reverie overflow.

[vecna]

i still haven't put something less stupid here

Comments

[velluminous]

But you are advising me to alter mine!

[vecna]

[Good job, you found a point of hypocrisy, Sprezzatura!]

That isn’t the same thing.

[velluminous]

Oh? Why not? I would love to hear.

[vecna]

Because you aren’t wanting to change because you’re afraid. Isn’t that right? Afraid of losing the people you’ve grown attached to here.

I refuse to think I’ve been wrong about everything all this time.

[Oh, it sounds awful just to say it. His mouth twists.]

[velluminous]

That--you cannot frame mine as fear and yours as righteous choice! If I say I refuse to be hurt again, but you are afraid of being wrong, what then?

[vecna]

[This conversation has quite suddenly become unpalatable.]

Then I guess we're both stuck.

[velluminous]

[ oh, she does not like to be looked at like that. draws up, her nostrils flaring ]

I suppose so.

[vecna]

[GOOD TALK.

Drawing up some of his sickly green-yellow threads, and there they are, slowly mottling with flecks of purple.]

[velluminous]

[ her gut does a terrible wrench—she's done that, she's tainted that—but she doesn't say anything. ]

[vecna]

[Oh, no. He should thank her for this.

They twist in the light, shining their hues. He murmurs-]

We really do need to leave this place. As soon as possible.

[velluminous]

[ fists up some of her own hair, close to the scalp ]

You were just saying to cherish my bonds—what just happened here??

[vecna]

[Mismatched eyes flick back up to her, sharp.]

And you were just telling me that you feel overwhelmed by the excess attention. I thought you’d agree with the realization that these are too many bonds, forced on us.

[velluminous]

[ this conversation feels like it is absolutely wrenching her around. ]

Mammon, my god! How have we pivoted to completely opposite viewpoint we started with?

[vecna]

[Guess what, that's how he feels, too!]

You're misunderstanding. I'm not telling you what to do with yours.

[If she wants to let them flourish, then that's her decision. If she wants to let those strings strangle her, she can do that, too.]

[velluminous]

But you've gone from—Mammon, nevermind. Whatever I've said to unsettle you so, just—put it from your mind!

[vecna]

Why does it suddenly matter to you whether I do or don’t?

[velluminous]

Because you're only one who feels as complicated as I do about all this!

[vecna]

[Suddenly exasperated.]

You were hesitant to take my advice initially, and now that I've changed my tune, you want me to "put it from my mind" because of what? It's not what you really wanted to hear?

[velluminous]

I don't know! I don't know! [ puts her thumb between her teeth, bites down, grinds it ] Mammon, I have to leave. We are just going to tear each other apart like this.

[vecna]

[Again, that's the issue. She doesn't know. And Henry, he is much less uncertain.]

Give yourself time to figure out what you do want, then, Sprezzatura.

[velluminous]

I'm sorry. [ she can't believe how often those words now pass her lips ] Yes. I just have to figure some things out.

[ is he going to let her escape this time? ]

[vecna]

[This time? Yes, this time, he'll let her go. This time, the conversation has unsettled something in him, too, and he'd prefer to leave it hanging, even if they leave it unresolved.]

All right.

[In fact, he's the first to walk away.]