mysong | [RING RING CANDLE PHONE]

[and now she's just grinning widely and excitedly waving all her tentacles!]

You're back! You're finally back! Swift is back!

How are you? Are you okay? It was such a long while...

[smiles a little, briefly. it's a while before he speaks.]

. . . I'm fine. I've mostly been occupied reading about the changes that have occurred here.

Mhm, a lot happened. I ended up missing a lot since I came out here too.

Do you at least know what's happening now?

There's some sort of ongoing confrontation with the Snow Queen . . . she was preserving the realm for the Personae here by freezing it, but she didn't take to it too kindly when they decided to relieve her of her duties.

[after a hesitation]

. . . there was a difficult game not long before I arrived, as well.

[drops her tentacles, more concerned with the game than the politics]

...How bad was it?

[quiet]

Mira killed them all and had them play for their revivals.

...They can do that? Just...kill everyone?

. . . apparently, they can.

...I should've ate Mira after her first game.

[chuckles a little, but his heart's clearly not in it]

You shouldn't get yourself hurt. But I agree that something ought to be done.

[gives him a forlorn look through the candle...]

They did something to the Jabberwock one. They executed its role but not it somehow...I missed most of it, but maybe they can do something like that again.

I'd heard about that, yes . . . she's a little girl now, isn't she? Well, it's certainly something to look into.

[and pauses]

I wanted to know how you've been, Saya.

[pauses a moment, then giggles-burbles]

I've been good! Since Prince and I left, we've been able to explore a lot and go back to the other realms. Sometimes we find good food and send it back to the rest of Jasper.

It's usually pretty nice out here.

I'm glad. Are you having fun?

Mhm... I still miss Jasper and seeing my other friends, but Beauty let us come back to Camelot for a while. Hopefully we can come back again sometime.

You should.

And how's Prince? Is he-- [mouth curls downward the slightest bit] playing nice?

Of course he is! I'd hit him if he wasn't.

[ . . .

there's a moment before his face collapses into laughter.]

Is that right? Good, don't let him take advantage of you.

Mhm, I won't. He knows not to try.

...Were you worried that he would?

[ . . . ]

Saya, do you know the difference between possession and caring?

Umm...Possession means you own something, and caring means you worry about someone?

[s-smiles a little, despite himself]

Sort of.

If you really care about someone, you want what's best for them, no matter what. Even if whatever's best for them doesn't match up with whatever you want for yourself, they matter more to you than that. You might disagree about what is best for them--people run from themselves, sometimes, or from what they truly want. But you talk to them about it, because you respect their opinions and choices, and even if you get angry or fight, you can come to an understanding, because hopefully they want what's best for you and themselves as well.

Possession is--different. Some people around you will want something else, more than they want you to do what's best for you. They might want to--to use you, for some gain of their own. Or perhaps it's more complicated than that--they want you to be safe, or to stay with them. But even then . . . if that desire is stronger than the desire to do the right thing by you, you can't say they truly care for you. Because sooner or later, you'll find yourself in a situation where you want or need something that conflicts with their desire, and you'll find that whatever relationship you thought you had falls apart. You can't rely on people who think that way.

So it's important to be clear about the difference. Do you understand what I'm saying?

[quietly thinks over what he said, burbling thoughtful]

...I think I understand. When you want to keep someone by your side so much you don't care if they want to leave...That's 'possession' and not 'caring'. Caring is about letting someone do stupid stuff, because you respect them enough to know they won't be too stupid.

Is that right?

Yes, that's right. Or at least talking honestly with them about why you think they're being foolish.

Mhm...

[goes quiet for a moment]

Prince and I both got possessive of Pitch for a while, and we wouldn't let him get hurt in games even if it was his turn. Then he got angry at us and told us to stop and we let him do a task.

I think Prince learned to be a bit better since then.

[RING RING CANDLE PHONE]

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