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-As usual, Debarre woke alone. End Waking would doubtless be somewhere in the woods, checking snare traps or walking or simply sitting on a rock thinking, having slipped away at first light, quietly and carefully enough not to wake him. Still, they'd gone to bed early enough that the horizon down the hill had only just let go of the sun.
+Ioan half lay, half slouched against the headboard with May draped bonelessly up along eir front. She'd gotten up to make them both coffee to drink in bed, then proceeded to doze off again, using eir chest as a pillow and the rest of em as a mattress.
 
-He slipped out of bed and into his pants—black denim traded in for a dirty green canvas—splashed some water on his face from the barrel nearby, and started the trek back out to the rock where they'd set the fire, figuring that'd be the most likely place to find his boyfriend.
+Ey, meanwhile, had made it through most of eir coffee, resting the cup between the skunk's shoulder blades between sips. It was technically Christmas, though neither of them cared much for the holiday. Michelle Hadje had been raised vaguely Jewish and Ioan the particular blend of spiritual humanism that pervaded Eastern Europe at the time, but both had been well-steeped in the broader secular Christian culture of the West. That meant it was the day for the \emph{tocană} and \emph{mămăligă} that had become tradition for them. Ey hadn't learned to cook much prior to uploading—just a few simple dishes for a poor student—and it wasn't until ey had wound up on the System in eir current sim that ey'd gone back to teach emself all the things ey'd loved growing up.
 
-End Waking was indeed there, crouching before a low fire with a pot for coffee already set above it, but another skunk knelt across from him as well, chatting quietly.
+It promised to be a lazy sort of day otherwise, which felt necessary. May's spike of anxiety when ey'd gone out for eir meeting with True Name a few days prior had quickly tapered off, but it had not simply gone away. The days that followed had included a lot of asking em if ey was okay and taking breaks to sit and look out the picture windows, lost in thought.
 
-``Hey May Then My Name,'' he said, settling down beside her. ``Whatcha doing here?''
+Still, last night had been delightful, with the skunk far more relaxed while they cooked—or tried to cook—shitty fast food for each other. After dinner, they moved to the couch with Ioan resting eir head in May's lap so that she could tease her fingers through eir thick hair while they hummed silly little songs to each other.
 
-The skunk started, grinned wide, and leaned in to hug around his shoulders. ``Jesus, Debarre, you taking lessons from End Waking? Scared the hell out of me, sneaking up like that.''
+Today promised to be equally comfortable.
 
-He laughed and returned the hug before reaching for the coffee pot. ``Maybe it's contagious.''
+Ey frowned when ey lifted eir mug, only to find it empty. Equally comfortable but for that, ey supposed.
 
-``Can you imagine a disease so miserable?'' the other skunk said, waving the weasel back from the coffee pot. ``Our guest here finished what was left. You will have to wait, my dear.''
+``I'm going to drink your coffee, May.''
 
-``Sorry,'' she said, holding her battered enamel mug out to Debarre. ``You can have the other half.''
+``If you do, I will pin you down and pluck your eyebrows bald,'' she mumbled, slowly lifting her head and reaching out toward her mug on the nightstand.
 
-``Nah, go ahead. I'll wait. You never told me what you're doing here, though.''
+``That's a new one. Sounds painful.''
 
-She stuck her tongue out at him. ``Am I not allowed to be a pest? That is my role in life.''
+``Add it to the list,'' she said after she was able to get at least a few sips in.
 
-``'Course you are, just that usually you're a pest with news.''
+``One day, they're going to find my body, clearly smothered to death, my eyebrows fully plucked, sand in my shoes, cracker crumbs in my bed, all of my pens un-capped, all of my book pages dog-eared, with skunk fur in all the food,'' ey said, laughing. ``I'm pretty sure they'll know it was you.''
 
-``Fine, fine, yes,'' she said. ``It can wait until after coffee, though. How are you, Debarre? I was not expecting you to be back just yet.''
+She lifted her chin to park it on eir shoulder. ``Mm, well, it is a risk I am willing to take.''
 
-``It is my fault,'' her cocladist said. ``A tree fell on me back around--''
+Ey tilted eir head to give the top of her own a kiss. An awkward affair, but worth it. ``You stay up too late again?''
 
-``\emph{What?!}''
+She shrugged.
 
-He shrugged. ``There was a wind storm late last year and a tree fell across my tent. It crushed the frame and floor, knocked over the back wall, and impaled my thigh on a splintered board.''
+``Well, you're a pretty cozy blanket, if a little too warm, so I guess I'll allow it.''
 
-She brought her paws up to cover her muzzle, eyes wide.
+Lifting her snout, she licked at eir shoulder, getting a laugh out of em. ``Whereas you, my dear, are not a very good pillow. Just chock full of bones.''
 
-``I am okay,'' he said, smiling disarmingly. ``But I asked Debarre to return to help me rebuild.''
+``I need those to live.''
 
-``He didn't want to fork to fix his leg,'' the weasel said, rolling his eyes.
+``Lame,'' she drawled. After a moment, she added thoughtfully, ``I am glad that you have skin, though. It would be quite disgusting without.''
 
-``I do not fork often, you know that.''
+``Eugh. As am I.'' Ey leaned over to grab her coffee cup and steal a sip, threats be damned. ``I'm still surprised you didn't wind up with another furry, though. Figured that would be more your style.''
 
-``There was a plank through your leg, E.W.,'' he retorted. ``That wasn't just going to heal okay on its own.''
+``I wind up with people that I like, whether they have fur or not.'' She shrugged. ``Which is not to say that I have not wound up with other furries.''
 
-It was the skunk's turn to roll his eyes. ``You are no fun.''
+``I'm not complaining. You're soft.''
 
-May Then My Name, having finally regained her composure, said, ``Well, thank you, Debarre.''
+``To be fair, that is what I like about you having skin. Skin is soft as well. Were you a furry, though, what species would you be?''
 
-Debarre nodded.
+Ey pet along her back, thinking. ``I don't know. I've only really had extensive interactions with skunks, foxes, and weasels. Maybe a squirrel?''
 
-She sighed, smiling weakly at End Waking. ``I am glad you are okay, skunk. I would be lost without you.
+She rolled off eir front and sat up eagerly. ``A squirrel? Really? Would you be one of those fancy red ones with the ear tufts and outrageous tails or one of the gray ones that were all over where I grew up?''
 
-``The trees do not know how to kill me, May Then My Name,'' End Waking said, frowning. ``There is no virus within them. Debarre was right to get me to fork to fix, I will admit, but I would have done so anyway had it landed more fully on me.''
+A quick query of the perisystem archive gave em a good idea of what each might look like. ``The red ones sound really ostentatious. I don't know if I could pull that off.''
 
-When all that greeted this was silence, he sighed and let his shoulders slump. ``I am sorry. I have set up the new camp in a location with sturdier trees. I will endeavor to remain cautious.''
+She retrieved her coffee mug from em and settled in beside em instead. ``Yes, but the \emph{tail,}'' she whined. ``Come on, my dear. You would simply \emph{have} to be a red squirrel. You dress all fancy, even!''
 
-May Then My Name crawled around the fire to dot her nose against the skunk's cheek. He looked uncomfortable, but tolerated the touch.
+``Are they bigger than skunk tails?''
 
-``Thank you, my dear,'' she said. ``I do not mean to lecture. I am just\ldots well, if the coffee is ready, please pour yourself a cup, Debarre, and we will talk.''
+She looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. ``Solid competition.''
 
-Once they'd settled back down and the kettle was replaced with a pot to cook oatmeal, she began, ``To preface, this is nothing serious, I just need to talk with someone who is not Ioan.''
+``I can't picture anything having a bigger tail than you, May. Definitely outrageous.''
 
-``Why?'' End Waking asked.
+``I thought you liked my tail.''
 
-``You will see. That is also part of it.''
+``I do!''
 
-He nodded.
+``Excellent, I shall allow you to live another day.'' She laughed and dotted her nose against eir cheek. ``I had considered becoming a panther for some time, but I am too attached to my tail.''
 
-``I am not even sure that it is actionable.'' She sighed, shrugged. ``I have just been thinking about True Name a lot of late.''
+``Or it is to you.''
 
-End Waking sat, conspicuously impassive, while Debarre shook his head. ``Why? I thought you'd basically agreed to never talk again.''
+She snorted, rolled her eyes.
 
-``We have not spoken; at least, not more than a few cordial words in passing. However, Ioan has been meeting up with her for coffee once a month since the first news of the Artemisians.''
+``You know, I've always wondered,'' ey said, getting an arm around her. ``Why did the most political stanza of the clade stay skunks? Wouldn't it be more effective to be humans? It's not like the majority of folks on the Systems are furries.''
 
-He and End Waking both tilted their heads.
+``Only three of the ten are skunks anymore, and you have met all three. Besides, I think End Waking is the only one of the three of us who has not spent time in human form. Some of me in other relationships were—or perhaps are—humans. I spent six months with you in that form, even, remember?''
 
-``Ey has been ensuring that things remain polite and smooth between us.'' She held up a paw to forestall any comments, adding quickly, ``I trust em in this. Ey is simply meeting her at a coffee shop where they each work on their own projects. They chat a little, and then do their own things. Ey describes it as `friendly coworkers' more than anything, which I believe.''
+Ey nodded. ``It was pretty weird.''
 
-``Is that a thing that even needs to be done?'' Debarre said. ``Wasn't she just leaving you alone before?''
+``For both of us, yes. I like being what I am. Short, soft, furry, chubby,'' she said, poking at her belly. ``It is just that these are all things that are disarming to a great many people. Even skunks, despite their reputation for smelling bad, are often seen as bumbling, stupid creatures.''
 
-``Yes, thankfully. It is just\ldots{}'' She frowned, poking at the packed earth with a claw. ``That has been necessary to prevent anger, but it has still not been comfortable. There are plenty of people who I no longer see and do not miss, or do miss and think about with some frequency. It was such an uneasy silence.''
+``I wouldn't call you stupid, May. Bumbling, though\ldots{}''
 
-``And you think Ioan's doing the right thing?''
+She rolled her eyes. ``Thank you, I think? But yes, even bumbling is a calculated gesture to be inoffensive.''
 
-``Ey is,'' End Waking said. ``Ey is ensuring that there remains a distance between you two without it being an unbridged distance. That would just leave you to stew, knowing how you work. You would never let it go and spin yourself into a whirlwind of emotion. The Bălans are perhaps a little awkward at times, but they do not lack all social graces.''
+``End Waking said similar.'' Ey dug through eir exocortices until ey came up with the memory of the conversation. ``He said it was a matter of intent.''
 
-May Then My Name rubbed her paws over her face. ``I knooow,'' she whined. ``And I love em for thinking of that.''
+``It is, yes. I am sure that some of the wider clade who remain skunks do so without a second thought, but that is not how True Name worked, and so it is not how we work.''
 
-``You just still resent her,'' the other skunk said.
+``And she did that for the same reasons? To be inoffensive?''
 
-``Yes.''
+She nodded. ``In a way. At first, she could not be anything but, as that is how she was forked, but she kept it because of the way the Council worked. She was a skunk, Debarre was a weasel, Ezekiel spent half the time looking like a shambling pile of dirty rags and the other half like an unhoused man, and user11824 looked like the least remarkable person possible, as though your eyes simply slid right off of him. The ethos of the Council was to be just ordinary people who were weird before uploading and remained weird after.''
 
-``I know you said it probably isn't actionable,'' Debarre said, poking at the fire with a stick. ``But what would you change about the situation?''
+``Jonas wasn't that weird when I met him.''
 
-``As in `in a perfect world'?''
+She made a sour face. ``But everything that he did was intentional. Every aspect of his appearance and personality.''
 
-``Right, yeah. Perfect world, what would you like?''
+Ey nodded.
 
-She frowned, watching End Waking dote over the oatmeal, dumping a pawful of dried fruit into it. Eventually, she said, ``I do not know. She has apologized and done what I have requested. She has changed, too, from what Ioan has said. She is trying to be more earnest and willing to engage emotionally. She has been seeing Sarah as well.''
+``But I think True Name kept it after the Council disbanded for much the same reasons. She is a furry because there are plenty of furries on the System. She remains in her early thirties because that is what one expects out of those on the System. She is not unattractive among furries, maintaining that soft figure and well kept appearance without heading towards sex-symbol because that is what many on the System wind up doing. She is professional, I am cute, End Waking is the sad and introspective one, and so on.''
 
-Debarre nodded. ``But it sounds like that's not it.''
+``Right, that makes sense.'' Ey hesitated, composing eir next words carefully. ``You talk about her quite a bit. I know that--''
 
-``No.~I think what is missing is contrition. She has apologized for what she has done to me and Ioan and has maybe even begun to make changes. I do not know how to put it, but it feels like she is being earnest without being sincere. She is sorry, but not contrite. She does not feel bad for what she has done. Her apologies are not backed by understanding.''
+``You asked, Ioan,'' she interrupted, frowning.
 
-``There is no penance,'' End Waking said plainly, dishing out the oatmeal into the mugs they'd been using for coffee. ``True penance is borne out of feeling bad about what one has done and wanting to change, to make up for it, not merely about responding to how others are reacting.''
+``I know, May, I just mean in general. I know you're consciously working on how you feel about her and I keep bringing her up besides. Just an observation.''
 
-May Then My Name toyed with her oatmeal. ``Yes. Maybe she does and just does not know how to show it. I just do not know how to truly believe that.''
+The moment of tenseness lingered, then passed as she wilted against em, sighing. ``I know. I did not mean to get short with you. You are right, and I am not sure how I feel about that fact, that she is so often on my mind. My feelings remain complex.''
 
-``Worried she's just acting?'' Debarred said, blowing on a still vigorously steaming spoonful of oats.
+``Oh, I definitely get that.''
 
-``Perhaps. That was ever the dilemma of us going into theatre. Did we love it or did we merely want to become someone else? To hide from who we were?''
+``You seem to enjoy her company more.''
 
-``Be wary of your pessimism,'' End Waking said. ``It takes attention and effort, May Then My Name, at least when one has intentionally tamped down emotions to the point that she has. If I could teach her, if either of us could teach her, I think we would, but I do not know that one can learn penance from anyone but oneself.''
+Ey shrugged. ``I guess. It started out as a way to keep things smooth between our clades during the convergence, but now it's just a thing to do outside the house.''
 
-She nodded, looking distracted and thoughtful. ``If it were as simple as merging down\ldots{}''
+``Coffee dates are good,'' she said, nodding.
 
-End Waking stiffened, frowned around his bite of breakfast.
+``I don't know if I'd call them dates. No romance, there.''
 
-She smiled to him apologetically. ``Sorry, I will stop for now. Thank you both for listening to me bitch.''
+The skunk laughed and shook her head. ``Just an expression.''
 
-``It's fine, skunk,'' Debarre said. ``I think E.W. is right that Ioan's doing the right thing. It takes some pressure off of you and lets it\ldots I dunno, be a process or something. You don't have to do anything now 'cause you've got an opening to deal with it.''
+``Oh, right.'' Ey shrugged. ``She's just like\ldots a coworker one is friends with. There are contexts that I enjoy her company in, but it's not like I'm inviting her over for the holidays.''
 
-``Yes, well put. Thank you, my dear,'' she said. ``I will process as best I can. I do not suppose either of you have talked to her recently?''
+``Which is good,'' she said, grinning. ``I am sure that I will get to the point where she and I can coexist in the same space without either of us pulling each other's fur out, but sharing Christmas dinner with her would be far too much.''
 
-They both shook their heads.
+Ey nodded and tightened eir arm around her, kissing between her ears. ``Same, I think. Thanks for reminding me, though. I should probably get up and get that started.''
 
-``Right, I thought not. That's enough of the topic for now, anyway.'' She waved a paw and took a bite of oatmeal, then pulled a face. ``We need to get you some sugar or something.''
+They both slid out of the bed to complete their morning tasks: Ioan to make another pot of coffee and prepare breakfast while May went through her grooming routine, eating, then a shower for em while she worked on her monologue.
 
-Debarre laughed. ``She's right, E.W. I've gotten used to it, but only just barely.''
+The dinner itself wasn't exactly onerous. A stew of beef—ey'd been raised on a version with lamb, which May hadn't liked—tomatoes, and mushrooms in a garlicky, paprika-filled gravy served with polenta. Still, it benefited from a longer cooking time, so ey began that after eir shower and set it to \mbox{simmering}.
 
-``Fucking lame,'' he drawled. ``My sim, my rules. You must suffer without.''
+After that, they set some music to playing—the overlap of what they both enjoyed wasn't large, given the more than a century's age difference, but piano jazz seemed to work for both of them—and set to work on whatever it was that was occupying their minds.
 
-May Then My Name flicked some oatmeal from her spoon at him. ``Call me lame, will you.''
+Or tried to, at least.
 
-He grinned toothily, picking the bit of oatmeal off his shirt sleeve and adding it to his mug.
+Their conversation this morning as well as eir meeting with True Name a few days prior left Ioan in mind of skunks and the Ode clade, and even though those both featured quite heavily in the stage adaptation of \emph{On the Perils of Memory}, nothing ey tried seemed quite in the right vein.
 
-``Either way, my root instance is back at home, so I can stay as long as I like. Would you like some help, at least?''
+Ey flipped to a blank sheet of paper and began a letter, instead.
 
-``If you can swing a hammer, then yes, that would be wonderful.''
+\begin{quote}
+True Name,
+
+I hope all is well.
+
+After our conversation a few days ago, as well as another that I had with May this morning, I got to thinking about a pattern I've noticed, and wanted to ask you about it. I hope it's not too impertinent of me. If it's too sensitive a topic, I understand.
+
+I've noticed that you and May have a tendency to talk about each other quite a bit. I know that there are a lot of factors that go into this such as my relationships with each of you, your shared history, and the fact that I have a habit of asking each of you about the other in turn.
+
+All the same, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the matter. I don't want to sound meddlesome (indeed, I don't think I'd even be capable of meddling with either of you), I just want to better understand each of you in turn, given the dynamics between us.
+
+I know it's not a huge deal for either of our clades, but all the same, Merry Christmas.
+
+Best,
+
+Ioan
+\end{quote}
+
+Ey read through the letter top to bottom three times, then, with a brush of the hand and a bit of intent, sent it on its way.
+
+Doing eir best to forget about it until the other skunk responded, ey puttered around the house, checking on the stew, trying out a new ink in one of eir pens, and rehearsing some lines in a cone of silence.
+
+A bit more than two hours after ey'd sent the message, a reply spooled itself out of eir desk and into eir field of view.
+
+\begin{center}
+\textbf{IOAN BĂLAN INDIVIDUAL-EYES-ONLY MATERIAL}
+\end{center}
+
+\begin{quote}
+Mx. Bălan,
+
+Thank you for your letter. Had we discussed this in person or over sensorium messages, I think that my responses would be quite different, but the intentionality that is required when engaging with writing forced me to think this through more clearly.
+
+You are correct in assuming that it is you being our shared connection rather than any direct link between the two of us that leads to each of us discussing the other with you frequently. I do not think that this is worth discounting, however, as many know of each other only through one mutual acquaintance and yet do not talk constantly of each other to that one one person between them. It is still notable that we discuss one another as much as we do.
+
+I have spent the last hour in discussion with myself while writing this, and would like this reply kept in confidence.
+
+Years ago, when the Artemisians first arrived, May Then My Name mentioned a letter that I had sent her regarding you. I am not normally in the habit of sharing the tools of my trade, such as they are, and sharing this with you in particular is uncomfortable. However you of all people—a friend and someone deeply entangled with the clade—deserve to have the chance to read it, and it may do well to explain where we have found ourselves. Here is that letter in full:
+
+\begin{quote}
+May Then My Name Die With Me,
+
+I hope that you are doing well. I understand that there remains some concern about the outcome of your previous relationship, and I would like you to know that I am not so far diverged from our common ancestor that I do not share in some of those feelings. I remember how often I would come crying into the Crown, leaning on this shoulder or that as I tried to deal with yet another break-up. I know that I have not always been the kindest or most empathetic down-tree instance, for which I truly am sorry. You are, in many ways, a better version of me, and the completeness that you bring to our stanza ensures that, even if I am not a fully realized person as you have suggested in the past, we—whether that is you and I, our stanza, or the Odists as a whole—still do add up to something that is greater than the sum of its parts. You may not believe me, and for that I do not blame you, but I really do love you in my own way, May Then My Name.
+
+I do not know if you have been keeping up with many other stanzas after Qoheleth quit, but it appears that Dear, Also, The Tree That Was Felled has welcomed a new member to its relationship structure, one Codrin Bălan. I am sure that you recognize the clade name from \emph{On The Perils of Memory}. Codrin's down-tree instance, Ioan Bălan, was the amanuensis that Dear had chosen during that spate of trouble, and the series of events that followed led to a process of individuation. It is always exciting to see that happen, is it not?
+
+The reason that I bring this up is that Ioan has picked up as eir next project an investigative piece surrounding the launch project. Given your role as sys-side launch director, I thought that I would put you two in touch. Eir project would benefit greatly from your position as well as your history, both with the project and with our time on the System. I have had the chance to interact with both Ioan and Codrin in the past, and they are some of the most delightful, insightful people that I have met. Please look them up when you get a chance.
+
+All my best,
+
+The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream of the Ode clade
+
+systime 197+3
+\end{quote}
+
+That night, when she brought up this message, she mentioned that she believed me when I said that I love her in my own way.
+
+I understand the root of her feelings towards me and, as I also mentioned on that night, I do not begrudge her that. I will ever be what I am, and what that is does not mesh well with her view of the world, even as it is integral to my existence.
+
+Just as she said that she still believes me, it is also true that I still love her. Codrin reported that Why Ask Questions said, ``I have yet to meet a single person who has not fallen at least a little in love with May.'' There is perhaps a little bit of that involved in my own inescapably me way, but beyond that I love her as the version of me that I did not become.
+
+Were you to ask me at the time, or even just a year ago, I do not think that I would have admitted such aloud, but even as I suspect that she is working on her thoughts about me with Ms.~Genet, I have been working with Ms.~Genet on my ability to be truly earnest with those I respect, which includes you.
+
+I do not hold regrets for the path that has led us to this point. I have accomplished much that I set out to do, and, while the cost has been great when it comes to my interpersonal relationships (and, as you mentioned, my stress levels), it all very much still feels worth it.
+
+Consciously or not, I make it a point to ask you how she is doing and to engage with her at one degree of remove because this is still a way to maintain that level of connection with someone I could have been after so long a time of disconnect.
+
+Writing this has been both stressful and cathartic, so I appreciate having the chance to do so. While communications with my counterparts on Castor and Pollux have been somewhat scant of late, both of them have mentioned that they are striving to find situations in which they can be vulnerable and earnest. As I am sure you understand, this is still quite difficult for us.
+
+Let us meet up on Secession Day for our next coffee date. Is 11:00 amenable? It can be a small celebration of our own.
+
+I wish you and her both a delightful holiday. If you are comfortable bringing up the topic of me with her today and would like to get a laugh out of her, please say simply, ``Jingle Bells stage blocking.''
+
+Sincerely,
+
+The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream of the Ode clade
+
+systime 225+359
+\end{quote}
+
+\begin{center}
+\textbf{END IOAN BĂLAN INDIVIDUAL-EYES-ONLY MATERIAL}
+\end{center}
+
+Ey read the letter through a few more times, trying to digest all that it contained, trying to square this with what May had said of True Name steering her subtly into eir life, trying once again not to read too deep and guess that True Name\#Castor simply hadn't told her about Codrin learning the Name.
+
+Finally, acknowledging that ey wouldn't be able to digest it all in one go, ey dashed off a quick reply thanking True Name for the letter and confirming the time of the next meeting. Then, ey committed the letter to a new exo ey tagged ``True Name--May 225'' and destroyed the physical copy.
+
+``May?'' ey said, dropping eir cone of silence.
+
+``Mm?''
+
+``I was confirming a date with True Name and she said I should ask you about something called `Jingle Bells stage blocking'. Do you know--''
+
+The skunk let out a melodramatic groan and slid off her stool to the floor, landing on her hands and knees before flopping onto her side, laughing. ``What a fucking brat.''
+
+Ey stared at her, nonplussed.
+
+``Oh God, Ioan, you do not know pain until you work with choir kids.''
+
+Ey laughed and shook eir head, leaning forward to ruffle over her ears. It was a much more pleasant response to a note from True Name than ey'd expected. ``You're right, I don't. I'll just have to trust you on that. Skunks are so weird.''