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[selfconcept]

Congratulations! You survived the first week of Personal Enrichment Class! Or at least, your body did if you feel like astral projecting. It's time to mingle with your fellow students after the Saturday lesson. Maybe get revenge. Or maybe you're going to your room right away. Either way, it's free time! Let loose. Go wild.

Comments

[pr159]

[ Well, now that he's not the first to cave, Rideaux turns too, crossing his arms. ]

I'm sorry, does it happening now somehow preclude it from also happening later? I didn't realize we were talking about chickenpox.

Maybe this is hard for you to understand, but everything I do requires precision.

[superstructure]

No, but now you know what to expect for when it happens again.

[ Because it's obviously going to. ]

I would just be grateful it doesn't seem to be getting worse.

[pr159]

Because you've been doing such a great job of not letting it catch you off guard these past few years.

[ Clearly knowing what to expect does fuck all. His fingers tap against his arm, and he looks at whatever Julius just got out of that cabinet.


... ]

It goes both ways, right? That's why you're in here?

[superstructure]

[ The most Rideaux gets in reply to that dig is a flash of his lenses, but that's about it. ]

Seems that way. It's been going on since we arrived here last week.

[ There's a bit of tiredness in his tone if you squint, but none of it is really directed in his partner's direction. ]

Call it payback for all the times you're going to have to deal with the arm.

[pr159]

[ He'd figured as much, but he's not sure how he feels about having the confirmation. On one hand, he does love making Julius suffer, and maybe this will make him better appreciate just how impressive his accomplishments have been when he's felt like absolute shit for the entire seventeen years that they've known each other.

But on the other hand, there's a reason he's always kept quiet about his own medical history; his unwillingness to show his weaknesses to anyone — especially Julius — has always been a matter of both pride and survival. ]

Whatever.

[ There's a little less bite than usual in his tone after that, though it's still decidedly acerbic. He's tired too. ]

Unfortunately for you, I can't make the custom medicines I was working on before as long as we're here, so you're going to be enjoying that for the foreseeable future.

[superstructure]

[ He nods in response. He was kind of wondering if that was the case, but if Rideaux is able to at least manage without it, then it probably shouldn't be surprising that it's not available here. No pain sharing without the pain. ]

I'll manage.

[ Just like usual. He holds up the pill bottles he grabbed, before throwing them at Rideaux. ]

You'll probably need these more than me. No sense in me hanging onto them if they're not going to help.

[pr159]

[ Rideaux catches the flying medicine bottles without much trouble, though honestly, couldn't he have just slid these down the counter? ]

...That seems like the most reasonable plan, yes.

[ Which is factually true, so he's not going to thank Julius for using logic or for giving him something he could have easily walked five feet over and gotten for himself. ]

[superstructure]

[ is julius being extra or am i just terrible at spatial awareness? you decide! ]

Is there anything else I should know about? In case it comes up for some reason.

[pr159]

[ There almost certainly is, when it's not yet clear how deep this connection goes. But because it isn't clear, Rideaux doesn't intend to give away any more than he has to when there's a chance it might never be relevant. He doesn't need Julius knowing just how close he's come to killing him before, or how easy it would be to do it now. ]

I don't think so.