{I am a whisper in the darkness

[shadowthief]

Who: Inej + Various
When: Month of May
Where: Cadens + the Horizon
What: Various threads through the month
Warnings: stealing; murder; descriptions of touch aversion, anxiety, depression, PTSD; heavy trust issues, paranoia; mentions of past instances of prostitution, slavery, and sexual assault. Everything will be clearly marked if-when it comes up.

hide it in the darkness but everyone knows

the truth is found in the gallows

Comments

[shadowthief]

“What makes a person functional, though? Everyone copes with things differently. Would one person pushing through their traumas make them less… mental-sick than someone who- I don’t know- wallows in their woes?”

This isn’t a conversation she really knows how to have, but she’s trying. “Some people fear for their life simply because of where they live. And… what is that, agoraphobia— phobia is fear, but fear of… what, exactly?”

[restingstitchface]

"It depends. Some fear open spaces, especially those with a crowd, while others refuse to step foot outside their homes."

Crane finds himself feeling the pangs of thirst. He swallows those feelings and clenches his fingers tighter beneath the counter, out of sight and out of mind. It takes him a moment to continue.

"Even more are terrified of travelling to places from which escape is difficult. Does that sound familiar to you?"

[shadowthief]

Her eyebrows lift slightly in surprise. Whatever explanation she might have expected, it wasn’t quite that. “That… sounds like it would be very hard to mitigate.” To say the least.

“No, not really.” She shakes her head slightly. “I mean, no one wants to go somewhere inescapable… that seems pretty reasonable to me.”

[restingstitchface]

Her remark about mitigating agoraphobia causes him to smile. His lips part, as though he might laugh, but before he can remark about the various therapies one might use to manage the disorder, she comments about something that almost makes him laugh.

Almost.

"If nobody wishes to go somewhere inescapable, do you suppose people are happy to make a life here?"

In this inescapable land.

[shadowthief]

She considers his question for a moment and then shrugs, “I don’t know. It probably varies from person to person. Maybe… home was worse than what they face here. Or they have no life to go back to.”

“But I guess people, in general, are pretty resilient. You can adjust to nearly anything, given enough time. So maybe it isn’t about happiness but just… making the best of a situation that’s out of your hands?”