[ Arid nods once, then gets to work. The task of setting up furniture is well outside the scope of her original function, but strength that can punch through metal is just as easily turned to lifting and placing heavy chairs. Only a few months prior, she would have found it unthinkable to reappropriate her prowess for such a menial use. Now, she finds satisfaction in assisting an ally and doing so by choice.
—Even when the said ally is broaching a less-than-pleasant topic. Arid does not look up from her task removing chairs from tables, looping the same action queue for each: lift, flip set. ]
He suggested that he not contact me in the future, [ she answers, dispassionate. ] I agreed that he should not.
[ Lift, flip, set. Arid finishes one table and moves on to the next. And then, almost offhandedly: ]
Did he express dissatisfaction with this arrangement?
[ He thinks Martin had just seemed very sad and guilty, if anything. Or was that a biased interpretation? It happened over text, so deciphering the nuances of expression and tone had been impossible. But — he does know Martin relatively well. Maybe even well enough to accurately infer his feelings. ]
He said... After you were hurt, he could have reached out to you, to me, made sure you weren't damaged irreparably by what Sims did. That he could have kept a closer eye on Sims in the first place. He could have done a lot of things differently, could have done more, and that he wishes he had because he wasn't the one who was hurt. You were.
[ While he's recounting Martin's words, he intermittently glances toward Arid. ]
That he knows he can't be your friend and that it was probably stupid to try after what Sims did to you. And to make sure you have people who love you and know you're important, and it's okay to bend your rules sometimes.
[ As awkward as the latter might sound, he didn't feel comfortable paraphrasing, so she's receiving Martin's request verbatim. There had also been an attempt to explain exactly what being an avatar entails and what Sims is always contending with, framed in an... interesting manner, comparing it to his own programming, but he's still debating whether he should mention it. He's curious about Arid's opinion, but worries it may sound too much like justification for Sims's abhorrent actions and only serve to further sour her opinion of Martin.
...Which he has possibly already done by sharing what he did, but he has hope that Arid and Martin's friendship isn't beyond salvaging; he'd like to help them both. His intentions are good, his execution just may need work. ]
[ Arid does not meet those periodic glances cast her way. She has no expression to hide and yet her faceplate remains turned stolidly towards the chairs—though, perhaps her movements become a little heavier, a little slower as she places them. ]
His assessment is correct. [ she says. ] There is much he could have done differently.
[ The first time Sims had transgressed Arid's boundaries, Martin had been keen to apologize and appease. He had expressed such seeming concern for her, querying again and again about her status and any lingering after-effects. But where had that concern been when Sims had turned his full power against her, tortured her to destruction? Where had it been when he had tormented her in her dreams for hours on end? Why had one violation brought such care and the other such indifference?
Simple. Because after the second, Arid had ceased to be a threat. Why bother appeasing something already crushed?
It is an uncharitable reading of the situation and perhaps Arid knows it. But then, what purpose would there be in extending a kinder one? It would not change Arid's course—only render it more difficult. ]
We cannot be friends. To expect as much was foolish of him.
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no subject
—Even when the said ally is broaching a less-than-pleasant topic. Arid does not look up from her task removing chairs from tables, looping the same action queue for each: lift, flip set. ]
He suggested that he not contact me in the future, [ she answers, dispassionate. ] I agreed that he should not.
[ Lift, flip, set. Arid finishes one table and moves on to the next. And then, almost offhandedly: ]
Did he express dissatisfaction with this arrangement?
no subject
[ He thinks Martin had just seemed very sad and guilty, if anything. Or was that a biased interpretation? It happened over text, so deciphering the nuances of expression and tone had been impossible. But — he does know Martin relatively well. Maybe even well enough to accurately infer his feelings. ]
He said... After you were hurt, he could have reached out to you, to me, made sure you weren't damaged irreparably by what Sims did. That he could have kept a closer eye on Sims in the first place. He could have done a lot of things differently, could have done more, and that he wishes he had because he wasn't the one who was hurt. You were.
[ While he's recounting Martin's words, he intermittently glances toward Arid. ]
That he knows he can't be your friend and that it was probably stupid to try after what Sims did to you. And to make sure you have people who love you and know you're important, and it's okay to bend your rules sometimes.
[ As awkward as the latter might sound, he didn't feel comfortable paraphrasing, so she's receiving Martin's request verbatim. There had also been an attempt to explain exactly what being an avatar entails and what Sims is always contending with, framed in an... interesting manner, comparing it to his own programming, but he's still debating whether he should mention it. He's curious about Arid's opinion, but worries it may sound too much like justification for Sims's abhorrent actions and only serve to further sour her opinion of Martin.
...Which he has possibly already done by sharing what he did, but he has hope that Arid and Martin's friendship isn't beyond salvaging; he'd like to help them both. His intentions are good, his execution just may need work. ]
no subject
His assessment is correct. [ she says. ] There is much he could have done differently.
[ The first time Sims had transgressed Arid's boundaries, Martin had been keen to apologize and appease. He had expressed such seeming concern for her, querying again and again about her status and any lingering after-effects. But where had that concern been when Sims had turned his full power against her, tortured her to destruction? Where had it been when he had tormented her in her dreams for hours on end? Why had one violation brought such care and the other such indifference?
Simple. Because after the second, Arid had ceased to be a threat. Why bother appeasing something already crushed?
It is an uncharitable reading of the situation and perhaps Arid knows it. But then, what purpose would there be in extending a kinder one? It would not change Arid's course—only render it more difficult. ]
We cannot be friends. To expect as much was foolish of him.