from the other members of eir clade. Vast, dramatic events were happening elsewhere --- as they always seemed to when an Odist was involved --- and ey couldn't simply put them away to deal with all that was going on at home. The break from dealing with the affairs of True Name and Jonas was a welcome on.
+Mostly, though, ey dealt in letters to and from the other members of eir clade. Vast, dramatic events were happening elsewhere --- as they always seemed to when an Odist was involved --- and ey couldn't simply put them away to deal with all that was going on at home. The break from dealing with the affairs of True Name and Jonas was a welcome one.
 
 The one conversation of note came on the fourth day after the merge, when the skunk asked, "How did you two get together?"
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ True Name nodded. "That is the word I would use to describe my feelings towards
 
 Eir partner smiled and reached out across the dining table to pat at True Name's paw.
 
-"It is what I feel for End Waking and Debarre, too, though in a far more round-about way. I have memories of the ways in which End Waking changed in order to let Debarre into his life, but I cannot place them in context. I do not have what is required to understand them, I may watch them, I may understand one at a time, but integration of all of them eludes me. Those experiences which are left to integrate are the ones clashing the most." She gave a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "I can remember what it feels to fall in love but not what to do then. I can remember what it feels like to be in love but not how I got there."
+"It is what I feel for End Waking and Debarre, too, though in a far more round-about way. I have memories of the ways in which End Waking changed in order to let Debarre into his life, but I cannot place them in context. I do not have what is required to understand them, I may watch them, I may understand one at a time, but integration of all of them eludes me. Those experiences which are left to integrate are the ones clashing the most." She gave a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "I can remember what it feels like to fall in love but not what to do then. I can remember what it feels like to be in love but not how I got there."
 
 Ioan and May glanced at each other briefly, but both nodded.
 
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ She smirked. "You mean beyond the fact that I just told you I am having trouble
 
 "Yeah, actually. Why those memories? I would have thought his repentance would have caused more clashes."
 
-"It is," she replied slowly. "But these are more comforting to work with. They had their fights, as I am sure all couples do, but even those are full of love. I do not--" She shook her head firmly, then stood and bowed. "I need to go for a walk. Thank you both."
+"It is," she replied slowly. "But these are more comforting to work with. They had their fights, as I am sure all couples do, but even those are full of love. I do not--" She sniffled, shook her head firmly, then stood and bowed. "I need to go for a walk. Thank you both."
 
 And with that, she stepped from the sim.
 
@@ -102,7 +102,13 @@ The rest of the afternoon passed easily enough. It was slow and boring, perhaps,
 
 But always, there was an air of waiting. They were waiting for True Name to return, yes, but ey felt like they were also waiting for the other shoe to drop. They were waiting for her to feel whole again. They were waiting for everything to fall into place (or at least close enough) so that they could do this meeting with Jonas and get it over with.
 
-((Probably need more in here))
+"Do you think she's just out there walking?" ey asked at one point.
+
+May shrugged. "If she is anything like True Name, yes. If she is anything like End Waking, then she is exploring. Climbing trees and walking along ravines."
+
+"And if she's both?"
+
+She sighed. "If she is both, then I do not know. If she is both, perhaps she is finding some new way to let loose all of those emotions she could not speak before.
 
 The skunk returned shortly before dinner. Both Ioan and May stood to greet her. The skunk looked dirty and scuffed up, and while her expression wasn't grim, it came close. There was frustration there, perhaps anger as well.
 
@@ -116,11 +122,11 @@ Ey frowned. "But...?"
 
 "Wait, what? You're moving to Arrowhead Lake?"
 
-"If you decide to keep my room here, I may come back, but, my dear, I am going to lose my fucking mind if I simply stay in--" She sighed, took a deep breath, recomposed herself. "I am going to spend a few days out at the lake. I need...away. I need away from walls. I need away from you two, nice as you are, away from all of your happiness and comfort. I need away from speaking, from dwelling on the last few weeks. I need solitude."
+"If you decide to keep my room here, I will come back, but, my dear, I am going to lose my fucking mind if I simply stay in--" She sighed, took a deep breath, recomposed herself. "I am going to spend a few days out at the lake. I need...away. I need away from walls. I need away from you two, nice as you are, away from all of your happiness and comfort. I need away from speaking, from dwelling on the last few weeks. I need solitude."
 
 May had shied away from her down-tree instance the instant her temper started to rise, clutching tightly at eir hand, but Ioan stood eir ground as best ey could.
 
-"Well, alright. It's no trouble keeping your room, of course, and I guess there's the tents already out there."
+"Well, alright. It's no trouble keeping your room, of course, and I guess there's tents already out there."
 
 She nodded, subsiding at the reasonable tone in eir voice. "Yes. Thank you for understanding."
 
@@ -138,7 +144,7 @@ With that, she bowed, lifted her bags and axe, then stepped from the sim once mo
 
 "What the hell..."
 
-May took a moment to un-cringe from the whole experience, slowly relaxing her grip on eir hand. "I think perhaps she--"
+May took a solid minute to un-cringe from the whole experience, slowly relaxing her grip on eir hand. "I think perhaps she--"
 
 "Is overflowing?"
 

writing/post-self/mitzvot/021.md

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ Coffee was a good first priority, though, and easily sorted. It was something ey
 
 While waiting, ey pinged Douglas to let him know what was going on and to request a spot to sleep. After a moment's hesitation, ey sent End Waking a quick message, as well. Ey received simple acknowledgements from both.
 
-Ey doctored the skunk's coffee to her liking and returned to the room to set it down on the bedside table closest to her, moving noisily enough that she'd know ey was there without being obnoxiously loud.
+Ey doctored the skunk's coffee to her liking and returned to the room to set it down on the bedside table closest to her, taking a cue from True Name and moving noisily enough that she'd know ey was there without being obnoxiously loud.
 
 A moment's thought was spent on shifting the weather in the sim to something warmer, more springlike. Ey'd heard enough kvetching about the snow the last few days to figure that might help as well.
 
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ She managed to sign an I-love-you before pulling the 'hood' of blankets down eno
 
 Knowing she'd only resent em if ey lingered or touched her again, ey clutched eir notebooks to eir chest, waved, and quickly stepped out to the field of dandelions and grass. The light and heat was a shock, and ey stood, swaying, for a moment, simply squinting out to the horizon.
 
-Ey queued up a message to Douglas and murmured, "I'm here, but going for a walk, first," before walking away from the house.
+Ey queued up a message to Douglas and murmured, "I'm here, but going for a walk, first," before heading away from the house.
 
 There was nothing out there. No destination. No variance in the rolling hills of well-tended grass and the yellow suns of dandelions. The only break at all in the landscape was Douglas's house, and ey kept that at eir back.
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ With the slightest break in the pressure, that loan was called due.
 
 Realizing that ey couldn't see the subtle rises in the land for the tears in eir eyes, ey simply sat down in the grass and cried. *If I am overflowing,* some remote part of em thought. *Then I can certainly see the appeal to it. Catharsis indeed.*
 
-Though there was certainly nothing ey could have done to stop it, ey simply let it take its course, hollering curses into the cone of silence ey had the presence of mind to set up, clutching at the grass to keep emself at least somewhat grounded. Ey'd watched a friend (for that's what True Name was, wasn't she?) nearly get assassinated in front of em, had dealt with eir partner's lingering resentment towards her down-tree instance come into conflict with her constant presence, had watched May push True Name to near catatonia after encouraging her to accept a two-centuries-long merge from End Waking. Ey had watched both overflow in the span of a few hours.
+Though there was certainly nothing ey could have done to stop it, ey owned it, simply letting it take its course, hollering curses into the cone of silence ey had the presence of mind to set up, clutching at the grass to keep emself at least somewhat grounded. Ey'd watched a friend (for that's what True Name was, wasn't she?) nearly get assassinated in front of em, had dealt with eir partner's lingering resentment towards her down-tree instance come into conflict with her constant presence, had watched May push True Name to near catatonia after encouraging her to accept a two-centuries-long merge from End Waking. Ey had watched both overflow in the span of a few hours.
 
 And when ey stopped cycling over the last two weeks ((check timeline)), ey simply cried for the sheer relief it provided.