A: I thought this was your dedicated study time?
B: ...my brain is too full of sad to fit any more information right now... -- Anon Guest
It was easy to tell when Human Jori was having a bad day. They were magnetically attracted to the Soft Corner, and burrowed in. Not to sleep, but to be comfortable and, if truly stressed, entertain themselves with simple things meant for children.
Jori was deep in the beanbags, burrowed under the weighted blanket, and watching Tinky Funkerbeans in Fairyland on hir datareader[1]. The theme tune was unmistakable, as were the eye-bleeding colours that leaked out of the gaps in Jori's fortress of softness.
Companion Gesh crouched by Jori's head, visible only as a tuft of amber-dyed hair. "Is this not your hours of learning? Are you not feeling well?"
There were a few moments of silence as Jori reluctantly paused the binge-fest. A deep breath preceded a sigh. "I can't absorb new stuff. Too much sad brain. I tried, but... I read a sentence like five times without internalising it."
Gesh had absorbed some of Jori's shorthand by now and asked, "Bad day at the office?"
"Bad day in the newspapers," sighed Jori. "News has got out about the situation in the Fiduciary Empire of Nardl. I escaped the cluster-flakk, but... it's still going on. It's getting worse."
It had once been a line in an ancient comedy show. Jori had shared it with Gesh as part of an initial bonding activity... The words echoed in Gesh's mind. Emergency, it went, delivered in a calm monotone. There's an emergency going on. It's an emergency, and it's going on. It's still going on, and it's an emergency.
Emergencies could happen in slow motion. They could drag on for months. They could last for years. Some considered the entire lifespan of Deregger empires to be an ongoing emergency that had become long-lasting tradition. Debate was still raging about that, largely between all the Dereggers and everyone else. Jori, a Deregger survivor and escapee, had just found news from home. Since it was a Deregger empire, the news was not good.
"Would you like to talk about it?"
Jori just grunted in the negative.
"Any objections to me sitting by you while you decompress?"
Another negative grunt, but one hand emerged from the bundle to pat one of Gesh's arms. "Thanks..."
Gesh settled within convenient reach and dialed up a good book. One ear open for any incidental sniffling.
[1] I can only hope that I've made this kiddie thing up. I have tripped across "Funky Winkerbeans" somewhere but I have no idea what it might mean.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Appstock]
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I occasionally wonder if some of the kiddie things are actually kiddie things or someone having some interesting visions from alternate realities aided by chemical substances XD
Considering some of the kiddie shows out there... I think this is a valid theory.
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