update from sparkleup
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<p>She shook her head and, deeming the rice to be done, slid it off the heat. “I started walking in 2124, my dear. A few years before May Then My Name was forked, back when it cost too much to be so cavalier with forking.”</p>
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<p>Ey nodded. “Were you overflowing earlier today?”</p>
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<p>She chopped the sauteed chicken breasts she’d made into strips, focusing on the task, then on plating up the food, before responding. “Perhaps, Ioan. Perhaps.”</p>
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<p>They ate in silence, making it most of the way through the meal before they were alerted to May’s arrival by the sim’s sensorium ping.</p>
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<p>Ioan set down eir fork and slid out of eir chair to greet her as she stepped out of the entryway. Ey was pleased to see her face washed of tears and expression washed of distress. She looked tired, to be sure, but no longer ready to murder someone.</p>
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<p>“I brought gifts, my dear. I do not know if–” She paused as she caught sight of True Name.</p>
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<p>The other skunk had also stood and was bowing deeply to her up-tree instance. “May Then My Name, I apolog–<em>hrk!</em>“</p>
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<p>May had shoved the waxed cotton-wrapped parcel into Ioan’s hands and bounded over to True Name, shoving her out of her bow in order to get her arms around her for an awkward hug. “That is for what happened,” she said, then socked her in the shoulder. “And that is for how you told me.”</p>
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<p>True Name stumbled back from the greeting, blinking rapidly. She looked as baffled as ey felt. Watching May interact with True Name these last few days had been something of a roller coaster, whether it was to the abject fury ey saw within her whenever the topic of her goals came up or the strange protectiveness that had led her to offer their home to her cocladist. Those were stressful enough; this was overwhelming.</p>
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<p>Ey made eir way back to the table slid the packet onto it, and fell heavily into eir chair. “What just happened?”</p>
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<p>Eir partner laughed and dotted her nose against eir cheek before settling down into her usual chair. “I am sorry that that was weird, and I am sorry that I ran away earlier. I was able to get a lot off my chest, and I feel much better for it. Oh, you did eat. That is okay, I did too, but I think these will make good dessert.”</p>
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<p>Something about May’s nearly manic voice and the tension in her cheeks showed something deeper going on beneath the surface, but given her chatter and the still-shocked look on True Name’s face, this didn’t seem to be the time.</p>
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<p>“May Then My Name, I know that I–“</p>
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<p>“If you talk about earlier, I will hire Guōweī myself,” May interrupted mildly. “I promise that there will be time to talk about it soon, my dear, but for now, I need something else, alright?”</p>
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<p>“Of course,” True Name said, frowning. “In that case, what is in the package?”</p>
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<p>“End Waking made these…corn…pancake things. Fritter cakes? Something like that. They were savory, but they might go well with honey as a sort of dessert. There are only two, but we can split them.”</p>
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<p>Ioan and True Name exchanged a glance, then watched as May unwrapped the griddle cakes and swiped a pot of honey into being beside them. She broke off a piece, drizzled honey on it, and ate it.</p>
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<p>“Well?” ey asked.</p>
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<p>“It is fine. I do not know that it is a dessert. Have you ever had chicken and waffles, my dear?”</p>
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<p>Ey shook eir head, reaching for a piece of the (slightly soggy) cake and the pot of honey.</p>
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<p>“It is not that, but it reminds me of it. Savory and meaty but also sweet and bready.”</p>
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<p>Ey frowned as ey chewed on the morsel. Ey could see it being truly delicious if it had not been cooked in venison grease specifically. The gaminess made it a strange mix.</p>
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<p>“Good, but not great,” was True Name’s assessment, to which May nodded vigorously.</p>
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<p>They finished the griddle cakes all the same, keeping up the banal chatter. It felt good, ey realized, to talk about nothing. Day after day of serious talks had worn on em more than ey realized, and ey made a silent note to thank May later for forcing them into something more pleasant. The greeting she’d given True Name was weird, but it definitely broke the strange suspense that had dogged them all week.</p>
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<p>After dinner, ey cleaned up the dishes while True Name went back to her room and May settled onto her beanbag, getting a thoughtful look on her face that usually meant she was working mentally.</p>
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<p>Once ey was finished, ey settled down beside the skunk, letting her squirm in next to em and get an arm around eir middle. Ey blinked a cone of silence into being over them. “It’s good to have you back,” ey said, hugging an arm around her shoulders. “What was that all about?”</p>
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<p>She snagged eir free hand and put it atop her head. A clearer demand for pets there was not. “Mm? You mean me being a chipper ditz?”</p>
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<p>Ey laughed, stroking over her ears. “Well, I was going to ask about the hug, mostly. My guess about you being chipper was to get us to finally talk about something light rather than yet more intense or depressing stuff.”</p>
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<p>“You are right on that one, yes,” she mumbled. “We doubtless have more heavy shit to talk about, but I spent hours crying today, and if we did not break out of that cycle, I would have spent yet more in tears.”</p>
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<p>“I won’t bring it up, then.”</p>
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<p>“Good.” She poked em in the belly, then went back to her hug. “Though as to the greeting, I mean it when I said I got a lot off of my chest. I spent a lot of time thinking and a lot of time talking to End Waking and Debarre, and I have some ideas for moving forward.”</p>
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<p>“Oh?”</p>
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<p>She shook her head beneath eir hand and tightened her grip around em. “I do not want to discuss them now, my dear. I am tired and cried out and you are comfortable and good to me.”</p>
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<p>“That’s my job, yeah,” ey said, combing fingers through fur. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow, then.”</p>
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<p>“Mmhm. Dote on skunks time.”</p>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-04-10</p>
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