+answering machine

[heartdissonance]

[Click.

Breathy huff.

It hangs up.]

Comments

[voice]

[mentis_reae]

[Ring ring ring.]

[voice]

[heartdissonance]

[Click and breathy huff, but no hang-up.]

Yes?

[voice]

[mentis_reae]

[A slight pause.]

Am I interrupting something?

[voice]

[heartdissonance]

You are not. You may proceed, Miles. I'm only drowsy.

[voice]

[mentis_reae]

I merely wished to know if you'd heard from Miharu yet.

[voice]

[heartdissonance]

[It makes her pause and it pulls her fully awake.]

I--

No. I cannot find him, I can't smell him and I know that he's here but I can't fathom where exactly.

[voice]

[mentis_reae]

Yes. He's...evading others. That much is clear: his phone has been on all this time, so he is keeping it charged.

[voice]

[heartdissonance]

I... would not expect myself to be the first of his contacts, Miles. I don't know.

[voice]

[mentis_reae]

I rather believe you would be. At least among the first.

[voice] 1/2

[heartdissonance]

Among, maybe. But--

[voice]

[heartdissonance]

Naa, [long sigh, the rustling of her flopping and rolling, and suddenly she sounds lazy,] A bean boy like that in this heat... She had better be taking care of him.

[voice]

[mentis_reae]

I am also...He scarcely eats even in the best of times. Does he stay hydrated?

[voice]

[heartdissonance]

He does drink more often than he eats, that's for sure. He's been that way for a long time.

[voice]

[mentis_reae]

That's something, at least. And he seems more the sort to take refuge in the library or something of the sort than to spend time outdoors. [A slight pause.] I've yet to encounter him there.

[voice]

[heartdissonance]

...Thank you.

[voice]

[mentis_reae]

For?