one } voice; un: jane doe (they know what everybody knows)

[scathefires]

Who wants to help me settle a bet? I've got two questions if you do.

One - do you have an expression where you're from that goes "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades"?

And two - what the hell do horseshoes and hand grenades have to do with each other anyway?

private to seifer and nida.

So we never went camping, back in the village.

[that's. pathetic, but it's the best he can do for offering an olive branch to his brothers.]

Comments

[scathefires]

I guess they don’t have horses where he’s from, so it makes sense that it’s not a thing there.

[wow ... cissie’s mom actually sounds horrible.]

Hey, can I ask - didd you actually want to learn archery, or did your mom just decide you were gonna do it?

[cisskabob]

...Okay, I will give him that. Not that the game of horseshoes has anything to do with actual horses... I don't think. I don't actually know much about it, except that I'm good at it.

[Does she sound like she's smirking? Because she absolutely is. But then she sobers, and her tone is entirely sincere, because she completely means what she says next.]

You can ask me anything, any time, Jason. Honestly, though? [Here she pauses before taking a long, slow breath, sounding thoughtful.] I don't actually know.

It was probably more Mom, considering how young I was. I don't actually even remember learning, it's just something I've always done. She told me a couple stories once, about how when I was a toddler, I could spot a bird's nest in a tree so far away she needed binoculars to see it, and how I found the darts for the dart board and hit the bullseye when she wasn't looking when I was like two years old. And like a responsible parent worried about her child's safety, she gave the darts back to me and had me throw them again to see if it was a fluke, but I guess I hit the target again. I don't remember any of that, but I do know I started learning archery as soon as I could hold a bow and stand at the same time, which was definitely before I learned how to read.

...I think it was better, when I was that little, though. My dad was alive, and he could kind of run interference, you know?

[scathefires]

[he's quiet for a bit, taking all of that in. he can't imagine having parents so invested in what their child could do that they pushed so hard from such a young age - mostly because his own parents had been too absent or preoccupied with fighting each other to give much thought to jason or what he could do.]

D'you think ... if it'd been up to you, would you've still gone with it?

[cisskabob]

[Now it's Cissie's turn to be quiet a moment and think on his question.]

...I don't know. I mean--I really don't. I did stop for a little while--CPS got involved and Mom lost custody of me and I was a Ward of the State, and I quit then, but it was kind of a 'screw you Ma, I'm never picking up a bow again' thing. And then I decided that no, the better revenge or whatever was to go out and be better without her than I'd ever been with her. Not exactly the best reason to get into the business, huh?

[scathefires]

Revenge can be a pretty strong motivator. [he would definitely know about that.] At least the end result was you went out and did some good, right? That’s prob’ly more important than why you did it.

[cisskabob]

Hmm. I guess you're right. [She pauses, considering his words before she continues.] Y'know... I've spent a lot of time thinking about that--about why I was doing it, and why I kept doing it, and why I quit and... I don't think I've spent all that much time thinking about what I did. Does that make any sense?

[scathefires]

I think so ... like, it wasn't ever really a question about if you were gonna do good, because that was already a given? But the why you were doing it was a more important question?