on app jitters

[quixotically]

Waiting... Not really something I'm good at, I'll admit. Buuuut... It's kinda looking like you're worse at it than I am.

Just relax, okay? Even if it doesn't work out here, you've got some more places we could go. Try not to worry about it too much.

Speaking of waiting, though... There are some people in your mailbox who've been doing some of their own. Remember? Never know, getting back to them might keep your mind off it.

Comments

[madeinoblivion]

Well I don't know about you, but I sure can't just hang around waiting forever.

[quixotically]

Oh, trust me. If it were forever, I wouldn't exactly be sticking around.

But a few days? That's not too bad, I suppose.

[madeinoblivion]

Guess that's not so long, to people with a lifetime of memories.

[quixotically]

[Elle blinks once, twice, three times in surprise, but then her expression softens.]

Well, I guess that's true. But that's not something I'd know anything about, myself.

[amnesia's a bitch bro]

[madeinoblivion]

No?

[He gives her a longer, scrutinizing glance. Some of of the rough-edged hostility in his voice backs off.]

You're not a fake too, are you?

[quixotically]

A fake? [There's an amount of puzzlement in her voice, and she shakes her head.] No... At least, I don't think so.

[A thoughtful pause, then:] I guess it depends on what you mean. Someone who knew me in the past could consider who I am now a fake, compared to who I was. But I can't really say that for sure. I don't really know "her," after all.

[madeinoblivion]

What do you mean, you don't know her at all?

Like you just realized everything you thought was real was all a big lie?

had to make an icon oops

[quixotically]

Not really. More like I took two bullets to the head and walked out of it alive, but without any memories at all.

[madeinoblivion]

Oh. Entirely empty, or just locked away?

Your heart didn't collapse from it?

[quixotically]

If I'm honest... Can't say as I know. [She rubs the back of her neck.] Maybe they're locked away somewhere up here. Every once and a while, there'll be something that's almost -- almost -- familiar... but...

[Her expression goes distant for a moment, but then she shakes her head, as if to clear it.]

Sorry. Um. What... do you mean about the heart collapsing?

[madeinoblivion]

Nobody messed with them, did they? After you got knocked out?

It's nothing. I just... heard somewhere, that it happens if you lose all your memories. Your heart is like a hollow shell. Maybe 'cause nothing's important anymore.

When nothing matters...you're just nothing.

[quixotically]

[Elle considers what he says seriously for a moment. It's an interesting theory, even if she hasn't heard anything like it before.]

I'm pretty sure nobody messed with them... I mean, I was buried in a shallow grave and everything. The kind of tech that could do that... Not exactly common in that area, either.

No, I'm mostly certain that it's just an effect of getting shot.

[She falls quiet again for another moment.]

If it's hollow, though, doesn't that just mean you get to fill it with new things? New experiences, new people.

[thumbsdown]

Stuck waiting, huh? Must be tough for someone so used to traveling.

[quixotically]

I like to think I'm handling it okay. I keep reminding myself that I'll have the run of a couple cities, some ruins, and even an underground tunnel system, assuming they let me through the door in the first place.

It's no Mojave, but I guess it'll do.

[thumbsdown]

Yeah, you've... got a way of getting into places. I think you'll probably be fine.

[One of the perks of traveling with the courier is that you can and will pretty much go anywhere at some point. ...Said perk can also be a problem when you're stuck scouting a cave full of deathclaws, though.]

[quixotically]

[hey they made it out of that cave just fine

shotgun knockback has a way of solving the deathclaw problem]

Well, you never know. There's a first time for everything.

[thumbsdown]

[Yeah, it's not like Boone needed his limbs or anything]

I dunno, asking nicely always seemed to work well enough. 'Course, if that doesn't work... they probably don't have eyes in the backs of their heads.

[Probably. After coming out of the Mojave, you can't ever be too sure of that.]

[quixotically]

[shhhhhhhhhh that's why you run with a courier who is a medic]

Any of this happen to come from personal experience? [Found your way into somewhere by asking nicely enough?]

[thumbsdown]

[Here, take a stimpak and walk it off]

Me? I'm... not really big on asking nicely, no.

[That seems to be more the Courier's thing. He's good at glaring, though.]

[quixotically]

[it always works!]

You should try it sometime, you know. It might work out for you better than you think.

[thumbsdown]

...Yeah, I don't think so.

[He'll leave the speech challenges to the people who actually have a hope in hell of passing them. Better that he just sticks to what he's good at.]

[yesman]

Hey! I'm sure you'll do just fine. And, you're right! Haha, I mean, if it doesn't work out, it's not like you're stuck in one place forever! Not like me! Wow. It must be so fun to go other places.

[quixotically]

I'll let you have my stash of Meeting People~.

[quixotically]

Hey, the rules out here aren't the same as the Mojave. You could come with me somewhere if you really wanted to, Yes Man.

[thumbsdown]

Probably only so much a book can do, and I'm not big on miracles.