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[h2no]

Yo! Water you doin', you missed me! Bwhahahahaha! Leave a message and Archie'll get back to you when Archie deems the time to be right!

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[h2no]

Being safe is nice. That's partly why I decided to live in a cave the last few years at home.

[harder to find, too, but martin doesn't need to know that part.]

What about the people? Ones who weren't like Alex. Ones that you didn't feel bad when you saw. There's, uh, your sister, right?

[darkov]

[it's weird, bringing the cave thing up again. a cave sounds dark and sad and scary...but Archie is none of those things.

...well. not most of those things.]

Uh, yes. Regina. She's older than me. I only have one sibling. Some of the others have more.

[h2no]

Alright. [he hums for a moment.] What's she like?

[he's asked this before, but it's a solid foundation to work off, he thinks.]

[darkov]

She's... Kind. And...mostly quiet, but. She knows how to talk to the others. And she's good at making...small weapons. Needles.

[...]

Her hair is very long. She used to make me braid it for her.

[h2no]

She sounds nice. [he almost follows that up with a hope she'll be ported in, but that feels far too cruel. he can silently hope, instead. check the comm lists every now and then.] An' that's a good skill to have. Braiding stuff is harder than it looks! It took me months to learn with Shelly constantly trying to teach me...

[a little tangent, but:] How long'd it take you to learn?

[darkov]

I, uh... [...how long DID it take.

uh.]

I don't actually remember, sorry... It was a while back. Back after I messed up that hunt. She made me do that since I...wasn't doing anything else at the time.

[Martin? depressed enough as to be unmoving? unprecedented.]

[h2no]

[wild concept!!]

Ah. That was good of her. [a very small part of him is slightly bitter he had no support like that, but it's smothered very quickly.] What does home look like? Stop me if I'm boring you.

[he just wants to know more about martin's home. wants to maybe take his mind off alex for a bit before he asks about him again.]

[darkov]

Oh, uh, no, it's fine. I mean... [Martin did call him. he may as well talk.

exhale.]

She...she's tall. Well--maybe as tall as Cassandra? Taller than you. But not Rex, um. Her hair's darker brown than mine, and her skin's whiter, too. Her fingers are really long... I, I think that's because of her conjures. Um...

[h2no]

Your, uh, conjures affect your biology?

[that... makes sense, actually.]

You have those things on your hands because of yours, aye?

[it's interesting-- he knows martin isn't human but it's easy to forget the little things when they look so much like people. which... is literally the point, good job archie, you fell for luma propaganda.]

[darkov]

Right. Mine are...well. Since it's so big, the lance...it gets like that. I'm--it'd be better, uh...maintained, back home. If any Lumas were here to do it, but...it's fine.

[h2no]

I-- yes, I remember your lance. [there's a pause after he says that. was it this martin or the double that he got the lance from? it was so long ago and he was half-conscious for most of it he doesn't remember. well, anyway, power on:] Maintained?

[a pause. that actually worries him enough to disrupt his train of thought.]

What does that mean?

[darkov]

Well... [the apprehension in his voice is for Archie's sake, instead of his own for a change.] If you're conjuring all the time, the wounds...they need care. Stitching. Or...or reopening, if it starts to heal over too much. It helps make sure...next time you conjure, it isn't so messy or painful.

[h2no]

You're not... having any problems with yours, are you?

[darkov]

Mmh, well. I...um.

It was bad when I wasn't...conjuring every day. Like I was supposed to. But it's better now. Just--kind of messy.

[h2no]

Good. As long as it's not hurting...

[he sighs-- there's a lot more there he's concerned about but he'll shelf it for now. it's not hurting him and that's the important thing.]

How do the different types of your conjures work?

[more questions. easier than just asking what alex's conjure might be. maybe it's a big hefty one like martin, if he's so worried about the damage this guy could do.]

[darkov]

[hurting less, anyway. Martin decides that doesn't need to be clarified, however.]

Um...it...depends. On the exit points, I mean. Wrists and hands are easiest to manage, since you can...see what you're doing. But others are better at working at different points.

Shoulders...legs...elbows... It--it almost always needs to be a joint or...somewhere with enough means to make it leave your body.

[h2no]

[mARIN!!!]

Huh. [it sounds a lot like spike cannon-- though he's not about to tell martin it makes him think of his pokémon, not if he's not entirely sure they're not actually just animals. there's a lot he still doesn't understand-- like how such a big thing came out of such a small goblin, but, well. sometimes it be like that.] That's quite fascinating. Are you taught about all this as children?

[darkov]

Uh-huh. You have to. Otherwise you...you get too big, and your body gets set in its ways, and you can't do anything.

That's what they say, anyway.

[and there's some truth in there, unbeknownst to him; it's why Alex struggled so much when his hands were damaged. having to retrain using a different exit point at the age he was at was...torture.]

[h2no]

Sounds like you might not believe them.

[darkov]

Huh? I—no, it’s not like that. It’s just...I mean, I wouldn’t know any better either way. And neither would anyone else, so...

[its not like there’s Darkovs coming in from other worlds to help confirm...]

[h2no]

Alright.

[he's not sure he believes that, actually. it's not the first time he's thought he's picked up some frustration or distaste from martin for how things work back home.]

Do you know what you'd do if any other Darkovs were Ported in? [this is a little bit of a sideswipe-- he hopes it's not too much for martin to switch gears on.]

[darkov]

[as probably expected, it gives Martin pause -- a bit more than usual.

speaking more carefully, as he picks at the thoughts as he goes:] I...have thought about it a lot, yeah. But...I've never figured out what the best thing to do would be. And how that would be different if it were Regina or...or like Bruce or Grandfather. Or if it were Gracia, since she's younger, and I'd have to...figure out how to take care of her.

[another beat.]

Or...any of them...since they don't know this place at all. I, I don't know how I'd do it.

[h2no]

Would writing it down help? You can dictate it and I'll note it, if you want. Sometimes it helps to get all the words out your brain.

[it would also be useful to reference if martin was ever ported out and another darkov came in, or if martin himself came back with no memory.]

You would still have support. I understand it would be hard for someone who doesn't know how things are in this universe, but it's not solely your responsibility.

[darkov]

[there's another pause.]

...If...If they could stay here, with me and Rex...maybe that would be good. The house is quiet. Outside is, too, I guess.

[h2no]

[he nods with a smile.]

That's good! That's a start. I'm sure they'd appreciate the help... but we can worry about that if it happens. Would it help if I asked Poe to maybe add their names to BB8's list? Then he can tell us if anyone else is added to the list.