Conversation Space: The Ultimate

[powersthatbe]

You feel as if you've stepped through a door.

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I think I like now/after better

[thornsofmalkav]

"Well yeah," Thorne says. "So. I hope I've done well? I mean, with trying to figure out Liminal Space and all. I want to understand things. To figure out how and what we are--and what we're becoming. We're amphibious, aren't we? Like you are, but to a lesser degree. Liminal Space shapes us as we shape it.

[powersthatare]

"Amphibious." She seems to taste the word, and then laughs a ringing, clear laugh after it. "What an intriguing observation. And is it not so in every world, Liminal or Corporeal?"

[thornsofmalkav]

"Well sure," Thorne says. "All mortals like us live both in the physical and mental world--but here, the mental is physical. And you guys--you don't see the difference, do you? Fortuna didn't. And if we stop seeing them as different, we can start doing the things you do. At least that's how I think of it.

"I still want to help you win," Thorne adds. "As much as I want any of you guys to win? Despite what that Jolie kid thinks, a reality that reflects you sounds pretty good to me. But... that's not really what I'm after here. Helping you win would be fine--but it's not what my goal is. I want us--us, the Travelers--to level up, I guess. Because what's in you is in us too, isn't it? Just-- more limited. Because we're younger and smaller."

She flushes. "Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to turn that into a speech. And maybe it's stupid to announce my intentions like that, but it feels like that if any of you guys would appreciate us finding new capabilities inside ourselves, it would be you. And you know enough about secrets not to tell the others."

[powersthatare]

"I'm not unappreciative," she acknowledges. "But your discovery is unlikely to change our aims, or our relationship."

[thornsofmalkav]

"Even if we can establish ourselves as the Minor Arcana," Thorne translates, "you're still going to see us as pieces and keep playing. So there's really nothing we can do about that?"

[powersthatare]

"I'm not one to say 'nothing' casually," she says, sounding critical. "Say instead, that alone is not enough, and what could make your effort transcend the game is a mystery... even to me."

[thornsofmalkav]

Thorne nods, her cheeks warm with embarrassment. "Sorry. I shouldn't give up that easily."

She looks down at her cup. "Can I still ask for new riddles, Shekinah?"

[powersthatare]

"Could I stop you?" There's a fondness in her voice as she asks the question.

[thornsofmalkav]

Thorne laughs softly. "Probably not," she admits.

(It cheers her more than it probably should to hear fondness in her patron's voice.)

[powersthatare]

"Then I will ask you this: how many games do mortals play?" her ears flap once, smugly. "Call for me, when you think you have an answer."

[thornsofmalkav]

"... oh man," Thorne says. "I'm not sure where to start answering that question. Do you mean individual games? Types of games? Mind games? Pretend games? Sports? Just how strictly are games being defined? The answer is quite possibly way too many to reasonably count."

[powersthatare]

"That is not the answer," she says, kindly. "But perhaps it is the start of it. You may have time to consider - as much time as is available to you."

[thornsofmalkav]

Thorne nods. "Am I-- am I being dismissed?" She sounds wistful. She doesn't want to go.