foolishjustice | Private communications

foolishjustice

Moshi moshi!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

foolishjustice

Can we tlak in teh mroning?

From:

biddentodance

Yeah.

[He shouldn't have... He messed up.

Minato sticks to the common area in the morning, figuring just about everyone passes through at least once a day. He always looks like he's strongly considering taking a nap, and he's practiced at hiding it, but his hair is a mess and the shadows under his eyes are deeper than normal. Probably the most telling indication that something's wrong, though, is that he's starting at an only half-eaten plate of breakfast and has been for the last hour.]

From:

foolishjustice

[...Well, that is concerning. He takes a seat across from Minato, and holds out a cup of lightly sweetened coffee.]

I'm sorry if I seemed a little short earlier. I can't really think straight when I first wake up.

From:

biddentodance

[No hot sauce, but it'll do. He accepts the coffee with a nod.]

It's fine. Wasn't thinking straight either. Really wasn't that big a deal.

From:

foolishjustice

It doesn't look like it wasn't a big deal. You had a nightmare about a topic that made you think of me, right?

From:

biddentodance

[Holy- that is a good guess. He knew Akechi was smart, but....]

...Don't have them often. Just threw me off because it was a new one. [Nightmares aren't important, not his anyway.]

You told me Shadows and Personas are basically the same thing.

From:

foolishjustice

[He nods.]

A Persona is a tamed Shadow, that's right. Did you... [There's a slight tensing to his body, barely visible...but there.] Have a dream related to that?

From:

biddentodance

[He's still so... He doesn't want to waste Akechi's time with his stupid doubts. But he remembers fussy fish, he's...he can't brush this off now, can he?

But he can sidestep the question.]

Can a Persona-user have a Shadow other than their first Persona?

From:

foolishjustice

...I know a Persona user can't normally have a Palace, because the Shadow that rules it is our Persona instead. But...I think it is possible, under extreme circumstances where a person is conflicted in their innermost desires.

I have two Personas that I Awoke to normally, even gaining a new mask shape. Robin Hood and Loki represent opposite sides of me, a desire for justice and...a blind thirst for revenge, that doesn't care what's right or wrong.

I doubt it's possible unless you're so heavily conflicted that a single Shadow can't embody the full truth about you, though.

From:

biddentodance

....right, he did wear a mask...

[That was more or less to himself. He remembers the tunnels. The dogs. Not important right now. Akira probably told his lovers.]

I... [It's so...hard. Nobody cares about him - that's not true anymore, although he can't understand why, isn't that what caused this in the first place? He swallows hard.] ....when I Awoke, there were two.

From:

foolishjustice

Two...when you Awoke for the first time? I Awoke to Loki after Robin...but I guess it wouldn't be impossible.

...Is the second one harder to control?

From:

biddentodance

[He pauses a moment, then nods.] Orpheus first. The other right after.

[This next part, he's even....even more hesitant to say. It would've been fine if it were like Chidori's. But things are different and he doesn't understand, and he's...afraid that his lack of understanding is going to do worse than it already has.]

Can't control it at all.

From:

foolishjustice

...I lost control of Loki, in the city, so you're not alone in having a dangerous power. But, not at all? That seems strange...even with Loki, he didn't do anything until I summoned him. Has it spoken to you?

From:

biddentodance

[His head jerks up. Lost control....lost control. There's something like claws around his heart.]

Are you alright? [He knows the answer to this question. He'd asked Akira, the dungeon was weeks ago, Akechi has been fussing over several sick people. He's alright, more or less.

But it doesn't stop the concern overshadowing his internal dread.]

From:

foolishjustice

I'm fine. It was painful at the time, but there was no lasting damage...to me, anyway.

[...He can't help but wonder if Minato noticed, while helping take care of Shido's fever, that there were some fresh scars there.]

From:

biddentodance

[A sigh of relief.]

Wasn't there, but...got filled in. SEES has enemies - Persona-users who can't control theirs. Have one in custody. Her Persona summoned itself and started strangling her.

[He doesn't like imagining the scene, it gets....too close to uncomfortable things. He'd have frozen if he had been there, he's sure.]

From:

foolishjustice

[As soon as Minato mentions strangling, Goro's face goes pale. He swallows hard, then pushes on, trying to pretend it's not obvious from his face that something there hit on a traumatic memory.]

Loki didn't attack me. He was lashing out because I was denying part of what created him, but I think the effects on me were just incidental.

From:

biddentodance

[He sees that response. His heart sinks. He....really shouldn't have started this conversation. There's a pause while he thinks, concern and worry evident in his expression - plain as day, even, a rarity for him. He won't press, and he won't bring that up again.]

Use drugs to control theirs because they're artificial. Don't know the details.

[...he...doesn't want to talk about the Black Persona, doesn't want to talk about the dream, especially doesn't want to talk about the beach. Especially not when he might just....say something that hits Goro wrong again.]

From:

foolishjustice

[Whatever it was about it that got to him, it's lingering enough that he's still pale. But he doesn't have any intention of going into it...]

But that's not the case with yours, right? I'm guessing it's more like what happened with Loki, except you don't know why that Persona won't listen to you.

From:

biddentodance

Don't even know what it is. Never there in the Velvet Room. Like it doesn't exist until it's--

[...destroying something. Or someone. He remembers it's roar, thinks he remembers Aiden fleeing...]

....

From:

foolishjustice

[He frowns, thinking something over.]

...I wonder. It doesn't come up much, but I have the ability to see people's souls. Yours has something...connected to it. Something that was recovering while you were unconscious for a while. I think whatever this is, isn't a typical Persona...it's something else that relies on your energy to sustain itself, and acts on its own when it thinks you're in danger.

I was a little concerned when it drained you so thoroughly after exerting itself, but if it can do more than just cause temporary exhaustion...

From:

biddentodance

Something....connected? [To his soul? How? Since when? Is that even possible? It doesn't make any sense - but then, it isn't the only thing in his life that doesn't. And it's true that both the Magician and Aiden had posed significant threat, not that.... Minato cared about that at all...]

When I Awoke, it tore Orpheus apart from the inside before he could do anything. Utterly destroyed the Shadow attacking the dorm. Then I blacked out....woke up in the hospital a week later.

[The symbolism involved in the two Personas isn't lost on him. He hadn't given it any thought, figuring it wouldn't matter if anything happened to him, but....if the Black Persona is going to hurt people, then....]

From:

foolishjustice

I noticed it when you first got to the station, but I haven't known what to make of it. I'd have to look closer in ways that...are honestly quite intrusive, if I want to get more details. But if it's going to knock you out like this every time it feels the need to intervene, not to mention the possibility of it making a mistake...

From:

biddentodance

[It...feels weird - feels wrong - to seek out something like this. It's not important, doesn't matter, it's just Minato's own problems. Except that isn't true anymore. It hurt Aiden severely. Next time, what if--

There's a hitch of his breathing, a shudder. He shakes his head lightly, more to himself that Goro. He doesn't need to think back to the bridge. Not right now.]

Do what you have to. [He doesn't care.]

[Except he does.]

From:

foolishjustice

[He nods and closes his eyes, extending his spiritual senses. Minato's thoughts appear on the edge of his awareness, but they're not what he's looking for...and he'd rather not intrude if he doesn't have to.

Instead, he focuses on the hitchhiker, looking at both thoughts and the data of its own Soul composition.]