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[bluescreenwhitedragon]

"This is Intensity. Leave a message."

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[crossmyheartandhope]

[....cool.]

[He just kind of... hovers in the doorway. Knocks on the door frame.]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[Motions to the chair across from him]

Sit down.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Starts to come in. He's down a leg and working with a crutch, which probably explains why it took him so long to get here.]

You, uh. You want me to close the door?

Or...?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

I can get it.

[As it does indeed close behind Hurricane as soon as he's past the thresh hold]

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Okay. Okay, cool.]

[Going to sit down across from Intensity, then.]

[He looks... not great? There is zero color to his face, and he has washed his face and changed clothes but hasn't been home to shower. The new shirt probably has a few spots where the raw sores underneath oozed through the fabric.]

What's up.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

I received your notes. They look thorough.

But I had been hoping to talk to you about something else when you delivered them.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[He is... pretty sure he knows what this is about.]

...yeah, sure.

Go for it.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

I'm concerned that some of you might try to save Mehniel again separately. In order not to put anyone else in danger.

Will you tell me if you do?

I won't try to stop you.

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Well... not what he was expecting, but also not off the mark.]

...I'll let you know.

I just... I gotta figure out when I'm going. And how to get there.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Come back here if you need anything.

I still need to ask around about what other people found. So maybe something new will turn up.

[crossmyheartandhope]

...okay. Thanks.

[He hesitates for a long couple of seconds. Then:]

Sorry. That, like - that we pulled you in.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

I never regret anything. So don't regret it for me.

...

Also don't set out again until I make you a new leg.

I'm not going to start working on it until after I get these notes compiled and to the public though.

[crossmyheartandhope]

...you don't gotta.

I'm good, I -

I know the old one pretty good. It's not tech from here, so as long's I can figure out replacement parts, I can probly patch it okay.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

So you're not going to accept assistance from anyone else?

[crossmyheartandhope]

You already did a lot, dude. S'like every time I talk to you, you get stuck cleaning up my mess.

So... I'm gonna handle myself. I mean, if I'm gonna be like this, I should handle myself.

Just gotta try harder, this time.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

So you're making this decision for me? Without my input.

Do you think me weak? A coward?

[crossmyheartandhope]

What? No.

You're -

You got it together more than like 99% of anyone I ever met.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Then trust my judgement of when I should or shouldn't help you.

From the first day, I was prepared to bet everything I had on overturning this production. And my resolve hasn't wavered in the slightest.

Don't think this setback means anything to me other than that - a setback that is to be learned from and overcome.

[crossmyheartandhope]

I'm just saying -

[Hesitates.]

You help me all the time, an all I ever do for you's make more trouble.

I messed up bad. It wasn't even your mistake, and you got stuck picking up the pieces.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

You and Nemesis also get into the kind of trouble that sheds more light on the situation than anyone else.

I'm not faulting you for that.

I am faulting you for not knowing when you're in over your head.

[crossmyheartandhope]

...yeah. Sounds about right.

Breaking stuff and getting in trouble too deep - those I'm pretty good at.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

...

If you want to throw all the progress out along with the rest of the trash, that's your prerogative.

But know that you're not helping me or yourself by keeping me out of the loop. And not accepting my aid.

[crossmyheartandhope]

What progress? We took three steps forward and like eight steps back.

Everyone's full of holes patched with demon goo to keep em from disappearing, and I got the only person who's wanted to help us since everything started kidnapped and tortured.

[His voice is not entirely steady? It's shaking a little, and edging higher the further he goes on, kind of breathless, the words all cramming together.]

We can't go to heaven cause I handed hell the key to get in, and I asked what's-his-name about the chances on the make-a-new-place thing to see if it was even on the table, and the dude who wiped the floor with us in like .5 seconds has been trying to pull it off for however many hundred years and thinks it's a no go cause he's not powerful enough.

Plus a TPK. Plus now you owe that - [His voice breaks, a little.] - now you owe her.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

And what did we learn because of this little excursion?

We learned what the Lady of Lies is really after. What the chip is on Azzy's shoulder. We learned what happens to transferred idols. And about important players that we had no way of even knowing about before. And about fallen angels.

Was the ending fucked up?

Obviously.

But your angel friend made a choice, as we all did. And now we all have to live with the consequences.

If we weren't willing to accept them in the first place, then we had no business doing what we did.

[crossmyheartandhope]

...when you lay it all out side by side like that, it just... seems like a bad trade, is all. Couple trivia points ain't a whole lot, next to what I put you guys through.