npc contact.3

[adsum]

full navigation

As the game progresses, different npc faculty and students will become available for threading. To request a thread, please comment below with the name of the npc and the ic date in the subject header. Threads may be cut short due to mod availability, so please have a reason in mind for the interaction.

✽ index
✽ post 1
✽ post 2
✽ post 3
✽ post 4

Comments

[crystallomancy]

( His eye can't help but follow it, and... Natsume is getting a passing grade in tally lore, which is something all people strive to achieve. He doesn't move his hand to his own tallies, but his left hand shifts and he takes a bite of the pasteli.

..................Not that big of a fan but it's fine. )

So you could tell me how I received any tallies I don't remember the source OF. Is that IT?

[adsum]

[ You're the talley keeper... I'm counting on you ]

I could, but would that do you any good? What are you hoping to learn... and what would you do with that knowledge?

[ let's (: talk about you (: natsume-kun ]

[crystallomancy]

( Unfortunately... I do actually have a tally column in his CR chart so (puts 0 for Counselor) thank you for this lore. )

Humans learn history to avoid repeating their misTAKES. Presumably, that's what anyone would desire from their tallIES. ( ... ) But I'm not interesTED.

( Well, that's not entirely true. He is, but would it really matter at this point? Maybe he killed someone. Maybe he was the victim. It hasn't meant anything at this point, to him, even if it bothers him just a little... )

What I am interested IN... ( Natsume pauses, considering how to word this. Delicate, delicate, conversations like this always are. ) ...The how of IT.

[adsum]

[ There's that slow smile on the counselor's face, the subconscious one a person wears when they're very interested in something. Natsume really is...

... ]

How you killed, or how you died? To what ends... It's not knowledge you necessarily need to refine a method. Or is it morbid curiosity? For many, there is a mental block turning them away from thoughts of life and death.

[ But not everybody. For some, that morbid curiosity is irresistible. ]

Tell me more.

[crystallomancy]

( A mental block—he thinks about Akira's words, how some people won't remember because they don't want to, or that they do because they do want to... )

I hope it won't come as a disappointment to YOU, Sensei, but I meant how you revoke your seal on THEM.

( :) ... )

That's how you unbury them isn't IT? I remembered that word in the halls is that you can seal them in the first PLACE, so I assume reversing it would allow us to remember just what hapPENED. I don't mind if I'm wrong; that just allows for an opportunity to LEARN.

( Well, in this context, he doesn't mind being wrong, unless someone's an ass about him missing something. )

[adsum]

[ Oh. That is disappointing. ]

You want to learn how to unblock memories? Your own, or somebody else's?

[crystallomancy]

( ........Maybe now he does— )

They aren't done the same WAY?

[adsum]

One's your own head, and the other is somebody else's.

[ One's called remembering, the other's called ...counseling, or something. ]

[crystallomancy]

( If he could choose... )

...Someone ELSE.

[adsum]

What for? What do you hope to gain by dredging up somebody else's memories? People tend to lock away memories they'd rather forget, after all.

[ He unlocks somebody's memories and he'll make them bleed, picking apart a scab that's more fragile than it looks.

But, between himself and Natsume, it would be the one sitting there in front of him who is better suited in helping another to heal. ]

[crystallomancy]

And then they find themselves steeped in curiosiTY, wondering what those memories could have BEEN. It's not like I'd go around picking at just anyone's old WOUNDS.

( Even he's not that cruel. )

...Embracing the past isn't necessary to HEAL, ( he continues softly, breaking the pasteli into smaller pieces, ) and TRUE, sometimes it might be better to leave it covered by up time or represSION. It's certainly easier to face forward--I won't hold any illusions about THAT.

But people are at risk of repeating the same mistakes they might have made to earn those locked memories if they don't have something to look back on for referENCE. ( something that's been on his mind, for a few months. ) If nothing ELSE, I find trying to prevent those kinds of tragedies to be worthWHILE.



( Also no lie but he's kind of a nosy bitch )

[adsum]

A singular death is always significant to the person involved. And then there is the larger picture.

[ The counselor leans back on his desk, arms outspread in gesture to his office— the school, the world. ]

Years upon years of mistakes from people who do remember, even if only subconsciously. If only they were faster... if only they were stronger... if only they'd struck first, taking out the threat before it could kill them.

[ He drops his hands, leaning forward to peer at Natsume. ]

You did well, preventing your tragedy.

[crystallomancy]

( He feels vindicated—finally, words he's wanted to hear from months, that he was right to strike first,

and at the same time, it doesn't settle well with him, how pleased he feels to be complimented in such a way, and he ignores the clawing in his stomach to offer the counselor a polite smile. )

Thank you very MUCH. I'd like to see the end of the school YEAR.

( "I didn't want to die," but they're already dead. Seeing the end of the school year is a much better way to put it. )

Do you remember every student's talLIES?

( because that's QUITE A LOT. )

[adsum]

[ ... ]

You're well on your way, as long as you keep being you.

[ There's no need for him to say anything else about that, nor does he think Natsume is one of the students to be reminded of this. But then they're back to the tallies. ]

If I make an effort, otherwise those tallies are remembered in broad strokes. Some are more interesting than others, as you can imagine.

[crystallomancy]

( ... )

What's the most interesting one you can rememBER? Keep your names; I understand patient confidentiality is imporTANT, and I'm not that interested to know who they ARE.

( just what they did. )

[adsum]

The fire.

[ Technically, this falls under the umbrella of "broad strokes" but, for this reason or that, it was an event he found immensely intriguing. ]

Your turn. Which has interested you the most, this school year?

[crystallomancy]

( ...

It might be nice to say that absolutely none of them did, but that isn't the truth, and Natsume eats a little more of the pasteli before he answers. He's thinking about the question, even if there's really only one answer, and it's for personal reasons, too. )

The ones that occurred in September, with the soul switchING. That's the type of thing you expect to read about in manga or see in anime or a video GAME, so naturally it piqued my interEST.

,.

[adsum]

It really is a new experience for you, isn't it? As you've realized, that isn't the case for many other people here, even those you would expect nothing out of the ordinary for.

[ People who are just normal people, doing normal things... when their "normal" is soul switching and memory stealing and being a magician is the most mundane thing in comparison. ]

Did you want to learn that as well? Seeing what it's capable of.

[crystallomancy]

( Natsume sits up, eyes wide--he slowly sits back though, lips pursed. It would... be a great opportunity to study more in-depth how it works, how to reverse it. As well... )

Is this all conjecTURE?

( or is sensei actually open to teaching him. )

[adsum]

Depends on who you ask. You have a sensei capable of such things already.

[ Not one who would willingly teach him, but maybe if he states his case. Studying how it works, how to reverse it, how to save a fractured soul or if it can even be saved. ]

[crystallomancy]

( ... )

And the talLIES?

[adsum]

You have a sensei capable of those too.

[ ... ]

[crystallomancy]

( They got sooo off track from Natsume's original intent but somehow this is still fine. )

Please teach ME.

[adsum]

What will you give me in return, mister "I do not like owing debts"?

[ Mister equivalent exchange. What is it that he could possibly offer the counselor? It's like having to deal with Maya all over again. ]

[crystallomancy]

( The counselor needs to be cuter and younger. )

...I've found it difficult to figure out what to offer people who've been here longer than ME. ( To put it plainly. ) Information isn't of interest to any of YOU, and I'm sure you understand more about this place than anyone else here short of Kazuki-san.

( Well. Even then, Kazuki's is kind of limited. Natsume looks off, slowly finishing his snack. What can he offer? )

...Are you the type of counselor interested in unethical practiCES?