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[ourtomorrow]

My name is Ken. I need a job and a roommate.

[ ...that's it, right? Those were the first steps recommended to him, and they make sense. If this world can only be saved by people touching, then first Ken has to find people he's comfortable enough around to touch. He needs to form relationships.

He has no idea how. But he has to.

The world depends on him. ]

Thank you.

[ ....incidentally, anyone walking by Ainea's temple might notice a kid sitting outside of it, absently yet intently people-watching. ]

Comments

[ourtomorrow]

Then, do you mostly work?

[ There's something very - familiar - about someone who says she isn't "knowledgeable" about non-productive ways to "fill up time." ]

[shroudedsecrets]

[ What a call out, but she has to admit it was warranted there. ]

Mostly.

However, I do have companions who won't stand for it being all I do. As much as sometimes finding something else to do can be a task in itself.

[ourtomorrow]

It is difficult, isn't it.

I'm glad you've found companions.

[ People who can help someone discover all the things that are out there they'd never noticed. People who look out for her.

Ken's not going to say "friends" because that isn't the word she used, but that's how he considers those people in his own life. ]

[shroudedsecrets]

[ She'd used the word 'companion' because the people it covered varied; from those she considered family, to friends varyingly aware of her circumstances, some complex and others not. Though she's usually cautious about the 'friend' word and how she uses it, due to how new the concept really is. ]

It is. I am grateful for them.

But that is why I offer you the reminder as well.

[ourtomorrow]

We might be a little similar, I think.

[ Is that too much to assume, based on how little he knows? It is, isn't it. Ken has to fix this. ]

Possibly.

[shroudedsecrets]

[ She hopes not for his sake, one would not wish such circumstances upon others, but hard to deny that she'd felt similar inclinations about him. ]

It is possible. Though I know it is always a surprise to discover when... people are more alike than one would expect them to be, even if their lives and circumstances are vastly different.

[ourtomorrow]

[ She's being - understanding? And she agrees? But doesn't that imply... ]

I don't think I mind it. If people can resemble each other despite their different backgrounds, then even though everyone can only be themselves, no one is alone.

[ what grade was he in, again ]

[shroudedsecrets]

[ They don't teach that in schools, probably. Or to people who've lived far longer than expected. ]

it does seem so, when you put it that way. but it also seems a rarer way of thinking at times. we work hard to come to that understanding, even if in the end it is... not so difficult.

[ Had there not been people in their lives to create the need and understanding of that lesson to begin with, would they not have seen it so clearly? ]

[ourtomorrow]

It's the things you work hardest for that are most worth having.

[ Nothing easy is ever satisfying, in the end. It appeals only because it involves less effort. But without the ability to see things through, even when they hurt....

And then, like she says, there's a break in the clouds in one's mind, and everything is the same yet utterly different. And it's...better. Not gone. Not easy. But better. ]

[shroudedsecrets]

you are quite wise. it is something to hold onto. to not fall back on habits that may have led us astray.

[ All things considered, he is quite lucky for his age and circumstance that he was able to find his way to such a path and line of thought much sooner, so long as he doesn't lose himself to the opposite extreme. ]

[ourtomorrow]

Right.

[ "Wise"? He's no such thing. A wise person wouldn't have rejected himself and others like that. Wouldn't have failed to see how much he had.

But it's not like he never came to see that, is it...? ]

...Thank you.

[shroudedsecrets]

[ One sometimes only becomes "wise" because of the eventual learning from prior experience, not because they avoided it entirely. He "wised up" because he had people close to him able to make him see reality instead of spiraling further out of control, and uses that to pave his future.

It's a complicated word, 'wise', as she so often wilts similarly when others try to apply it to herself, as it can feel an unearned description when one attributes so much personally to the others around them instead, leaving the disasters as their own merits. ]

... Of course. You need not thank me for an observation. Although if it comes up that you're... looking for assistance in other ways, or face another uncertainty, you are more than welcome to ask.

[ourtomorrow]

I will.

[ He almost uses an exclamation point but that looks too bold, so he fixes the text before sending it. He's doing all right here, isn't he? He's met some very kind people, and...

....


Well, he can work up to holding hands with them. ]