[closed] I came so close to putting lyrics from "Memory" here

[therevanchist]

WHO: Revan, Orren, and Squall
WHAT: Tinkering with people's minds has never, ever gone wrong
WHERE: Orren's room, the chocobo stables
WHEN: early November-ish (timely!)
WARNING: Repressed memories/mind control

A. Revan and Orren

Revan knows she should have asked Orren before dragging him into this, and intends to display the minimal amount of contrition necessary to keep him from complaining about it too much--because she also knows he's not going to refuse. He's constitutionally incapable of sitting out an opportunity to do the right thing.

"Orren?" Revan knocks on his door. "Put some pants on, we need to talk."

B. Revan, Orren, and Squall

Revan hasn't the faintest idea what a chocobo is, and to her mild disappointment there doesn't appear to be one in the half completed chocobo stable to clear the matter up for her. Not the worst view of Dualis from up here, at least. It's such a nice city on the surface. Shame about the corruption at the heart of things.

He's kind of standoffish, so just be your usual charming self, Revan tells Orren telepathically as she looks around for anything that might be a chocobo, or Squall, or a chocobo and Squall.

Comments

A

[orren]

And a moment later, the door slides open. Orren remains seated with his legs crossed in the center of the room where he'd been meditating a moment before. He smiles and opens his mouth to welcome her with some good-natured sarcasm, but stops. His eyes narrow slightly as he recognizes a certain ... something in her expression.

"What did you do?"

[therevanchist]

Revan lets herself in, gesturing absently over one shoulder to close the door behind her as she decides whether or not to get annoyed with Orren for being onto her. Maybe it's her fault for being predictable.

"How much do you know about restoring memories?" she asks, rather than answer the question directly.

[orren]

Asking directly probably would have gone over better. Less room for Orren to misinterpret her question and be deeply concerned.

"Not much, in all honesty." He answers, studying her face for some sign as to why she wants to know. "I've got some knowledge, but it's all theoretical. Rooting around that deep in someone's mind is something I was never particularly comfortable with."

Despite his obvious worry given the subject and the person who brought it up, his answer is honest. He'd said that he hadn't given her nearly enough credit, and promised to be completely open, and he didn't intend to renege on that.

He does, however, want to know why she's asking.

[therevanchist]

Too late, Revan realizes what her question sounds like and pinches the bridge of her nose. Oops.

"It's not for me, but I do appreciate that you didn't have to hide a heart attack." She gives him a wry half-smile. "Someone was asking about healing 'magical' memory problems and I told him the Force might be able to help."

If it can cause the issue, it can fix it, right?

[orren]

Orren lets out a small sigh of relief and flashes her a small smile of his own. She's more than earned the benefit of the doubt from him, but that was still a very worrying question.

As to to her 'someone' ...

"It's possible." He concedes with a small nod, tucking a stray lock of hair behind his ear. "Can't say that I know what 'magic' means in this case, or how that works, but ..."

It's possible.

[therevanchist]

"I don't know either, but..." Revan trails off and shrugs, needing a moment to formulate what she's thinking into words, drumming her fingers on her thigh.

"With the Force, motive matters. Good intentions aren't enough—" she grimaces, because boy are they not enough, "—but if we're honest about intent to help, if we pay attention to any warning signs, it shouldn't do harm even if it doesn't succeed."

Hence why she's bringing Orren in, because historical evidence suggests she's done a very bad job with warning signs in the past.

B (the stables is totally completed now. I forgot to update whoops.)

[silentnarration]

She doesn't have to be disappointed for long. There's one sullen teenager appearing from a dark corner, arms wrapped around a bundle of yellow fluff, a little bigger now. And very excited to wiggle free from Squall's grasp.

While Squall is trying to look serious and study the two strangers (it's not like he's met Revan before now either), the expert escape bird slips free and makes a bee line for Orren, spreading out his wings and giving the man an inquisitive 'kweh'!

Thanks for wrecking the serious mood, Boko.

... Then again, it's Squall's fault for bringing him.

"That's your friend?"

[therevanchist]

Unfortunately, Squall's not getting a direct answer immediately (though maybe the matching metal cylinders each of them are sporting on their hips is enough of an indirect one) because Boko has stolen the show.

"Is that a chocobo?!" Revan's looking down at the baby bird with wide eyes and a smile, because that's adorable...doubly so because it's trying to climb Orren.