Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Male and I've made 20 posts
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Post by Souichi on Nov 10, 2017 1:38:45 GMT -5
<<
"Goddamn, I can't believe this place still exists."
Souichi's laughter echoed through the alleyways of the forgotten pseudo-city. Well, more of an amalgamation of different cities. His laughter echoed through the vestige of broken steel and cracked concrete. The place felt hollow. It felt more broken than it ever was. No, that wasn't the word. It felt...
Dead.
Even back then, this place was only visited by a handful of people. And within that handful, only a select few actually understood what this place was. This place was, and will always be, home for cyber-trash.
Souichi stifled a chuckle. This place seemed more perfect for him now than it was before. His old account was deleted, his assets seized, and now he was back to zero. That didn't come as a surprise to him though. He deserved it. After all, he just used to be a thirteen year-old kid who's only redeeming quality was his deep understanding of programming languages. Some kids practiced piano at an early age. His piano was a keyboard, and he drummed away like any virtuoso did.
"Is that even a thing?" he mused to himself, "a programming virtuoso?"
It didn't matter anyway. Now he was a wageslave for some big cybersecurity corporation. He supposed that was why he missed [The World]. He was someone important in here. People cared, or at least pretended to, about him in here. Out there, he was nobody important. The money was good, but the job was trash. He was a robot stuck in a cubicle, another cog in the machine. Just another bolt in the engine. Life was dreary, but in here he was a spoke in a wheel. He used to be disruptive. He used to be...
God.
How pathetic.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Female and I've made 12 posts
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Post by Edna on Nov 10, 2017 15:09:36 GMT -5
<<Gate in>>
When was the last time she logged into this game? A week? A month? No, several years had already gone by. It was a natural thing. After all, many of the veteran players of [The World] had better things to do besides play video games all day. This lass was no different.
She moved away from her family, worked several small time jobs, and then finally returned to her passion as an artist. Of course, she's a freelance artist and works from home—with a little too much free time on her hand now.
"Back to being a newbie, huh?" She muttered to herself, examining her newly created avatar. Sadly, Etna had forgotten most of her login details and there's a high chance her character got deleted for inactivity regardless. So, Edna stepped into play. She still favored the childish demonic appearance of her old character, but didn't like some features of her old avatar. Her starter gear was much more appealing, yet the bust of the avatar remained... ever so flat. She never did like the game's physics for breasts. Then again, it wasn't like the horns and demonic tail was part of the game's features either.
So, she took liberty to give them herself.
"They still keep this place?" Her voice slightly echoed into the empty space as she wandered about the area. Every little detail looked the same, aside from one or two new trash glitches floating around. You would think a location filled with problematic things would be trashed and cleaned up, but... maybe this place was their trash bin.
So why did she choose to check this place out first?
Who knows, maybe she'll find some interesting old glitches from her past.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Male and I've made 20 posts
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Post by Souichi on Nov 11, 2017 0:10:38 GMT -5
<<
Ping!
A third party program updated Souichi that another IP address had connected to the server. Old habits die hard. His "battlestation", as he put it, was quite up-to-date with both encryption and decryption software. Several proxies were in place so that it would be quite difficult to get through his firewall. Not that he participated in any black-hat activities... anymore.
However, he wasn't going to push it like he did before. There was no need to flaunt. Besides, he didn't know of CC Corp had new security measures in place. Not that he wasn't confident in his ability to fend of any intrusions to his machine. It didn't matter anyway, the anti-malware program he had written did a good job of securing his computer from small attacks.
For larger scale attacks, Souichi had his own way of dealing with things. He wasn't the same reckless kid he was all those years ago, but he was still as vindictive as ever. He could still be petty; he was human after all (despite how the displeased him at times).
The programmer had no qualms about IP tracking someone else's machine and deleting all essential system files and frying motherboards through BLCK overclocking.
He was disrupted from his thoughts by a voice. A voice that he knew dearly.
Alt + Tab.
He switched back to the full screen window of [The World].
"They do."
There she was. Wandering about as she always did. Her avatar looked a little different. But there was no mistaking it. Etna. Well... Edna, according to her player tag. Really? How creative. Well, who was he to talk? He had chosen the same player character name as before.
"I haven't seen you in awhile..." he said carefully.
He was somewhat a bit jealous. She had moved out a couple of years ago. Now, from what he had gathered lately, she was living out her dream of being an artist. He wished he could same say the same, but here he was, still living with his parents. Following his passions? Could one become a God so easily? If so, he needed someone to show him the way. Perhaps he chose the wrong career path. He had heard that religion was a more lucrative business than cyber-security. A cult leader? No, he couldn't deal with people like that.
"Sis."
They shared occasional phone calls in between months. Social media was definitely out of the question, as both of them preferred to be off, albeit for completely different reasons. Still, he had no idea how she was actually doing these days. He didn't even know where she was staying at. Ah--well, there was a quick fix for that.
cd /d f:\Programs\tracertfix run tracertfix shell shell . . . 1%
Malware to find his own sister? Yeah, petty for sure.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Female and I've made 12 posts
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Post by Edna on Nov 11, 2017 3:07:37 GMT -5
As she strolled through the area, her eyes felt a bit of pain from staring into the bright HMD. It's barely been five minutes, but her eyes felt strained. Should she log out already? Her hand motioned in front of her, a visible menu only she could see as she browsed the HUD menu for the log out button. Ah, she could barely remember any of the menu-
"They do." Her hand pulled away from the menu and closed it, her body snapped around to face the all-too-familiar voice. Why, why of all days did she log into the game and run into him? Did he track her new IP and login details that quickly? No, no she was just an idiot who appeared into the one location he would wander into first.
Clearly, this is just someone else who she's mistaken with voice-
"Sis." Player tag. Souichi.
Shit.
Okay, she didn't hate her brother or anything. Not little Souichi, never. She just knew they were kinda attached when they lived together. So, she moved away to give both of them space... as much space as she could, including with not giving the address of her new resident area ever; always refusing family members to mail her anything. Starting a new life and job was a nice bonus, staying away from the ever so loving parents and brother was an extra bonus. Love can suffocate sometimes; totally why she's still single. Yuck.
Was it harsh to keep contact very small? Kinda, but it wasn't like she was lying all those times about being busy with work and everything. Some a bit more stretched than others. She just didn't want to feel the need to return home.
"Sis? Me? Haha, think you got the wrong person!" Her obvious fake laugh and voice was displayed, attempting to make her voice sound higher pitch than it normally was. However, she knew this wouldn't work on the lad so her laughter died down after a few seconds and she sighed as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Did you track me here?" Her eyes avoided direct contact as she stared off to the side, she felt somewhat ashamed for neglecting her family.
"I-I should probably go, I didn't expect to find you here. Sorry..."
Running away? Yeah, it's what she does best after all. Especially in awkward situations.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Male and I've made 20 posts
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Post by Souichi on Nov 11, 2017 4:01:04 GMT -5
<<
. . . 28%
Attached? That wasn't the word Souichi would have used. That was a very modest way of putting their relationship. Rather, when they were younger, it felt way more toxic than that. Desperately dependent on each other? Perhaps that was the more accurate term. Whatever, he didn't dwell much on it as much anymore.
He shook his head. Track her? No, this was merely a happy coincidence.
"No," he replied slowly, "I didn't track you here. But now that you are here, I am currently tracing your IP address."
There wasn't a need to lie to Et--Edna. He corrected himself mentally. They were the same that way. Stretched truths here, a little omission there--they learned to lie together, anyway. ...yeah.
If she disconnected, then that would be on her, not him. A happy coincidence, he reminded himself. Suddenly, he didn't feel so confident about what he was doing.
"You don't have to leave," he continued, "and if you want me to stop tracing you, well..."
34% . . .
"You can just tell me to stop."
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Female and I've made 12 posts
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Post by Edna on Nov 11, 2017 4:13:16 GMT -5
So it was just a coincidence? Wow, life sure had a funny way with certain things. However, he's tracing her now thanks to her nostalgic needs. She went through the main menu once more, her mind finding the gate out button a lot quicker than before. She would just need to press it and she would be gone, but...
She paused.
"How's mom and dad?" Small chitchat, it wouldn't hurt. After all, it's been awhile since their last phone conversation.
She also didn't say anything about stopping her brother from tracing her, she was still debating that. Maybe... a visit wouldn't hurt so much.
"How about you? How are things with you?"
Small chitchat. That's all.
It wasn't like anyone was waiting for her IRL anyways.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Male and I've made 20 posts
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Post by Souichi on Nov 11, 2017 4:32:09 GMT -5
<<
. . . 51%
"They're getting old," he replied, his expression unreadable, "they aren't doing too well, to be honest."
That was a very mild way of putting it. Their father was confined in the hospital. Lung carcinoma, the doctors said. What a fancy way of saying lung cancer. Their father had been a smoker all their lives, so it really came to no one's surprise. A bad habit Souichi had picked up from their harsh father, among other things.
Their mother was beside herself. The first thing Souichi did was smoke a cigarette immediately after hearing the news. No one lives forever anyway. He didn't feel terrible about it. It was no secret that both siblings didn't get along much with their parents. But regardless, it put a little harsh financial strain on his back.
Of course, Edna didn't know that. She was out of touch, she had no possible way of knowing. The last they spoke was almost a year and a half ago. Not that he minded now, the distance allowed him to grow more into his own person. Yeah, sure--but it wasn't always that way.
But it was different all those years ago. He had been hurt by her decision to move. Edna and Souichi practically raised each other. The good and the bad.
Now, the anger was gone, the hatred as well. All that was left was a brother who tried to understand. Regardless of the strain it put on him in real life. God, he missed her--but he wasn't going to crack.
"It's a little expensive to keep up..."
He swallowed spit. Whatever, this was how life went.
"You know, with the medical expenses..."
74% . . .
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Female and I've made 12 posts
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Post by Edna on Nov 11, 2017 15:14:49 GMT -5
That was a bit of a typical answer, them aging and all. However, she did felt bad knowing her parents weren't doing so good.
Her hand lowered and her menu disappeared from her view, she folded her arms and closed her eyes as she listened. The sound of her brother voice, it was nice to hear it again after so long. Yet, his voice felt a little off. Possibly because he had matured through the years of them being apart? It sounded distant, a bit detached. Then again, it's not like she helped with that since she moved away either.
How did their first phone call go again...?
A lot of crying, that's for sure.
"What?" Her eyes snapped opened, registering the words her brother had just spoken to her. Were her parents hospitalized? Both? Or just one? Or was it him?
"What are you talking about? What medical expenses? For who?!" Her emotions flared, she could feel her own face heating up behind the HMD. Why wasn't she told this? Yeah, she wanted to get away from them and all that, but how come this news hasn't reached her?
She could've helped!
"Why am I only hearing about this now? Why didn't you contact me soon?" She was slowly becoming furious, she waved her hand around in frustration as she took the first few steps towards her brother.
"What is going on back home?!" Her arm reached out towards her brother in attempt to grab him by the arm firmly.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Male and I've made 20 posts
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Post by Souichi on Nov 11, 2017 20:46:54 GMT -5
<<
Souichi tensed up upon contact. He had almost forgotten that they were in a virtual world.
"What difference would it make?" he asked, turning his head towards the other direction, "You can't exactly help, can you? Can you stop the dead from dying? I can pay for everything just fine, don't worry about it. Besides..."
100% . . . . . . Trace Complete
A pop up window came up on his HUD to notify him of that he had found her. Oh, so she way staying there was she? He shook his head.
"You're half-way across the country."
He scoffed. He expected as much. Why live so close to home if you were trying to get away from it all? It didn't make much sense. He pulled his arm away a little too forcefully and walked a few steps to the side.
Tsk.
The programmer didn't mean to do that. Maybe he still wasn't as over it as he thought? Abandonment issues we're, after all, a real thing. But Christ, why did he have to be so weak?
He turned to her, his head slightly bowed, a sad smile on his face. 'Sorry about that' was what his expression said.
"Dad's dying, but whatever right?" He continued, "Last mom and I checked, he has maybe a couple of months. I would have told you when he died, so I don't really see why you're so uppity about it."
kill tracertfix rm 2X.1XX.X43.X55
Deleted. He didn't bother to read her complete home address, he just wanted to know which city and prefecture she stayed at. He didn't want to remember what unit number, which building, and which street it was on. Souichi was capable of doing very stupid things. He hadn't corrected that habit, but he had it under control. Instead, he would just not allow himself the opportunity to be able to do that.
Besides, Edna knew where he lived. If she wanted to visit, she could simply just waltz right on back.
Yeah right, like it was going to be that easy.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Female and I've made 12 posts
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Post by Edna on Nov 11, 2017 21:28:55 GMT -5
It didn't matter if she could help or not, it didn't matter if she was able to help pay for it or not. She just knew the feeling of losing someone was devastating, something she didn't want anyone to experience. Sure, she never really dealt with it with immediate family members, but her moving away sure made her felt something similar. After all, to get away from her family, she had to rip a little bit of herself away.
Her grip upon her brother loosened; her words lost momentarily as Souichi spoke.
"That's..." Her brother had pulled away from her grasp, enough to give her a slight startle and made her take a few steps away of her own. How stupid of her, of course that probably felt uncomfortable for him. I wasn't thinking at all. She thought to herself, wearing a painful expression of her own, but shook her head to regain her angered state. She wasn't going to give up.
"That's not the point," her eyes glanced at her hand, secretly wishing the contact between the two were real and not virtual. Yet, she didn't want to give up knowing that her family was like this now. She didn't want to leave her family falling apart like that. She just wanted what was best for them, not death!
"He's family! Of course, I'm going to feel angry about this! I could've-!" She paused again, biting her bottom lip before opening her mouth once more.
"No, the past is the past. I'm not going to say what I could've done, I'm going to say what I am going to do." Her hands clenched into fists as she stood her ground, preparing herself mentally as she boldly said the next few words.
"I'm going home to be with you and mom."
She needed to be there for both of them, since this is going to be hard on them the most. Especially her mother.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Male and I've made 20 posts
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Post by Souichi on Nov 11, 2017 21:56:33 GMT -5
<<
He's family? What a pathetic excuse. They were his children not out of choice, but by matter of happenstance. As far as Souichi was concerned, both his parents could bite it. Edna was the only family member he actually cared about. Even then... she was capable of leaving him just like that. Damn, what's happening?
He grit his teeth. Whatever. The human body was frail, that much he understood. Both in terms of processing emotions and structurally. Why couldn't he have been born as a machine? Life would have been so much simpler. Less fun though. Hmm.
He supposed the fun aspect of being human outweighed the frailty of their existence. Besides, machines couldn't process euphoria. Or could they...?
"Do what you want sis," he replied after a few seconds, clearing his thoughts of machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. He walked to a steel beam that had long fallen, it's structure already orange with rust. He placed a virtual hand on it and traced the edges with his index finger. "It really doesn't matter."
He glanced at his finger for a second. Metal oxidation. A red oxide forms by the redox reaction of iron and oxygen in the presence of water or air moisture. It usually happened when things were neglected.
He turned to face his sister again, as he took a seat on the beam.
"What gives, anyway?" he continued, "It's not like you're the biggest fan of our parents. Last I checked, you did leave home. Never even visited, not once in all these years.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Female and I've made 12 posts
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Post by Edna on Nov 12, 2017 1:40:53 GMT -5
The anger she had, the determination she held, it quickly started to diminish. Her facial expression softened as she tried to reach for words that she knew could reach her brother, but none surfaced within her swarmed mind.
He still called her 'sis', still to thought of her as a relative at least, but his words pierced her. There was hardly any hint of emotions within his tone, hardly any desire to make him sound anymore than just that either.
"..." She remained silent, her hands moved to hold onto herself and rubbed her arms as if she was cold.
Why are you being so mean right now? She thought to herself, but she knew why. It was her fault.
She left him all alone after all.
"I didn't want to leave home," She started, her eyes shifted away from her brother to stare at some glitched avatar floating away; torn in data from the stomach to its' thigh.
"Whatever, right? I'm never honest with myself or anyone, anyways. Why should I bother visiting family if I haven't all these years, right?" Oh, no. She could feel it, the spiral of thoughts in her mind slowly forming, negativity brewed to the very best since the beginning of her new home.
Yes, she wanted to be there for her family. Comfort her mother, but mostly to redeem herself for leaving in the first place. Repair what she had broken, her family and herself. She honestly wanted to return home with a stable job and a happy life, she wanted to show mostly her brother that she did it. She lived and grew and wanted to grow further.
"What was I suppose to do? We were both growing up, but we didn't actually grow. We didn't get any better." They were invested into each other, to an unhealthy amount. They held each other up, but because of that, neither of them bothered to branch out in their lives. Yet, it took so long to get to where she was now. After living paycheck to paycheck, to cheap meals and late payment on bills... she finally got herself settled completely without an issue. Of course, she didn't tell her brother any of that, just a simple 'life is great' on the phone was all she could say.
"I took so many jobs, they were stressful. Exhausting and sometimes painful, but I didn't want to crawl back home all weak and beaten. I didn't want to..." I didn't want to depend on anyone.
Her voice seemed to have cracked, the player in front of the PC struggled to keep her tears back as she moved her character model to turn away from her brother. It was reflex, after all she didn't remember if the game had crying functions on command or not. Rather not risk showing that.
"Yeah, sorry. It's too late for any of that kind of talk, isn't it?" She gave off a weak laugh as her hands motioned in front of her once more, searching for the gate out function again.
"You know, I wasn't in a good place until now... I thought maybe I could use this chance to selfishly fix what I had broken, but that's stupid." Her choked up voice began to clear out, making her taking in deep breathes to calm herself down. Her hands had found the gate out function, but it hovered in place once more.
"I think... I'll stop calling home. No more contact, that'll be great for you and mom. We'll cut each other out of our lives completely this time... it'll be easier on both of us, right?"
If they were both suffering from each other still, why not remove each other completely to fix it.
Right?
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Male and I've made 20 posts
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Post by Souichi on Nov 12, 2017 3:21:36 GMT -5
<<
Blab blah blah.
So many goddamn excuses. Souichi loved his sister dearly, but sometimes--she was just too over the top with her own emotions. His anger was growing. His resentment crept up on him like a thief would. He had become understanding of her situation. That wasn't a lie, but now she was here in front of him... it just didn't matter anymore. No, he wouldn't crack; but it would feel so right. She brought out the worst in him. It felt great.
"You think so huh?" he said, getting up from his seat, "Sometimes, things are beyond repair. I mean, look at this place! You'd think after a decade, they would have patched this place out."
He started walking, pacing himself slowly, very deliberately, towards his older sister.
"I know we've both grown up," he continued, "I mean look at us. We're so different from how we used to be. I admit, I think we've become better people away from each other."
That was the honest truth. Souichi was at least cognitive of that. However, his tongue felt like it had just betrayed his body.
"See, I know that; because when we're together, I feel like a kid again. I feel like I haven't grown up, and I feel so much... so much fucking disappointment with how our lives played out."
He stopped walking. He was right behind Edna now. Her avatar would be able to feel his cold presence and the icy stare that dug right into the back of her head. Thoughts swirled in his head. It was cauldron of so much emotion. He wasn't an evil person.
"But, now that we're here," he said softly, "I would just like to say one thing..."
He was just selfish. Like she used to be... no--like she still was.
Gently, almost reluctantly, Souichi wrapped his arms around Edna. He brought her into his cold embrace. He brought her back into their poison.
"I've missed you."
And there was no escape.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Female and I've made 12 posts
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Post by Edna on Nov 12, 2017 19:11:48 GMT -5
No. This shouldn't be happening, this isn't what she wanted. This was not what she planned when she said 'repairing', this is far worse than a simple fix.
Yet, she didn't even attempt to push him away.
Those sleepless nights of worrying about her brother, the nightmares of all possibilities that could harm him. She had almost gotten over them, she had almost been free from worry and foolishly believe everyone was okay.
However, a single embrace was all it took for her to drown in it all over again.
"I've missed you too."
She held back tears as her hands clung to her brothers arms that held on to her, her mind spun with thoughts telling her to get away, but the feeling of comfort was too strong for her to move. She feared this moment, she feared this would happen. Phone calls were easy to get away from, she could only hear his voice and that would be that. However, the virtual world didn't help, even though both were separated by pixels and numbers. The virtual avatar of her brother brought too much nostalgia to refuse; she didn't want to leave.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry!" She started repeating, her tears falling from her face as she began to cry.
"I'm so sorry I made it hard for you, I'm sorry I left... Please... Please, forgive me!" She wanted to be forgiven, start over, be back in this feeling of comfort forever. Should she offer to return? Fly back home? Or should she suggest escaping together elsewhere?
She didn't care where anymore, she just wanted to be with him.
Be with her dearest brother.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Male and I've made 20 posts
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Post by Souichi on Nov 12, 2017 22:23:45 GMT -5
<<
"It hurt..." he said, almost in a whisper, "It hurt so much."
His fingers dug into her arms.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Female and I've made 12 posts
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Post by Edna on Nov 12, 2017 22:40:46 GMT -5
Her crying stopped as her eyes widened.
"S-Souichi?" The pain from her arms shot throughout her body.
"T-That hurts! L-Let go!" She squirmed in attempt to break free from his grasp.
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Male and I've made 20 posts
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Post by Souichi on Nov 12, 2017 22:59:52 GMT -5
<< "Sorry," he said insincerely, "I didn't mean to hurt you."
Even if he did. Although, that didn't stop him from hugging her. He let his hands dip down to her waist, pulling her even closer for an embrace.
"But I'm not letting go," he continued, "not for awhile at least."
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Female and I've made 12 posts
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Post by Edna on Nov 12, 2017 23:30:56 GMT -5
Her attempt to escape her brother's gasp stopped, the sting of her pained arm still lingered.
Yet, she didn't mind it anymore. He apologized.
"Okay..." How how easy she was to give in.
"Hey, do you... want to visit me?" A visit would be a good start, though she honestly just wanted to ask him to move in.
That was too fast, right?
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Male and I've made 20 posts
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Post by Souichi on Nov 12, 2017 23:35:41 GMT -5
<< "I do," he admitted, "but I'm not going to."
She had been the one to leave, so why was he the one that was supposed to fix it?
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Level 1
I joined on January 1970, I am a proud Female and I've made 12 posts
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Post by Edna on Nov 12, 2017 23:59:17 GMT -5
"Eh? Why? You could get a break from our parents." Leave them to rot and die.
"Though, I won't force you... I should visit you, but it'll take time to get a new passport."
By now, she was sure her passport had already expired for how long it has been since she moved away.
What a pain, but if it's to visit her brother... she could suck it up for a bit.
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