ic contact;

[enigmaestro]

Comments

[afeatherpillow]

[Ring ring.]

[enigmaestro]

[Click.]

Edward speaking. Why are you calling me?

[afeatherpillow]

[A stunned pause. There's something off about his voice. Thin.]

Is that how you answer the phone?

[enigmaestro]

I have caller identification, like all people who are aware of the twenty-first century. Our invitation still stands, Katurian.

[A brief pause -- almost a hesitation, before:]

Something's wrong.

[afeatherpillow]

Oh. Um, I wouldn't say--

[He starts to laugh, but the sound dies in his throat.]

This is silly. It's really-- I don't need to be calling you.

[enigmaestro]

[Tenser. Tighter. Spoken from the back of this throat.]

What is it you want, precisely?

[afeatherpillow]

I'm feeling a little weird, and-- and I guess I call people when I'm feeling a little weird. And I've been drinking, so I call people when I feel weird and when I've been drinking, and it doesn't mean anything, it's just something I'm doing right now.

[A tight breath.]

How are you?

[enigmaestro]

Your first significant call to me, and it's a drunk dial? [He tsks, but there's no cutting harshness to it. He's distracted.] I'm as one would expect, given -- [Beat.] My obligations.

[Vague enough, to refer to his job or --]

[afeatherpillow]

[Too quickly:]

The brain trust?

[enigmaestro]

What else could I possibly be referring to?

[afeatherpillow]

I don't know.

[enigmaestro]

[Quietly:] Then why did you just ring false?

[afeatherpillow]

[He struggles to get it out.]

Norman things, maybe. I don't-- Are you planning something again? Is something going to happen?

[enigmaestro]

I'm waiting for his rebuttal. He will be responsive, but I've already played my card, that's how this works. It's a game of chess with some, ah, higher stakes.

You called me because you wanted my attention. You wanted my confirmation. Didn't you?

[afeatherpillow]

It's stupid, I know. I'm not even working for you anymore. There's just this--

I just needed to know. Something weird is happening.

[enigmaestro]

You're not? And after you fought so hard, too.

[Beat. He clears his throat and:]

Perhaps it knows.