( video, un: koriel - slightly forward-dated )

[passio]

[ on the morning of the 14th, everyone’s feeds get to enjoy what appears to be a somber-looking video of a somber-looking man. his shoulders are hunched, his eyes downcast, and one might wonder why he’s making a video if he’s going to look this sad while doing it. don’t worry about it. ]

It’s…

[ he falters. he should have planned this out a little better. ]

I’m sorry to bring them up again, but what was said about the Oracles of the Sinless has been weighing on my mind. One of those members mentioned wanting to “reset” the world…

[ a new game+, as tarn put it. ]

My world is… I… [ although he can't finish his thoughts, it doesn't sound like he's getting emotional. his voice is quiet, but even-toned. ] It’s been destroyed. Most people are dead, and those that aren’t are… unwell. And when I think about that, the idea of resetting the world doesn’t seem wrong.

[ he seems to realize that he’s dangerously close to spreading cult propaganda, and he looks up at the camera with the first fluctuation of emotion—from a kind of downtrodden pensiveness to concern. ]

But I don’t think it seems right, either. I don’t know. [ he glances away from the camera once again. ] The Sinless must be scared. They don’t want the world to get worse. Our arrival here… it makes beautiful things, but maybe…

…um. I wanted to know what everyone else thinks.

Comments

[lacrimose]

But it isn't you.

[Akira had never seen Dextera hurt anyone, either here or in the place they were at before. He's naturally a gentle person, not someone given to violent impulses like Ryo. Or like Akira himself, in certain circumstances.]

Even if you can't blame anyone else, is it really fair to blame yourself?

[passio]

…

[ dextera has never considered that he doesn’t have to blame anyone at all. it doesn’t seem right to consider such behavior the consequence of the world he lives in, and yet—that’s precisely what it is, for the others. they can’t help it any more than he can. ]

It’s the only thing I know how to do.

[lacrimose]

You're not a bad person.

[Akira will say it as many times as he needs to hear it, wiping aggressively at his still-tearful eyes.]

That thing I saw a second ago... What was it? [The parasite, he means.]

[passio]

…?

[ dextera is distracted from his pain by the question, and he touches his shirt, rustling the fabric enough for the parasite to crawl up and out of his collar. ]

It’s my parasite. [ pause. ] One of them.

[lacrimose]

[Akira grimaces.] A... parasite? Is that... good?

[Usually parasites are not good. Or treated like pets, for that matter.]

[passio]

Mmm… no.

[ dextera will admit that. however, compared to the other one, this is a bonafide friend. he pulls up the sleeve of his coat, exposing his arm—and when he taps his wrist, like he’s trying to call up an earthworm, something wriggles underneath his skin in response. ]

But we’re coexisting.

[lacrimose]

[Ew. Akira has a strong stomach for gross ever since he became a Devilman, but even this is a little too much even for him.]

Why?

[There are far better pets out there, buddy.]

[passio]

[ it’s fine. luckily, dextera can only have one inside him at a time, unless he does some mad science to fuse the two he has. ]

It keeps me from getting a stomachache.

[ don’t ask him how. it just does. ]

[lacrimose]

Can't you just take medication for that? And what are you eating that gives you a stomachache, anyway?

[This is raising more questions than answers... He almost wishes he never asked.]

[passio]

The parasite is preventative.

[ no one has ever said that sentence, certainly, and even dextera doesn’t want to repeat it. ]

…I eat a lot of things. I don’t like making food go to waste.

[lacrimose]

[Akira just stares a little longer, tilting his head.]

You mean like rotting food? Even if you’re avoiding waste, doesn’t it taste bad?

[He’s learning way more about Dextera than he ever anticipated to from this trip, why this.]

[passio]

Sometimes that’s all you have.

[ not here, necessarily. there is literally no reason at all for dextera to make food stretch to the point of rotting, since he has plenty of chroma from the network of friends he’s made who are willing to touch him. ]

And some foods are supposed to be eaten rotten… [ no, he’s thinking of fermentation. ]

[lacrimose]

Like natto? Or cheese? [Wait, those aren't the same things either.]

We're not in that other place any more. You can eat whatever you want here without needing to worry about wasting it.

[passio]

That’s true…

[ dextera knows that he’s not in the town anymore, but he was in a terrible situation for even longer than that. it feels necessary to just take care of what he has here in his own home. ]

…I’ve never had natto before.

[lacrimose]

Maybe they have something like it in Amegahara. The food there is like Japan's.

[...Or maybe they just have fermented donuts...]

[passio]

[ something briefly occurs to dextera. he remembers something—one of the only japanese dishes he’s really familiar with, and one he’d like to eat again. ]

Like curry?

[lacrimose]

Yeah, that's one of them. You like curry?

[passio]

I’ve only had it once.

[ it feels wrong to eat it with someone who isn’t guren, or at least it’s wrong to eat it alone. with akira around, he would feel a little less pathetically lonely eating a dish that reminds him of someone who’s no longer present. ]

…but I want to have it a second time.