maellum | ETRAYA

[Cute??? Maelle is judging your taste, Sophie.]

Pretty much. On the last mission he worried he wouldn't always be enough. That's not like him. Ever since he said that, it's like... I'm aware of all the little cracks that weren't there before.

When we first got here, I thought it would be Verso that felt apart from us. Not Gustave.

/... Yeah. Okay. Damn, that does suck. I do relate to him, though. I've been in the same spot.

What you all went through is a very high-stress situation, Maelle. I'm not going to bore you with the brain science of it all, but I can tell you that stress makes you perceive things differently, and information like that? Post-death, which he could do absolutely nothing about? People don't deal well with uncertainty, nor abandonment, either as the abandoned or, in this case, the forced abandonee. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he feels guilty that he did die and wasn't there with you guys through it.

Just spitballing, though. I have no concrete evidence for any of that./

[That's actually comforting to hear. They're not just all fucked.]

I know he feels guilty. He's apologized for not being there for me. It's not his fault. He said he would understand if I were angry with him for dying, too, which is--it's almost funny if he wasn't... serious.

That's sort of where we're at.

/Doy. It doesn't matter if it's his fault or not. Objectively, he wasn't there. That hurts a lot.

So, is avoiding this forever an option and pretending nothing is wrong or? Just asking. I mean, I can tell. But between you guys./

It does hurt a lot. For everyone.

Avoiding it only causes more trouble down the road. We're just sort of at a loss as to how to make it less miserable.

I hate knowing he's in pain.

/Time is what you do. Letting time help you slip back into your roles. A nudge here and there. Not forcing, but letting it happen when it does.

Well, he probably hates to know you are in pain, too. Have a little hope with your sad shit, yeah? You guys did promise me proficiency at that./

Edited 2025-09-22 00:33 (UTC)

Yeah. We did. He's always been the one with hope. I would always get a look or a talk when I was too depressing.

/Then step up yourself. If he isn't, well. Why not you?/

When he would say things, I'd believe it. I don't know if it's the same coming from your sixteen year old foster sister.

/Oh, wow, what was it that he said to me though? 'Her thoughts and opinions matter to me? I ask her advice and I take it?', mmm. Sounds like it might be.

Just do it, Maelle./

[FINE.]

Is your real power probably being right most of the time?

/Oh my... HAHAHA, cripes, no! Actually, I think if you said that around here, we'd all literally laugh ourselves to death.

I'm sometimes really, really right, that's all./