1 ♤ voice.

[swordedpast]

Well, everything's back to normal, or what passes for it around here. Isn't that right? So I've got a question.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't usually care much what others think. The only one worth listening to now is myself. But some of you guys have been here a lot longer than me, so I thought I'd ask.

What do you make of the claims about the destruction of the worlds?

That's quite a subject, I know. Feel free to take your time in answering.

Comments

voice;

[chainsawn]

'Make' of it..? [ for a few moments she's quiet, as if she's taking a pause to think. ]

Isn't it just what it is?

voice;

[swordedpast]

There's the question of if it's true or not.

[chainsawn]

I don't think they'd lie to us about that.. what kind of reason could they have to lie about something that important?

[swordedpast]

Hmm. You don't understand how lying works, do you?

[chainsawn]

[ .. Huh? She doesn't? Urotsuki has to think about it for a moment, she thinks she does.. (But she's sort of naive to begin with.) ]

Lying is the same as not telling the truth, right..?

[swordedpast]

...that's not what I meant.

[He forgot: being sarcastic and condescending doesn't really have any effect on her.]

The important things are the ones people have the most reason to lie about. Didn't anyone teach you that?

[chainsawn]

[ Yup, she doesn't even notice it when people do that towards her. Her expression isn't even changing. ]

No, nobody ever told me that. People lie about the important things only..?

[swordedpast]

People lie about everything.

[ His voice is flat, and his expression has gone carefully blank. ]

If they're smart, they know it's a lie from the start, but if they're stupid, they can lie about even the most important things without knowing that it's a lie.

[chainsawn]

[ She seems to turn a little more thoughtful. And it takes quite a bit for her to reply, as if she's carefully thought everything over by now. ]

.. That sounds sad. Lying to each other that much.. I don't get why you'd do it. Isn't it much nicer to be honest?

[swordedpast]

[ And he snaps out of whatever place he was in a moment ago; instead of looking blank and haunted, he just gives a short chuckle. ]

You haven't figured it out yet? It's just because people are mostly idiots, and selfish at that.

[chainsawn]

I don't think so.. [ But that's just her naivety speaking up, huh? ]

I've met a lot of people here who weren't idiots. And not selfish either. They were.. really, really nice..

[swordedpast]

Hah, then you're mistaken. It's really simple. Sometimes people seem nice for a while, but it never lasts.

[chainsawn]

.. Then.. you too?

[swordedpast]

Huh? Did you think I seemed nice?

[chainsawn]

Hmm. [ She seems genuine. After all, there's nothing in her expression or tone that indicates she's lying, it's just.. well, fairly blank. ]

You talked to me, right? Someone who isn't nice wouldn't have bothered saying something back to me. So that must mean you're nice for sure.

[ Urotsuki logic. ]

[swordedpast]

Wow. You're really strange.

[chainsawn]

[ ARCHER PLEASE... normally people just think that about her, they don't say it out loud!! Good thing that she's not easily insulted. ]

... Huh? Was anything I said strange..?

[swordedpast]

You don't understand lying, and you think I'm nice. Yes, that qualifies as strange.

I wonder. There's the chainsaw thing, too.

[chainsawn]

Someone said it was good for protecting myself though.. Doesn't that mean it's not strange?

[ she's apparently accepting the other things, at least, mentally filing them away as something other people find strange right here. ]

[swordedpast]

Is that what you think? It can be good, but it's still unusual. You might be shocked to hear this, but most people can't pull chainsaws out of nowhere to protect themselves.

[chainsawn]

I know that. [ Not pouty or anything, still just blank though. ]

But.. is it so bad that it's unusual..?

[swordedpast]

[ A moment's silence. ]

No. Well, strange isn't necessarily bad. And you might not be so bad, though you're still naive as anything. It'll be bad for you eventually if you don't fix that.

[chainsawn]

.. Not bad is good. [ aka she's pretty glad to hear that much, at least, even if the last part is concerning - it makes her frown lightly to herself, just faintly. ] But.. how do I fix that..?

[swordedpast]

Don't trust people so much. Learn that anything can be a lie.

[ He's a little too quick to answer. ]

Even what you hold most dear.

[chainsawn]

[ .. It takes another moment of thinking, but then for once she seems to be a little more set on something instead of just going along with what he says. ]

.. No. I don't think that's true.. I think the things most dear to you aren't lies. [ ... ] Yuuto's not a lie..