holding my pride tight until your tears dry;

[recrypt]

Comments

[swordflash]

[ that sounds more like her conscience speaking, but he supposes that she would know herself best. so he doesn't contest her words, merely voicing his opinion instead. ]

If something were a waste of time, I wouldn't have bothered at all.

[ going back and then staying—he would have done neither of those things. ]

[recrypt]

Perhaps that's what some would have done, then. I likely would have, if it weren't for the fact that it irritates me to be reminded of humans like that existing.

[ simply. the truth? who knows. ]

[swordflash]

[ there's another word for that. it's called righteousness.

rather than argue semantics, he gives her a long look. ]

You're really incredible, 45.

[recrypt]

[ she just fixes him with her own long, measured look in return, weighted and appraising.

after a moment: ]

You think ... far too much of me, I believe.

[swordflash]

[ he looks down, then aside at the horse in front of him. ]

You had the power to help someone else. Even though you say it wasn't your intention, you still helped her.

[ that's the mark of a strong person, he thinks. ]

[recrypt]

... Well. Believe what you like, then. It's not my place to stop you from thinking what you will.

[ though she'll settle back against a wall, contemplative. ]

Is that what you admire in others?

[swordflash]

[ there's a short delay before he nods. ]

Gramps is like that. He helped countless people before an injury forced his retirement. But, instead of stopping, he became a cultivator to cultivate more swordsmen for the Corps.

[recrypt]

A cultivator? Like what Yin Yu is?

[ or at least what yin yu knew a lot about, considering... ]

Or do you simply mean it in the way that he cultivated students like farmers would crops?

[swordflash]

It's probably different.

Ling also thought I was talking about something else, but what you're saying is right. Since he can't fight anymore, he's been cultivating disciples.

[recrypt]

The way Yin Yu spoke about it made it seem a lot like it was something spiritual.

[ which is so far out of her wheelhouse she doesn't even have an opinion to offer on it. ]

This sounds more mundane, if a bit poetically metaphorical.

[swordflash]

Well, Gramps can't fly on a sword.

[ given their names and backgrounds, he assumes jin ling and yin yu speak of a similar kind of cultivation. ]

And neither can I. Demon slayers use breathing styles, not spiritual techniques.

[recrypt]

Breathing styles? I do remember something about a breath of thunder style on your profile, but ...

[swordflash]

Thunder breathing is the style Gramps taught me. If I breathe in a way that increases the amount of oxygen in my blood, I can concentrate all of that energy into my legs and let it rip like lightning. That's why it's called the breath of thunder.

Anyway, breathing styles are the only way humans can combat demons. I don't know anything about the kind of cultivation Ling does.

[recrypt]

[ ... ???

that sounds like overclocking a human in a very specific way? like hacking themselves to forget that legs can only exert so much effort without damage... ]

... What interesting ways people develop to get around their own body's limitations. It makes more sense to me than cultivation, at least.

[swordflash]

[ he nods. ]

Limits are still limits, though. If I overdo it, I can break my legs.

[recrypt]

Hm. What does not overdoing it look like?

[ one burst of speed, two, three? a few seconds of sustained activity? ]

[swordflash]

[ humming shortly in thought, he looks up and down to appraise the length of the stable's walkway. he points past 45 toward the entrance. ]

If I were to use the first form in here, I'd be able to reach the other side of the stable in a single step.

[recrypt]

Is that so...

[ impressive even by doll standards. at least, it takes a higher performance body than the average to manage that. ]

Haha. If humans really had managed to figure out how to push their bodies to such limits, you'd almost think we might be unnecessary.

[ but only almost, because there are so many reasons for dolls to exist. ]

[swordflash]

Is that right?

[ he lowers his hand. ]

I wonder if that's true. Even with these enhancements, there's still a lot that we can't do on our own . . .

[ 45 can never be unnecessary, whether as a weapon or otherwise, in his eyes. ]

[recrypt]

...of course there is. But that's why you surround yourself with other people who can pick up the things you can't.

[ take it from a doll who's very, very aware of her own limits. ]

[swordflash]

Did you have people like that around you? Or are they dolls . . .

[ she seemed to be alone in the memory. but if she's saying that, it can't be just reina. ]

[recrypt]

... No. I don't.

[ do as she says, not as she does. though the tense is deliberate. ]

It's just me. The dolls around me for now ... we're just together because we're headed toward the same destination, that's all.

[swordflash]

That doesn't sound so bad.

[ that's better than being totally alone, right? ]

Then it's similar to this place.

[ now, that sounds pretty bad. ]

[recrypt]

The difference is that there, the circle of people I associated with was curated, for better or for worse.

[ this is... hm.

it's a ticking time bomb is what it is. ]

[swordflash]

[ it sure is. ]

What about here?

[ does she consider this circle better or worse? ]