[WORLD TWO | THE OTHER HALF]

[spellbindmods]

Who: Others not on the list of the Chosen 12
Where: Around Shehui
When:
Open/Closed: Open to All, though top levels shouldn't be made by Chosen 12 members -- however, direct telepathy links can be sent to Chosen 12 members, and Chosen 12 members can respond to open telepathy prompts. This post is meant more for those who aren't part of the Chosen 12 so they can react with others or plot their next move.

[ While your name isn't on the list that has been circulating, it doesn't mean that you're unaffected by this issue. Did someone you know -- someone you have a fondness for, perhaps? -- wind up on that list? And did they manage to evade the monitors or have they been captured?

You may have the resources to do something about it, or you may want to stay out of harm's way. Either way, changes are on the horizon -- and that horizon is now looming closer than ever before. ]

Comments

[talim]

[ jude leans into the touch, eyes fluttering closed for a brief moment. ]

Because sometimes I don't know that I deserve you. I've already told you that you're the closest thing to a perfect boyfriend there is. Sometimes I wonder if I'm allowed to have that. Sometimes I wonder if I... forced you into a relationship like this, because of my own feelings.

And I just want to know for sure that I didn't. To know that every time we even just hold hands, you feel that same pleasant warmth I do.

[deem]

[What Jude describes hurts to hear, because it sounds terribly lonely to 9S. He understands what it is to feel undeserving, but it's justified in his case. If anything Jude deserves far better.

How could he be remotely close to perfect when he doesn't even know how to be, or what to do? When he's an android, and Jude isn't]

If anything, I think you deserve more. You're kind and warm, and intelligent...why shouldn't you be cherished, and happy?

[He might be happier with another human though. That thought has occurred to him, but that's for Jude to decide, isn't it]

I don't feel like I was forced to do something, but I wonder if I'm really enough.

[Would another human have made Jude feel like this?]

[talim]

[ when jude speaks again, his tone is pleading, eyes flooded with concern; desperation, almost, to get through to him. ]

I know you don't understand this, but the person who makes me feel the most cherished and happy is you, 9S. It's you. Only you.

[deem]

[The words are difficult to process, and harder to believe once he does. How he can make Jude feel that way, when he feels so ill-equipped to give him the things he should have, is a mystery to him.

And he doesn't know what to say in answer to it.

So he just wraps his arms around him and hugs him close, tucking his face in the juncture between Jude's neck and shoulder]

You're right that I don't understand. But I want those things for you, because you give me them too.

[It's a muffled admission, but it's easier to say when his face isn't so exposed. These things don't come easily to him]

[talim]

[ jude wraps both arms around him and holds him as close as he can, brushing his hair with his fingers, soothing. ]

Then we're okay, aren't we? You haven't done a single thing wrong, so stop worrying so much. We're fine.

And I hope you understand, someday, but in the meantime, you'll just have to take my word for it. Look at it this way: if I really am under the influence of some sort of truth serum, then I can't be telling anything other than the truth. It'd be impossible.

[ he lowers his voice to a murmur, letting soft strands of hair slip through his fingers when he speaks. ]

And 9S? Thank you.

[deem]

I don't know what that stuff was, but I know when you mean what you say.

[Because Jude's not terribly good at being dishonest when he does say something, and 9S has observed it for himself.

He stays right where he is, fingers curled in the back of Jude's shirt]

But why are you thanking me?

[talim]

For being you.

[ he'd hold him even tighter if it were possible. ]

That's all.

[deem]

[He huffs, breath warm against Jude's neck]

That's a weird thing to thank me for.

[But also flattering in its way]

[talim]

[ jude simply laughs in response. maybe it is, but that doesn't mean he doesn't mean it. ]

What do you say I help you tinker around with what you're working on? I can't promise I'll be much assistance, but...

[deem]

I could use the help. There's a lot of us after all.

[And what follows is the softest brush of lips against Jude's neck, so brief one might wonder if it happened at all as he lifts his head]

Thanks, Jude.

[With some reluctance he lets go to collect his tools and the device he'd been working on]

[talim]

[ oh. 9s leaves jude sitting there with slender fingers pressed to the spot on his neck 9s kissed so gently. he's never done that before, has he?

somehow, it feels far more intimate than a kiss on the lips does. he can't place why, exactly, especially when it was such a quick, brief thing. ]

C-Coming... !

[ he finally remembers that he can't just sit there pondering the mysteries and wonders of 9s forever, and scrambles to catch up with him. ]