EMPATHEIAS IC CONTACT

[sadisticwarfare]

IC CONTACT

( Please include the date in the subject! ) code by jerky

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[sadisticwarfare]

[Oh. Oh no...]

Kimbley. Listen to me.

[It's firm and authoritative, but he doesn't sound angry or upset.]

Whatever it is you took will wear off eventually. You're going to be alright. You're not alone right now and I won't stop talking until you're ready for me to. I'm here.

[...but goddamn is he bad at talking about unrelated things, um--]

I know you don't remember it, but would you like me to tell you what happened when I finally managed to get you reinstated to the military?

[alchemicals]

Yeah.

[...]

Please.

[sadisticwarfare]

Of course.

[STORY TIME.....]

At that point it had been several months since... since the raid on the Devil's Nest. You were staying in my house since Bradley refused to offer you housing anywhere else, but we'd grown closer at that point.

I hadn't told you much about what was going on, aside from how difficult Bradley was being with your reinstatement, so you weren't expecting the promotion to Lieutenant Colonel as well as the reinstatement. I didn't tell you this directly; instead I left a note for you to find.

[...because of course he did.]

You didn't say anything about it but when I came home from work the next day you had prepared a cake for me. It had strawberries on it; I wasn't aware you were allergic to them until you told me.

[The crystal's warming up and Archer actually sounds... really content? Happy, even?]

I told you about Liore then, though plans hadn't been finalized. You were very excited to finally get a chance to fight.

[AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED... but he's trying not to let that dampen the mood too much.]

Nagging Bradley incessantly to get your promotion was worth it. I'm glad I was able to do that for you.

[alchemicals]

[He doesn't respond right away; there's a good long period of silence, actually, though the general sense that he's still there is present. So that much is probably good.

Archer isn't going to fill in that fucking blank spot where Liore happened, but that doesn't mean that Kimbley won't do it himself eventually.]

Why are you still dealing with me? I fucking failed and you know it.

[sadisticwarfare]

[That catches him completely off-guard and it takes him a long moment to recover.

...The mix of emotions through the crystal can be best described as "what the fuck, kimbley".]

I... That isn't important to me. I know it was and that's what you remember, but things changed. I can't tell you exactly when they changed, but it stopped being about how useful you were to me.

You're my friend, Kimbley. Failure - yours or mine - isn't going to get me to stop seeking you out.

[alchemicals]

[God, that's just greeted with more silence before he just kind of- ]

...I'll talk to you later.

[And for a moment that's all he really offers, before he taps again maybe a moment later because he realized that probably sounded a little dire?]

We're dealing with it. Kid's got something that'll get rid of it, I'll talk to you later once everything's out of my system.

[sadisticwarfare]

[He appreciates the amendment there...]

...Alright. Take care.

[alchemicals]

[...Well, it'll be a while before he responds again, but...]

Hey. Just thought I'd let you know that everything's okay and no one's dead or anything.

[sadisticwarfare]

I'm glad to hear it.

[...the relief is pretty obvious in both his voice and over the crystal...]

Are you feeling better now?

[alchemicals]

Pretty damn, yeah. The others we were messing with weren't half that bad - they didn't really do anything at all, so...

Yeah, it's okay.

[sadisticwarfare]

...What was the one that messed you up?

[Fear? It definitely wasn't anger or hatred or anything like that, so...]

[alchemicals]

Fear, actually.

[Got it in one.]

It was supposed to make you afraid of being left behind or left alone, and being unable to do anything about it. I think we can both see where that went wrong.

[sadisticwarfare]

...Oh.

[oh god]

I'm sorry, that... That must have been terrible. Are you sure you're alright?

[alchemicals]

...I think so.

[And that's...a bit less confident, but it doesn't seem too bad.]

It was pretty bad? But I'll be all right.

[sadisticwarfare]

...Do you want to come over?

[He's not sure how much that will help, but he'd feel better, alright.]

[alchemicals]

[He knows. And it probably says something when he doesn't pick on Archer for it.]

...I'd like that, actually.

[sadisticwarfare]

[He really does appreciate it, alright...]

Of course. I need a bit to clean up, but come over whenever you'd like.

[..."clean up" like it's not already spotless...]

[alchemicals]

Liar.

[He'll cut the connection, though; give him something like twenty minutes.]

[sadisticwarfare]

[r u d e

But he'll let you in once you get here, alright.]

[alchemicals]

[He appreciates it; couch as always, then.]

I probably upset you pretty bad earlier.

[It's not really an apology, but one's implied. Maybe.]

[sadisticwarfare]

I was worried about you.

[Which is pretty normal, all things considered.]

It's good that you're doing better now. You've never sounded like that before.

[...because he was afraid....... does he sound like that when he's afraid??]

[alchemicals]

I'd say not; I usually don't get like that.

[He's usually not afraid of anything, after all.]

[sadisticwarfare]

I know.

[He's really not sure what to say about that. Is it good that Kimbley was able to experience it? Maybe, but all it's doing is making him anxious.]

...I'm sorry I couldn't help more.

[alchemicals]

[...Oh.

That seems to strike him a bit strangely, actually. And maybe it's because he's been kind of emotionally weird all day - who knows - but that actually gets a reaction out of him, albeit a minor one.

It's not the same sort of intensity as Silver's caring concern that he puts out there sometimes, but the temperature does rise a bit - it's not a spike, it's light, but still.]

Hey, no. You did what I needed you to do, it's fine.

[sadisticwarfare]

Did I?

[It's not pointed, it's just an off-handed remark and not one he intends to pursue. The rise in temperature is really nice though. Kimbley usually doesn't do that.]

I'm glad I could do something for you, then.