Inbox - Fade Rift

[nonvenomous]

Book/crystal/correspondence/action/whatever you desire.

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[nonvenomous]

Did you call to ask for my insight or to give me yours?

[charmoffensive]

Must it be one or the other?

[nonvenomous]

No, of course. You're right.

[ Richard reaches to wind down the wick of his lamp, damping light down to the low glow of the fire. ]

Tell me more.

[charmoffensive]

[ Easy to imagine Richard turning in for the night, while Loxley sits out here on the docks and watches the water and opines about hearts and such. There is a pause, the searching kind, suspecting a joke at his own expense.

No easy read, there. ]

Anyone can vanish at any time, is really all. Not just us.

[nonvenomous]

Are you referring to death?

[charmoffensive]

That's part of it. Certainly the most permanent.

[ A pause, before he seems to shake off his own elusive approach and just says— ]

Would you stop yourself from falling in love with someone, here?

[nonvenomous]

The luxury of closure inherent to the certainty of death isn’t something we’re afforded.

[ Richard tells the crystal on his desk, reasonably. And: ]

I think you and I both know there’s no risk of that happening.

[charmoffensive]

Fine, [ that moment of impatience, suddenly turning brusque, less delicate than he'd like to be. ] Would you recommend I try not to?

—by which I mean, not even only the big capital L type, but becoming close to someone at all. I don't know that I've stayed in one place for this long since childhood.

[nonvenomous]

[ Impatience is met with protracted silence. Richard lies on his side, his face half sunk into his pillow while he looks at his life, looks at his choices. ]

Athessa is poorly equipped to manage undesirable outcomes. You are likely to create an undesirable outcome.

I’m not advocating for you to abandon all hope of meaningful connection, [ even if that’s where the safe money is at ] I am attempting to avert a single disaster.

[ and muffled, as he turns his nose down into the pillow: ]

You don’t have to listen to me.

[charmoffensive]

I know that,

[ some of that impatience still burning off, but gone as he adds, ]

but I try to.

[ He can virtually see the cartoon z's emanating from his crystal. ]

I like that you care for her. [ A beat, then, having mercy; ] I'll let you go.