entrancelogs | + Guilt Runs Deep

Calling it "comparatively normal" is kind of generous, I'd say.

[ Although she does kind of agree that there's a spectrum when it comes to these things, but it's difficult to weigh all these different situations against each other when they're all so very different. ]

I'd say about 99.9% of the people who walked around in my world would say your situation, or what you've told me about it, is very, very weird.

Hm. Maybe you're right about that...

[Louis has mentioned things along those lines too, even though he knows Louis comes from a world that seems much worse than his own. That thought sparks another though, one that lets him gently change the subject a little.]

...What is your world like, Ange?

[She's told him small things here and there, but it's hard to imagine his world being weird compared to things like witches and portals to the past and the tiny bits of things she's mentioned offhand.]

My world? [ She blinks in momentary surprise. It's not that weird of a thing to ask, especially in the context of their conversation, but it still manages to catch her off guard. There are some things she thinks about that were back in her own world on a more consistent basis, but it's been a long time since she's thought about her regular life there. ]

If you would've asked me that a few months before I ended up here, I would have said it's a totally normal world. No magic. No talking animals. No zombies. No giant lizards destroying cities. It's just regular people living their daily lives.

[ A lot of terrible, terrible people though, but Ange does figure her view on that is slightly colored by the kind of people she'd had to be involved with. ]

I only discovered witches and magic do exist to some extent a little while before I ended up here. But I don't know if that really counts as part of my world if no one is aware they exist.

I think it counts.

[Maybe he shouldn't say that so certainly. He doesn't actually know her world, but based on what she's said he can sort of relate.]

It's...kind of like that where I'm from? I would have said my world was totally normal too. Definitely not magical in any way. If I hadn't wound up in the Unknown, I never would have-- I wouldn't have known anything like that was real. I'm pretty sure if I told someone at home what happened they would never believe me.

[They would just think he's super crazy, and people already probably think he's weird enough without that added weight to it.]

[ That's a sentiment Ange very much understands, and she gives a small nod. ]

They definitely wouldn't believe you. The other kids at my school all thought I was super weird when they noticed me talking to.. [ Would it be weird to say "demons". She's not sure what kind of idea Wirt has of those beings, so she decides against it. ] .. my supernatural friends, let's say. It's better to keep it to yourself, since dealing with the fallout of other people not believing you sucks.

Yeah, definitely. I can't even imagine trying to explain it to anyone. They'd just think I'm nuts. My brother's six so they wouldn't think anything of him running around talking about wild, magical things happening, but it's different when you're older.

[He pauses though, thinking on it for a second longer. He's just musing about how hard it would be, but...this is something that's already happened to her.]

That must have been really hard though. Not having people believe you, I mean.

[ She shrugs. ]

It wasn't the worst part, even though it did suck, yeah.

[ But mostly just because there were a lot of worse things happening during her time at school. Them not believing her friends were real was one of the less bad things compared to all of that, especially since even Ange herself didn't believe they were real at one point. ]

Maybe it won't be as bad for you if you can share it, even if it's just with your brother in your case. [ Sibling relationships are important in her eyes though!! ] Are you two close?

[Wirt shrugs.]

I mean, we...are? But he's like six, so. It's not really the same. I love him, but he's not really old enough for big conversations about stuff like that.

[And honestly, Wirt feels like he shouldn't push it on him when they go home for good. It would be better if Greg just remembered it as silly animals and a fun journey instead of dwelling on the fact that just being there means they came close to dying.]

[ For a moment Ange grows quiet. It's a more thoughtful kind of quiet than just a regular pause. She gets his point, kind of, but.. ]

Be careful with that stuff. He can really start to dislike that sort of thing when he gets older, you know. [ She could know. ] Younger siblings like to be taken seriously, even if he might still be a bit too young now.

Huh. I guess that's true. It's really hard to picture him older, or even wanting to be taken seriously. He's a really silly kid. Like, deliberately silly not like...I-I don't know, I don't want to be dismissive now that you've said it, but he's also a super goofy person in general? But that might change.

[It probably will. If they get home he'll grow up and might want to be heard more seriously. Still, that was such a specific thing to zero in on that Wirt can't help getting a little nosy.]

...Does that mean you're a younger sibling?

[ She's mostly taking in his description of his brother rather thoughtfully by Ange standards, but then simply nods when she gets to his question. ]

I had an older brother back home. [ Even though it sounds like their age gap was a lot bigger than Wirt's is with his younger brother. ] The way you talk about your brother makes me wonder what mine thought about me though. A lot of older siblings probably see their younger siblings as silly kids, huh.

[ Not that she sounds super displeased by that idea. More just like she's still considering it. ]

Well...I think it's hard not to when you've known someone as an actual little kid. Maybe siblings without a big age gap don't have that as much, but when Greg's literally running around chasing after frogs and pretending to be an elephant it's kind of hard not to see him that way. A-At least right now, anyway.

[Someday he'll grow up and Wirt will probably look at him and see the teapot-headed little weirdo he is now sometimes. It'll probably be hard to shake.]

That might just be me though. I mean - I wouldn't want to assume your brother thinks of you the same way.

[Mostly because it's kind of hard to actually imagine Ange as a silly kid on the same level as Greg.]

[ For a moment Ange goes quiet. That last statement really does make her think of her brother, and what he'd think of her, and.. she's been in this place for long enough now that she's able to not even think much about her life and where she came from most of the time.

But these thoughts bring that longing for her family back momentarily. She misses them so much.

Then again, she's already lived with that feeling for twelve years. What's some more time with that, huh.

Somehow something about her seems more openly sad when she finally replies. Not as intense as it might show with other people, since Ange doesn't show emotions a whole lot, but it's something about the look in her eyes. ]

.. Hey, frogs are pretty interesting. Your brother just has good taste.

[For a moment, Wirt isn't sure what to make of that answer. She seems...like she's far away in her thoughts, somewhere he can't follow.

Wirt doesn't have it in him to ask her where her thoughts have taken her though. That seems like it might be rude somehow, so he holds back.]

Heh. I guess that's one way to put it.

[That sounds a little more dismissive than he means it to be though. Greg does have good taste, if a bit weird at times.]

...He probably would like you, if you two ever got to meet. I mean, he kind of likes everyone but. I don't know. I think he would. At the very least he would totally show you every frog he could pull out of the closet.

He sounds like a good kid.

[ And Ange actually likes kids - more than she seems she would with her kind of outward personality. So if Wirt's brother was actually here? Sure, she would be friendly to him. Naturally so, really.

So she does mean what she said, even though it's still not quite said in her usual tone. It's still less nonchalant than usually. ]

I'm glad for him that he isn't here though. This place must suck for kids. [ And to her Wirt is already still kind of a kid, despite the age difference between him and Ange not being that huge. Let alone his younger little brother. ]

Edited 2019-06-01 17:10 (UTC)

Yeah...it was really hard for him, for a lot of reasons. Obviously it was super dangerous, but on top of that no one grows up? He's six, but he was here for a while and never got any older physically.

[He feels bad, but he can't remember exactly how long. Was it two years? Less than that? He's not great at the general concept of time.]

I used to think about things like, what if he was stuck here for five years? Or ten? What if he wound up like that Alice girl, forever a little kid with all these holes in his memory? I miss him, but...he's really better off not being here.

[ That's definitely a sentiment Ange can understand. She really wants to see her own brother again, but if it's at the price of him being here.. She's not too sure. Battler is just too empathic and over the top emotional to be able to last in this place.

Of course with Ange being Ange though, she doesn't voice any of that. ]

How about you then? Are you okay with just always being the age you are right now as long as you're here?

Kind of...? It's um. It's complicated.

[His face flushes a bit, because it feels super stupid to explain.]

I think time works kind of weird in that strange world I came from. It's actually a lot like this place in that regard? But instead of time stopping it's just...slower. Much slower. So...when I first got here I kept like, spacing on how time works anyway. I kept telling everyone I was fifteen for like, almost three years?

[It's embarrassing now though, admitting that he would just casually forget about the passage of time. He puts his face in his hands.]

I-I've been trying harder now, but. It felt weirder to skip ahead a bunch of birthdays? So a couple of years ago I just started counting everything again, as if I put new batteries in a clock but didn't adjust the time. I...I tell people I'm seventeen, but really I should be way older than that. Probably. But then again not really, since no one ages?

.. Oh. I had no idea.

[ And even though the whole "no ageing" thing didn't really feel that weird to her before, it feels slightly odd now. Mostly since she's been thinking of Wirt as someone clearly younger than her for a while now, even though with what he's saying he might technically be older than her. Which is.. definitely a weird thought, hence why Ange is quietly overthinking it for a moment before she speaks up again. ]

I thought you were younger than me all along. [ Which is both is and isn't now, all of a sudden. ]

Really? I don't think I ever actually asked how old you are.

[He doesn't, usually. He just sort of assumed that she was around his age and left it at that. Now he's curious though.]

...Wait, why did you think I was younger?

[ There's a moment of a silence that is actually - for once - very, very awkward.

Ange may or may not usually just be using her deadpan to hide a severe lack of social skills. Which becomes apparent right now, where he's heavily debating whether or not to say the honest answer and be rude or not. ]

.. You kind of look like a kid. [ At least she has the decency to sound a little awkward for once as she says it.

(It's also a pretty rich statement coming from the girl who wears the same bobble hair accessoires as six year olds.) ]

[It isn't the first time he's heard that before. At home he's a young-looking fifteen, about to be a young-looking sixteen.]

Yeah, well. ...Bare minimum, even with all the other age weirdness, I'm a sophomore in high school? I-I even have my driver's permit! Though I, um. Haven't actually done a lot of driving yet.

[It's not a very compelling argument, but he's definitely been mixed up with middle schoolers a few too many times.]

People can drive at that age? [ She seems surprised, but at least this time it has absolutely nothing to do with how she perceives Wirt's age.

Instead it has everything to do with Ange growing up in a rich people environment with drivers and all, so she has no idea of normal society standards on stuff like when people can drive. Or how much bananas cost in the grocery store. ]

I guess I could just be wrong though. I haven't exactly seen a whole lot of guys your age back home. I went to an all girls middle and high school.

+ Guilt Runs Deep

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(sorry this is later than normal; I've been on hiatus!)

it's cool, no worries!

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