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[Sorry, Kobert - you've befriended an idiot.]
oh my god
what factors?
also if that's how I die will you lie for me?
oh my god
what factors?
also if that's how I die will you lie for me?
I know I shouldn't bother you while you're resting and healing, but I've left some food with Shanks. Or nearby.
I don't know when I'll see you again because of all of this, but it doesn't matter. So long as you're better and healthy and happy when it's over.
[ will it be over? what does it mean to have this happen? will koby want to be touched and loved and coveted by him again? ]
I'm taking care of Abraham. Took her for a swim in the lake today, chased from one side to the other.
Get some rest, Captain.
I don't know when I'll see you again because of all of this, but it doesn't matter. So long as you're better and healthy and happy when it's over.
[ will it be over? what does it mean to have this happen? will koby want to be touched and loved and coveted by him again? ]
I'm taking care of Abraham. Took her for a swim in the lake today, chased from one side to the other.
Get some rest, Captain.
[It takes a couple hours, and it hurts to focus, but Koby's almost as senseless from being away from Quentin as he is from the pain, so he begs five minutes, just five, please. The lucid periods are longer now, the weight of feeling so much abating to something bearable, and he can focus better.
Still, the words take a while to form:]
i miss you
i love you
are you okay
[I'm sorry, right there, remembering the horror, the bloody pain of their last meeting. Sorry for putting that stricken, haunted look on Quentin's face, for recoiling from him, for falling to pieces before him. Sorry for leaving him, even temporarily, without even being able to articulate what was happening. For all of it.]
Still, the words take a while to form:]
i miss you
i love you
are you okay
[I'm sorry, right there, remembering the horror, the bloody pain of their last meeting. Sorry for putting that stricken, haunted look on Quentin's face, for recoiling from him, for falling to pieces before him. Sorry for leaving him, even temporarily, without even being able to articulate what was happening. For all of it.]
I love you, too.
I'm fine. Everyone out here is fine.
Put the phone down and rest your eyes, love.
[ i'm sorry is right there for him, too. for failing him, for not seeing he needed help, for not knowing how to fix it and make it right. for hurting him. ]
Rest. Focus on Shanks.
He needs you as much as you need him.
Take care of him for me, too.
[ because anyone who loves koby so well is worthy of quentin's love, too. ]
I'm fine. Everyone out here is fine.
Put the phone down and rest your eyes, love.
[ i'm sorry is right there for him, too. for failing him, for not seeing he needed help, for not knowing how to fix it and make it right. for hurting him. ]
Rest. Focus on Shanks.
He needs you as much as you need him.
Take care of him for me, too.
[ because anyone who loves koby so well is worthy of quentin's love, too. ]
oh yeah. that's a good point...
ghosts can be very embarrassed! I once had this guy, he died from a perforated colon? from sexual misadventure. he was so, so embarrassed.
ghosts can be very embarrassed! I once had this guy, he died from a perforated colon? from sexual misadventure. he was so, so embarrassed.
building my stamina
[It's hard. It's hard and it hurts, but he has to read and reread the words. The urge is there to reach out with all this fraught, painful, wonderful power he has, but Shanks's teaching has been gentle, but firm: don't. Opening that door now could hurt worse, could cause something irrevocable. Already the residual input Koby's trying to sort through has him slipping, thinking it's July again, or winter in the village, or spring on Alvida's ship, or some combination thereof. He forgets, he remembers, he forgets again, he remembers, and so on and so forth.
But this, a tether: I love you too. Still true, still undoubtable. Koby can nearly hear it in his ears, in the throbbing ache along his spine.]
getting easier
i'll see you soon
you can help me take care of him
[And vice-versa, every fussy, affectionate, fretting habit put on hold: has Quentin eaten, has he slept, is he taking care of himself, is he alone. The habit's one that's extended to Shanks as well, and Koby wants, suddenly, fervently, to have them both right there, the only two who saw him in that awful, anguished state, more vulnerable and helpless and terrified than he's ever been. He wants to make it right, make it safe again, show these two self-sacrificing, devoted, achingly similar sailors he's okay because of them.]
[It's hard. It's hard and it hurts, but he has to read and reread the words. The urge is there to reach out with all this fraught, painful, wonderful power he has, but Shanks's teaching has been gentle, but firm: don't. Opening that door now could hurt worse, could cause something irrevocable. Already the residual input Koby's trying to sort through has him slipping, thinking it's July again, or winter in the village, or spring on Alvida's ship, or some combination thereof. He forgets, he remembers, he forgets again, he remembers, and so on and so forth.
But this, a tether: I love you too. Still true, still undoubtable. Koby can nearly hear it in his ears, in the throbbing ache along his spine.]
getting easier
i'll see you soon
you can help me take care of him
[And vice-versa, every fussy, affectionate, fretting habit put on hold: has Quentin eaten, has he slept, is he taking care of himself, is he alone. The habit's one that's extended to Shanks as well, and Koby wants, suddenly, fervently, to have them both right there, the only two who saw him in that awful, anguished state, more vulnerable and helpless and terrified than he's ever been. He wants to make it right, make it safe again, show these two self-sacrificing, devoted, achingly similar sailors he's okay because of them.]
bless you, Kobert.
right?!
oh, it's fine, he was pretty dumb. but you see why I'm concerned!
right?!
oh, it's fine, he was pretty dumb. but you see why I'm concerned!
oh, nobody! I just assumed Koby was short for something. like Toby for Tobias, or Iggy for Ignatius.
I mean... kinda. I'm trying really hard to make friends, you know? and I don't want people to be like, "oh my god, did you hear how Iggy died? what a loser!"
I mean... kinda. I'm trying really hard to make friends, you know? and I don't want people to be like, "oh my god, did you hear how Iggy died? what a loser!"
Oh! Oh, that makes sense. No, it's just "Koby". I picked it because it's the name for the same shade of pink my hair is, and it sounds enough like my old name that I'd answer to it.
I don't think you have to worry about that. You're a kind person, Iggy.
Also I sort of meant are you concerned about colon perforation, but.
I don't think you have to worry about that. You're a kind person, Iggy.
Also I sort of meant are you concerned about colon perforation, but.
oh is that why? that's so clever! God I love your hair. totally jealous.
yeah, but kind doesn't mean people like you. they want you to be fun and cool.
oh! oh, no, I'm sooooo experienced with buttstuff.
yeah, but kind doesn't mean people like you. they want you to be fun and cool.
oh! oh, no, I'm sooooo experienced with buttstuff.
[ with a task given and a question spoken, aemond gets right to work. he's always his most settled when he has something to do with his hands, and this is no different. ]
You ask two questions, Koby, [ he counters with a small smile, but he allows it for now. the sheaf of papers is re-shuffled and quickly sorted, aemond even taking a moment to arrange them according to the order of the texts. he's quick to do it, and quick to read the sheets as he does. ]
Dragons were born, according to legend, from a moon breaking in half up in the sky, fire spilling out and down and with them the first dragons to roam the known world. The sheep herders of Valyria came upon these dragons, and formed a bond with them. Together the dragons and their riders conquered the lands of Essos, bringing to rise the kingdom of Valyria of old. It was a kingdom of kings, who ruled the continent with great power and claimed for itself great wealth.
Then the Doom came, burning the sky a second time, and left remaining was our family and our dragons. The last of Old Valyria, and of the great dragonlords. From a dream, our ancestors looked to the west to conquer new lands - to Westeros - and brought forth a new kingdom. From the ashes of the conquered lands, the Seven Kingdoms rose under the Targaryen crown.
My dragon, Vhagar, was among the dragons that flew across the sea to rain fire upon the Westerosi kingdoms in conquest.
[ it should answer sufficiently. ]
What is your life like, at sea?
You ask two questions, Koby, [ he counters with a small smile, but he allows it for now. the sheaf of papers is re-shuffled and quickly sorted, aemond even taking a moment to arrange them according to the order of the texts. he's quick to do it, and quick to read the sheets as he does. ]
Dragons were born, according to legend, from a moon breaking in half up in the sky, fire spilling out and down and with them the first dragons to roam the known world. The sheep herders of Valyria came upon these dragons, and formed a bond with them. Together the dragons and their riders conquered the lands of Essos, bringing to rise the kingdom of Valyria of old. It was a kingdom of kings, who ruled the continent with great power and claimed for itself great wealth.
Then the Doom came, burning the sky a second time, and left remaining was our family and our dragons. The last of Old Valyria, and of the great dragonlords. From a dream, our ancestors looked to the west to conquer new lands - to Westeros - and brought forth a new kingdom. From the ashes of the conquered lands, the Seven Kingdoms rose under the Targaryen crown.
My dragon, Vhagar, was among the dragons that flew across the sea to rain fire upon the Westerosi kingdoms in conquest.
[ it should answer sufficiently. ]
What is your life like, at sea?
I liked pink more when I was younger.
[A lie; he likes it now, but he had a very concentrated phase where he rejected anything even remotely feminine -- protectively, maybe, or something. But he prefers yellows and greens more these days.]
I'd rather be kind than liked, I think. "Cool" isn't really achievable anyway.
Oh. Good. Please be careful, it can be very dangerous.
[A lie; he likes it now, but he had a very concentrated phase where he rejected anything even remotely feminine -- protectively, maybe, or something. But he prefers yellows and greens more these days.]
I'd rather be kind than liked, I think. "Cool" isn't really achievable anyway.
Oh. Good. Please be careful, it can be very dangerous.
I love pink. I always have.
yeah... I guess. but you're very popular!
Koby my sweetheart if I told you about my dildo collection you would not worry.
yeah... I guess. but you're very popular!
Koby my sweetheart if I told you about my dildo collection you would not worry.
Two inextricable questions. [Koby watches Aemond work for a moment with a quietly bemused half-smile, before returning to typing up his notes. The stack of typed and handwritten notes tell an odd story -- prior to October, Koby was in the habit of jotting down observations in the moment, usually in messy shorthand or bullet-pointed lists, though he's careful to date everything so he knows if they're firsthand accounts or things he found out later. However, immediately after the account of Embry's death, the notes stop entirely, until the night of the Otherworld party, when a list of the guests attending is jotted on the back of a napkin. Nothing written during the actual game, aside from an elaborate spreadsheet of everyone's names and what he'd known about their roles.
This, Koby quickly reaches over and pulls from the stack, sticking it back into his bag.] Sorry. Forgot that was -- in there. [Then, refocusing:] You mentioned dragons live a very long time. Still, if Vhagar flew with your ancestors to conquer the kingdoms, she must be on the older side. Had she had riders before you?
[Typing for a moment -- a new page now, this one noting down Aemond's words nearly verbatim.] That's more than even just two questions. Do you mean what do I do or do I like it or my day-to-day or my society or geography or something else completely? [The name "Vhagar" is spelled correctly, against all odds -- Koby's see a family tree and is fairly familiarized with the naming customs of Targaryens -- though "Westerosi" has an "e" added to the end.] I guess in broad strokes, it's much better recently than it was for the first two years I was at sea. I grew up on an island, I only left when I was sixteen.
This, Koby quickly reaches over and pulls from the stack, sticking it back into his bag.] Sorry. Forgot that was -- in there. [Then, refocusing:] You mentioned dragons live a very long time. Still, if Vhagar flew with your ancestors to conquer the kingdoms, she must be on the older side. Had she had riders before you?
[Typing for a moment -- a new page now, this one noting down Aemond's words nearly verbatim.] That's more than even just two questions. Do you mean what do I do or do I like it or my day-to-day or my society or geography or something else completely? [The name "Vhagar" is spelled correctly, against all odds -- Koby's see a family tree and is fairly familiarized with the naming customs of Targaryens -- though "Westerosi" has an "e" added to the end.] I guess in broad strokes, it's much better recently than it was for the first two years I was at sea. I grew up on an island, I only left when I was sixteen.
those are great too.
and because you're sweet and adorable.
at home. it was for work. I had one I called 'the Behemoth.'
and because you're sweet and adorable.
at home. it was for work. I had one I called 'the Behemoth.'
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