update from sparkleup
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<p>Ioan pulled together a stack of eir notes and, with a little concentration and a gesture, moved them over to a once-blank notebook, the pages now filled with eir scratchy shorthand. To this was added one of eir nicer pens, clipped to the cover, and a few slips of foolscap besides.</p>
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<p>Tucking those under eir arm, ey walked over to May’s desk and bent down to give the skunk a kiss atop her head, right between her ears. “I’m heading out. No messing with my pens, okay?”</p>
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<p>Rather than the usual ‘do not die’ joke, the skunk turned on her stool, looped her arms up around eir shoulders and pressed her nose to eirs. “You will be okay, yes?”</p>
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<p>Rather than the usual ‘do not die’ joke, the skunk turned on her stool, looped her arms up around eir shoulders, and pressed her nose to eirs. “You will be okay, yes?”</p>
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<p>Ey hesitated. Something about her tone pointed more towards anxiety than simple seriousness. Ey leaned forward to set eir notebook down, tugged up on eir slacks, and settled to eir knees in front of her. “Of course, May. Will you?”</p>
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<p>“I will be fine,” she said, smiling. “I am just a little worried today, is all.”</p>
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<p>“Any particular reason why?”</p>
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@ -30,8 +30,8 @@
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<p>Ey stepped out of the sim before she could kick eir shin.</p>
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<p>Ey ordered eir usual coffee and staked out eir usual spot on the couch. Rather than getting to work while ey waited for True Name, ey simply sat and enjoyed eir coffee as best ey could, staring off into nothing while mulling over May’s words.</p>
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<p><em>You will be okay, right?</em> Ey frowned and shifted eir gaze down to eir coffee, half gone by now. There were relatively few occasions that would bring about anxiety in eir partner, and ey knew the majority of them stemmed from within herself.</p>
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<p>She’d often been upset by her down-tree instance, though that hatred she’d borne for so long had softened to something more like distaste of late. She’d occasionally gotten upset at em, usually when ey’d not picked up on some cue that she’d given for some emotional need ey wasn’t meeting. Both of those she’d express as best she could with after a small burst of anxiety.</p>
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<p>All of the other times, though, it had come from within. Whatever dire emotions that dwelt beneath the chipper, goofy, sarcastic, and delightfully earnest layer that made up the most of her would peek through and a little spark of something more profound and inexplicable would come over her. </p>
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<p>She’d often been upset by her down-tree instance, though that hatred she’d borne for so long had softened to something more like distaste of late. She’d occasionally gotten upset at em, usually when ey’d not picked up on some cue that she’d given for some emotional need ey wasn’t meeting. Both of those she’d express as best she could after the initial burst of anxiety.</p>
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<p>All of the other times, though, had come from within. Whatever dire emotions that dwelt beneath the chipper, goofy, sarcastic, and delightfully earnest layer that made up the most of her would peek through and a little spark of something more profound and inexplicable would come over her. </p>
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<p>Ey frowned down to eir coffee, and considered whether ey should start laying in supplies for her overflowing. If this was the first sign, though, ey at least had some time yet.</p>
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<p>“Mx. Bălan?”</p>
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<p>Ey jolted and sat upright. True Name stood on the other side of the low coffee table from em, not yet having made the move to sit. “Sorry, True Name.”</p>
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@ -43,13 +43,13 @@
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<p>“Oh, she’s alright.”</p>
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<p>Ey must have hesitated before responding, or not kept eir own anxiety out of eir voice, as True Name’s expression fell briefly, though it was quickly replaced. “Say hi for me?”</p>
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<p>Ey nodded. “Of course.”</p>
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<p>“I am also curious to hear about her monologue. It is something I remember thinking about occasionally and yet never getting around to doing. I am pleased that one of us is.”</p>
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<p>“I am also curious to hear about her monologue. It is something I remember thinking about occasionally and yet never got around to doing. I am pleased that one of us is.”</p>
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<p>That also felt like a closed topic given its context of being purpose-built, so ey shook eir head. “I’m not comfortable talking about that without her permission. Sorry, True Name.”</p>
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<p>She smiled disarmingly and held up her free paw. “Of course, Ioan, no trouble. Can you tell me about your own project, perhaps?”</p>
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<p>Ey opened eir mouth, closed it again, then laughed. “I feel like I laid a bunch of landmines around me. Hopefully it’s not awkward, but with all that went down on Castor, I’ve been toying with rewriting <em>On the Perils of Memory</em> as a play.”</p>
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<p>Ey opened eir mouth, closed it again, then laughed. “I feel like I laid a bunch of landmines around me. Hopefully it’s not uncomfortable, but with all that went down on Castor, I’ve been toying with rewriting <em>On the Perils of Memory</em> as a play.”</p>
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<p>The skunk got a strange look on her face, then laughed. “Oh really? Cheeky! I do not know if I will be able to make it to a performance, but I will be delighted to read the script, if you wind up publishing it.”</p>
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<p>Ey laughed as well, more relieved than anything. “I’ll make sure you get a copy, then. Was worried you’d be upset by it.”</p>
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<p>She waved her paw dismissively. “Of course not, my dear. That whole kerfuffle was, what, forty-four years ago? It has been comfortably relegated to memory and is thus fair game for artists.”</p>
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<p>She waved her paw dismissively. “Of course not, my dear. That whole kerfuffle was, what, forty years ago? Forty-five? It has been comfortably relegated to memory and is thus fair game for artists.”</p>
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<p>Nodding, ey finished eir coffee and set the cup down on the table so ey could pull out eir notebook and get to writing.</p>
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<p>Ey worked for a few minutes. They both did, if True Name’s thoughtful gaze up into nothing was anything to go by. Ey’d wound eir way past all those conversational mines — May, her monologue, the play about Qoheleth — and now felt free to relax into the afternoon.</p>
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<p>“You know,” the skunk said thoughtfully, bringing em out of eir writing. “I was quite pleased when that book came out.”</p>
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@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
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<p>“Well enough,” she said. “Though I am not comfortable discussing beyond that.”</p>
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<p>Ey nodded. “Right, sorry.”</p>
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<p>“It is alright. Thank you for understanding.” She raised her cup towards em in a small toast. “As to your book, however, I found it most interesting in that I was able to learn much about the assessment and impact of the events on the…ah, liberal side of the clade.”</p>
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<p>Ioan had to focus on keeping eir expression neutral. True Name hadn’t had the kindest of words for the self-proclaimed liberal Odists. “I’ll admit, I was worried as to how the book would go over with the conservatives.”</p>
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<p>Ioan had to focus on keeping eir expression neutral. True Name hadn’t always had the kindest of words for the self-proclaimed liberal Odists. “I’ll admit, I was worried as to how the book would go over with the conservatives.”</p>
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<p>“There were no assassins in the night, I trust?” she asked, grinning.</p>
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<p>“Uh…well, no,” ey stammered, caught off guard by the humor. “Actually, no contact at all. I don’t think I’ve even talked about what happened with the other side of the clade until now.”</p>
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<p>“‘The other side of the clade’ is a more appropriate phrase, is it not? We are spread along a spectrum. Those like Dear, May Then My Name, and Hammered Silver at one end, those such as Praiseworthy, Those Who Forge, and Teeth Of Death somewhere in the middle, and then me and my ilk on the other.” The skunk finished her coffee and leaned forward to set her cup down before continuing. “To soothe any fears you may have, it was not me who hired Guōweī, nor am I pleased with what happened and how.”</p>
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<p>And yet ey couldn’t stop emself from thinking, <em>Holy shit, I don’t think she knows.</em></p>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-04-19</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-05-16</p>
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</footer>
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