audio;

[fadeling]

[Cole's been doing some thinking. Always a dangerous proposition, but unavoidable, really. It hasn't been all that long since the fire, but...well. Maybe it could have been worse, but it could have been a lot better too.

At least he's managed to make this audio. Probably entirely by accident.]

I can't tell if it's better. Is it better? [He doesn't specify what "it" is. But there's a pause for a few moments while he considers what else to say. It's hard to verbalize what he's thinking, his thoughts pulled in a thousand ways at once like they always are. He doesn't make sense at the best of times, and now he's trying to find words that probably don't exist.]

The whispers are worries, but the calls are clarion and confused. Did I do the right thing? Is it good at all?

[Another pause, longer than than the last one--almost long enough to wonder whether Cole has hung up.]

Maybe this time it's different.

Comments

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

What do they say to you?

Re: audio

[fadeling]

They say what hurts.

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

And what hurts?

Re: audio

[fadeling]

It's different. Different people have different hurts.

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

How many voices do you hear?

Re: audio

[fadeling]

All of them.

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

Have you tried talking to a therapist?

Re: audio

[fadeling]

No. Why?

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

They can help with the voices.

Re: audio

[fadeling]

How?

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

A therapist can help you cope with the voices. He can also help you figure out what triggers you to hear them, and help you to avoid those things.

Re: audio

[fadeling]

I know why I hear them. I have to so I can help what hurts. I like to listen.

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

How do you help?

Re: audio

[fadeling]

How they need it. It's different. I listen and I help.

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

Do you ever have to hurt someone to help them?

Re: audio

[fadeling]

I'm not a demon. I don't hurt people. I do what helps.

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

And what is that? What do you do?

Re: audio

[fadeling]

I help.

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

Help how?

Re: audio

[fadeling]

How they need it.

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

Can you give me an example?

Re: audio

[fadeling]

Tight, taut, taken to taking. The dreams are hard, but the waking is harder. There's something and then nothing and the empty aches more. Sometimes it's easy. Something lost, something found, something to give or take. Sometimes it's harder.

audio

[am_i_a_monster]

Who do you take from?

Re: audio

[fadeling]

I don't take.