THE CITY INBOX.

[vecna]

USERNAME: VECNA HENRY CREEL STRANGER THINGS TEXT • AUDIO • VIDEO • ACTION • OVERFLOW

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[vecna]

[Yeah, that's basically it.]

We can definitely take a look.

[Oh, it doesn't take much walking for them to spy something at a distance, though: it's indeed a hall of mirrors, if the scrawling script above the building means anything. But Henry pauses, gesturing in that direction, and mostly referring to the entrance which is shaped like a gawping, giant mouth of a clown.

Lovely.]

That look like "fun" to you?

[Clowns are terrifying to some people. Real nightmare fuel. Henry appreciates that at a baseline level, so his question is just a little wry, but not necessarily a rejection of the idea.]

[fanstheflames]

... Mm. I guess it depends on the clown? That one sorta looks like a nightmare, but maybe the inside is more fun?

[ ... She doesn't seem sure of this, but she also doesn't seem afraid of it, either. ]

[vecna]

[He'd be surprised to see her afraid at this point. But he does recall, now, ever so briefly, the flash he received from skimming the top of her memories once before -- the image of an amusement park, a setting not too unlike the one they're in now.]

Let's give it a try, anyway.

[Henry also possesses zero fear, almost shrugging as they wander towards the clown's smiling, gaping mouth.]

Have you been to many places like this before?

[fanstheflames]

Many...? There's one in Kamihama that I've gone to a few times. It was a lot of fun, but it didn't really have the same kind of weird... uh, maybe-haunted vibe this one does?

[ And she says this sincerely as they walk in. ]

[vecna]

[Inside, they're met with long corridors of mirrors, reflecting their frames in all sorts of strange and warped ways. It's a little disorienting, really, if one lingers on them for too long. Even Henry has to slow his gait down to 1) appreciate the novelty of it and 2) not feel too dizzied as they wander through.]

So only good memories associated with them?

[A very specific ask, huh!]

[fanstheflames]

...

Do you think I have bad memories about them?

[vecna]

I don't know. That's why I'm asking.

[Here, they stand in front of a mirror that makes them very tall and skinny. With Henry standing before it, it's almost twice as hilarious.]

I have to admit something to you, I guess.

[fanstheflames]

[ Wow he is a noodle. She's a slightly smaller noodle, but he's just Majestic and Tsuruno has to look up at him just to keep from laughing. ]

Huh? Admit what?

[vecna]

[It is... a humorous sight, even Henry has to admit to that in some far, far away section of his mind. But maybe that works for his benefit, given his admission-]

My powers aren't what they were; you know that. But enough still exists that I can gleam images, and wayward thoughts, from others if I focus hard enough.

I did that to you once, when we spoke last. What I saw was just a flicker of an amusement park, and I couldn't help but wonder why that was important to you.

[fanstheflames]

... Oh.

[ Tsuruno pauses, to process this admission... and sighs a little. ]

It's not exactly a happy subject, but it's not traumatic or anything. I don't mind talking about it.

[vecna]

[Sometimes tactical honesty works.

And somehow Henry wonders if Tsuruno would have talked about it anytime he chose to ask, too.]

I'd like to hear it. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious.

[fanstheflames]

[ You know what else works?

Tactical honesty from the other side. ]

... About a year ago, a little longer maybe... I lost a friend of mine. There was a lot going on at the time and I was just... kind of a mess. I was super stressed.

But my friends and I heard about this amusement park and thought we should go, just to focus on something else. And I think...

That was probably the first time I just relaxed, completely. Like I was so stressed from everything that I just let it go then. So it's kind of associated with a bad memory, but at the same time, it meant something like peace to me. I can't think of it as something bad, not entirely.

[vecna]

[They're both very good at this! Selective, tactical honesty.]

I see.

[He takes a moment to think that over. A place associated with loss, but also with something fond. The ability to forget about all that ails you, letting it go, if even for a day.

Henry wouldn't know what that's like, always discontent, never knowing--or remembering--what it was to be otherwise. In that vein, her response... rankles him, just a little.]

Funny how memory works like that, isn't it? [He's going to keep walking to the next "aisle" of mirrors over. The default reply would be "I'm sorry to hear about your loss", but he doesn't offer that this time.] Never so straightforward. Always interwoven with some other experience, some other emotion, like the thread in a spider's web.

So how does being at an amusement park make you feel now?

[fanstheflames]

... Like I feel like we're going to be jumped at any minute.

[ Well, this is just full-on honesty. Maybe Henry will have better experiences in the future and he can stop being a little shit over someone having happy memories! ]

[vecna]

[...He can't blame her there, not really.

AND MAYBE SOMEONE SHOULD LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, GIVE HIM HAPPY MEMORIES--]

By more mannequins?

[fanstheflames]

... Oh, I guess it is kind of the same feeling...

[ LISTEN SHE'S TRYING (unintentionally)

WE'RE BONDING, HENRY!! ]

But I think if they try, we could take 'em!

[vecna]

[I GUESS THAT'S WHAT THIS IS,

He tilts his head to suggest they keep moving, then walks on until they reach a mirror stretching their reflection out in wavy curves.]

I threw a toolbox at the last one. [A beat.] With my powers. That nearly took it out of me. I'd probably have to rely on you to do the protecting, Tsuruno.

[fanstheflames]

[ Wow they look like the ocean ]

... Well, I didn't actually try to punch one, but I think I could do it. I wouldn't let them hurt you, at least.

[ FRIENDSHIP!!!! ]

[vecna]

[friendship????? what is that]

I wouldn't blame you if you did. You don't know me that well to go risking life and limb.

[fanstheflames]

Does knowing someone super well or not have anything to do with what you'd be willing to do to protect them?

[vecna]

Generally, yes. [This is a difference of heroism, here. Can you tell one of these character is a villain.] Why would you throw yourself into danger for the sake of an almost-stranger unless you had something to prove? Or a more practical reason, I guess.

[fanstheflames]

Well, if I let someone get hurt or worse, they stay an almost-stranger forever and nothing changes, for me or for them. You never know what someone's going to end up being to you, in the long run.

[vecna]

[That's an interesting way to look at it, he thinks. Almost pragmatic in its way of justifying coming to the aid of a rando.]

You make it sound like it's a priority of yours to collect as many friends as possible.

[fanstheflames]

It just kind of reminds me of what you said, that your family never tried to understand you. I think a lot of things can change if people have support, one way or another.

[vecna]

[Hm.]

Maybe. That depends on who you want to support, and who you want to "change." Do you think people can change no matter what's already happened to them over the course of their lives?