IC INBOX | Deer Country

[fusrodaaaah]

TEXT | VOICEMAIL | LETTER

Comments

[tealeafs]

[ ... ]

do you really think that would work

[ That's not even her being sarcastic, despite how hard Chizuru's tone is to read over text. She's being entirely genuine about that question! ]

what if the person involved does not really seem to care about friendship
especially when you call it friendship
they get all hissy about it like a cat

[fusrodaaaah]

is

are they a cat??

how do people hiss

[tealeafs]

oh no i mean metaphorically
you say one nice thing to him and he gets all strange about it
immediately having to dismiss what you just said
or getting all huffy
saying that he is going to kill you
things like that

[ One of these is not like the others... ]

[fusrodaaaah]

chizuru friends dont say they are going to kill each other that is not a friend thing to say

not even sasuke says that

[tealeafs]

[ What did Sasuke do to you, Melius. ]

well
it is complicated
i just think he does not know how to interact with people in any other way
if that makes sense

[ D-Does it make sense? ]

[fusrodaaaah]

[He's just grump.]

By

by killing people ???

[tealeafs]

no no no no he does not actually kill people

[ ...

A beat, where Chizuru seems to have a realisation, and then she sends: ]

well actually he does kill people

[ She can't lie to a good friend like Melius, right. :( ]

but he does not kill people he feels fondly about
he just threatens to kill them because he does not know how to handle or express his feelings in any other way
you would understand if you met him

[fusrodaaaah]

[SCREAMS INTERNALLY.]

that um
that sounds dangerous

still dangerous

even if he is um your friend

[tealeafs]

do not worry he would never kill me

[ .. Or.. well, she's like 90% sure of that? She guesses you just can't ever fully tell with Okita.. Though she keeps that little bit of information to herself, lest she accidentally freaks her friend out even further. That'd be too much for poor Melius' heart. ]

it is just that it makes being friends with him a lot more
how should i say it
a lot more challenging i suppose
i want to do the right thing for him but it is hard when he does not let me in very much
but i suppose that he is not the only person who is like that

[ Even if he does put a very, very unique murderous spin on it, huh. ]

[fusrodaaaah]

maybe um

maybe you could
pretend it was you
who needed the potions, or cures

that way
that way no one had to know it was him?

[tealeafs]

that is a good idea actually

[ .. pause.

Not a super long pause, but definitely long enough that Chizuru could have considered and then realised something.. ]

do you know how to fake having tuberculosis

[ Very important questions. ]

[fusrodaaaah]

[ PAUSE ]






what
is that

[tealeafs]

[ Wait, hold on-- ]

do they not have that where you come from
???
do they not have it here

sometimes it's also called consumption if you have heard of that instead

[fusrodaaaah]

oh

yes
that

I know that

[tealeafs]

right

then how do you think i could fake having that
so i could pretend it is for my sake and not his

[ Apparently it took just.. nothing for Chizuru to just be willing to do that for someone she cares about.. Casually faking a fatal illness, no biggie. ]

[fusrodaaaah]

you have to cough a lot

and not breathe very well
sometimes you cough blood

and are very pale

[tealeafs]

yes i recognize those symptoms
but it would be a little hard to fake that right

i mean the coughing part is easy
but i do not know how i could suddenly cough blood
unless i would injure myself

[ And that just doesn't seem like a good idea to Chizuru.

She at least has some common sense. ]

[fusrodaaaah]

snowberry

they um
you can make thick juice with them and they're red
like blood

[tealeafs]

i guess i will have to look for those then when i go home
or um
i suppose i should say if i go home
i am not really sure if that will ever happen
but being prepared to help out a friend the moment i am back cannot hurt i guess

[fusrodaaaah]

Any kind of red berry will work too
but i only know snowberries very well anymore

do you
want to go back?

[tealeafs]

[ .. that's a slightly deeper question at the end there, huh.

But Chizuru knows the answer. ]

yes

i have met a whole lot of kind people here
but this place is really scary and awful
and i have something to do back home
i cannot just abandon my duty
so if i could go home i would

[fusrodaaaah]

[I have something to do back home. I cannot just abandon my duty]

[Oh.]

[The weird stab of guilt is new. Guilt over what he wants. What he knows he'd try to choose, given the chance.]

i understand

im sorry you arent there
but also glad you are here

[tealeafs]

you are glad i am here
?

[ The rest of it she can understand, but this part.. ]

why
?

[fusrodaaaah]

because we are friends

right?

[tealeafs]

of course we are

[ At least there's no hesitance in answering that. The concept of friendship may have been relatively new to Chizuru here, but she's fully embraced the fact she has friends now. And Melius is definitely one of them. ]

i just

i am sorry maybe this sounds odd
but i just did not imagine you were actually glad i am here

[ Look, people appreciating her presence is.. a new concept for Chizuru too, okay...

She's trying to learn to get used to it.. ]