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<h1 id="debarre-2350">Debarre — 2350</h1>
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<h1 id="debarre-2350">Debarre — 2350</h1>
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<p>Neither Debarre nor End Waking had visited Michelle’s field in decades, and certainly not since it became Douglas’s. End Waking had last seen it on the day that she had quit in 2306, and had had little reason to return since.</p>
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<p>Neither Debarre nor End Waking had visited Michelle’s field in decades, and certainly not since it became Douglas’s. End Waking had last seen it on the day that she had quit in 2306, and had had little desire to return since. There were no dandelions in the forest. He had specifically requested so from Serene.</p>
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<p>It had been much longer for Debarre, going clear back into the 2200s, back when Michelle and Sasha were still alive and coherent enough to speak to without getting overwhelmed into silence every few minutes. The memories of her were painful enough as it was — that last visit with her in End Waking’s forest especially — that he’d never had the courage to come back.</p>
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<p>It had been much longer for Debarre, going clear back into the 2200s, back when Michelle and Sasha were still alive and coherent enough to speak to without getting overwhelmed into silence every few minutes. The memories of her were painful enough as it was — that last visit with her in End Waking’s forest especially — that he’d never had the courage to come back, and then never a reason, which came with its own ache.</p>
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<p>Given how much the clade that she’d left behind was struggling, though, it felt fitting to accept when Douglas invited him and End Waking over to talk with Ioan.</p>
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<p>Given how much the clade that she’d left behind was struggling, though, it felt fitting to accept when Douglas invited him and End Waking over to talk with Ioan.</p>
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<p>“Ey’s in a funk, and from what ey says, I think you two are the only others that know why,” he had said, paused, then added, “Except maybe those I don’t think any of us want to see.”</p>
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<p>“Ey’s in a funk, and from what ey says, I think you two are the only others that know why,” he had said, paused, then added, “Except maybe those I don’t think any of us want to see.”</p>
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<p>Both of them stood still after arriving, just bathing in — or struggling against — the waves of memory that came with the sudden onslaught of warmth and sun and the baked goods scent of dandelions thick in the air.</p>
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<p>Both of them stood still after arriving, just bathing in — or struggling against — the waves of memory that came with the sudden onslaught of warmth and sun and the baked goods scent of dandelions thick in the air.</p>
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<p>Finally, Debarre nudged em gently with an elbow. “Alright, Ioan, you’re gonna need to spill it at some point, here. What’s going on? All we were told is that you were feeling rough about the last few days.</p>
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<p>Finally, Debarre nudged em gently with an elbow. “Alright, Ioan, you’re gonna need to spill it at some point, here. What’s going on? All we were told is that you were feeling rough about the last few days.</p>
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<p>Ey sighed and plucked at a dandelion. “Right, sorry, you two. Or three, I guess. I know I’ve been a bit of a mope of late. You alright to talk about True Name?”</p>
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<p>Ey sighed and plucked at a dandelion. “Right, sorry, you two. Or three, I guess. I know I’ve been a bit of a mope of late. You alright to talk about True Name?”</p>
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<p>“Ioan, I appreciate you asking, but please do not worry about us,” End Waking chided. “If we have come to help <em>you</em>, you need not spare our feelings. We can pretty well guess who would be at the center of this.”</p>
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<p>“Ioan, I appreciate you asking, but please do not worry about us,” End Waking chided. “If we have come to help <em>you</em>, you need not spare our feelings. We can pretty well guess who would be at the center of this.”</p>
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<p>“I’m pretty sure it’s me, actually,” ey said, laughing tiredly. “I’ve been stuck between May and True Name for days now, or years if you count the time since the convergence and I started trying to smooth things out with the coffee dates.</p>
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<p>“I’m pretty sure it’s me, actually,” ey said with a wry smile. “I’ve been stuck between May and True Name for days now, or years if you count the time since the convergence and I started trying to smooth things out with the coffee dates.</p>
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<p>“I’ve just been struggling with it all. It’s been too much from the moment everything with True Name happened. The last few days were the worst, though. True Name didn’t really handle the merge all that well. She collapsed and was nearly unresponsive for several hours, and since then, she’s been struggling to integrate various chunks of memories.”</p>
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<p>“I’ve just been struggling with it all. It’s been too much from the moment everything with True Name happened. The last few days were the worst, though. True Name didn’t really handle the merge all that well. She collapsed and was nearly unresponsive for several hours, and since then, she’s been struggling to integrate various chunks of memories.”</p>
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<p>“My feelings towards her work? That I built my identity around not being her?”</p>
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<p>“My feelings towards her work? That I built my identity around not being her?”</p>
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<p>“That and your relationship with Debarre.”</p>
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<p>“That and your relationship with Debarre.”</p>
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<p>“I’d thought of that, but, uh…” Debarre cleared his through. “Well, actually hearing it put like that casts it in a bit of a different light.”</p>
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<p>“I’d thought of that, but, uh…” Debarre cleared his through. “Well, actually hearing it put like that casts it in a bit of a different light.”</p>
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<p>“I hope that she does not mind the memories of sex to go along with the resentment,” End Waking said, then laughed when Debarre poked him in the side. “We are all adults here, my dear.”</p>
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<p>“I hope that she does not mind the memories of sex to go along with the resentment,” End Waking said, then laughed when Debarre poked him in the side. “We are all adults here, my dear.”</p>
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<p>“I’m the baby, I think,” Douglas said. “I’m seventy-two.”</p>
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<p>“I’m the baby, I think,” Douglas said. “I’m seventy-two.”</p>
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<p>The skunk grinned. “So young! Debarre and I both have two centuries on you. Still, I am pretty sure that we can acknowledge the existence of sex, is what I mean.”</p>
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<p>The skunk grinned. “So young. Debarre and I both have two centuries on you. Still, I am pretty sure that we can acknowledge the existence of sex, is what I mean.”</p>
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<p>“And it doesn’t exactly sound like she’s a stranger to that, herself, anyway.”</p>
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<p>“And it doesn’t exactly sound like she’s a stranger to that, herself, anyway.”</p>
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<p>End Waking blinked, taken aback. “She actually told you about Zacharias?”</p>
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<p>End Waking blinked, taken aback. “She actually told you about Zacharias?”</p>
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<p>“Who?”</p>
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<p>“Who?” Douglas asked.</p>
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<p>“An…erstwhile lover, as she put it,” Ioan said carefully. “I probably shouldn’t go too much into that, though.”</p>
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<p>“An…erstwhile lover, as she put it,” Ioan said carefully. “I probably shouldn’t go too much into that, though.”</p>
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<p>“Agreed,” Debarre said. “But as you were saying, she was having trouble?”</p>
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<p>“Agreed,” Debarre said. “But as you were saying, she was having trouble?”</p>
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<p>“Yeah. I wasn’t expecting her to get completely taken out, but May did kind of force it on her all in one go. She lasted a few days, but I think she was maybe pushing herself pretty hard to appear strong. She crashed really hard yesterday and, despite a pretty pleasant morning, had to step out to Arrowhead Lake, and when she came back, she looked like she was about ready to start yelling at us. May was also trying to stick around as long as she could, I think, since she crashed almost immediately. We made it through the night, but she couldn’t even speak this morning.”</p>
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<p>“Yeah. I wasn’t expecting her to get completely taken out, but May did kind of force it on her all in one go. She lasted a few days, but I think she was maybe pushing herself pretty hard to appear strong. She crashed really hard yesterday and, despite a pretty pleasant morning, had to step out to Arrowhead Lake, and when she came back, she looked like she was about ready to start yelling at us. May was also trying to stick around as long as she could, I think, since she crashed almost immediately. We made it through the night, but she couldn’t even speak this morning.”</p>
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<p>“Probably most of the memories, there,” Debarre stage-whispered, getting a smirk out of Ioan.</p>
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<p>“Probably most of the memories, there,” Debarre stage-whispered, getting a smirk out of Ioan.</p>
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<p>“Yeah. Our affection and our sex, too, for that matter. Suddenly, True Name has all that. I think it also started grating on me because of how real End Waking’s was. It wouldn’t just be a library for her perusal, but she will have actually lived them. She will have actually–” Ey frowned, as though digging for the words.</p>
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<p>“Yeah. Our affection and our sex, too, for that matter. Suddenly, True Name has all that. I think it also started grating on me because of how real End Waking’s was. It wouldn’t just be a library for her perusal, but she will have actually lived them. She will have actually–” Ey frowned, as though digging for the words.</p>
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<p>“She’ll have actually loved you, maybe?” Debarre guessed.</p>
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<p>“She’ll have actually loved you, maybe?” Debarre guessed.</p>
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<p>Eir features fell and ey sighed. “Yeah. That. Putting it that way makes it feel terrible, but it’s exactly that.”</p>
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<p>Eir face fell and ey sighed. “Yeah. That. Putting it that way makes it feel terrible, but it’s exactly that.”</p>
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<p>“I was pulling back when she and Zacharias were getting close,” End Waking said, sounding thoughtful. “And I have been her. We were both Michelle. I know that she is capable of experiencing romantic feelings. They will not be alien to her.”</p>
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<p>“I was pulling back when she and Zacharias were getting close,” End Waking said, sounding thoughtful. “And I have been her. We were both Michelle. I know that she is capable of experiencing romantic feelings. They will not be alien to her.”</p>
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<p>“And now she’s been <em>you,</em>” Debarre added. “And you’ve got romantic feelings, too. At least, I hope so.”</p>
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<p>“And now she’s been <em>you,</em>” Debarre added. “And you’ve got romantic feelings, too. At least, I hope so.”</p>
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<p>End Waking pushed him over onto the ground. “If you imply that I do not have romantic feelings for you again, I will make you hunt our meals for a week.”</p>
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<p>End Waking pushed him over onto the ground. “If you imply that I do not have romantic feelings for you again, I will make you hunt our meals for a week.”</p>
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<p>“Even though she was struggling with integrating those memories of yours?”</p>
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<p>“Even though she was struggling with integrating those memories of yours?”</p>
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<p>“Perhaps especially so. I think that she is struggling because it clashes with her personality, not that she feels that she might love Debarre. Though, my dear,” he said, nodding to Debarre. “I can guarantee that just about every Odist is at least a little in love with you.”</p>
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<p>“Perhaps especially so. I think that she is struggling because it clashes with her personality, not that she feels that she might love Debarre. Though, my dear,” he said, nodding to Debarre. “I can guarantee that just about every Odist is at least a little in love with you.”</p>
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<p>He shook his head and waved the comment away. “Yeah, yeah.”</p>
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<p>He shook his head and waved the comment away. “Yeah, yeah.”</p>
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<p>More than one of them had confessed such to him over the centuries, and it wasn’t until he’d actually conceded that something about End Waking landed in that sweet spot of attraction and personality match enough to at least try dating that they’d stopped. He was thankful that they seemed happy enough to live vicariously through him. He had liked Sasha and Michelle, loved her in that sympatico that true friends can share, friends who had shared trauma, but any more felt pretty far out of his league as a gay man.</p>
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<p>More than one of them had confessed as much to him over the centuries, and it wasn’t until he’d actually conceded that something about End Waking landed in that sweet spot of attraction and personality match enough to at least try dating that they’d stopped. He was thankful that they seemed happy enough to live vicariously through him. He had liked Sasha and Michelle, loved her in that sympatico that true friends can share, friends who had shared trauma so he didn’t begrudge them their feelings, but any more felt pretty far out of his league as a gay man.</p>
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<p>Instead, he nudged Ioan with his elbow again. “So if you don’t need to worry about it from True Name’s side, and you know you’re worrying about it from your own side, how do you feel about it from May’s point of view?”</p>
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<p>Instead, he nudged Ioan with his elbow again. “So if you don’t need to worry about it from True Name’s side, and you know you’re worrying about it from your own side, how do you feel about it from May’s point of view?”</p>
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<p>“How do you mean?”</p>
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<p>“How do you mean?”</p>
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<p>“Well, do you have any worries about her? Do you think she does? Has she talked about it at all?”</p>
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<p>“Well, do you have any worries about her? Do you think she does? Has she talked about it at all?”</p>
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<p>“Not much. She said she’d been considering it, but that seeing how the current merge was making her struggle had her in doubt. I told her I want to make sure it’d be consensual on everyone’s behalf, this time. I guess–“</p>
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<p>“Not much. She said she’d been considering it, but that seeing how the current merge was making her struggle had her in doubt. I told her I want to make sure it’d be consensual on everyone’s behalf, this time. I guess–“</p>
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<p>“Whoa, wait,” Douglas interrupted, frowning. “She didn’t even talk with True Name about this merge?”</p>
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<p>“Whoa, wait,” Douglas interrupted, frowning. “She didn’t even talk with True Name about this merge?”</p>
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<p>“They talked a few times in a cone of silence, so maybe then, but otherwise not that I saw. She just stopped True Name in the middle of ranting and sent End Waking a message to merge, far as I could tell.”</p>
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<p>“They talked a few times in a cone of silence, so maybe then, but otherwise not that I saw. She just stopped True Name in the middle of ranting about her calling and sent End Waking a message to merge, far as I could tell.”</p>
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<p>“That’s kind of shitty.”</p>
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<p>“That’s kind of shitty.”</p>
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<p>Ey shrugged. “I suppose, but no need to pile on her or anything, I think she’s beating herself up over it worse than any of us could do.”</p>
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<p>Ey shrugged. “I suppose, but no need to pile on her or anything, I think she’s beating herself up over it worse than any of us could do.”</p>
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<p>Douglas nodded. “Well, that bit I believe. Think that contributed to her overflowing?”</p>
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<p>Douglas nodded. “Well, that bit I believe. Think that contributed to her overflowing?”</p>
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<p>He nodded and accepted that paw. He had a feeling he knew what was coming, so even just the touch as they stepped away from the sim was worth it.</p>
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<p>He nodded and accepted that paw. He had a feeling he knew what was coming, so even just the touch as they stepped away from the sim was worth it.</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-05-17</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-07-22</p>
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