[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

[enucleation]

[ Westerns really should adopt White Day as a holiday, chocolate companies would make so much money ]

It's a Japanese holiday, one month right after Valentine's day.

In Japan,during Valentine's Day, women present gifts as an expression of love, courtesy, gratitude or social obligation. On White Day, the reverse happens: men are the ones giving gifts.

It's usually gender related - women give gifts to men, and men give gifts to women - but I don't see need for that.

[dendarii]

[ Huh. Miles takes all that in curiously; he's not familiar with either holiday, really. ]

Courtesy chocolate then, eh? Unless this is a declaration of love.

[ Teasing, teasing. ]

[enucleation]

I'm sure it'd be problematic if I was declaring my love.

Courtesy and gratitude, yes.

[dendarii]

I admit the feelings wouldn't be returned, though I'd have been appreciative of the gesture.

... Gratitude? What for?

[enucleation]

For a couple of things. It's not very important.

[ like back in the submarine, for keeping an eye on eye. For still not really treating him as a monster. Miles would be surprised how much that actually means to Kaneki. ]

[dendarii]

[ Perhaps less surprised than Kaneki might think. It is where Miles' thoughts go to immediately. ]

I know rather a lot about being seen as different. Defects such as mine are usually cause for infanticide, if I'd been born on Barrayar. They don't take kindly to those of us that survive anyway.

[enucleation]

Defects?

[dendarii]

Very poor bone density. Hence the diminutive stature.

[enucleation]

Why such reaction towards something like that?

[dendarii]

It's cultural, primarily. They came through a nuclear holocaust originally, and then fought more nuclear wars shortly after returning to the galactic stage. Mutations of any sort are heavily discriminated against.

[enucleation]

I'm sorry you have to go through that.

People always find ways to hate someone for no reason at all.

[dendarii]

Indeed. I would agree with that as well.

... Unfortunately, I think you would not like Barrayar very much

[enucleation]

Because they'd want to kill me too?

[dendarii]

Most likely.

[enucleation]

Everyone in my world wants me dead, Miles-san. Barrayar isn't too different from what I already know.

[dendarii]

... Ah. I'm sorry then. It's a difficult life to lead, and I assume you didn't choose it.

[enucleation]

I don't know. Maybe I did.

I wanted to speak to you about something else. I've met someone who has your face.

[dendarii]

Oh, yes. He's great, isn't he? I admit I was a bit jealous before I saw him in person. He doesn't have my bone issues.

[ Talking about Hermann, not Mark, though that is, perhaps, not obvious... ]

[enucleation]

[ except he used the name Peter instead.

But Kaneki already knows (has seen) Herman. So there are... three people with the same face. ]

I can't say much for his personality, he was having a panic attack.
But if you know about him, then that's good. Easier, too.

[dendarii]

... He was? What happened?

[ And why wasn't Newt there? He makes a note to send the scientists a message later. ]

[enucleation]

I don't know, I didn't ask about his trigger.
Maybe it was because he was in a whole new world? It cane be very overwhelming for newcomers.

[dendarii]

[ Ah, there's the piece of information he needed. There's a pause as Miles stares at the text, not able to line this up with what he knows of his facetwin. ]

Hermann has been here for months. Maybe even a year.

[enucleation]

[ aaand Kaneki remembers he should have mentioned it's someone entirely new ]

It was someone named "Peter". He is a new imPort, at least that's what he told me.

[dendarii]

[ Peter. Piotr? Is it possible his grandfather is here somehow? A younger version? Miles hadn't thought the resemblance between the two of them was that close, but he'd only known his grandfather as an old man. It's possible... ]

Did he say where he was from?

[enucleation]

No. I thought it was you, so I helped him. When I called him "Miles", he said that wasn't his name and I told him he had the face of someone I knew.

Honestly, I can't tell you if his reactions were normal or not because a panic attack doesn't allow you normalcy.