Raven's IC contact (Adstringendum)

[feel_nevermore]

Hi. This is Raven.

If you've really got something important to say, just drop your message here.

If not... please avoid wasting both your time and mine. Beep!

Comments

[feel_nevermore]

[She tenses. She's about to refuse. She would have said no to almost anyone else. But to him, she just can't.]

Alright. But promise me you won't tell anyone about what I'll tell you about him. Okay?

[She's never promised Alex to keep it a secret but she cares about the boy.]

[whatwas]

[Horst nods, and leads her to the battered furniture so they can sit down and he can keep an arm around her.]

I promise.

[feel_nevermore]

[She let him lead her. He could have carried her, it'd probably have felt the same. She was pretty much on auto pilot. As she sat next to him, she instinctively nestled against him and sighed.]

And forgive me. For ruining that date.

[whatwas]

Well we know how I hold grudges. [Teasing her, curling her up close.] I confess, half this date was to try to get you to tell me what's wrong.

[feel_nevermore]

So it was a trap, then? [A barely there smirk but it's still something.] At least half of it.

What did I do to deserve a boyfriend like you? [Half-grateful, half-teasing. But she knows she's stalling too.

So she braces herself and sighs.] Alex is a bit like me. He's not an empath per se but he's sensitive to emotions. He can see other people's negative emotions. Only the negative ones.

[whatwas]

You must have stepped on God's toes, clearly. Maybe you spat in His eye and so He sent me to you.

[He babbles that way, to let her gather her thoughts. When she speaks he's very quiet, just listening, still holding her.]

That must be hell for him.

[feel_nevermore]

Well that's not the worst part of it, actually. Not only can he see them but he kinda needs to feed off of those. He absorbs them, the way I take pain when I heal people. And the more he absorbs... the stronger his Shadow gets.

[whatwas]

His...Shadow? [Horst has never seen Alex in person, so he has never noticed anything odd about him.]

[feel_nevermore]

The entity inside of Alex that feeds itself of negative emotions. Not sure you could see it but I do. ...It's a bit like an inner demon of sorts.

[whatwas]

[He might be able to; he'll know to keep an eye out for anything odd, if he sees Alex in person and if the Shadow still exists.] Is that what you had to face?

[feel_nevermore]

Once. A little while ago. His Shadow took over and I defeated it... Or rather my demon self did. ...The excess of negative feelings tend to pull it to the surface.

But this time, it was different. Alex had lost his heart to the Heartless. And so he couldn't feel anything anymore. And he... he seemed content that way. [She shifts uncomfortably against him.]

[whatwas]

[He nods, sympathetic to her, empathetic to Alex.]

Going so long feeling other people's negative emotions must be...exhausting. If he felt nothing, though, then he was simply numb. He wasn't living, merely existing.

[feel_nevermore]

[She nods, grateful that once again Horst seems to understand.] That's what I thought too but... Was it my place to choose for him?

There are over nobodies here. I've had friends among them and... [Killing Alex because he had become one felt like she had been an hypocrite all along.] But with them, it's always felt different. I mean, it never felt like they were numb. They just seemed to be dealing with emotions differently. ...Not Alex.

[whatwas]

First off...yes. You were there. It's the same as if you had found someone bleeding to death by the side of the road; you can choose to help them or let them die. I think you chose the right way.

And secondly, I never got to interact with any of them. How were your friends different?

[feel_nevermore]

I was there... I... chased him. I fought him. [She bites her lips. She's not convinced yet but Horst's words are comforting.] But what you're saying... That's the way I felt. That I couldn't just look away and pretend everything was alright only because it would have been easier.

Because they still had the same personality. Still had the same goals. And they... regretted the ability to feel things that they had lost. [Even if they wouldn't always admit it. But Raven could tell.]

[whatwas]

Then don't let yourself worry that it wasn't the perfect decision. You made the right one; that's the best you could possibly do. Whatever improvements he needs in his life, he couldn't have made them without your help.

[feel_nevermore]

[Raven sighs and nods.] ...Alright. If you say it is, then I'm gonna believe you. And move on. [She braces herself and for the first time in days, gives him a genuine smile.] Danke schön, meine Liebe.

[whatwas]

[he knows it won't be an overnight change for her. He knows it's going to take time. But it feels like it's been so long since she last smiled, and he nods.] Have you spoken to him since it happened?

[feel_nevermore]

[Her smile fades briefly at his question, but she nods.] He came to see me. He... wanted to give me a Christmas gift. [Sounds surreal. You kill someone and the first thing they do after being brought back is to come visit you and give you a present.]

[whatwas]

I think that's a sign he's not angry. [He doesn't say that lightly; he wants Raven to be able to see the evidence that Alex doesn't hate her for what she did.] Did you let him?

[feel_nevermore]

...Eventually, yes. [He had to be pretty persistent, though.]

He told me he wasn't angry. He... apologized.

[whatwas]

[He apologized? Horst raises his eyebrows but doesn't ask. He's spoken to Alex briefly and he's not very surprised.]

What did you tell him?

[feel_nevermore]

At first I got, well, upset. Because he's the one who had to pay a death price. So I didn't understand why he would be the one apologizing to me.

[whatwas]

Do you understand now?

[feel_nevermore]

[She nods.] He does not regret asking me to bring him back if he ever lost himself... But when he did, he hadn't thought I might ever have to kill him to do so. He apologized because he felt guilty for the... 'negative emotions'... [Pain, grief, guilt.] I had felt because of him.