FOREST COVERED: IC CONTACT

[standingonmyneck]

"If this is a prank call, then hang up and know that someone is always watching. For all other calls, remain on the line to spout out your word vomit. You have thirty seconds."

[Mail | Physical | Voice]

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[standingonmyneck]

[The sheer delusion here...It was astounding. Not even the jokes she used to know back home would be fooled by this. She'd like to think. At least with Kevin and Brittany, it would all just fly over their heads probably.

Anyway, where was she?

She was sure her brain juice started leaking by this point.]

So who is that? Who is the Larix that you want to share to everyone? The Larix you want to present to the world so badly that you'd get up on stage and regurgitate sheer charm.

[firstloser]

The... the naturally charming me...?

[Smaller sounds follow, like glass grinding together.

He's not liking this line of questioning, but he's not really sure how to deflect it, either. He begins fiddling with the fringe of his hair for the sake of giving his hands something to do.]

I'm me, that's all there is to it.

[standingonmyneck]

[Suddenly, it happened. The plate made from glass fell right onto the floor, into small pieces. All scattered across the floor were those shards, and each represented a piece of this conversation. Completely deconstructed.

But the shock of the plate breaking made the hall go silent.

Riye looked right at him with her brown, serious, stoic eyes. The light only reflecting slightly on her glasses. Those eyes would be trying to cut right through his soul.

A break. A crack.

He doesn't know.

She should relent, but there was something just happening here.]

If that's what you really think, then there's probably not a lot you could be able to put into the book you want to write before you hit a brick wall.

[firstloser]

[Look at me. Notice me! Words he hadn't spoken aloud, but begged silently through every action he ever made, from pouring his heart out on the stage to dressing in eye-catching (and eye-gouging) outfits. But now that he's being so closely scrutinized, he shrinks away from Riye's piercing gaze.]

Hah... Well... My legend isn't over just yet...

[A break. A crack. A whole spider's web of fractures.

Larix's ego, the self he's so keen on presenting, is as ornamental as it is delicate. It's been straining under the pressure of all the challenges to his reality that Koriko has presented, and under the weight of Riye's gaze, it finally shatters. Transparent blue glass shards fall around his feet - not even metaphorically, but real glass - and break into even smaller pieces, scattering across the floor.]

Ah-

[He takes a step back, a few pieces crunching beneath the high heel of his shoe.]

[standingonmyneck]

[...Wait that wasn't figurative.

That was REAL glass. Honest to god GLASS. She wasn't imagining it. It was REALLY GLASS.

She looked onto the ground and saw shards of blue scattered everywhere around Larix. His foot even crushed some.

She was so focused on trying to get Larix to understand what she was saying but where did this glass come from?

There was a perplexed look on her face, a clear look of some shock. There were no words, only swirling thoughts. Larix didn't carry any glass on him on his person. Did she DO something?]

[firstloser]

[He's not sure what to do.

What to say.

Riye's bored right through his facade but there's nothing underneath. He's hollow and empty. Just as shallow as her implicit accusations.

Being called out once or twice on being some kind of phony has never bothered Larix too much. He's always been pretty good at brushing things right off and bouncing back in no time at all. But Koriko's so different from home. Everything has a much more lasting effect. This was just the straw that broke the camel's back. The truth that broke his illusion.]

Uh... Let's forget about the whole thing for now.

[He loved the idea of an autobiography. Much like he loved the idea of himself. Being faced with analyzing the contents was another matter entirely.

He takes another step back, his fingers curling and uncurling.]

I have to...

[Run away. He knows he can do that, at least. There he goes, without even finishing his sentence.]

i'm so upset

[standingonmyneck]

...Wait, Larix. I-

[She did something. Her efforts to get Larix to understand turned into something SHE didn't understand.

Something here felt pretty wrong. This wasn't calling someone out for being an asshole, this was calling someone out for being simply ridiculous. Too ridiculous. Unfathomably ridiculous, and it got under her skin. Riye got increasingly frustrated with the charade. The constant barrage of painful sentences that held no dignity or shred of humanity really drove her off the edge.

There was no substance in them, no purpose or real meaning. It WAS being a phony. But malicious?

But it was all Larix knew, it was easier to keep going and ignore anything within himself.

It was being afraid to look inside and find absolutely nothing. Judging from his uncomfortable face, he seemed to get what she was saying now.

Her foot stepped forward and she stepped on the magic appearing glass shards, hearing the crinkle of glass shattering even more. She was too late, he made a break for it. Riye took one last look at her bouquet he got for her, it was still very pretty.

Her heart sank just a little; then she felt that lost feeling again.]