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-\begin{center}\rule{0.5\linewidth}{0.5pt}\end{center}
+\hypertarget{ioan-bux103lan-2349}{%
+\chapter{Ioan Bălan — 2350}\label{ioan-bux103lan-2349}}
+\markboth{Ioan Bălan — 2350}{}
 
-Everyone was off in the morning. Tired, grumpy, sore.
+True Name, having gathered her wits about her at least enough to trudge out of the lake and fork herself dry, requested directions to somewhere she could think alone. Ioan gestured down the path toward the rock, explaining that it'd be far enough away that they wouldn't hear each other if she didn't want a cone of silence, which would dull the sounds of the sim, but that she'd still be able to see them at the entry point if anything happened.
 
-The narrowness of the cots had frustrated Ioan and May throughout the night. They \emph{could} both fit on one, but only if they straightened out rather than their usual tight curl. At one point, they tried dragging the cots to be side by side, but the frames against each other made a hard ridge that was impossible to rest on comfortably. In the end, they'd fallen asleep, each on their own cot, facing each other with arms tangled enough to get at least some contact through the night.
+``I need to think. No one from the stanza is replying, I am not sure which friends I can trust, and I definitely do not want to speak to Jonas,'' she explained, then rubbed her paws over her face. ``Or perhaps I just need to sulk. I will return in an hour.''
 
-Whether or not True Name had actually slept seemed up in the air. She had shrugged noncommittally when asked, but it certainly didn't look like she had.
+She bowed to em and May then trudged off down the path.
 
-Conversation was equally awkward. May apologized stiffly to her down-tree instance over breakfast of further sandwiches and True Name accepted graciously enough, but then they fell back into silence.
+May glared after her down-tree instance with her paws bunched into fists and ears canted back, then whirled on Ioan, waving a cone of silence into being.
 
-After breakfast, there was little else to do but head back home. They left the camp set up. Ioan couldn't begin to guess how to take down the tents, given how distracted ey'd been while End Waking had been setting them up. \emph{Besides,} ey reasoned. \emph{Best to keep them around just in case things go sideways.}
+``Ioan, I am not at all happy,'' she said, voice frigid. ``I know that none of this is your fault except inasmuch as you have been meeting her for coffee, but I am having a hard time keeping my anger to myself.''
 
-They decided to leave forks behind in case anything went wrong, then Ioan took each of the skunks' paws and stepped back home.
+Ey took a long breath, ran eir hands through eir hair, and paced in an abbreviated line before her. ``I know, May, I don't blame you. I'm completely baffled. Go ahead.''
 
-True Name immediately wrinkled her nose at the sight out the picture windows into the back yard. ``Snow?''
+``I spend two hundred fucking years trying to get away from that life, from all of her fucking schemes,'' she said, voice quickly rising in volume. ``And then I spend the last three trying to calm down so that I quit burning up whenever I so much as think about her, and now this. Look at us! Hiding in the woods from assassins. \emph{Assassins!}''
 
-``Ey is some sort of masochist,'' May said, \emph{sotto voce}. ``You will have to forgive em. Ey is working on it with Sarah.''
+Ey averted eir gaze from her. Nothing ey could say would help, and ey knew some remote part of emself was feeling much of what she was, too.
 
-So out of place was the humor that it took em a moment to catch up. Ey laughed tiredly and shook eir head. ``For theatre nerds, you guys have no imagination. Coffee?''
+``Her and fucking Jonas are still doing whatever the fuck it is that they do, and now they are doing it to each other. Every time I think I can just settle down with you and get away from that, it just seeps right back in. I know that you were trying to do right by us, meeting up with her, but I really, \emph{really} wish you had not.''
 
-May leaned up and dotted her nose against eir cheek. ``You, my dear, are an utter delight.''
+``May, I--''
 
-True Name followed them into the den. ``Please. I am going to fall over if I do not have something.''
+``At least tell me what happened there.''
 
-May flopped down onto her usual beanbag and rubbed her paws over her face while True Name sat quietly at the dining table and Ioan made coffee. ``If it is alright by you two, I am going to take a shower after coffee, as hot as I can stand,'' May said. ``And then we can work on the addition.''
+``Right. We met up as usual. She was looking pretty terrible, and when pressed on it, she said she was struggling and wasn't comfortable elaborating. When asked about Secession Day, she said she and Jonas were going to have, in his words, a gathering. She said her instances were going to merge down for this and that one of them said he was looking for her. She kept getting anxious and looking around at everyone there, and then jumped up, I guess when merges stopped coming. Guōweī came in from the back and walked right toward us, then we stepped home and grabbed you.''
 
-``Sure. I can start by mirroring our room and then stripping personal items while you're getting cleaned up.''
+May crossed her arms and watched em pace and talk, her expression softening, though the frown remained. ``And that is it? No talk of these\ldots what, reactionary groups?''
 
-``Thank you both,'' True Name said, tracing a claw along the wood grain on the table, an incredibly familiar gesture from years of living with May. ``Again, I mean. I really do appreciate all that you are doing. Perhaps we can discuss boundaries and expectations later, but I am also looking forward to a shower.''
+Ey shook eir head. ``None today, none in the past. It seems like something she'd keep close to the chest.''
 
-Ioan nodded, finishing up the coffee prep—eirs black and both of the skunks' sweet and creamy—and carrying the mugs to each of them. ``I guessed,'' ey said, setting one down in front of True Name. ``Let me know if you need anything different.''
+``And it was in a cone with visual ACLs on secure?''
 
-Ey sat down carefully by May and held both of their coffees while the skunk scooted in close against em as usual before handing hers over. It felt good to be back in a more comfortable setting, back where ey and May could could at least get close, even if everything still felt nerve-wracking.
+``Yeah.''
 
-They drank in silence for a while, minus a thank you from each of the skunks, the three of them doing their best to un-cringe from last day's worth of anxiety.
+``But Guōweī was still walking right for you?''
 
-It worked a little too well, perhaps, as ey had to nudge May awake to finish her coffee and shower, and the prospect of levering emself out of the beanbag felt out of reach. All the same, ey needed to at least get the other room created, then perhaps the three of them could nap.
+Ey nodded.
 
-Once May was on her way to the shower, ey stood, finished eir coffee, and began to work. Ey dumped a series of intents into the sim. A doorway cut itself out of the wall opposite the one to eir own bedroom. A room extruded itself beyond the doorway, filling itself with all of the very same stuff that eirs and May's contained. The sim's boundaries whined in protest at not having enough for the windows to look out on and, too tired to think of any other options, ey mirrored the view of the yard as well so that True Name's room looked out over yet more grass and dandelions.
+The skunk looked down to the ground, brow furrowed. ``I suppose if he knew she was there, that would be proof enough. I imagine a place like that chooses to display it as blurred out rather than completely hidden.''
 
-\emph{If she stays for any real length of time, maybe I can just mirror the rest of the house and she can have a full setup.}
+``I guess,'' ey said, though the words lacked conviction to eir ears. ``Then she grabbed my hand and told me to go.''
 
-That was enough for now, though. Ey got started going through the room from top to bottom, wiping it of eirs and May's presence. Anything that wasn't the bed, the nightstands, and any other furniture was evaluated and either left for its decorative value or swiped away to nothingness. A damp May joined em partway through the exercise, and by the time they were done, the room was left clean and neat, sparsely decorated without being oppressively empty.
+``She grabbed--'' She hesitated, mastered a sudden swell of anger, then subsided. ``It makes sense, I suppose. The chance that you would head someplace that she and Jonas could not guess is greater than if she had chosen. Ioan, my dear, you are pacing a hole in the path.''
 
-``Hopefully it's not too bleak,'' ey said once May had fetched True Name. ``I gave you some ACLs over the space if you need to make or recycle anything. Just let me know if the room itself needs changing.''
+``Sorry, May,'' ey said, trying to stand still. ``It's just a little nuts.''
 
-She stood silent and still for nearly a minute, leaving em to fidget while May looked on, frowning.
+The skunk sighed, held out her paw to em, and gave her best smile. ``I know. I am really fucking confused and really fucking pissed, I do not imagine you are feeling much better. Would walking help?''
 
-Finally, she cleared her throat and said hoarsely. ``This is more than enough, my dear. I do not know why you two\ldots but, well, I should get cleaned up and then we can talk proper. I am perhaps a little too emotional for that at the moment.''
+Ey took her paw in eir hand and nodded. ``Please.''
 
-May sighed, nodded. ``At your own pace.''
+Remembering their promise to stay in sight, they walked slowly back and forth along the short stretch of beach near the entry point, still within sight of True Name, kneeling on the rock by the outlet of the lake.
 
-They both bowed and backed out of the room to let True Name shut the door behind her so that she could shower. May took eir hand in her paw and led em over to the bean bag to get comfortable once again.
+``I am sorry that overflowed onto you for a moment, Ioan. I did not mean to yell at you.''
 
-``You okay?'' ey murmured, once she was properly nestled against em, head tucked up under eir chin.
+``You're fine, May, you just had some guy chasing you around our house trying to kill you or whatever, you're allowed to be pissed.''
 
-``I am tired, Ioan. I am tired and I am stressed and I am\ldots I do not know. Conflicted, perhaps.''
+She snorted and shook her head. ``He had only just arrived a few moments before you. I imagine True Name's fork said something about being with you but not where, so he came to our place and saw someone that looked vaguely like her. Perhaps they wanted it to be as close to simultaneous as possible for precisely this reason and one simply jumped the gun. I am surprised they did not just wait for her. How eager they must be.''
 
-``How do you mean?''
+``Makes about as much sense as any of this.'' Ey looked out across the lake at where the other skunk sat, head bowed. ``What do we do now?''
 
-She shrugged. ``It is much easier to hate from a distance, especially when one is built as I am.''
+``I do not know, my dear. I have had precisely as many assassins after me as you, now, and I do not know what to do about True Name. I guess just stay here for a bit and gather our wits.''
 
-``To love?''
+Ey sighed, bent down, and plucked at a pebble on the bank until it came free of the sand, tossing it into the water. Anything to keep from spiraling back into anxiety. ``I'll have to go back and clear the house at some point. I'll lock down the ACLs to us and any immediate guests.''
 
-She pressed her face against eir chest, sighed.
+``I do not imagine you will find much there, now that we are gone, but I appreciate you doing a sweep all the same. I have some concerns about our privacy.''
 
-Ey wanted to ask her how well that fit her monologue, that idea that to be built to love is to be built to hate yourself. Ey wanted to go back sixteen hours or however long it had been and kick Jonas's ass. Ey wanted to go back twenty-four hours and warn True Name, to go back three and a half years and warn the True Name ey'd first gotten coffee with.
+Ey frowned.
 
-Instead, ey said, ``You're a good person, May.''
+She waved the idea away with a paw. ``If it is an issue, we will discuss it. If it is not, then I do not want to think about it any further.''
 
-She tightened her grip around em. ``Thank you, my dear.''
+``Well, if you say so.''
 
-When True Name finished her shower and grooming, looking far more herself than she had since the month before, they sat around the dining table to hash out boundaries.
+She leaned against eir side, resting her head on eir shoulder. ``I am sorry, my dear. It is one of those things that is not a concern until it suddenly very fucking is.''
 
-``I do not want to impose on you more than I already have,'' she began. ``I will certainly stay out of your private space, and I figure a closed door is a plain enough signal to be left alone. Should I stick to my room for the most part?''
+Ey ruffled a hand through the fur between the skunk's ears, then settled eir arm around her shoulders. ``I'll tell you what all I find there, and we can both hope it's nothing. What will you do, meanwhile?''
 
-May let out a snort of laughter. ``I am sorry, True Name. I do not mean to laugh, but I have never heard you so deferential in my life.''
+``I am not sure. I do not particularly want to come with if they are looking for someone who looks like me. I will stay here and I guess keep an eye on our\ldots ah, guest.''
 
-The skunk canted her ears back. ``I am in shock, May Then My Name. My coworker of two centuries just tried to kill me. My life's work has been cut off from me. I have been invited to stay with one of the two up-tree instances of mine who dislike me the most, and I have never had to live with anyone before, not since before we uploaded. The offer remains for me to dig my own sim.''
+``You sure you'll be okay with that?''
 
-May bowed her head apologetically.
+There was a long pause before the skunk gave in and slipped both of her arms around eir middle, burying her face against eir shirt. ``I do not know,'' she said, voice muffled and small. ``I thought that I would be, was going to \emph{say} that I would be, but I really do not know.''
 
-``I'd feel better if you stayed,'' Ioan admitted. ``It'd be too easy for you to either disappear into your new sim forever or wind up with another attempt on your life whenever you left.''
+Ey rested eir chin atop her head. ``Well, I don't think I'll be gone all that long—five minutes, maybe—but if you need, just send a ping and I'll be right back.''
 
-May nodded readily. ``You are safer here where no one can act openly against you. It may not be the most comfortable of situations, but I would also prefer that you not die.''
+``I am not expecting anything so dramatic. I will stay here and try to de-stress. True Name still has about forty-five minutes left of\ldots well, whatever it is that she is doing.''
 
-``Good points. Both of you. I would prefer not to die as well.'' She straightened up in her chair and smiled, a hint of that confidence showing through. ``So, to my question. Do you have any thoughts?''
+Ey tightened eir arms around the skunk for a squeeze, kissed her atop the head, then stepped back. ``All the same, just stay safe, alright?''
 
-``Closed doors means don't bother, stay out of each others rooms. Cones of silence and secure visual ACLs to be respected,'' ey said, then shrugged. ``But I think that's all obvious stuff. I don't see any reason for you to stay out of common areas, I guess, and I'm fine with you eating with us, too, but I also freely acknowledge that that's me speaking. I don't want you two, uh\ldots{}''
-
-``Fighting and arguing should be avoided, yes,'' True Name said with a slight bow of acknowledgement. ``It is your house, though, and I know that our relationship is fraught. I will defer to May Then My Name, given the power dynamic and social restrict--''
-
-``I promise that I will not try to pull out all of your fur or bounce you so long as you give us space when either of us ask, okay?''
-
-The skunk blinked a few times, then smiled cautiously. ``Understood.''
-
-``Wait, that easy?'' Ioan said.
-
-``Not everything need be complicated, my dear. Boundaries are most often found by crossing them. We will have negotiation ahead of us as well, I am sure.'' May shrugged, adding, ``This does not make our relationship any less complicated, but endlessly refining rules ahead of time will only stress all of us out.''
-
-``I guess,'' ey mumbled. ``I just don't want you at each other's throats.''
-
-``If we fight, we fight,'' she said. ``But if we are to be stuck together, then we will fucking get over it and have a civil house, at the very least. I will do all of the exercises Sarah has given me at once if that is what is needed to keep home from becoming unbearable.''
-
-True Name nodded in agreement. ``I will do what I can to keep things comfortable and be out of your hair as soon as this is resolved. We will work it out if one of us gets upset. That includes you, Mx. Bălan. Please voice your concerns when they arise.''
-
-Ey shook eir head. ``Alright, alright. Only concerns I have right now are taking a shower and a nap, then. I'll trust you two to make things work and will try not to mediate every single little disagreement.''
-
-``Excellent. About fucking time,'' May said, patting eir hand. ``I will join you for the nap and try to be up for lunch.''
-
-``Naps all around,'' True Name agreed. ``Again, thank you two.''
+She sniffled and nodded. ``You too, my dear. Good luck, and do not die.''