ic contact;

[psycholawgy]

You've reached Athena Cykes. I'm currently unavailable, but leave a message and I'll get back to you pronto. Danke! (voice/call → text → video → action)

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[psycholawgy]

[ well, whatever!! he's still in the lead but athena will catch up!!

someday... also, she's going to ignore that look and pretend she's totally innocent. as always. ♪

she looks up at the moon again as she walks, admiring both of them. of course, the second moon isn't all that visible, but it's still a pleasure to see. they're like two cats smiling at everyone from the sky.

it's kind of cute. ]

I keep meaning to ask you, but I always forget... Yu said you're a telepath.

[sortileges]

[ Probably, the more she learns about him, the easier it will get. At the moment though, it's probably more about catching him off guard.

He has his eyes on the lights in the near distance, keeping a lookout for the one that says "Cinema" in neon. Her question does make him slow slightly though, casting a glance over his shoulder. ]

It's... not exactly like that. What did you want to know?

[psycholawgy]

[ there's a bounce in her step when she's asked that question. it looks like she's been waiting for this moment for quite some time. ]

Can you guess what number I'm thinking?

[ athena no... ]

[sortileges]

[ He glances back at her, more than a little amused. ]

If I could read your mind things would have gone a lot more smoothly. You have to have magic for it to work.

[psycholawgy]

[ that just makes her a tiny bit bummed. ]

Well, that's no fair. What if I want to tell you something that I don't want other people to hear?

[sortileges]

[ He stops walking when she says that, holding her arm steady so she doesn't walk off without him. Then there, in the middle of the street, he leans down to whisper in her ear: ] You do it the same way everyone else does, don't you?

[ You whisper... you baka ]

1/2

[psycholawgy]

[ she stops as well and turns to face him. arms at her sides, she puffs her cheeks and complains. ]

I want it to be special! Something just for the two of us.

[psycholawgy]

[ and as usual, her mood immediately brightens as if nothing ever happened. she claps her hands together. idea!! ]

I know! We can write letters. Like. . . like what we've already done.

[ she looks genuinely happy about this idea, too. that way, she can put more things in her little box. ]

[sortileges]

[ Ah... When she puffs out her cheeks he presses his hands there, unable to stop smiling as she complains because... well. It would be nice to have something special, wouldn't it? ]

Letters work. Besides, when I use the telepathy thing it's a network, so everyone who can access it can hear. It isn't just between two people.

[psycholawgy]

[ it's nice that she's understanding this better. though somehow, she feels a little jealous that she isn't part of this... she just wants to be part of everything; it's not anybody's fault.

she takes his hand again to start walking. may as well, now that the short-lived drama is... well, taken care of. ]

What's it like, to be able to communicate like that?

[sortileges]

[ The only problem is that it literally is projected out to everyone. Still... it isn't terrible. ]

Loud. Sometimes deafening, mostly complicated. Back home I'd only ever really listened, if that makes sense? But Shigeru--who I live with--can't talk. He has some kind of magic, so we've been practicing so he can just project his thoughts and I can hear them. It's... helpful.

[psycholawgy]

[ "loud. sometimes deafening, mostly complicated"... she feels as if she's used those words before to describe her own ability. but of course, this whole telepathic network is vastly different from what she's able to do.

it's actually really cool, and very helpful. ]

It really is helpful. Especially when we get stuck in the labyrinth again... or if something worse happens.

[sortileges]

[ His hand squeezes hers then, holding on as he takes a turn that leads them to the street the cinema is clearly visible on. Quietly, he says: ]

It's draining. [ He hasn't really told her he passed out on a few people back there, has he? From doing that, from creating food and water. It's helpful, but at the same time... ]

[psycholawgy]

[ well, that's no good. athena can't very well dictate what he should and should be doing, but she can at the very least show her concern. she has no idea that he's passed out several times because of it and whatnot, but what she does know is what it's like to be terribly exhausted.

ie. earlier. ]

Then... you'll only use it for important things, won't you? [ she returns the squeeze, as if telling him not to overexert himself. ]

[sortileges]

[ He could tell her, but what good would it do now, honestly? Other than potentially make her mad because it's pretty close to breaking the promise he'd made back then anyway. Instead he uses the pause to lead her into the cinema. Finally, he says: ]

When I know how to use it better, it might be alright.

[ He's never really reached out before, especially not to the distances he pushed while they were in the labyrinth where the world felt dead anyway. So... ]

[psycholawgy]

[ skills do take some practise, athena understands this well. and all she can hope now is that he'll be able to learn how to use this telepathy thing properly and efficiently. it would be a waste if people could talk to one another from various distances and then just pass out from exhaustion. what's the point of that?

she just nods in acknowledgement, not really hoping to linger on a topic like that when they're supposed to be having a fun time. maybe another day, they can talk about it. as well as the other things happening in the colony. but for now, they're escaping.

the bright lights inside the cinema distract her, though. there's signs everywhere, and she doesn't know where to look. ]

Hey, hey, let's buy some popcorn? Or maybe chips? What do you want? And some soda, too!

[sortileges]

[ He doesn't want to linger on it either, not when they're both tired. He's been working just as much as she has, the only difference being that the style of work is much less draining than polishing Arthur's armor or tending to his horses etc. He'll keep working on it, and hopefully next time he'll be better prepared.

He has Yu's aid, at least, to help him through it in a sticky situation like that.

It's better when she bounds around cheerfully like this anyway. ]

Popcorn is what people usually have in a place like this, isn't it? [ He points to the section that's selling that. ] We can line up and get everything at once though I think.

[psycholawgy]

[ she coughs, clearing her throat. let the future expert guide you, merlin. listen well, young padawan, etc. ]

Just because people always eat popcorn in the movies doesn't mean that's what you should be eating. You can even eat cereal! Or maybe even an entire steak.

[ ATHENA NO... ]

Oh! And are we watching something in 3D? I bet you'd be so surprised if we did!

[sortileges]

[ WHY ARE YOU TELLING HIM THIS..... ]

You can even eat STEAK?! [ That's way louder than either of them probably intended, but Ema introduced him to the wonders of how easy it is to get steak now after he's seen Arthur stuffing his face with roasts for a year and he found heaven that day. Meat heaven.

Then he stops suddenly to look at her. He clearly missed that update when researching cinemas because: ] What's 3D?

[psycholawgy]

Wow, calm down!

[ she just wanted to provide examples, not create an earthquake from the rush of his voice. jesus, merlin. calm your tits. ]

But, yeah, nobody's stopping you from bringing any kind of food into the theatre.

[ she nods sagely. nobody really would! just make sure to clean up after your mess, because the cleaning bots in the cinemas? they will kill you if you don't clean up. (that's an exaggeration, but they may as well with what they're going to do to you.) ]

Anyway, 3D stands for three-dimensional. When we watch stuff on tv, everything is flat, right? If we watch something in 3D, everything has more depth. It's really cool!

[ there is one thing, though... ]

Except the tickets are a bit more expensive.

[sortileges]

[ He is calm (mostly) though apparently excited at the prospect of bringing a picnic of steak with him in future. Then again, after this experience he might rethink that. ]

I am calm. I just didn't realise it was that easy. Though wouldn't it be cold by the time we got here?

[ Though as the queue moves, he walks with it, leading her along. ]

Does that really matter though? I'm paying for today's ... anyway. [ There was a word missing there. ]

[psycholawgy]

Thermal containers, remember?

[ how else would she have kept the food she cooked warm that one... whatever that was? ]

And in that case. . . [ merlin, please don't ever regret courting a high-maintenance young lady. ] I want some popcorn, and some gummy bears, and maybe those chocolate balls with malt in the middle.

And let's watch in 3D! [ she's trying to be cute by tugging on his sleeve too. pretty please, sweet prince? ]

[sortileges]

Right, I remembered that, of course I did. [ He didn't... do you know how much he has to remember about all this new fangled stuff Athena?! ]

...You're really going to eat all of that? [ Why is he making it sound like she'll get fat......... He squirms his arm free, or at least tries to, as he makes his way to the counter. He manages to order the first two but then has to look at her for-- what is the chocolate thing???? ]

[psycholawgy]

[ good thing athena is here to make him remember things. but that's okay. she forgets things, too. it's a... thing, it seems.

she places both her hands on the counter and then points at the candies she wants. ] The chocolate malt balls too, please! [ then she looks at him expectantly, as if asking "what are you having?"

not that she isn't going to share. of course she is. he has to taste all the flavours of the gummy bears, and the malt balls. ]

[sortileges]

[ It's definitely a ... thing.

Though wow, he actually has the nerve to roll his eyes as he looks over the counter and spots--

nachos??? ]

Oh! What are those? [ He points over, and apparently she probably should have picked for him to avoid stuff like this happening. ] Actually, nevermind I'll take one of those too and... [ He looks towards the bags of candy, picking at random. They're both going to end up fat....... ] One of the yellow bags [ peanut m&ms... ] and the red stringy things. [ Strawberry... belts...... ]

Oh, two sodas too.

[ The poor assistant is going to have a heart attack. ]