observation five; voice - forward dated to some sane hour, like 11 AM!!!

[soulbonder]

Why am I in this room again? [There's a familiar voice, but no monotone here. In fact, Astral sounds more like he did when Black Mist had control of his body. Only you know, scared and a complete wreck.] Everything feels wrong and I can't fly and my feet have fingers and my skin is weird and my hair keeps falling into my face and it's cold and hard

Comments

[voice] >.>

[anagrammatist]

[oh hey, it's that guy he killed. guess this death is temporary thing is actually a thing after all. wonderful. he's really not sure how to feel about this.

there's a bit of a delay between him pushing the button to reply and him actually saying anything. and his voice is quiet and the very slightest bit concerned when he does speak up.]

Your friend seems to be all right. He posted yesterday to say he was doing well enough to leave the hospital.

voice; don't do this tom he'll cover you in friendship

[soulbonder]

[well that makes- oh

WHAT DOES HE DO DOES HE REPLY UH
thank you for killing me guy i don't know
he says nothing but there's still crying going on so yeah he's still here]

voice; oh fuck one of the two things he's allergic to...

[anagrammatist]

[yeah and look at him totally not apologize for it. the only thing he's sorry about here is that he couldn't enjoy doing it. it's like he was harry potter or something.

Tom waits a few moments, until it's clear Astral won't be saying anything.]

Will you be all right?

[soulbonder]

I think so. I just- I just need to get my bearings. [GENERALLY PEOPLE WHO MURDER OTHERS DON'T ASK THESE QUESTIONS, RIGHT? at least he's pretty sure. that seems kind of silly. he wishes he could stop crying that'd be great]

[anagrammatist]

[hey he didn't want to murder you...at the time...but what else was he supposed to do, he's not cut out for this heroing nonsense...]

Good. [and that's all you get for a few moments. this is (supposedly) awkward for him too.]

They're called toes, by the way. The...fingers on your feet.

[soulbonder]

Toes. Of course. Humans have names for every body part. [that is such a pained laughter but at least he's not crying and freaking out as much]

[anagrammatist]

[good, that's what he was going for, the crying was getting a bit annoying.] It does make things easier at times.

...You're human now, then? [he sounds a bit sorry about this and like maybe he shouldn't even be asking]

[soulbonder]

Yes. Yes I'm certain I've been made human. [GRUNTS] I thought the Porter didn't do that to me.

[anagrammatist]

Unfortunate. It may be a side effect of...returning. [pause. taking notes. he doesn't have a clue how this works, no one's been kind enough to share yet.] It must be a difficult feat to accomplish, bringing a person back to life...

[soulbonder]

[cringes!!! haha as if tom can see that] ... You're peculiar.

[anagrammatist]

[...well. peculiar certainly isn't the worst he's been called. in fact, it's practically a compliment.]

I think you'll find a lot of us humans are.

[soulbonder]

Yes. But I meant you're different. I don't believe this is what uh, what... a human does, after they...

[anagrammatist]

[there is quite a long pause on his end. and when he does speak again, it's even quieter than before]

No...it doesn't seem that way, does it? If I'd meant it, maybe...

I didn't...I wish there had been another way. That wasn't my intention when I challenged you. If I'd been in my right mind, I would have tried harder to find another way to stop you...

[soulbonder]

[Look at that, you've convinced him Tom.] ... I see. [PERMISSION FOR ASTRAL TO KNOW HE WAS UNDER HOPE'S INFLUENCE?]

[anagrammatist]

[YES ABSOLUTELY]

...I know none of that really excuses it.

SOME TIME LATER like... hours later

[soulbonder]

You were under the influence of a Numbers.