iii. video.

[thanatophobias]

[Say hi, Cole. Guess what day it was yesterday.]

My mom's stuck back home. [She's the one who's stuck, in his perception. Not him. He likes it here, despite all these recent disasters.] She's the only family I have.

[First there was the death of his grandmother, then his father left. The rest of the family never gave much of a damn, and neither did he.

There's silence in his lack of an expression. If anything, it's only possible to tell that he's deep in some thought. Maybe he's already had more than enough chances to cry about his mother being far away, for having been unable to see her for almost six months now. He's growing up and the only thing keeping him from calling this place home is the fact that she's not here.

After the pause is over, he continues in the very same emotionless tone.]

Lucifer hasn't stopped. People are still dying because of him.

[He should know - they keep showing up at his doorstep.

The feed clicks off.]

Comments

[thanatophobias]

[There's a pause, curiosity in his silence.]

And they help you see?

[beenwaitinglong]

Yes. I can see with this.

[In a crappy digitized grayscale, but, well...]

Not the most stylish model, but beggars can't be choosers, as the saying goes.

[thanatophobias]

[He thinks it looks... futuristic. Beyond any of the technology they could have around here, as advanced as it already is from his perspective.]

I didn't know they had glasses like that.

[beenwaitinglong]

They don't, really. It's a prototype-- a test model. They wanted to see if it would work, so I volunteered to try it out.

[Another sip of his coffee.]

I'm not sure if they'll make it a common device or not. Perhaps it would be more popular with rappers.

[thanatophobias]

[Rappers aren't something he's too familiarized with. His mother would definitely disapprove.]

You're lucky they gave it to you.

[beenwaitinglong]

I agree. [Unlucky to need it in the first place.

No... more like he ran afoul of bitter destiny.]

Mind if I ask how old you are?

[thanatophobias]

I'm nine. [a pause, as if to prove a point:] How old are you?

[beenwaitinglong]

33.

[It's only fair, right?]

[thanatophobias]

You're older than my mom.

[beenwaitinglong]

[Wow. Young mom, apparently.]

You must really miss her. I'm sure she's thinking about you.

[Way to cheer the kid up, Godot.]

There's only one question you've got to ask yourself, though.

[thanatophobias]

What question?

[beenwaitinglong]

Do you think she would be proud of the way you're carrying on without her?

[thanatophobias]

[There's definitely a moment of thought here.]

... Yeah. I think so.

[But his mother would always be proud of him.]

[beenwaitinglong]

Then that's the important thing.

[He pauses for another sip of coffee, as though that was the very height of profundity.]

[thanatophobias]

Do you still have a mother?

[beenwaitinglong]

No. She passed away some time ago.

[thanatophobias]

What was she like?

[beenwaitinglong]

Ha...! She was- ferocious, like a tiger.

I didn't have a father, so it was just the two of us and my grandfather. She was a nurse, and she worked long and hard every night to do her best for me. I was the center of her world, no matter how hard things got.

Or how much coffee I snuck when she said I was too young to drink it.

[thanatophobias]

[He can definitely relate to that. From living with a grandparent to a father missing from the equation.]

How young were you?

[beenwaitinglong]

When I started drinking coffee? Seven or eight.

I never really believed what they said about it stunting your growth.

[He's a respectable 6'1", after all. Of course, he probably would have been a giant if he hadn't turned into a caffeinated maniac by the tender age of 12.]

[thanatophobias]

What made you start?