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<p>Zacharias moaned. He forced himself to lower his paws to the ground, gripping at clumps of grass and dandelions. Finally, he opened his eyes and stared out toward the horizon of the field. “I–“</p>
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<p>“What did you want, my dear Zack? You sounded on the verge of panic.”</p>
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<p>“It is Jonas!” he said, finally snapping out of his daze. “Jonas! He killed all of my instances!”</p>
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<p>“Did you expect anything else, loverfox??” Sasha asked. There was no humor or sweetness in her voice.</p>
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<p>“Did you expect anything else, little loverfox?” Sasha asked. There was no humor or sweetness in her voice, the last two words carried venom in them.</p>
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<p>“I…I mean–“</p>
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<p>“You are the root instance, I am assuming?”</p>
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<p>He nodded, the movement jerky and uneven. “I have not left home since. I dug a new one, you see.”</p>
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<p>They didn’t speak for the rest of the day. Ioan and May collapsed onto the beanbag and stayed there through much of it, each processing in their own way, while Sasha disappeared outside to lose herself in the wilderness, not returning until late that evening, bearing a lanky hare and double-pawful of chantarelles, which she cooked down into a simple stew. They ate on the balcony to enjoy the late summer’s evening as best they could.</p>
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<p>Sasha joined them in bed that night, and they took what comfort they could from each other’s company.</p>
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<hr />
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<p>The most dramatic of meetings came as Autumn began creeping over the edge of the hills.</p>
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<p>The most dramatic of meetings came as Autumn began creeping over the edge of the hills. Quieter, perhaps, but bearing the most weight.</p>
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<p>In Dreams arrived late on a Saturday afternoon on a few minutes’ notice and bowed formally to Sasha.</p>
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<p>“Ioan, I believe Jonas hired you as an amanuensis?” she said.</p>
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<p>“He did, yes. Do you need me for that, too?”</p>
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<p>“Please. This story is not over, will not be over for a long time yet. Listen. Watch.”</p>
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<p>Sasha immediately picked up on the mood and stood up straight after returning the formal bow. She offered In Dreams a seat and coffee, both of which were declined, then said, “How may I help you?”</p>
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<p>Sasha immediately picked up on the mood and stood up straight after returning the formal bow. She offered In Dreams a seat and something to drink, both of which were declined, then said, “How may I help you?”</p>
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<p>“I have a request from both my stanza and that of Memory Is A Mirror Of Hammered Silver. You will also be presented with this request in writing as an individual-eyes-only message.”</p>
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<p>Sasha nodded. “I understand.”</p>
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<p>“We request no contact from you, your stanza, or the Bălan clade moving forward.”</p>
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<p>It took the skunk a moment to swallow back a rising wave of emotions before she could manage a shaky nod and a hoarse, “Understood.”</p>
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<p>“We are of one mind, then,” she said, bowed, and stepped from the sim. A few seconds later, three sheets of paper scrolled out of the air above the dining table, all set as individual-eyes-only for each of them. Ioan read through eirs several times with a hollow feeling in eir chest.</p>
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<p>Sasha stood still for a long minute, head bowed, then stepped outside without a word, at which point May burst into tears.</p>
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<p>Ioan did eir bets to comfort the skunk, but after an hour, she gently pushed em away. “I need…I need the house to myself, please.”</p>
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<p>“Should I head to Douglas’s??”</p>
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<p>Ioan did eir best to comfort the skunk, but after an hour, she gently pushed em away. “I need…I need the house to myself, please.”</p>
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<p>“Should I head to Douglas’s?”</p>
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<p>She shook her head. “I do not know, Ioan. I just…I just need the house. If you can…I mean, if Sasha will let you stay at her tent, you can stay, but I need the house.”</p>
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<p>“Now?”</p>
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<p>Nodding, she wrapped her arms around em and squeezed tighter than ey knew she could. “I love you more than anything, my dear, but yes. Now.”</p>
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<p>Sasha had set up a tent similar to End Waking’s though she had skipped the process of building it herself, instead creating from similar materials off the exchange. She’d set it up nearly on the other side of the lake from their house, so that she could have the solitude that she needed without having to create some new sim of her own.</p>
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<p>When the need for solitude struck her, it never quite got to the point that it did with End Waking. She would need away from their presences, she would say. They felt like a constant weight on her shoulders. Light, yes, but continually present.</p>
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<p>Ah well. This was the first time that May had overflowed in this living situation — and so dramatically, too; she’d never given em so little notice — so perhaps it would be helpful after all.</p>
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<p>Ey took eir time walking around the shore of the lake, using it to vent the emotions that had built up over the last half hour through tears, through shouting into a cone of silence, cursing.</p>
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<p>Ey took eir time walking around the shore of the lake, using it to vent the emotions that had built up over the last few hours through tears, through shouting into a cone of silence, cursing.</p>
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<p>“Ioan? Goodness,” Sasha said.</p>
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<p>Ey’d managed to mostly clean up with a handkerchief, though clearly eir eyes were still red-rimmed and eir countenance…well, who knew? Glum, perhaps?</p>
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<p>“Hi Sasha,” ey said, sitting down on the step leading up into the tent. The skunk had been writing at the small desk she’d acquired, but she moved to join em. “May’s not in a good spot. She suggested I stay with you, if that’s alright.”</p>
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<p>“Without contraries is no progression,” Sasha murmured after they’d finished. “Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence.”</p>
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<p>Ey started to ask what she meant, paused, then looked the words up in the perisystem architecture. “And here I thought you all were mostly into Dickinson.”</p>
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<p>She chuckled and elbowed em in the side. “This may be a True Name thing.”</p>
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<p>“Are you leaning into the “Good is the passive that obeys reason; Evil is the active springing from Energy” on this, then? Zacharias is evil for all his meddling?”</p>
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<p>“Are you leaning into the “Good is the passive that obeys reason; Evil is the active springing from Energy” on this, then? Zacharias is evil for all his conniving?”</p>
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<p>“Nothing is so simple, dear,” she said, shaking her head. “Blake was not of our kind, he would not have understood. He did get that right, though, in that we are a people of dualities. May sees in Zacharias all that she cannot — must not — be. In Dreams and Hammered silver see in me that which they are not, and yet we are not what we are without our opposites. Every idea’s opposite is just the absence of the idea itself.”</p>
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<p>Ey sighed. “Maybe. It’s all a bit over my head.”</p>
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<p>“I am also a little bit all over the place,” she admitted. “These events have me going in three different directions at once. The clade is crumbling and I cannot deny that some…much of that is on me. I am sorry, Ioan.”</p>
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<p>“I am also a little bit all over the place,” she admitted. “These events have me going in three different directions at once. The Ode clade is crumbling and I cannot deny that some…that much of that is on me. I am sorry, Ioan.”</p>
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<p>“It’s fine,” ey said, shaking eir head. “It’s kind of a lot.”</p>
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<p>“That it is. You are a good person, though. You love your partner. She knows this. I know this. You are good to her and it will all be okay. We may hope for neat endings but all we get are more beginnings.” She smiled, added, “And yes, you may stay until she is feeling better.”</p>
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<p>“That it is. You are a good person, though. You love your partner. She knows this. I know this. You are good to her and it will all be okay. We may hope for neat endings but all we get are more beginnings.” She smiled, adding, “And yes, you may stay until she is feeling better.”</p>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-07-29</p>
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