SPRING CATCHALL

[pyronic]

Comments

[framestory]

[ One would usually be a bad liar if they're not allowed to lie for a day. Ellis looks up, watching Diluc speak and his eyes dart to the thought bubble. Fine... he'll play this game. ]

I didn't learn for Gaku. I learned it for myself. I don't think I can ever make soba the way he likes it either.

[pyronic]

[That's more like it. Diluc nods, accepting Ellis' words as the truth. He's caught onto the fact that Ellis probably can't lie even if he wants to. Kaeya was afflicted with a similar curse not that long ago, but while he let Kaeya off the hook easily enough, he has no intention of doing so with Ellis. He owes Gaku a debt, after all.]

Does that bother you?

[framestory]

[ Ellis shakes his head. ]

Should it?

[pyronic]

[...While they're being honest?]

No. It's better that you aren't so easily influenced.

[But he does have to ask something for the sake of his own curiosity.]

Do you truly not care for Gaku?

[framestory]

[ I'm going to say that this is after the weekend getaway he had with Gaku, so!

Ellis looks over at Diluc, smiling a little. ]

Oh, did Gaku complain about me?

[pyronic]

He called you an asshole.

[Is that complaining? He'll let Ellis decide.]

[framestory]

[ Ellis laughs a little at that. He's not offended. After all, Gaku said that to his face before, so Ellis doesn't particularly care.

So he just shrugs. ]

[pyronic]

[Yeah, that's easy enough to work out without Ellis saying so, or— you know, writing it down.]

How troublesome for you that you've caught the eye of such a stubborn man.

[And it takes stubborn to know stubborn, so Diluc believes it's only a matter of time before Gaku gets what he wants. The only question now is how long that might take... and how Ellis feels about it. Good thing he can't lie right now.]

How does that make you feel? Will you reject him?

[framestory]

[ Yup. Gaku sure is stubborn. Ellis realized this fairly quickly, but how does this make him feel? Well. ]

He's a fool.

[pyronic]

That he is, but you're avoiding my question.

[Foolish as Gaku is, they both know he isn't going to give up unless Ellis makes him.]

[framestory]

[ And he will continue avoiding it, thank you very much. ]

Wouldn't it be foolish to chase after someone who can die any day?

[pyronic]

Certainly.

[He agrees to that easily, nodding, but there's more.]

But you'd be even more foolish than him to deny yourself what you want. No... That would make you nothing more than a coward, Ellis.

[And it's none of Diluc's concern one way or the other, but Ellis asked, and so he'll give him the truth. Gaku may be a fool, but at least he has a functioning spine.]

[framestory]

[ Ellis nods to that easily. He has no pride about being called a coward. In fact, he knows he is one, so it doesn't bother him. ]

It's really strange to be treated as if we're equals.

[pyronic]

[The thick plottens...?]

( You've got serious issues. )

Do you think that lowly of yourself?

[framestory]

[ Seeing Diluc's thought bubble makes him smile a little. The goddess isn't done with Ellis yet regarding secrets, so he'll tell Diluc too. ]

You're real, after all. I'm not. I'm just a character from a story.

[ ...

Surprisingly, he doesn't feel as bad about it this time. He went into total meltdown in front of Gaku when he did the first time. ]

[pyronic]

[Is it strange that Diluc doesn't doubt him? His speech bubble is oddly empty, too many thoughts churning in his head to come up with one cohesive answer, but he's settled on one before too long. It's less an answer and more a demand, really.]

Explain.

[framestory]

[ Ellis just tilts his head as if to say, "why should I?". ]

[pyronic]

You're the one who brought it up.

( Asshole. )

[framestory]

[ Indeed he did. Ellis doesn't strive to be a greater person when stuck in this sort of mindset like he's supposed to be guarded. ]

Since you're so sweet, I'll tell you.

I'm just a character from a story within a frame story. An extra. A very minor character. My existence has little meaning--so little meaning that I got exiled from the story that I was supposed to be in before I got to perform my role in the story.

A character that is forgotten by the story is worth nothing.

[pyronic]

...I see. And who determined your role in this "story," Ellis?

[framestory]

My maker and the creator of the story.

[ Yeah, they're two different people. Imagine that. ]

I hope you don't feel bad for me. I can't change what I am. Gaku also tried to convince me otherwise that I can do certain things, but I can't. I'm incapable.

[pyronic]

Me? Feel bad for you?

[Please. The only person he feels bad for is the fool fighting hard to change Ellis' mind and snap him out of the delusion that he's nothing more than an afterthought in someone else's story.

Then again, that's exactly the kind of person someone like Ellis needs: a stubborn ass who refuses to give up even when he long since has. That particular narrative is all too familiar to Diluc, and so the story continues just as it should, one stubborn fool refusing to let the coward give in.]

Hardly. But if you want my honest opinion, I find it shameful that you've given up as easily as you have. No one's life is entirely in their own hands, but when you refuse to so much as try and carve your own path, you're only proving your maker and creator right. Like a coward, you're giving in.

[framestory]

That's right. I'm a coward. I don't like them, but I don't really care what they think.

[ Is Diluc wrong? Ellis was always a coward ever since he was created. That's why he was paired with crazy survival instincts to keep himself alive. The same thoughts pop up when he talked about this with Gaku though, "it must be nice to be a real person, to have choices like that". Ellis is aware that "you're a real person and I'm not" doesn't mean anything to most people. ]

It must be nice to have ambition and drive even if it's destructive.

[pyronic]

[He's allowing Ellis to deflect because what he's saying only affirms Diluc's stance. If he pities Ellis at all, it's only the part of him that's so deeply pathetic as to settle for taking the coward's way out.]

You'd find it ideal, wouldn't you? It doesn't take eyes to see where I'm headed, but do you envy me regardless? My story can only end one way, but I've chosen my ending. Nothing you say can convince me that you're any different no matter what leaps you go to lie to yourself.

[framestory]

[ If nothing else will convince Diluc, that is fine. Ellis won't bother trying to defend himself, because all of what he said was true and he feels that Diluc didn't understand anything he said at all. It reminds him of when he and Gaku argued about it. It was basically the same thing. This should really be the norm, huh.

He sits there for a moment, blankly looking down at the notepad. Ellis could be using this time to brush his dog instead and just quietly sighs. He brought the apple smoothie, so he should be done. Should he just leave? He thinks Diluc would probably like that.

So he gets up. ]