"I should certainly hope so." She nodded. "Most definitely. Which begs the question--" "--How do you see us?" Lord Abel finished. "You appear to be breathing regularly."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Her brain came to a screeching halt and she stared at him, aghast. Was she talking to ghosts? This-- no. No. Ghosts weren't real. She was... hallucinating. Or... something. Was there black mold down here?
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"What, you didn't think we were alive, did you?" He set the violin down on the coffee table and joined his wife. "Just doodling about down here?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"I-" Ky blinked at him. She wasn't the one being ridiculous here. "I didn't--I don't... I don't understand. You're..." She whispered the next word, "Ghosts?"
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Well." Liesel frowned. "I don't usually put it like that but yes, I suppose we are." "Dead as doornails," Abel added.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Oh I-I'm sorry," Ky said hastily, feeling very bewildered. And yet feeling very much like this was the epitome of situations where she should be polite. "I didn't mean to be rude. I... am just... I'm afraid I don't understand. At all."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"No, well you can't be expected to! You're alive." She glanced at Abel, then back at Ky. "You mentioned you were lost, dear."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Y-yes ma'am." Ky nodded. "I'm, um, looking for Tomhas - um, my, um, father. He played down here a lot when he was a kid and was showing me around and we um, got separated and I'm, I'm not sure where he is now."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Little Tomhas Loquitur?" Liesel's eyebrows shot up. "You're his daughter?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Yes ma'am." Ky nodded, still holding a hand over her nose. "Well I-I mean, I'm just an adopted daughter. Not actually related at all. That's why my nose is... what's wrong with my nose?"
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"You were breathing," Abel replied. "Still are, actually. We aren't used to that down here."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Oh... is that all?" She still didn't uncover her nose yet, but that seemed... better. She supposed it'd be fairly unreasonable to be self-conscious about breathing. But that didn't erase all their comments about her not looking like a real Loquitur. "I have to do that."
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"Yes, we used to have to do it as well." Liesel studied her. "You look scared half to death; do you need a seat?"
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
"Um..." Ky hesitated, glancing back down the hall before she looked back at... her ancestors, she supposed. In an odd, twisted sort of way. "I..." She dawdled by the door frame. "I'm sorry, have you just been living down here for-- since--?"
(how far removed are they?)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(They died in the very early 300s and were the parents of Evelyn Ash as well as the romantic couple Brida and Fabian, whom Emery was gushing over. So they're Gaius's great-great grandparents.)
"Well, no. But we do wander about down here from time to time." "We bleed into this Realm," Abel added. "Not often--and not always as solid as we are now." "But usually we can walk about without anyone seeing us."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
something I have been thinking about ever since I saw the Super Mario Bros movie is how once I took a "what Nintendo character are you" quiz and I got Waluigi. — Elinor
