036 // [video] // we ought to engage in matespritship with all in equal measure

[echo_of_utopia]

[ It's your usually Lamb video, transmitted live from the psychiatrist's desk. ]

The knowledge of being influenced by an event's whims does little to alleviate its effects, as I can only assume many of you have already noticed.

[ She looks up from the notes in front of her.We certainly ought to welcome any encouragement to form social bonds,

Comments

[paper_knight]

What for?

[His tone is a little clipped. He's already had one bizarre emotional encounter this weekend, and a heart-to-heart with Lamb is the last thing he wants right now.]

[echo_of_utopia]

You sound upset. [ And hostile. ♥ ]

[paper_knight]

I am. What do you need?

[echo_of_utopia]

I was merely hoping we could talk. In fact I was worried the last even might have upset you.

...Though it seems I am wrong about the source of your trouble at the moment.

[paper_knight]

[He sighs, scrubs a hand across his mouth. It's true, he's been meaning to talk to Lamb about the last event. He hadn't been himself.]

All right. I'm sorry. I'll be over in a minute.

[echo_of_utopia]

[ Oh, how civil. Force of habit forces her mouth to form a smile, but the apology is anything but welcome. ]

Thank you, Mark.

[ And then all that's left is to wait. Wait and... ponder her own intentions. The realisation almost took her by surprise, but of course it was all so obvious now!

That distance between her and Mark Meltzer... circumstances and suspicions had nothing to do with it. No, she'd been pulling in the wrong direction the whole time! That animosity didn't have to be soothed or worse, eradicated... it had to be nursed and nourished!

Somewhere in the corner of her mind part of her was pointing towards a flaw in that logic, but her eyes were turned too far away, towards her new, immediate goal. ]

[paper_knight]

[Soon enough there's a knock. Mark's waiting outside, rocking slightly on the balls of his feet. He resents her for wanting a calm talk in the middle of a mind-altering event, but the sooner they start this charade the sooner they finish. A perfectly logical reason for his eagerness.]

[echo_of_utopia]

[ She opens the door with a smile and a little twist in her usual routine. ]

Mark? I must say I'm quite surprised.

[ But of course that's just an offhand comment, nothing to dwell on whatsoever. ]

Thank you for coming. Please, do take a seat.

[paper_knight]

Surprised?

[echo_of_utopia]

I thought perhaps you would avoid our conversation after all. Your aversion is quite apparent, although I cannot say whether it is me or my profession you find unsettling.

[ She waves it off as if it was nothing more than a passing comment on the choice of his shoes. Or tie. (Both of which are looking deliciously loathesome, if she may say so.) ]

The latter would not surprise me. After all you were a man looking for a lost city under the sea. There must have been people who saw your pursuit as anything but admirable, certainly not wholesome.

[ ~Smile~ ]

[paper_knight]

[Bam, he tenses up. Achievement unlocked.]

What did you want to talk about.

[echo_of_utopia]

The last event. You lost your daughter again. To think now that those last months on the surface could have repeated themselves for you without hope of ever finding her here unless Wonderland took mercy on you... Surely you can understand why I am concerned.

[paper_knight]

I'm afraid I don't. By all reasonable logic you are the last person who should be concerned.

[echo_of_utopia]

Your logic is flawed, of course, but I cannot fault you for your lapse in judgement. We often direct our ire elsewhere when we do not have the strength to face our own faults.

[ Of course that wasn't an offer, now shush! ]

Perhaps that is why you feel so ill at ease at the moment? It has occured to you that despite your best efforts you did not give enough, did not sacrifice what was needed to protect your little girl?

[paper_knight]

What makes you think you know a thing about me? Or her? You've already admitted it--Cindy was a tool to you. A statistic.

[He was here to apologize? Yeah, no.]

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[echo_of_utopia]

A tool? Those were neither my words nor my intentions.

...But it would make things simple for you, wouldn't it? To believe that she meant nothing to us, that she was merely a cog in a machine rather--