Looking for games and revisiting old muses

[facilitated]

You know, I thought I'd gotten off the hook when that place fell down. Should've known things weren't going to be that easy, shouldn't I?

...No. Don't start looking. Just don't bother, because even if you tried to make me go there, you know it wouldn't work. It never works, that's why I've been stuck in "headspace" for this long.

Just let me get back on the road, it's easier that way. For everyone.

Comments

[charring]

What place fell down?

[facilitated]

[ This is the detail that gets questioned? Seriously? ]

Oh. It's...sort of a long story. Weird idea my dad got into his head. Insane, really.

[charring]

[Charlie has an odd thought process, okay.] Sounds it. Wanna talk about it?

[facilitated]

Well, it's just...

[ Not as odd as what she's about to say, alright? It still sounds crazy to her. ]

Okay, I think he was kind of losing it towards the end, but he thought that- he thought people were after us. And he thought that there was a place we could go, a safe point. It's all gone now though.

[ ... See? Mental. ]

[charring]

...he sounds almost like my dad. [Whoa.]

[facilitated]

[ Silence. A hell of a lot of awkward silence, and then- ]

Weird, huh? Don't know what got into him.

[charring]

Well, to be fair? My dad was right.

[facilitated]

...Is that so?

[ Shit. ]

[charring]

Yup. You haven't, by any off chance, heard of a group called the Shop, have you?

[facilitated]

[ Shit shit shit. ]

Sorry, who are you?

[charring]

[Hands up. She comes in peace and all that shit.]

My name is Charlie. I'm harmless, I promise.

[Charlie is also a liar, so.]

[facilitated]

[ And Laura wasn't born yesterday, Charlie, so she just gets all the raised eyebrows instead. ]

So this 'Shop' place is real? How do I know you're not from there, then?

[charring]

Because I'm not a first class grade a moron like they are.

[facilitated]

...Fair point.

[ Well, that certainly doesn't sound like the way super secret government branches talk. ]

I'm Laura.

[charring]

[No. That's the way a person who's dealt with super secret government branches talks. She's very disenchanted.]

Pleasure to meet you. Is it rude to ask what the Shop wanted with your dad?

[facilitated]

Not rude, just... I don't know. He never told me and then-

Well, he just never told me.

[charring]

That sounds really rough. The Shop usually doesn't take a liking to people unless something about them is of interest.

[facilitated]

Maybe if he'd clued me in a little earlier I might've been able to do something, but no. It's all about secrets, 'cause that's so smart.

[charring]

Yeah, keeping secrets works so beautifully. Because then it turns into lying and that's always a good thing.

[facilitated]

And then people end up dead. Why does no one ever figure this out until it's too late?

[charring]

Because stubborn-ness. Because pride. Because all of the great personality problems that makes us think we're untouchable until the hand of Whoever The Fuck Runs The Show smacks the shit out of us.

[facilitated]

[ That pretty much hits the nail right on the head, doesn't it. ] You lost someone too then, huh?

[charring]

My dad. Because of the Shop. Shot him right in front of me.

[facilitated]

...Mine too. Not shot though, flu. The uh, the big one.

[charring]

They're wonderful people, aren't they?

[facilitated]

Absolute goddamn gems.

[gleans]

They usually end up finding ways to make it work. Persistent as hell.

[facilitated]

She didn't even wait, or think it through, she just did it. I don't get it, who's impulsive enough to do crap like that?

[gleans]

Hah, um -- writers?

[facilitated]

...Yeah, that makes sense actually. Great, I'm screwed.