hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:01 PM
One could say that Richard was a man who tended to dwell on the past a lot. It certainly wouldn't be an understatement. Maybe that's what brings him to wander the ruins of the suburban area, standing in empty front rooms, looking at faded photos. It doesn't make him feel much better, but he can't bring himself to leave.

thaleLast Thursday at 11:08 PM
You could say that Kit is the exact opposite. She lives in the moment and the future, never the past. That's unknown territory for her, but she's been plumeting into it as of recently. It's upsetting and unsettling. She knows it's a waste of time to dwell on it, but is it actually? She's spread across the couch when Richard enters- At first she looks alarmed, but she lays her head back down when she sees it's just him. "Salutations, Rich- I mean, Richard." She mumbles tiredly.

hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:09 PM
He really wasn't expecting to find anyone in here. In his startled response, he picks up his cane like a weapon, but quickly realises it's Kit, and lowers it. "Oh, Radovic. Why are you laying down in here? It's full of dust."

thaleLast Thursday at 11:10 PM
"Rod to the head, darling." Kit says with a humorless laugh, pointing at a healing wound on her forehead. "A little dust never hurt anyone."

hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:11 PM
"That wouldn't happen to be from an iron poker I saw a certain young man wielding, would it?" Richard moves closer, and squints at it.

thaleLast Thursday at 11:14 PM
"Possibly, possibly." She sounds annoyed, but mostly tired. "Come take a look." She says invitingly.

hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:14 PM
Richard mutters something under his breath that sounds a lot like 'not that kind of doctor', but comes to look anyway.

thaleLast Thursday at 11:15 PM
Kit would roll her eyes, but she's too fucked up to be snarky. It's healing well, but there's some dried blood still here and there.

hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:20 PM
"Hm. Well, it's clotted, so that's good. Look towards the light of the window for me?"
Time to check for concussion.

thaleLast Thursday at 11:22 PM
She follows his instructions, staring out the window. There might be a mild concussion. While he checks it out, she decides this seems like a good time. "...Hey, so, can I ask you somethin' real quick?"

hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:23 PM
Hmm, pupil dilation, but a mild squint. "Certainly."

thaleLast Thursday at 11:25 PM
"Uh...Hah, should've probably phrased it in hindsight. Ok." She seems very unsure all of a sudden, which is a stark difference to her usual confidence. "You have a kid, right?"

hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:28 PM
Richard's hand stills. A moment passes before he continues. "I do."

thaleLast Thursday at 11:29 PM
Kit clicks her tongue, her face twisting a little. "Well...I kinda do too, I was wonderin' if you could give some...advice."

hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:32 PM
Richard's eyebrows climb. "We're in a bit of a bad position here, away from our respective children. But I can offer something from my own experience perhaps."

thaleLast Thursday at 11:34 PM
"H...Hah, yeah." She sounds uncomfortable. "...Uh...Where do you get the drive to do all sorts of shit for them?"
"...And what would do you if your kid, like, thought you're against them or something."

hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:40 PM
Richard slowly lowers his hands. "... where do I... get the drive?" he looks confused, like he'd never even questioned it before. "... it took my wife and I 9 years of trying before we could have Remi. And even then, when they were born they were sickly, albino, intersex. We knew this would be the only one we would ever be able to have. I..." he looks at his hands. "When I held them in my arms for the first time, my only child, and I knew that they were completely unable to protect themselves, completely lacking in all knowledge, totally dependent on me for everything... I knew I had to protect them. I had created them, I'd wished for them for so long. They never asked to be in the world, I brought them into it with Amelia. So it was up to me to make sure they were alive and happy. I loved them from first sight." His hands clench into fists. "I would undo reality for them."

thaleLast Thursday at 11:43 PM
Kit feels this...unexplainable cold feeling inside of her. Like something is terribly wrong with her. Maybe there is. "Uh...man, I'm happy you managed to have 'em then." She says, thinking over what to say. "I don't really...get the love on first sight thing? Like, it just comes as soon as you lay your eyes upon them and them bam, you're ready to drop everything?"

hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:46 PM
"I suppose, after so long waiting, I'd already fallen in love before then. It was just that moment cemented for me what I needed to do for them..." he looks over to her, studying her face. "... your expression tells me this is not a familiar experience to you."

thaleLast Thursday at 11:47 PM
She can't help but laugh. Again, it's not humourous, but nervous and unsure. "Haha, yeah. Can't say that it was. To be honest with you, I can't even understand where my own mother got it from."

hellzabethLast Thursday at 11:49 PM
"Post-partum depression is extremely common in young mothers," he mentions. "Leading to feelings of being unable to connect with the child, feeling like your own life is over, inexplicable urges to harm yourself or the child or abandon it."

thaleLast Thursday at 11:51 PM
Kit frowns all of a sudden. "I didn't ask for a diagnosis, doc. It wasn't just post partum it was- the whole thing, really. That's not what I'm talking about though, alright?" She huffs. Somebody doesn't like talking about deep shit. "...Now, new question, say your kid as decided you're the root of their suffering and they want to kill you- and they just might. What do you do then?"

hellzabethYesterday at 12:08 AM
He holds his hands up. "Apologies. Merely a factoid," he comments. Things are starting to take shape in his head, though. "I would consider whether I had, actually, wronged them. As their parent, I am responsible for raising them. And if I somehow couldn't do that, finding them an environment where they would be raised in a healthy manner. If despite my best attempts to accommodate them, they still managed to hate me, well..." he trails off. "You may not like my answer. But if Remi was ever so dissatisfied with my actions as a parent as to hate me, I think I would rather let them kill me."

thaleYesterday at 11:33 AM
“Well, shit. That’s not really an option for me. No way I’m gonna let that...that...guy kill me.” She sneers. “I thought I found a good place for him, but apparently he wasn’t lucky. That’s not my fault.” She says that, but she doesn’t sound entirely convinced. “So. What’s the fuck am I gonna do?”

hellzabethYesterday at 5:53 PM
Richard doesn't look totally convinced either. "A baby cannot do anything. It cannot know anything. It is powerless. You, as a parent, were in a position of absolute power, and you misused it, maliciously or not. These are the consequences," he says flatly. "Your best bet is attempting some sort of reparations, though that might be too little too late."

thaleYesterday at 6:04 PM
"I was certainly not in power," Kit says with a heavy sigh. "Yeah. I think it might be too late as well. I mean...He's an adult, apparently- and he's convinced this is all part of my plan."

hellzabethYesterday at 6:15 PM
"Compared to a baby, anyone is powerful. Though I am intrigued as to what you mean by that," Richard tilts his head slightly.

thaleYesterday at 7:18 PM
"...To be honest with you, I'd rather not get into it too much. If it at least gives you some perspective- I was 19, married to a 31 year old fella and had no money. You can imagine the rest well enough."

hellzabethYesterday at 8:14 PM
Richard inclines his head. “Less than ideal circumstances. I understand. However, the disposal of the child was entirely within your hands, was it not?”

thaleYesterday at 8:18 PM
"...Jeez, disposal is a little rough, isn't it? I thought Rome seemed fitting, everything else after including my time is just pure shit."
"Just make it clear, I sure hope you've caught onto by now that it's "Nero", as he calls himself."

hellzabethYesterday at 9:19 PM
"I had gathered that. What on earth made you think that Rome, a place with no sanitation, no human rights, no childrens rights, no labour laws, and ruled by tyrannical dictators would be a better place for him?"

thaleYesterday at 9:22 PM
"We barely have any of those in '37 either," She mumbles. "...It was a peaceful era compared to everything else. I read orphans were treated quite nice too and...well, I was desperate- This really isn't the point."
".........I vaccinated him?"

hellzabethYesterday at 9:23 PM
Richard covers his face with his hands and sighs heavily. "You could have gone forward too... looked for somewhere. You had time. You quite literally had time."

thaleYesterday at 9:24 PM
"So they could trace him back to me and have me arrested by the authority? Listen, I asked for advice not for judgement."

hellzabethYesterday at 9:27 PM
He lowers his hands to look at her. "And I have given you my advice. I can only give it from the perspective I myself have. My entire reason for doing what I did, for being here at present, was for my family, for my child. I'm afraid you may find me utterly unrelatable in that respect."

thaleYesterday at 9:32 PM
"...I suppose so. So it really just...comes out of nowhere? You can't really force it, can you?" She sounds almost melancholic.

hellzabethYesterday at 9:33 PM
"I have never heard of anyone forcing love and having it work."

thaleYesterday at 9:34 PM
"Exactly." She mumbles. "Man, how did my mother do it..." She says with a sigh. "...If I were to make it right, what would I do then...?"

hellzabethYesterday at 9:37 PM
"You'd have to ask Nero. And then, be open to compromises. Offer to try to do better," he shrugs a shoulder. "But there's no guarantee he'll ever forgive you. And he has the right to choose not to, unfortunately for you, and there's nothing you can do about that. Just... don't do him the disservice of faking an emotion you don't feel. That is all I can say."

thaleYesterday at 9:37 PM
"Shiiiit." Kit groans and drags her hands down her face. "...You know, he was actually scarier as a baby."

hellzabethYesterday at 9:38 PM
Richard looks bemused at that. "How."

thaleYesterday at 9:42 PM
"Not like, phyically," She lets out a laugh to her own surprise. "He was the chubbiest fucking baby I've ever seen. You should've seen his cheeks. Man...but it was like...he was so vunerable it scared me, for real. Like, a life in my hands. He was just too small."

hellzabethYesterday at 10:01 PM
"I see. So the same feeling that inspired in me a surge of protectiveness... frightened you," he nods, interested.

thaleYesterday at 10:02 PM
"It inspired you? Huh. That is pretty interesting, ain't it." Wow wonder if it has anything with your emotionally distant mother kit

hellzabethYesterday at 10:03 PM
"Quite. I wonder what factors lead to that," he ponders, cogs whirring. "I'm no psychologist, mind you."

thaleYesterday at 10:04 PM
"Honestly? I think I just wasn't build to be a mom. I'm missing something fundemental, I think."