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[lingeringhope]

[Hope's voice is clear and clipped.]

If you would like to leave a message, you may do so here. I can't promise to respond. I have many demands on my time, and this sort of thing is far down the list. Still, if you would like to, you may.

Comments

[torrefied]

I didn't do it to help, or for a reward.

[Or to gain anything other than the return of his phone from the City Guard.]

[lingeringhope]

But you did it, and so you have been repaid. Is that difficult for you?

[torrefied]

[Well, since you put it that way ... ]

I don't like being given things I haven't asked for. It implies an imbalance of debt that's out of my favor.

[lingeringhope]

You owe me no debt. You did what I ask, as did others, and so I repaid you.

[torrefied]

... OK. Just so we're clear about that.

[lingeringhope]

I feel that we are quite clear.

[torrefied]

You also brought me back from the dead. That wasn't strictly necessary, and I understand, broadly, why you do it, but surely you can sense that it's not especially to your benefit to do so.

[lingeringhope]

Why not? You are far more useful to me alive.

[torrefied]

I'm not yours to use.

[He bristles audibly at that. It's entirely too reminiscent of Near, back in New York.]

And anyway, I'm sure you've noticed that hope isn't an emotion I hold much stock in. That's what I meant about it not being to your benefit.

[lingeringhope]

Whether you hold much stock in it or not, you still feel it sometimes. If you were dead, you would never feel it.

[torrefied]

You're assuming an awful lot about me, you know.

[lingeringhope]

Do you work differently than other humans?

[torrefied]

That's an extremely broad question. There are some basic, fundamental aspects of being human that are universal - we breathe to stay alive; likewise, our hearts beat in a regular rhythm. Anything more than that, you'll find the experience of being human is one that varies wildly.

[lingeringhope]

But none of you seem to truly have the ability to control what you feel.

[torrefied]

[Way to nail the story of Mello's life pretty much exactly on the head, Hope. He goes quiet for a moment.]

No. We don't. Emotions are complicated, but they're not voluntary responses. We can't control what we feel, only how we act on it. Some of us do that better than others.

[lingeringhope]

So you see why I prefer all of you alive. Dead, you can never feel hope again. Alive, there is always a chance.

Did you want to remain dead?

[torrefied]

[Well, OK, that's fair. Hope is well named, at least.]

No. Not until I finish what I was doing back where I was before.

[Which he would have no chance of completing if he were to remain dead here.]

I guess thanks are in order.

[lingeringhope]

Thanks are unnecessary. I'm simply doing what's in everyone's best interests.

[torrefied]

Doing what's in everyone's best interest is often thankless work.

[lingeringhope]

It certainly is here.

[torrefied]

Yeah ... I noticed that.

[Mello might have a little personal experience with it, too.]

I guess maybe that means you should hear it more often.

[lingeringhope]

That isn't necessary. I don't expect it.

[torrefied]

I'd question your motives if you did. That would suggest an ulterior motive beyond the common good.

[lingeringhope]

I have always been clear about my motives. I want my companions resurrected and I want to keep you all alive and safe.

[torrefied]

Yeah, you have been. I'm sure not a whole lot of people here appreciate it, but I do.