“The same point?” Isamu was shaking now. “The same point?! If it is human ideals that cause me to identify your intention as harmful or manipulative, then I fail to see how you can claim a higher motive when you clearly saw my very existence in the exact same light. Why do you get to ruin my livelihood, even my life, and still remain morally superi…”
“Woah! Woah! Hold it! Stop, stop!” Minoru literally stood between them, hands out. It wasn’t like words couldn’t go right around a physical barrier, but the intention was clear. “Everybody. Just stop. Just breathe. In. Out.”
Ziggy could probably feel Minoru’s thoughts racing - this whole thing sounded just like one of Isamu’s thought exercises. But Isamu loved thought exercises! Isamu was literally doing a thought exercise when things went south last time - along with feelings of being way out of his comfort zone.
He turned over his shoulder, sympathetically looking at his brother.
“Remember how I told you that Ziggy was probably angry because he was scared?” Which was true. That was what this thought experiment seemed to be about, from Minoru’s perspective. “You’re acting the same way.”
He cautiously moved toward Isamu, hands out, taking him by the shoulders and steadying him. Isamu flinched, but he didn’t try to fight or flee. He literally just froze. Minoru hadn’t seen that look in Isamu’s eyes since they were in Hunger City last December.
“Bro… you… you ARE scared. You’re terrified…” he glanced back at Ziggy, just as sympathetically, and then turned his full attention to Isamu. His voice was softer now. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“I… I don’t know…” His words slurred into a contraction. Which only happened when he was drunk or completely overwhelmed. Isamu clutched the notebook tightly, almost protectively, in his arms.
“Okay, yeah, I get it. That’s the most terrifying thing in the world. But what don’t you know?” Isamu averted his eyes, staring down at said notebook. “…what do you want to know?”
Isamu was silent, but his eyes started to water. His body was shaking.
“Isamu…” Minoru whispered. “Isamu, breathe with me… in… out… Please, I can’t read your mind…”
Minoru wasn’t even sure if Ziggy could, at the moment. Misunderstandings were happening in both directions, again. And Isamu was basically on the verge of melting down completely. Hell, Minoru had no idea what he could say or even do.
But then Isamu whispered, “I… I want to know… why my mind is broken…”
Normalizing the paranormal, his fascination with Anthean empathy, his desire to learn about Ziggy’s physiology and how the Anthean mind works, why Ziggy’s threats to prevent humans from studying anything about them meant so much, why Ziggy’s criticisms dug as deeply as Isamu’s curiosity ran, why he made Zayda fall asleep, why he couldn’t understand Ziggy’s perspective, answers that just might be in that book that was now getting tear stains on the cover…
no subject
“Woah! Woah! Hold it! Stop, stop!” Minoru literally stood between them, hands out. It wasn’t like words couldn’t go right around a physical barrier, but the intention was clear. “Everybody. Just stop. Just breathe. In. Out.”
Ziggy could probably feel Minoru’s thoughts racing - this whole thing sounded just like one of Isamu’s thought exercises. But Isamu loved thought exercises! Isamu was literally doing a thought exercise when things went south last time - along with feelings of being way out of his comfort zone.
He turned over his shoulder, sympathetically looking at his brother.
“Remember how I told you that Ziggy was probably angry because he was scared?” Which was true. That was what this thought experiment seemed to be about, from Minoru’s perspective. “You’re acting the same way.”
He cautiously moved toward Isamu, hands out, taking him by the shoulders and steadying him. Isamu flinched, but he didn’t try to fight or flee. He literally just froze. Minoru hadn’t seen that look in Isamu’s eyes since they were in Hunger City last December.
“Bro… you… you ARE scared. You’re terrified…” he glanced back at Ziggy, just as sympathetically, and then turned his full attention to Isamu. His voice was softer now. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“I… I don’t know…” His words slurred into a contraction. Which only happened when he was drunk or completely overwhelmed. Isamu clutched the notebook tightly, almost protectively, in his arms.
“Okay, yeah, I get it. That’s the most terrifying thing in the world. But what don’t you know?” Isamu averted his eyes, staring down at said notebook. “…what do you want to know?”
Isamu was silent, but his eyes started to water. His body was shaking.
“Isamu…” Minoru whispered. “Isamu, breathe with me… in… out… Please, I can’t read your mind…”
Minoru wasn’t even sure if Ziggy could, at the moment. Misunderstandings were happening in both directions, again. And Isamu was basically on the verge of melting down completely. Hell, Minoru had no idea what he could say or even do.
But then Isamu whispered, “I… I want to know… why my mind is broken…”
Normalizing the paranormal, his fascination with Anthean empathy, his desire to learn about Ziggy’s physiology and how the Anthean mind works, why Ziggy’s threats to prevent humans from studying anything about them meant so much, why Ziggy’s criticisms dug as deeply as Isamu’s curiosity ran, why he made Zayda fall asleep, why he couldn’t understand Ziggy’s perspective, answers that just might be in that book that was now getting tear stains on the cover…