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[ He does indeed go off to examine the available jewelry, but he pauses and glances over his shoulder in surprise. ]

Well, she's not an audition . . . so I guess that's true.

And that's not — weird? Awkward? I mean, maybe if you didn't know her all that well before, it wouldn't matter...

[ —Tail sure is flicking kind of a lot. Heaves himself up on the counter to sit on it! Problem solved. ]

Edited 2022-09-15 22:07 (UTC)

[ ??? Lupine?? ]

Not really. Should it be?

It's not even the first time she's forgotten, but either way, nothing can be done about it. So why not just start again?

[ if a tail is being sat on is it really giving away your emotional state to other people?? checkmate ]

...Right. Thousands of years old. You've had weirder.

[ His shoulders curve in a little more with every word. ]

[ Studying him for a long moment ]

But you haven't.

Is this about your friend from home?

[ Well, he does go pretty still. Head tipped back to look up at the ceiling. ]

That's half the question, isn't it.

[ Bingo ]

And the other half?

[ ...Leaning back on his hands. Even trapped, there's still an audible if muffled thumping from his tail. ]

—Oh, you know. Standard questions when you've got amnesia.

I've never had amnesia, so unfortunately, you'll have to lay it out for me.

[ Rude, frankly, but it does stop the thumps again, at least for the moment. Instead, his grip tightens on the countertop. ]

Well, it sucks. Even if I liked puzzles, I'd pass on Play Detective with Your Own Life: No Context Edition.

Edited 2022-09-16 00:51 (UTC)

I can imagine that part is extremely frustrating, yes.

As to your friend, though -- are you worried your relationship may not be as it seems in the memories you've taken? Or something else?

[ oh hey it's the immediate return of the thumps ] [ Lupine has never really felt like it was worth the trouble to get rid of one lousy corruption, the tail's kinda cute and prehensile enough to be useful (and useful), but in this moment he wishes he had. ]

...Only have a few memories of him. [ A very bitter lipquirk. ] Not for lack of trying.

[ THE TAIL IS VALUED FOR ITS CONTRIBUTIONS ]

I see. Has it not been illuminating enough?

Or perhaps too illuminating.

[ Thumpthumpthumpthump ugh. Finally he just says: ]

Tea was pretty sure. I — wanted more information.

[ Just stares at him, and these weird hedging non-answers, and the tail thumping, and ]

Oh!

Do you have a crush?

[ He hates that word. ]

I don't know. I don't think you use that word when it's somebody you apparently knew your whole life!

Ah, forgive me. I didn't mean to trivialize.

You're possibly in love.

[ Doesn't like that word either, it turns out! ]

Look, what you call it doesn't matter. I'm still gonna say I don't know. I've only got five memories of him, almost all of them when we were kids together.

And how do you feel here and now? After all, isn't that the most important part?

[ ...Tightening his grip on the countertop again. ]

I can think of more important things.

You dodged the question.

[ Silence for a long moment, even from his obnoxious tail. Then, steadily: ]

First memory, meeting him in an orphanage. Second one, being taken in together by this innkeeper. Third one, we're teenagers, I'm making cookies, he's impressed for some reason — I get really irritated.

[ Beat. ]

Fourth one, I run into him for the first time in years, and I'm... all over the place. It's good to see him again, a relief, but it's also something I was dreading. We fight off some assassins, and for a few seconds it's — perfect. He knows me, I know him, we're fighting like two halves of the same person.

[ A slightly longer beat. ]

But then I open my mouth, and we aren't fighting together anymore, just each other, and I don't want to piss him off but it's so easy. It hurts, but there's something horribly satisfying about it, too.

[ Muffled thumping resumes. ]

Kind of goes from Why the hell haven't I seen this guy for three years to Oh.

Edited 2022-09-16 19:26 (UTC)

Mmmm . . . I see what you mean about things being piecemeal.

Even so, you still avoided answering the question directly . . . I think that's telling.

[ Just. Sighs in response to that. You and Doc and Tea, all wanting it to be — cute. He supposes he'd like it better if it were cute, too. ]

I know we grew up together. I know we lived together, at least for a while. I know his opinion was really important to me. I know we stopped talking for three years.

[ Slowly: ]

I don't think it was because of this. [ He might have replayed the alleyway memory, just for himself, a few times since he shared it with Tea. ] I'm pretty sure I would've been worried about different things if it had been.

[ But. ]

...I just. Don't want to do that again. Especially not here. [ A very sardonic smile. More than a little brittle. ] How're we supposed to avoid each other for years in a place like this?

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