REVERIE INBOX

[stirtheblood]

You can try texting Vicious if you want.

Comments

[derailer]

Hopefully, this will also be fun, even though I will not punch you.

[He leads them over, pointing at the dartboards.]

[stirtheblood]

You could always try to hit me with a ball if an unmovin' target ain't interestin' enough.

[Teasing. He heads over to the dartboards, tossing a ball in the air a few times]

[derailer]

I am going to have fun regardless.

[He holds out a hand for a ball.]

[stirtheblood]

[tosses one over]

Ya know that goin' in, huh?

[derailer]

[He catches it.]

It is fun to practice a skill I have some experience with, even if I might be rusty. Rather, it is all the more fun to practice if I am rusty, since it has been a while. And I have never really attempted a challenge such as this.

[stirtheblood]

Dunno if I've ever had fun practicin' things specifically.

[He tosses his own ball at the dartboard. It's not a bullseye, but it's pretty close.]

[derailer]

Never...?

[That's so far from his own experience that he is momentarily distracted by it. But then he recovers, focusing on the dartboard, and taking longer to judge his shot before throwing. It hits a little below and to the right of the bullseye, but mostly in the middling ring, and not the outermost ring.]

Ah.

[stirtheblood]

[Vicious tosses a couple balls around in one hand again as he considers]

Well, I dunno, does fightin' off a bunch of enforcers tryin' to kill me count as practicin'? That's fun sometimes. And sometimes tryin' stuff out is interestin'. But it ain't like I'm tryin' to get better at a skill for the sake of it.

[He tosses a ball at the dartboard - quickly, in the time the other one he's holding is in the air. He catches it at the same time the first one thunks against the board, then tosses it to Ingo]

[derailer]

[He catches it on instinct in his left hand, tosses it over to his dominant right hand, and then throws it at the dartboard, harder and with less lead-in time. It's a little closer to the bullseye this time.]

...That is the part that is fun about it. Reaching new heights. Overcoming the old self. I think you should try it.

[stirtheblood]

Overcomin' the old self, huh...? Ya think I got a new self?

[There are two more balls. This time he tosses one to Ingo before he makes his throw, and it's right on the edge of the center circle.]

[derailer]

[He catches this one in both hands, turning to face Vicious and watch.]

We all have a new self.

—Bravo! You are coming ever closer to the center!

[stirtheblood]

Heeh... That's interestin' to hear from someone who's been workin' so hard to get back his old self.

[derailer]

...Even when I get it, I am not going to be the same person I was before. That would just be forgetting everything that happened to me here and in Hisui, instead.

[stirtheblood]

So who do ya wanna be goin' forward?

[derailer]

Better than I was yesterday.

[He manages to hit the bullseye this time he throws the ball.]

[stirtheblood]

Heeeh... Not bad.

[He walks over to retrieve the balls from the floor.]

But most of the time bein' 'better' ain't as simple as hittin' a bullseye, y'know.

[derailer]

Of course. That is why it is an ongoing project for the rest of my life.

[stirtheblood]

I don't just mean it's harder. I mean sometimes there ain't a "better" way to go. Just the way ya wanna go and the way ya don't wanna go.

[derailer]

Finding where you want to go is being "better" at being true to yourself, too.

[stirtheblood]

Heh. Guess that's one way to look at it.

[derailer]

Who do you want to be going forward?

[stirtheblood]

Hmmm.

[As he crouches to pick up a ball.]

I've always gone where I wanna go. But that's mostly been alone, and that's boring. I wanna see what crazy stuff other people get up to while they're chasin' what they want. Help 'em out. And maybe I'll get surprised with somethin' I couldn't even have imagined.

[Vicious straightens and tosses three juggling balls at Ingo in quick succession]

[derailer]

[He catches one of them, barely, and raises an arm to instinctively block the other two from hitting him, only realizing after he does so that this is not what he is supposed to be doing. He is distracted by the conversation, but now he's also distracted from the conversation by this happening, so he looks just generally out of it as he tries to decide which to pursue.]

...I do not think these are bad goals to have, but...

[stirtheblood]

[Vicious starts to toss his own balls around absently as he waits for Ingo to recover. He's basically just juggling now.]

But what?

[derailer]

They are all reactive. You have named things that you would like to observe in other people, but the fact that you would like to help is the only personal goal you have.

[He picks up the other balls from the ground.]