third; voice (put on your red shoes and dance the blues.)

[bekommen]

Hey, um ...

[Nick feels pretty stupid asking about this, but the question just keeps nagging at her, and she hasn't found an answer on her own. So she takes a deep breath and forges on with asking everyone else. Just get it over with already.]

Has anyone seen Kamina? Um, you'd know him if you saw him, he's that big idiot with the blue hair, doesn't know the meaning of "inside voice."

[It's not like she's worried about him or anything.]

I mean, he probably just ran off into the caves again and got eaten by a bear or something, but ... I guess if you've seen him for sure ... you should tell me.

Comments

[whichend]

But you wish to see him again.

[bekommen]

What? No. I mean - I was just curious, that's all. Not like I care or anything.

[whichend]

[ sure, jan]

If you really are curious, you ought to go look for him. I would not leave someone I care about to get eaten by bears.

[bekommen]

Yeah, well, I'm a lot more in favor of me not getting eaten by bears than finding out for sure. I already checked his place, and he ain't there. If he's dumb enough to wander off and get eaten by something, then he gets what he deserves.

[whichend]

That's fair.

[ Arya shrugs. She doesn't really care about this person -- she's never met him, and from the way this lady speaks of him, he's a waste of space. ]

[bekommen]

I mean ... he's probably fine. You get brought back if you get killed here, after all.

[whichend]

Then perhaps we should hope for death after all.

[bekommen]

... You do know that's kinda fucked up, right.

[whichend]

[ Arya shrugs. That's not what the death-cult guys said. ]

Many do. Usually if life is bad enough.

What do you want, for this man to live, or for this man to return to you?

[bekommen]

Oh please. "Man" is kinda pushing it. He's more like an overgrown man-child.

[Note how cleverly she doesn't answer the question.]

[whichend]

[ Oh, Arya notices. ]

Do you feel some sort of responsibility for him?

[bekommen]

What? No, I - what gave you that idea?

[whichend]

Your relentless concern for him.

[bekommen]

I'm not concerned, [she lies.]

[whichend]

You're not a very good liar.

[ Arya's been trained to detect that sort of thing. Sorry, Nick. ]

[bekommen]

Well, who fucking asked you, anyway?

[She lashes out because she's cornered.]

What do you even care?

[whichend]

If you care about someone, you ought to tell them. [ Arya says, firmly. ] Before it is too late.

[bekommen]

[That just hurts, even if it's not intentional. For the first time in many, many years, Nick finds herself remembering how she never got to say goodbye to her father, how he died unexpectedly and Nick could never be certain if he knew how much she loved him. It feels like her rib cage suddenly shrinking up inside of her, and it hurts. She doesn't know what she feels about Kamina, but she doesn't want him to be dead (even though he already is) and she doesn't want him to be gone (even though he pretty clearly is).]

Yeah. I'll keep it in mind.

[whichend]

[ Finally, Arya's gotten through. She understands what Nick is going through. She bows her head, respectfully empathetic. ]

Good.

[bekommen]

[Nick doesn't do well with uncomfortable truth. She's a little more gruff, this time.]

So - what, you some kinda smarty-pants kid or something?

[whichend]

[ A what? ]

I am obviously no goat, much less a child goat.

[bekommen]

[It takes Nick a full thirty seconds to puzzle out what she means by that.]

No ... Jesus, haven't you ever heard of people gettin' called kids before? You're not like, from one of those weird elf worlds, are you?

[whichend]

[ you know what. Arya has had enough of these earth people and their bullshit. Time for some sarcasm. ]

Yes. I live with speaking frogs and faeries from fhe dawn of the first men. We feast on holy berries and the blood of bears exclusively. At two-and-ten, we celebrate a passage into adulthood through an intricate tribal dance, followed by jumping off the traditional cliff.

[bekommen]

... OK, I don't know what's more fucked up, if you're lying or if that's actually true.

[whichend]

Which do you think it is?