[IC] [Mask or Menace] Contact Post

[dendarii]

"This is Miles. Leave a message and I'll respond to you at my earliest convenience."

The line has gone silent; any messages sent to this name only return an error.

Comments

[dendarii]

... Well, no.

[ And this is hardly a simple, harmless sort of want for Miles. The roots intertwine around some very vital and delicate parts of himself. ]

[keep_nothing]

[ She holds up her hand, him having just proved her point. ]

Hence my worry.

[dendarii]

Most of my life is pain, Mother. If I let it stop me, I'd likely be living in a floater.

[keep_nothing]

That doesn't mean you have to go and heap more onto yourself, love.

[dendarii]

Maybe I want to.

[keep_nothing]

Maybe you're insane, [ she says fondly. ]

[dendarii]

Also entirely possible.

[ He finishes off his glass. ]

[keep_nothing]

No, no, that's a certainty.

[ She reaches for the bottle, silently asking if he wants a top up. ]

[dendarii]

I blame my upbringing.

[ Oh, yes. He's rapidly approaching his two glass limit here. ]

[keep_nothing]

[ Isn't that actually your third, dear? She pours him more anyway. ]

That's why it's a certainty.

[dendarii]

[ Third, right. He's beginning to teeter. ]

And yet somehow I'm still here, making insane decisions.

[keep_nothing]

[ She tops off her own before putting the bottle back down. ]

Speaking of insane decisions ... how was it? Ultimately and in the end.

[dendarii]

With Jim, you mean?

[keep_nothing]

Mmhmm. Hopefully not one you regret.

[dendarii]

... No. No, I don't think so. I think it was ... very important. I needed it.

[ He can't put his finger on why. ]

[keep_nothing]

[ Her eyebrows shoot up. ]

Needed it?

[dendarii]

Yes, needed it. Beyond figuring this thing out. I needed to figure it out because I needed to.

[ He's about to the point where he's not going to remember this the next morning. ]

[keep_nothing]

[ Maybe she should take away his glass ...

Nah. ]

But why did you need to? What are you trying to figure out exactly?

[dendarii]

[ What a cruel mother. Miles keeps drinking, then, and his words just come out more honest and more blurred. ]

If I liked. You know. Truly liked, enough for a real relationship. That's important.

[keep_nothing]

[ Oho, now they're getting somewhere. ]

You mean a real relationship with a man?

[dendarii]

Yes! Of course with a man. I wouldn't spend all this time figuring out I liked men if I didn't want a relationship with a man.

[ He makes a gesture that he intends as a "duh, that was obvious" sort of motion. It comes out much floppier than he'd intended. ]

[keep_nothing]

[ Don't laugh, Cordelia, or he might get offended and stop. She valiantly holds it in, but her grin just widens even more. ]

Was there a specific man in mind?

[dendarii]

[ Hang on. His brain is still loading. ]

... Yes?

[keep_nothing]

And his name would be ... ?

[dendarii]

I don't know. But it's someone. More wine.

[ He holds out his glass. ]