→ 002; [voice]

[trashed]

[Guess who's actually doing a network post on his own free will, for once? That's right. This kid. But ever since he'd come back from his kidnapping, he'd been feeling a little bit...off. It wasn't something he could really place, though. Not yet.

He needed a distraction. One that isn't trying to pick a physical fight with people because that never seemed to end well here. If he's already not feeling on the top of his game it's going to end even worse than usual.]

What's the point of friendships?

[There's a bit of a pause, before he tacks on:]

Don't give me that warm and fuzzy stuff, either. I don't want to hear it.

[Well, that was short and sweet enough. He's just. Going to end it here.]

Comments

[Voice]

[yourfononsarewhack]

Why is that? Are you already feeling something which makes the clinical definition seem inadequate?

[Voice]

[trashed]

No, I'm not! [Sounding a little bit defensive, but that's Sync for you.] It's all everyone talks about -- so I asked. Happy?

[Voice]

[yourfononsarewhack]

[He sighs.]

'Happy' isn't exactly a common emotion for me. Regardless, perhaps you can find friendship to be more appealing from a pragmatic perspective.

[Voice]

[trashed]

[Oh no they have something in common...]

It's not all that appealing. Opening up to someone else? Sounds like you're just waiting to get stabbed in the back.

[Voice]

[yourfononsarewhack]

[The world should fear.]

Only if you embrace the friendship in a reckless manner. Why don't you try thinking? If you can keep yourself guarded while maintaining such a friendship, than you can be the one in the position to stab. Simply think of it as an alliance in which all you owe are emotional ties rather than anything of material value. It's certainly not hard to see the appeal from that perspective, now is it?

[Of course, Jade will definitely be cautious to make sure that such advice isn't channeled towards Ion. But at the same time, he knows that starting such "friendships" could often be the first step towards changing to a truly emotional one.]

[Voice]

[trashed]

[He is definitely suspicious because Jade is giving him the advice...but to be honest he would've been suspicious if it was anyone.]

Why are you telling me this, anyway? Isn't this sort of thing what you would want to avoid?

[Getting into trouble, manipulating people. You know. The usual.]

[Voice]

[yourfononsarewhack]

Don't worry yourself, Sync. I wouldn't tell you about anything that I'm incapable of preventing by myself. [He says with a slight smugness. That will be his only warning there.] If anything, I'm surprised that you didn't come to such a conclusion on your own.

[Voice]

[trashed]

[Maybe he just doesn't know how to be nice. Or doesn't want to, that might be more accurate.]

You say that like you think you're going to catch me off guard again. You're not.

[Ignoring the second statement.]

[Voice]

[yourfononsarewhack]

I don't imagine that I will. Of course, catching someone while on guard is a much more amusing challenge.

[Voice]

[trashed]

Are you done playing around?

[Voice]

[yourfononsarewhack]

Who says that I'm playing around? [The answer is that only Jade does, and he doesn't feel like spelling out either way.]

Of course, we're also overlooking the most basic root of a need for friendship.

[Voice]

[trashed]

[Even though Jade can't see it, Sync's rolling his eyes a lot over here.]

You don't need friendship. You want friendship. There's a difference.

[Voice]

[yourfononsarewhack]

That's true. And with the same token, I suppose that one neither needs nor wants the feeling of loneliness that comes from an absence of having such people around.

[Voice]

[trashed]

It's easier.

[Not having to deal with people, or feelings, or whatever. And he thinks he's so far gone, being dead, that it's not even worth it.]