( video, un: koriel )

[passio]

[ it’s this guy again. although he seems considerably less sad than he did the last time he appeared on the network to talk about accidental sympathy with the oracles of the sinless, that may not be the best thing in the world once he begins speaking. he's also wearing small angel wings, visible in the view of the camera—they're definitely fake accessories, however, rather than being a moonblessing or even a more permanent effect of the bracelet. ]

…hello.

[ he's nervous? he's nervous, and his shoulders fidget slightly. he can't look at the camera. ]

There’s been a lot of people asking about churches. [ ah. ] …I am a member of one that recently opened. It is… a re-establishment of the Order I used to belong to in my world before.

[ it isn't a ringing endorsement, but it is the truth. ]

We don’t worship any god. It is an order that focuses on the internal self and what people are capable of. A man named the Archangel is our leader. If you’ve met him… um, anyway, please come by.

[ and included, information about the Order of Malkuth, located in a primo spot on level one. go ahead, join the cult. ]

Comments

[accurately]

No, I don't. You didn't talk to me about it.

[ Which is what he's mad about. He thinks he made his point. He's not mad about Dextera going back to that. He doesn't know enough about it to be mad. But he's definitely upset that Dextera didn't say anything. ]

[passio]

I didn’t know he would come back.

[ dextera hasn’t been able to speak to midorima, or anyone, about his history with the archangel. he doesn’t know how to begin to broach the subject. ]

…I’m sorry.

[accurately]

If you want to talk to me about it you'll find me in person. I'm not having this conversation over the network.

[ He appreciates the apology and has decided not to ignore Dextera's existence, is what he means, but he's still salty because he is the ocean. Full of salt but his tides come and go. ]

[passio]

[ dextera has a lot to explain. there are things he doesn’t want to talk about for the worry of it getting back, but the truth is that he values midorima more than he fears the archangel. ]

Okay.

[ quietly. ]

Are you at home?

[accurately]

I was going to head out but I changed my mind.

[ He's grumpy now so he supposes Dextera can come find him at home. ]

( network —> action )

[passio]

[ ah, dextera ruined his day, is what he reads from that.

without saying anything more, dextera just nods and turns off their chat—evidently urgently making his way to midorima’s home. he still doesn’t realize how valuable the information he was trusted with really is. ]

…

[ when he gets there, he has to steel his nerve to knock. ]

[accurately]

[ He doesn't have to knock, Merlin always knows when someone is standing at the door. His scuttle to the door alerts Midorima that someone's there, so even if Dextera never works up the nerve to knock, he opens it with a scowl on his face. ]

[passio]

[ dextera is not as happy to see merlin as he usually is, and although he acknowledges the presence of the dog at midorima’s feet, there’s too much of a weight on his shoulders—still adorned with those wings—to actually offer the animal any affection. ]

…

[ he’s trying to think of something to say. ]

[accurately]

Stop standing in the doorway.

[ Merlin is excited as usual for a few seconds, but can tell by Midorima's tone that it's not playtime and runs back in ahead of them. Midorima turns and leaves the door for Dextera to close behind him. ]

[passio]

Ah…

[ dextera’s voice continues to fail him, but at least he listens, and he follows midorima into the home as he uncomfortably fists his hands into the fabric of his shirt. ]

—the Archangel saved my life.

[accurately]

It's irritating to start in the middle of the story.

[ And yet, he's getting a water bottle out of the fridge for Dextera. He's not asking if he wants it, he's just setting it on a coaster on the table where he wants Dextera to sit at the kitchen table. ]

Sit down and continue.

[ He sits across from him. ]

[passio]

I know.

[ dextera’s stories are so long, though, and he worries that he’s going to drive midorima away with them. yet it can’t be worse than what he’s already done, so he squeezes the water bottle as he sits down, and tries to continue. ]

I used to have amnesia. I woke up in a terrifying world, and the Archangel was the only person who took the time to guide me.

[accurately]

[ Midorima stays quiet and listens. He's willing to hear Dextera out wholly before he starts asking questions, and gives a nod of encouragement to get him to. He doesn't have any questions yet, but he also doesn't have much of the picture yet besides that the guy was there for him.

He does want to know how he got amnesia, but that seems like it would detract from the topic at hand. He'll ask later. ]

[passio]

[ midorima’s silence encourages dextera to fill it, albeit slowly. he needs to think about what he wants to say, and what he can say without giving away the archangel’s nature entirely. as far as the archangel knows, after all, he does still have amnesia. ]

He gave me a purpose. I was suffering from a sin I couldn’t remember, and he gave me a way to absolve it.

[ …but it’s more complicated than that, now. ]

So… I have to follow him. Even if I disagree with things he does. He needs me at his side.

[accurately]

You don't have to do anything, Dextera.

[ He wants to make that clear. This is a choice he's making. ]

What does he do that you don't agree with?

[passio]

…

[ midorima is right, of course. the archangel doesn’t control him the way that he controls the other believers. he’s always, always tried to get dextera to follow him through more indirect ways, and it’s worked just about as well as it hasn’t. ]

I… [ he’s struggling. ] I don’t like the world he wants to create.

[accurately]

What kind of world is that?

[ Midorima's getting more and more concerned about this situation the more he hears, but he also can't see Dextera just.. willy nilly deciding to support something he doesn't believe in unless there's a good reason.

At the very least, frustrated as he is, he's got some level of faith in Dextera. ]

[passio]

He wants to create a world where there’s no war, no disease, and no one hurts. I don’t think that’s a bad world, but…

[ it conflicts with the conclusions dextera has reached about his own growth. his life has meaning because he has faults, and he’s learned from them in a way he couldn’t under the archangel’s rule. ]

Am I wrong for disagreeing?

[accurately]

[ Midorima stays quiet for a moment, but as he thinks about that.. ]

The only way to stop war is to stop conflict, which is created by free thought, and completely stopping disease and pain would result in rapid overpopulation, starvation, and extinction.

[ like where is he going to get food and water for all of these people who aren't dying anymore ]

It's a naive world that only exists in the fantasies of those who don't understand that actions have consequences. You're not wrong for disagreeing.

[ There's a reason the word "utopia" comes from a word meaning "nowhere." ]

[passio]

[ this must be the doctor side of midorima’s combined dreams coming out. while dextera has never thought midorima was stupid, he’s certainly thought of midorima as being particularly normal. therefore, the astute observation surprises him, as someone who has himself claimed he’s never experienced an apocalypse. ]

…that’s what I thought, too.

[ he shakes his head. ]

But I wonder… he has so much belief in what he says.

[accurately]

[ It's true. Despite that Midorima's life largely revolves around basketball and luck, he actually finds things like science and philosophy fun to read. This is a man who checked out a quantum physics textbook to read for funsies in his first year of high school. It's just that serious topics never usually come up practically for him. This is the first time he's had to make a solid decision that has some kind of consequences. ]

Belief is important, but it doesn't change reality.

[ Otherwise a lot of things would've happened differently for Midorima. He may not have been in an apocalypse, but even he knows that. ]

[passio]

[ dextera exhales softly, at that. ]

In my world, it can.

[ the archangel is distorted beyond belief, even if he seems to be completely controlled. he, like dextera, has no visible distortions. ]

…maybe that’s why. He might as well be right.

[accurately]

We aren't in your world.

[ And it clearly didn't work in their world, but he isn't going to keep pouring salt in that wound. But he does feel the need to state the obvious. Belief doesn't have power here, touch does. ]