CELL PHONE LOG - BARRETT <-> MORGAN

[gluttoning]

Comments

[tablescraps]

( ... Something in his mouth... Scratched up...?

Mm...

...

Oh, that was... )

... Fugu. Pufferfish. I fished one up in Lumina Cloth.

1/???

[gluttoning]

[Pufferfish?]

[gluttoning]

[wait a second]

/3 ok ur good

[gluttoning]

I was right?!

somewhere shay sighs in relief

[tablescraps]

Oh, did you figure it out?

( Said in a "good job" tone. )

just a bit of unease somewhere in shay's life

[gluttoning]

Oh. No. Not by myself. You had something your mouth that was labeled weird - "FQ". From a fishing item.

All I guessed was that it was a quill. Maybe for a fish you ate. Everyone else did the rest.

[A tiny victory. But he won't pretend he figured anything useful out.]

Isn't fugu poisonous?

[tablescraps]

( Inch resting... )

... Yes. I think... I was testing to see if it had poisonous properties... and if those properties would come into effect when fished up ahead of official release. Lumina Cloth has no fishing locations yet... if I'm remembering right.

( He closes his eyes, the sound of fabric shifting as he lies back down, his voice a little less far from the receiver... )

... And it wasn't associated with the ID of a fugu fish. It was associated with the ID of an Acanthaster - it fought me. So I wondered if it functioned as a fugu at all...

( In short, everyone who speculated he would get himself killed testing the game was absolutely right. )

[gluttoning]

You couldn't heal yourself at all after the dungeon you went to, right? That's what Okoto told us.

[...]

The one that DV sent you.

[tablescraps]

( Thinking... )

... What injuries were on my body, again...?

[gluttoning]

[A very significant pause.]

A lot. Lots of bruises - there were these circle shaped ones we couldn't figure out. Your neck was sliced up, and you had some bad burns.

Your mouth and throat were scratched up and red, too, but I guess that was the fish.

[tablescraps]

... Acanthaster-fugu, Headhunter, Red Wyrm. And... cuts from a Thousand Tree, right?

( He presumes. He's remembering what he fought - better than he remembers anything personal or orienting, like what day it is. )

I thought the Area prevented me healing, but... maybe it was the fugu...?

[gluttoning]

Yeah, under your arms. That's what other people thought, too.

[...]

I don't think it was the area.

[tablescraps]

... I think I was just annoyed at DV.

( He can be biased when he's annoyed, absolutely. )

[gluttoning]

He's... they're pretty hard to figure out, right.

[He's tired. It slips.]

[tablescraps]

( ? )

You've spoken to... him?

( "He"...? Did he catch that right? )

[gluttoning]

[A pause. A muffled muttering of "shit" from behind a covering hand.]

...

I...

...Please don't ask, Morgan. I can't tell you right now.

[tablescraps]

( ... )

... Did he contact you after I "died"...?

[gluttoning]

I can't say anything, Morgan.

[It's firmer than he wants, tinged with panic. A bad liar, pinched by his own fault. But he lets out a breath, shaking.]

You and I and DV will all be in a lot of danger if I say anything. So... I didn't say anything.

...

I'll tell you when it's safe. That isn't now.

Please.

[A plead.]

[tablescraps]

( mentally ratshakes

He's quiet for a time. )

... What counts as "safe"?

[gluttoning]

[...]

I don't know right now.

[Something like a smile creeps into his tone. Faint, barely there.]

There's a lot I wish I could tell you. But... there's people I need to keep safe first.

Like you.

[tablescraps]

( ... )

... You... were the one who said you couldn't do that all by yourself... right?

Let me help you.

[gluttoning]

[The pause extends, if only for how the statement settles a pit into his stomach.

Okay, he wants to say.

I'll trust you, he wants to say.

...]

I...

I'm sorry.

Please. Trust me when I say I can't. I can't, Morgan. Especially not right now.

But it won't be forever. I promise it won't.

[tablescraps]

( He's bothered, but he doesn't have the words for this. It's just ... something that sits bad at the back of his throat. )

... It would have been forever, if I hadn't woken back up.

( He exhales slow. He can't wrench it out of Barrett right now, and, despite everything, unearthing information on DV is a hobby, not a priority. So he doesn't pursue it as doggedly as he could - not yet.

But he does want to say that much. )

I'll trust you. Just remember to trust me, too.

[gluttoning]

[It hits that pit even harder, something painful and forthright. There was a lot he had churned within his own mind - things he wished he'd said or done or warned about. Things that could have helped. Things he didn't want to regret.

He'd wanted to be more honest. This was one of the things he knew couldn't break that... no matter how much he wanted.

It drags the regret into his words off the weighted waves of fatigue.]

I know. I know, I'm sorry. There's so much that I... I-I thought you were dead until an hour ago, Morgan, this isn't what I--

...I really thought I wouldn't get to tell you anything else.

[He'd said his goodbyes. Now, though relieved, he's left scrambling with feelings he couldn't quite place.]

I do trust you. I haven't told anyone else about this.

But... It's like before. Sometimes what I want... it isn't what's good for both of us right now. I trust you. I trust you.

But I still shouldn't have said anything.

[tablescraps]

... I won't tell anyone.

( He says it like a promise, even if he doesn't say as much.

He shifts, so he's at least turned toward the phone - his voice is a little closer, now, if somewhat muffled by the pillow against his cheek. )

... You can't decide what's good for me or not. ( For example... ) I'd be happy, if you came now. But... I don't have the desire to tell you to do what you can't do.