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[nonvoting]

@tseng

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[nonvoting]

It was less objectionable than the animal game.

[ which is a low bar, admittedly. ]

Did you resolve your strings?

[unionized]

I did. Nothing to clean up in that respect.

One of my strings told me that "people need simple joys". If that gives you an idea of what I was putting up with.

[nonvoting]

[ oh, shiva. tseng can't help a smile at that. ]

I take it that you disagree.

[unionized]

Don't you?

[Conspicuously: this is not an answer. It is not confirmation. And it is certainly not a "no".]

[nonvoting]

I don't think I do disagree, but I will allow that my definition of "simple joy" is likely different than most.

[unionized]

So was my companion's.

[Just do it, he thinks, his thumb hovering over the screen. It's Tseng. You've already tasked him with a personal evaluation, which is sure to be mortifying enough. What more is there to be hesitant about? It can't be worse than what you've already invited.]

They said it was me. Spending time with me.

[nonvoting]

[ the message knocks the wind from tseng's lungs. ]

I see.

[ he could lie, he knows. he could lie, and save face, and fracture this fragile, changed relationship between them possibly beyond repair—or. ]

Then I suppose my definition isn't as different as I had previously assumed.

[unionized]

It was the string talking. I'm sure they didn't mean it.

[And suddenly his earlier comment about hearts getting the worst of it becomes just a tad bit clearer.]

I won't make you tell me who you mean it about.

[nonvoting]

[ when will spontaneous combustion have mercy on tseng. ]

Yes, sir.

[ he would say it, if rufus asked. that rufus isn't asking feels like both a blessing and a curse. ]

Have you eaten?

[unionized]

Not yet.

[Funny how all of their strangely intimate conversations gravitate to that question sooner or later. It's a nice little bit of ritual, really.]

[nonvoting]

Come up, then. I'm making curry.

[unionized]

All right.