You must be, if the tale of 52 is to be right.

[tehoniongirl]

[Coming home from town, Jilly doesn't stop to look at the nameplate before opening the door to her room. Why would she? The artist's name had never been on the nameplate for 1105. It was Sakaki's room and it always had been, for longer than Jilly had been in the castle

Comments

[hard_talker]

[quietly - he recognizes her voice from when he went to the talent show, and --]

The girl from the animal shelter? ... Shit. I ... I know I don't really know you, but.

I'm sorry.

[this is just not Paradisa's day for friendships]

[tehoniongirl]

Me too.

[a pause] Thanks, though.

I think she'll be happier at home. She...wasn't really meant to be put through all the things the castle did, you know?

[hard_talker]

[quietly] .... Is anybody meant to be? I mean ... yeah, I know, life can suck, but this ...?

This place goes beyond.

[tehoniongirl]

[at a time like this, it'd be so easy to agree. But even through the shock, she can hear the pain in his voice as well... so she gathers herself, takes a seat on the bed that no longer belongs to her, and tries to sort out her thoughts.]

I think it's more that this place has everything on the surface. The World As We Know it can be a pretty horrible place too, and just as unexpected. Except, back there, we expect things to be normal. The terrible things that happen to us... they're "like dreams" or "a nightmare"... or maybe we just pretend it all away so we don't have to deal with it.

Here, everything is unexpected. And, I think, that makes it more real. We can't say "How could this happen" or "This can't be real" here, because nothing is real. And everything is. There's no way to pretend it away.

[a pause] I guess... what I'm trying to say is that the bad doesn't negate the good, because the good is just as unexpected and unbelievable and extreme. ...But it can be harder to cope with, because our usual escapes don't work.

[hard_talker]

[there's a long silence as he digests that ... and then realizes that he's usually the one giving those kinds of speeches. ... and how nice it is to hear them from someone else]

... Heh. Funny. I thought I was supposed to be the one trying to make you feel better.

[tehoniongirl]

[that gets a soft smile, not that he can see it. Her heart still hurts (everything is too fresh for it not to), but this is why they do what they do. Helping others...it helps them at the same time]

Well...seems like it's a big enough job to handle a few extra people, right?

[a pause] I'll miss her. But...I'm glad she got to go home. For her sake.

[hard_talker]

Guess so, yeah. [you'd remind him of a friend of his, if he wasn't being a JERK right now, so he'll just shove that thought to the back of his mind]

Nobody deserves the crap this place puts out. Maybe there're all kinds of cute animals waiting for her.

[tehoniongirl]

[a small laugh. There might be a few tears in there too, but she's trying hard not to let them overwhelm her]

Yeah. There'd better be. I've never known anyone who loved animals as much as she does.

[hard_talker]

She was pretty cool. ... Still is, wherever she's gone. [he smiles. he could appreciate a fellow Wallflower With A Cause] ... Hey, who's running that place, now? I could do a journal shout-out on Monday if you need help.

[tehoniongirl]

I'll make sure it stays up and running, but...

[considering. Between the Kat and the Magic Shop and her class...help wouldn't hurt]

We could definitely use volunteers. I don't think even I can juggle that much.