#Not sure what I should tag you. Fuck it. Have 8oth.

[amicicidalgambler]

> Investigate Puzzle Mountain

amicicidalgambler I'm going to 8e a little 8lunt with you for a minute. I feel like somewhere along the line I did something that noticea8ly improved your opinion of me, 8ut I can't think of what that would actually 8e, and I couldn't find any outside reason you'd have to start 8eing nicer to me, and you're a weird person to not have my math line up on, so what am I missing?

palteringcecutiency I must admit, this was not a question I was expecting, though perhaps I should have with your detailed notes on everyone.

amicicidalgambler Like I said, you're a weird person to feel like I overlooked something with.

palteringcecutiency Am I? I don't hear that often, I admit I'm curious now what you have on me.

amicicidalgambler I mean, clearly you're not the kind of person who does shit without some kind of reason. The question is more how o8vious you're 8eing a8out the motiv8ion and if I have the pieces lying around to see it. So, that 8eing said, what gives?

palteringcecutiency Credit where credit is due. c: I'm hardly the impulsive type, which I imagine is crystal clear having Nadaya anywhere near my presence, so yes, I do have a library of reasons behind my actions. But Serket, really, asking how obvious I am about motivations? If I'm hiding them, you know better than to expect any honesty, and if I'm not, who am I to pass up an opportunity to say it's hardly any fun drawing you a map straight to them. c:

amicicidalgambler That's not what I'm asking, I'm just saying that the "why" is always if I can find the reason rather than if you have one. And in this case I have no fucking clue, so I decided to risk getting a 8ullshit answer and just ask.

8esides, you've done nothing to make me think there isn't something here.

palteringcecutiency Oh? Was I supposed to dissuade you from such thoughts? My apologies, I hardly thought I could convince you that the troll who has reasons for things has no reason for something, but if you'd like me to try, I am more than willing.

amicicidalgambler I'd rather you not 8ut also you're having so much fun playing lim8o with my points, aren't you.

Which in itself is almost something resem8ling an answer.

palteringcecutiency c:

Are you even surprised?

amicicidalgambler No. I came into this fully expecting to have to ver8ally shake you upside down until I got something. 8ut something is 8etter than nothing and I have time to kill.

palteringcecutiency I must say, you're doing better than most. c: Few remember until too late that I say what I wish and nothing more, and hardly any are this persistent outside my family, and they have a wide selection of cheating open to them.

amicicidalgambler At this point I feel like I can safely say that whatever the thing was it was something I did, and it's really fucking rare that I do anything positive without making a conscious effort, so that's interesting.

palteringcecutiency It is, isn't it? But it certainly doesn't narrow it down, does it? :c

amicicidalgambler ...No, it does.

palteringcecutiency Does it? Now /that's/ interesting.

amicicidalgambler Yes, 8ecause it either means it was something really innocuous or something was making me not pay attention. Or 8oth, I guess.

> Hmph. You're definitely getting close but you still can't think of the answer. Time to pull up your conversations with him in another tab.

palteringcecutiency That's still quite a bit of interactions between you and I full of innocuous somethings, assuming of course that it's something you did directly, and not something I saw you do or was told about. And how innocuous is too innocuous? Where are you putting the low of my standards at? Do you know what it takes to gain my favor? Or am I simply amused by something you've done enough to be friendly and encouraging to your antics?

People are such tangled webs, Serket. Where do you even start?

amicicidalgambler > ...Sigh. How about you close this window and just focus on what's already there. It's not actually that much information to browse through, in fact it's just a couple pages back to when he first tagged you in something.

> After which there's a very interesting reply. A reply where his quirk slipped. You don't remember that conversation off hand, but you do remember the one you were talking about, the one with the alternate of Cae that left your pan feeling like mush.

> And if your pan was mush you wouldn't remember something like...Ah. Ah.

I start with what I have access to, and from that I can see that in just the right timeframe I fixed one of your quirk slips when I wouldn't have 8een thinking a8out it.

::::)

palteringcecutiency > Ah, fuck.

Is that your guess then? That a fix like that would be enough to defrost things between us?

amicicidalgambler Yeah, that's my guess. It was at a minimum a good push in the right direction.

From which other shit could happen.

palteringcecutiency Oh, of course. I never considered you'd stopped just because you found something that could be it. You're far too tenacious for that, aren't you?

amicicidalgambler I mean, I know what happened after that, and I'm pretty confident this is the start of it, 8ut I didn't come this far to get a hard pro8a8ly.

palteringcecutiency And how do you plan on getting more solid proof?

amicicidalgambler This 8asically already is the plan.

Especially since I feel like you'd 8e disappointed if I was wildly off 8ase.

palteringcecutiency Would I? Whyever for? Wouldn't giving away something like that undermine everything? Have you such little faith in my poker face to think you can take everything at face value?

amicicidalgambler First of all I didn't say you'd give it away. Second of all you've gotten notice8ly more defensive since I gave my answer so who knows, may8e I would 8e a8le to pick up on something like that.

palteringcecutiency You didn't need to, merely imply that I'd show disappointment if you were wrong. A change in affect is one of the easiest tells, as you're obvious aware, so of course I'd keep my tone and word choice even either way. Which brings me to your bluff, since getting defensive would be disastrous, wouldn't you say? And why would someone as skilled as I let something like that through? I wouldn't, and I certainly haven't. c:

amicicidalgambler > You wish there was a good way to textually convey childishly sticking your tongue out at him.

> You've kind of accidentally boxed yourself in on this one though, haven't you? Hmph. Need a different approach now.

Fiiiiiiiine. I still hold that there's a reason you'd 8e disappointed even if you wouldn't show it at all, though.

palteringcecutiency c:

You are free to believe what you wish, whether it's true or not. c:

amicicidalgambler I'd like to think it's true, since you said you were having fun.

palteringcecutiency Why would my fun hinge on your success? Perhaps if you were a protege or someone who's skill I've invested in, an impressive display of your abilities would be enjoyable, but that's hardly the case. And yet, here I am, quite thoroughly amused. c:

amicicidalgambler No, that's the point. Having someone completely drop the 8all on this kind of shit is a total 8uzzkill. I would know.

Doing this or doing well is fun for you, 8ut doing terri8ly wouldn't 8e.

palteringcecutiency I will admit agreement, your skill and aptitude is certainly making this more interesting than usual, but only because the challenge is different. c: I remind I've been accused quite often of just fucking with people for the fun of it, and watching you scramble after an answer to your question through a maze of my words most /certainly/ counts.

amicicidalgambler Thanks?

Thanks.

palteringcecutiency You're very welcome. c:

amicicidalgambler This pro8a8ly would've 8een easier if I remem8ered the convers8ion that thing happened in as much as the convers8ion we were talking a8out at the time.

palteringcecutiency I'm sure there's a number of things that would make all this much easier. c:

amicicidalgambler Okay yes 8ut I'm 8eing realistic here.

palteringcecutiency c:

Even then, I can think of a number of ways, not that I'll be sharing them.

After all, I've done so much to keep the challenge level this high, whyever would I ruin it?

amicicidalgambler And why would I want you to?

palteringcecutiency An excellent answer. c:

> That being said, you decide to leave that there. Although you’ve gotten pretty far, you’ve also exhausted your first wave of options, so now you need so time to go back to fiddling with your data and playing with routes in your head.

> You’ll be back, though. You’ll definitely be back.

[neurotic8itch-blog]

Heya. We've met 8efore, right?

...Right, right. I remem8er. Whoops. Sorry a8out that. A 8it on the fritz, lately.

We haven't talked in a while, have we?