Hadriel IC Contact

[solvethepuzzle]

"This is Near. I assume you know what to at this point."
Text | Voice | Video
(Good luck ever getting video from him. But if you want to . . .)

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[solvethepuzzle]

[And he's entertained enough himself to humour it. He actually hasn't had "vampire" suggested to him before. Then again, he might have had he been on that particular Jaunt. In any event, the second suggestion is more fun to play with.]

And whose friend would I be? [He has no friends. He knows this and is fine with it. Even if he and Mello are making efforts to get along better now, it's certainly not a friendship by any stretch.]

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[unitas]

Mello's. You were developed in childhood as a coping mechanism, and though he's tried, he's really never been able to shake you. [ It's more than a little ridiculous, but she's all right with that. ]

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[solvethepuzzle]

He didn't do a very good job of creating a friend, then, since he's always disliked me so much.

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[unitas]

He can't have disliked you that much if he's willing to die for you. [ Or what you stand for. ] But we could call you an imaginary companion instead?

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[solvethepuzzle]

[He actually frowns briefly at that. He's never been happy with that decision of Mello's -- and his death had hurt him as few things have.]

Less so now. But he hated me quite a bit when we were children.

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[unitas]

You can't really blame him. You were better, at least in the eyes of whoever it was that mattered there. That kind of shit breeds contempt.

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[solvethepuzzle]

I do not recall saying I blame him or don't understand why. It was a competitive environment. It's only to be expected.

[But the contempt had never gone both ways.]

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[unitas]

[ She'd apologize for the assumption, but that's not really her style. ] Did you never feel the same?

[ Even as disconnected as he seems, surely that kind of pressure bred some form of dislike for his fellow. ]

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[solvethepuzzle]

[He doesn't care whether she apologizes or not. It doesn't matter.]

No, I did not. [His contempt had been reserved for those unable to keep up, and those that would fawn over him in attempts to be in the good graces of the top student in an institution where intelligence had been everything. Mello had been able to keep up, and challenged him instead of praising him.]

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[unitas]

Why? [ It could just have been another one of those feelings things he doesn't seem to have, or maybe it was because he never had to be the one fighting to come out on top. ]

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[solvethepuzzle]

[It's true that he never had to fight very hard to stay on top; he is naturally gifted and makes no apologies for that. That perhaps is part of it.]

Why should I? That someone could compete was refreshing. [Nobody else could measure up. Could Matt have, if he'd bothered? It doesn't matter. And Near had never held any contempt for him either as he hadn't been a member of the fawning crowds. Indifference, but not contempt.]

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[unitas]

Ah. I'm guessing you never told him that back then? [ Things have changed between Near and Mello now, she knows that. It kind of seems like their whole relationship could have been different if things were just done... right, whatever right really means. Maybe as children they were just too different. Even now, they may as well be as different as night and day. ]

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[solvethepuzzle]

I should not need to spell everything out for him.

[There is more to it than that. It would have been showing a weakness, a crack in the armor. Not something he had been about to do back when they'd still been competing, and something he'd been loathe to do even here.]

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[unitas]

Some things you do. Like that, for instance. It can help someone in ways you probably couldn't understand.

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[solvethepuzzle]

There had been enough clues for him to figure it out then, had he taken the time to look at things more objectively.

[Yes, he is defending this by framing it as respecting Mello's intelligence. Which he actually does.]

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[unitas]

Clues are all fine and dandy, but when someone isn't picking up what you're putting down, it's time to change tactics. [ no matter their intellect. ]

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[solvethepuzzle]

Who said I was leaving them deliberately?

[One or two, perhaps. But even those he more expected Mello to take as taunts or attempts to hold leverage.]

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[unitas]

You're telling me you expected him to catch on to clues that you didn't even realize you were leaving? Someone needs to sit you down in front of a television and put on some PBS.

[ you need some social skills near and only elmo can do this right ]

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[solvethepuzzle]

"Expect" is a strong word.

Why? [Look, it's not that he hasn't heard of PBS, he just doesn't know what kind of programming is on it. Why should he? Nobody at the House has had a normal childhood to the point where it's arguable none of them have had a childhood at all.]

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[unitas]

Because you need help only Sesame Street can give you. Oscar the Grouch has more social skills than you and he lives in a fucking trash can.

Sesame Street is a children's show, by the way, to help children develop important skills like counting, and how not to be a total dick.

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[solvethepuzzle]

I know how to count.

[Yes he's deliberately leaving it at that because he thinks it's funny.]

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[unitas]

[ :| ]

...You're a little bit of an ass, aren't you?

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[solvethepuzzle]

Hadn't we already established that?

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[unitas]

I always like to remind myself of these things. [ lbr, it's really more of a reminder for him and not her. ] You should work on it.