84 (audio)

[absinthe_eyed]

You have fifteen minutes until midnight.  I would suggest you draw this lecture to a conclusion. Say what you mean to say.

[Not surprisingly, there's no audible reply.]

Disappointment? [Justin's voice is flat and dispassionate.] I could say the same to you. You were supposed to be the one who would be there for me. We both know she didn't

Comments

[had_not_lived]

I'm sorry, Justin.

[absinthe_eyed]

Please, don't be. Some things needed to be said.

[had_not_lived]

Did you get what you wanted out of it?

[absinthe_eyed]

No, but I did get something out of it. That's enough for now.

[had_not_lived]

As long as you're all right with it.

[absinthe_eyed]

There's no choice but to be all right.

[had_not_lived]

You'd be well within your rights to be angry instead. Or dissatisfied. Or any number of other things.

[absinthe_eyed]

None of that would do any good.

I only wish I would have started saying things that mattered before it was almost midnight. ...And that the device hadn't turned on, perhaps.

[had_not_lived]

They always seem to pick the worst times to get switched on, don't they.

He might come next year. Or sometime, when people come to the City from all the other worlds for a day or two. If you want another chance.

[absinthe_eyed]

I blame the deities.

I don't know if I want another chance. Some people are better off dead and disconnected from the people they knew.

[had_not_lived]

It does kind of seem like the sort of thing they'd do.

I can understand not knowing what you want.