diff --git a/writing/post-self/toledot/launch/sys/Ioan/003.md b/writing/post-self/toledot/launch/sys/Ioan/003.md index 0cffbfba..d8af8524 100644 --- a/writing/post-self/toledot/launch/sys/Ioan/003.md +++ b/writing/post-self/toledot/launch/sys/Ioan/003.md @@ -16,13 +16,13 @@ She nodded. "Well, come here, then. Let us plan instead of read or write or what "Woolgathering, apparently," ey mumbled, but gathered up a notebook and a pen to go plop down next to the skunk all the same. -When May had moved in with Ioan, she had quickly requested several changes to the house. A desk for her to work at, of course, as well as a private room --- a cube with all grey walls --- in which to do whatever it that she did when composing. She had also requested a few items that would work with her physiology. A stool for the desk that would let her tail drape down and curl around her feet, that sort of thing +When May had moved in with Ioan, she had quickly requested several changes to the house. A desk for her to work at, of course, as well as a private room --- a cube with all grey walls --- in which to do whatever it that she did when composing her mythos. She had also requested a few items that would work with her physiology. A stool for the desk that would let her tail drape down and curl around her feet, that sort of thing -She had not requested another room or bed, which had initially staggered em. +She had not, notably, requested another room or bed, which had initially staggered em. "Are you going back home to sleep?" ey had asked. "I thought you were moving in here." -She had laughed and poked em in the stomach with a finger. "You have a bed, Ioan. It fits two, yes? If not, just make it fit two." +She had laughed and poked em in the stomach with a finger. "You have a bed, Ioan, yes? It fits two, yes? If not, just make it fit two." Ey had formed few attachments, and certainly none which required sleeping in the same bed as someone. Eir confusion must have shown on eir face, as May had rolled her eyes and laughed. @@ -34,15 +34,15 @@ Her eyes had widened and she tilted her head. "Really? Never?" Ey had shook eir head. -"Well, I would still prefer to share your bed with you, it is just the way I work. But if you feel uncomfortable, I will be fine with a bed like yours." +"Well, I would still prefer to share your bed with you, it is just the way I work. I do not sleep well alone. But if you feel uncomfortable, I will be fine with a bed like yours." So now ey slept beside a skunk. -She had also requested a few beanbags that she could curl on, more comfortable than a couch for one with a (frankly enormous) tail. Each of these was larger than Ioan had felt necessary, and it had required that ey expand the bounds of the rooms to fit them, but ey had quickly gotten used to them, as ey could stretch out on them just as well as May. They were a little too amorphous to sleep on, but still plenty comfortable. +She had also requested a few beanbags that she could curl on, more comfortable than a couch for one with a (frankly enormous) tail. Each of these was larger than Ioan had felt was strictly necessary, and it had required that ey expand the bounds of the rooms to fit them, but ey had quickly gotten used to them, as ey could stretch out on them just as well as May. They were a little too amorphous to sleep on, but still plenty comfortable. Ey sunk into a slouch on one now, feeling the way it molded around em. Ey knew well enough now to lift up the arm on the side where the skunk was curled, and she predictably scootched up by eir side to rest her head against eir chest at the shoulder, arm around eir middle. Ey let eir arm drop again, curling it around her shoulders. -"Alright," ey said, reaching eir free right arm down beside the beanbag for the lap desk which had proved so useful for times such as these. "Planning. What should we plan?" +"Alright, planning," ey said, reaching eir free right arm down beside the beanbag for the lap desk which had proved so useful for times such as these. "What should we plan?" "How about your forks?" @@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ She nodded, the fur of an ear-tip tickling at eir neck. "Start with one each. Yo She poked the tip of her tongue out of her muzzle. "Are you complaining?" -"No, no, I'm sure it'll be fine. That's three forks. A fourth for interviews for those who stayed behind." Ey tapped eir pen against eir lower lip. "How often should we merge?" +"No, no, I'm sure it'll be fine. That's three forks. A fourth as needed for interviews for those who stayed behind." Ey tapped eir pen against eir lower lip. "How often should we merge?" "I would suggest once a day to start with, perhaps an hour before you --- your #Tracker instance --- plan on stopping work for the day. You can use that hour to do your collating. You are less used to frivolous forking than the Odists, and much as I might enjoy multiple Ioans to canoodle with, I would prefer that you not get overwhelmed." @@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ The skunk nodded against eir chest, and ey could sense a frown on her muzzle. "T "Just not beyond a certain point." -Ey hesitated, then said, "It'd probably be more accurate to say that it just never happened. It didn't even really cross my mind until recently." +Ey hesitated, then said, "It'd probably be more accurate to say that it's never happened before. I enjoy it now, it just didn't even really cross my mind until recently." "When you had someone addicted to close attachments move in with you?" @@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ Ioan laughed. "Lover? Really?" "It makes for good reading," she said, poking her nose up at eir chin again. "Though I would not turn it down." -Ioan tensed. Ey could feel eir cheeks burning. "Uh...another conversation I've never had to have before." +Ioan tensed. Ey could feel eir cheeks burning. "Uh...there's another conversation I've never had to have before." "We will have it another time," the skunk murmured. "Your heart is racing and making my pillow uncomfortable." @@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ She laughed and licked em on eir chin. It was an odd sensation. "It is not surpr "Are you saying it's manipulative?" -"Oh, no. Not really, at least. I do not think it knows that it is doing that. It also lacks that self-awareness. It is more like..." She trailed off, visibly searching for the words. "It is like it knows what feels good, but not why, and so it has developed these mechanisms to ensure that those good things happen more frequently." +"Oh, no. Not really, at least. I do not think it knows that it is doing that. It also lacks that self-awareness. It is more like..." She trailed off, visibly searching for the words. "It is like it knows what feels good, but not why, and so it has developed mechanisms to ensure that those good things happen more frequently." "More like a self-reinforcing behavior, I guess?" @@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ And ey set a different tape to playing. A tape wherein ey set firmer boundaries, *How do they do this?* ey thought. *How do the Odists just worm their way into your life and make themselves comfortable, letting you think it was your idea? That's what she'd said, and now I'm in exactly the same position as Codrin twenty years ago.* -"It is not intentional, Ioan, promise. Not wholly." +"It is not intentional, Ioan, I promise. Not wholly." Ey jolted, blinking rapidly as her words registered. "Wait, what? What isn't?" @@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ She shook her head and ey could hear the smile in her voice. "You mumble when yo "Feels like overanalysis, sometimes." -"Mm, probably is, and sometimes I wish you would come down out of your head to be present. But it is the same as we are prone to overdoing whatever it is that we are specialists in. Dear goes hard on instance art, I go hard on feeling." +"Mm, probably is, and sometimes I wish you would come back down out of your head to be present. But it is the same as we are prone to overdoing whatever it is that we are specialists in. Dear goes hard on instance art, I go hard on feeling." "What are you feeling about..." Ey forced himself to push away encroaching work-thoughts. Ey had been about to say *about this whole venture*, but instead went with, "About this?"