[The sensation of another mind coexisting with his, speaking to him, remains strange. Paul takes a moment to formulate his response in words instead of just a soft burst of assent.]
I'll tell her. And we'll get them here soon.
[He keys in a message to Ruby after a few minutes of thought, still unsure of exactly how to tell her this - there is no good way, but there are less bad ones, and that's what he'll strive for.]
Oscar tried to stop the Emperor on the beach. Chara stopped him instead.
He's with me now. He says you'll understand what that means.
[That... That sounded like Oscar and just about everyone else in Ruby's life including herself. Doing what they could to try and help even if at the cost of their own life.
Then the second comment come around and it takes her a second.]
Wow. He must come back fas-
[And then it clicks. The time Ozpin had spent in her own head back in the dream. ...And she suddenly feels a pang of sympathy for both Paul and Oscar.]
Right. Well let him know I said "Hi." He'll know what that means too.
[It just means hi.]
That's a lot on the both of your guys' plates at the moment. Just let me know what I can do and I'll be there.
[Paul switches his input method to match Ruby's. It's among the least of things he can do.]
If you know a way of getting him out of me and back where he belongs, you can do it.
[In text, he can hide the hollowed quality of his voice behind clipped matter of factness. He can still mask most of it like this, but it's harder than it should be.]
Until then, I'm going to keep him safe for you. You can tell your household about this. I'm not hiding it.
[Ruby Rose has always, in Paul's memory of her, smiling. It somehow makes the effort he can hear in her voice worse, and he thinks again of the contrast between the cruel world of Remnant that Oscar had described, and the kindness of the people that came from it.]
Thank you.
[He matches her business-like tone, but the impact of the trust she's setting in him echoes behind his sternum. It sounds in his voice when he asks, carefully measured:]
Will it hurt him if he stays with me too long? I asked him, but...
[That's a loaded question and it takes Ruby a moment to consider how to answer it. There was a lot of information about Oscar and Ozpin that weren't exactly hers to give but at the same time Paul was in the thick of it and she could at least alleviate any of the fears that he might have.]
I would be more worried if you were in our world.
How Ozpin... And by extension Oscar inhabit a body. It's more of a merging there. Eventually the two souls become one.
From what happened to me in the dream it didn't last long enough for anything like that to happen.
If somehow he doesn't get out in more than a couple weeks than we might need to start worrying more about side effects.
[Another reason for text's superiority: Ruby wouldn't have been able to hear the pause that comes after her explanation, or the soft, sharp inhale that ends it before he speaks again:]
So we aim for less time than that.
[Another question to ask Oscar, in the privacy of their shared space. What does it feel like to merge with someone else? To be subsumed into a shared self? He cannot help but think of Kaworu, and then he stops thinking about anything. Briskly, like shaking out a dustcloth, he says:]
[Sorry Paul. She definitely didn't believe in texting superiority in this case. Mainly because she caught the pause and did her best to sound as comforting as she could in this case.]
If it makes you feel better- Oscar and I aren't the only ones who ended up with Ozpin in our heads since arriving here.
I don't think the other likes to talk about it so I'll leave his name out unless Oscar has already spilled the beans.
But they didn't have any adverse affects afterwards either.
[She pauses briefly before taking on a warm tone of voice again.]
That would be great. I trust him with you, Paul. He'll help watch your back through this too.
[Ruby's trust in him for this task feels like a glassblown egg set in his hands while he's blindfolded at the edge of a wood, waiting to be pushed inside.]
He hasn't told me anything he didn't feel like he had to. And I'm good at keeping secrets.
[Sometimes too much so, but not for this purpose.]
I know I'll be all right. He's the one I'm concerned about.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
un: younghuman | text | private to Ruby
I'll tell her. And we'll get them here soon.
[He keys in a message to Ruby after a few minutes of thought, still unsure of exactly how to tell her this - there is no good way, but there are less bad ones, and that's what he'll strive for.]
Oscar tried to stop the Emperor on the beach. Chara stopped him instead.
He's with me now. He says you'll understand what that means.
Audio | Private
Then the second comment come around and it takes her a second.]
Wow. He must come back fas-
[And then it clicks. The time Ozpin had spent in her own head back in the dream. ...And she suddenly feels a pang of sympathy for both Paul and Oscar.]
Right. Well let him know I said "Hi." He'll know what that means too.
[It just means hi.]
That's a lot on the both of your guys' plates at the moment. Just let me know what I can do and I'll be there.
voice | private ∞
If you know a way of getting him out of me and back where he belongs, you can do it.
[In text, he can hide the hollowed quality of his voice behind clipped matter of factness. He can still mask most of it like this, but it's harder than it should be.]
Until then, I'm going to keep him safe for you. You can tell your household about this. I'm not hiding it.
I didn't mean for this to happen.
And I'll tell him you said hello.
no subject
I don't think anyone would predict how this was going to go down.
But the fact that you're willing to admit that much says a lot about you.
I'm counting on you to do both of those. He's really important to our family.
[She pauses briefly before sounding a bit more business like.]
I don't know if it's possible to just put him back- At least the person Oscar's inherited this ability from didn't have a choice where he ended up.
But I'll talk to the people from my home and see what we can do for both of you.
no subject
Thank you.
[He matches her business-like tone, but the impact of the trust she's setting in him echoes behind his sternum. It sounds in his voice when he asks, carefully measured:]
Will it hurt him if he stays with me too long? I asked him, but...
[Paul would lie, in his position.]
no subject
I would be more worried if you were in our world.
How Ozpin... And by extension Oscar inhabit a body. It's more of a merging there. Eventually the two souls become one.
From what happened to me in the dream it didn't last long enough for anything like that to happen.
If somehow he doesn't get out in more than a couple weeks than we might need to start worrying more about side effects.
no subject
So we aim for less time than that.
[Another question to ask Oscar, in the privacy of their shared space. What does it feel like to merge with someone else? To be subsumed into a shared self? He cannot help but think of Kaworu, and then he stops thinking about anything. Briskly, like shaking out a dustcloth, he says:]
I'll keep you informed on our status twice daily.
no subject
If it makes you feel better- Oscar and I aren't the only ones who ended up with Ozpin in our heads since arriving here.
I don't think the other likes to talk about it so I'll leave his name out unless Oscar has already spilled the beans.
But they didn't have any adverse affects afterwards either.
[She pauses briefly before taking on a warm tone of voice again.]
That would be great. I trust him with you, Paul. He'll help watch your back through this too.
no subject
He hasn't told me anything he didn't feel like he had to. And I'm good at keeping secrets.
[Sometimes too much so, but not for this purpose.]
I know I'll be all right. He's the one I'm concerned about.
But if I don't have to be...that's good.