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)

Comments

[psycholawgy]

I'm going to talk to him in person to find out more information about him.
I want to know if he's on our side or not...

[fortheprincess]

Hard to say. Doesn't really seem like any of them are really on our side.

[psycholawgy]

He saved us when we were dying in the jungle...
And he helped Hiro and his friend release the Bridge.
You kind of have to wonder what his motives are.

[fortheprincess]

It's clear that they're trying to keep us alive, even if it's possible for death to occur. We always come back.

That doesn't explain the Bridge, though.

[psycholawgy]

Right??? That's why I need to find out!

[fortheprincess]

You go and do that. I'll talk to him myself in the meantime.

[psycholawgy]

Don't get hurt, alright?

[fortheprincess]

He wouldn't be too happy to see me. I was planning on sending him a text instead.

[psycholawgy]

I wonder what he'd do if you actually showed your face...

[fortheprincess]

Destroy my code, maybe?

[ He's kind of joking but it's in bad taste...gj Hak ]

[psycholawgy]

Hey!!! You're joking, right?!??!?!

[ way to get her absolutely worried. ]

[fortheprincess]

I'd like to say that I am, but I can't be sure. Haha

text -> voice.

[psycholawgy]

[ screw texting, athena is going to call him right the eff now!! she sounds absolutely serious - this is probably the first time hak's heard athena sound so. ]

I'm going to promise you this now, alright? I'm going to save you if something bad ever happens to you. I'm not going to let you get tortured again, nor will I let CERES do anything to you that's even close to that.

If Mosley ever tries to destroy your code, then I'm going to destroy him.

text -> voice.

[fortheprincess]

[ He doesn't understand why she's calling, and for a split second, he feels like it's an emergency. He answers tentatively, but before he can say anything, she speaks.

He really hasn't heard her talk like this before. The closest thing is probably back when they were planning on their interrogation, but this--this isn't business, this is personal. She's completely serious. It reminds him a little bit of when Yona talks to him about how she cares and how she needs him to be alive.

Hak doesn't know what to say. He knows there are people who care about him, but he hadn't gotten anything like this in a long, long time. He already knows how much Yona cares about him, but it's...admittedly kind of nice to have...friends here. Somehow, this strange, loud, idiotic girl named Athena Cyke's managed to reach him with her heart of gold. ]

...Alright.

[ It's obviously not the greatest reply in the world, but it's the only thing that can sum up what he's thinking. ]

text -> voice.

[psycholawgy]

I mean it.

[ the firmness in her tone slowly disappears, and is eventually taken over by fondness and softness. ]

You might be a big jerk, and you might tease me all the time, but I still care about you. So... you know. You should take care of yourself.

voice.

[fortheprincess]

[ He can't guarantee that he won't do something reckless again. Now that Princess Yona is here, he'd do anything for her if her life were at stake. Even if Cerealia could bring her back, he won't let her suffer the way he did--and Athena knows how horrible that pain really was.

Yet, he does have to be more careful. He'd jump in front of a train for her, but other than that, he has to stay alive. He has to be here. It's for Yona's sake, but Athena's words still hit home. He cares about her too, and he'd get on her case if she ended up hurt because of something unnecessary. ]

Got it. [ a pause ] You should worry more about yourself.

voice.

[psycholawgy]

[ she laughs softly. ha... that's a good one, hak. athena's more than willing to get into a lot of trouble if it benefits a lot of people. it's fine. ]

I'll be fine. No matter what.

voice.

[fortheprincess]

[ Whatever she decides to do is her choice. He's not going to guard her 24/7 like he guards Yona, but it doesn't mean he'll be happy if she puts herself in harm's way. ]

You didn't seem fine to me when they took your emotions away.

voice.

[psycholawgy]

Well... something else happened at that time.

voice.

[fortheprincess]

Are you going to tell me what happened?

voice.

[psycholawgy]

Well...

Um, I got hit by a truck.

[ somehow, this is a lot easier than telling someone from her world. ]

voice.

[fortheprincess]

[ He looks visibly disturbed, but she can't see it through the phone. He knew about the Simon part, but he'd seen Nanoha get hit by a vehicle and it wasn't pretty.

But Nanoha's got a lot of powers, and Athena has a power as well but she's still human, and, well-- ]

...I see.

voice.

[psycholawgy]

[ athena plops down on her bed, and the sound of her hitting her pillows is probably audible. ]

... Yeah. That's- That's what happened.

voice.

[fortheprincess]

[ He can hear it, and he can hear the tone in her voice. He doesn't blame her for it--it's a pretty horrific thing to happen. ]

You weren't the only one. I...saw it happen to someone else.

voice.

[psycholawgy]

[ she isn't down about what had happened anymore, but she's still disturbed by it. death is one thing she fears, and it happened to her. but it's also helping her get rid of that fear. she just wishes she didn't die out of sheer stupidity, but for a better reason, instead. ]

Are you serious? [ a grumble. ] I wonder how many people were attacked by those ghosts... they were absolutely terrible. I'm glad they're gone.