what comes up when rain comes down?

[enigmaster]

Inter-Dimensional Pen Pals Omakes

Comments

[enigmaster]

[...]

I understand.




I still think this is a terrible idea.

[agoodname]

[he's quiet again for a minute, giving the camera his profile, brow furrowed...before he types out another response] I discovered why they've never had children.

[enigmaster]

[He really wants to keep encouraging Oswald to get down from there, but then he texts that and... damn it.]

And why is that?

[agoodname]

My father [ no wait, backspace, erase ]

Elijah has a heart condition. He has a hole in his heart. They caught it much earlier than my father--he was diagnosed when was a child. Apparently the medication made him sterile.

[enigmaster]

I see.

That explains that, then. Is that

[...]

How do you feel about that?

[agoodname]

[ His expression, somehow, smoothes out a bit as he reports the conclusion he's come to ]It answers the question as to why they're both alive.

[enigmaster]

[Oh.


Oh.]

You know it's more complicated than that.

[agoodname]

Is it? [ his expression is still carefully as blank as he can make it ] It's the only common thread between their deaths.

[enigmaster]

And that equals causation, now?

[agoodname]

In this case, yes. Considering both parties were aiming to either control or kill me.

[enigmaster]

I wonder what might have happened had Mr. Van Dahl ever had a run in with the woman he ended up with on your end. As far as I can tell, there is no trace of the woman over here. She might simply not exist in this dimension.

Now, I wonder. How jealous might she have been if she had been here. She's certainly proved herself driven enough to do anything to get the money she feels she deserves.

Who knows what she might have done?

[agoodname]

[ Oswald read's that. And then his mouth twists into a hard scowl ]

There are plenty more people out there with more money than my fa Mr. Van Dahl; he's hardly as easy of a mark if he's already married.

[enigmaster]

Perhaps. Or perhaps they might have met before he was. Or perhaps she wouldn't have realized he was married at first.

Or perhaps she would have murdered your father on your side of things, impatient at his continued survival, even if you never existed.

Who's to say?

[agoodname]

[ He reads through that, before snapping his phone shut, mouth twisted into a grimace as he gives the camera the back of his head again for a long moment. then he's flipping it back open and typing out a reply ] Perhaps, but that isn't what happened. What happened was that someone was going after me, and both of them died because of it.

[enigmaster]

All I'm saying is that... it isn't that you not existing here is the reason they're alive. You can't just say because x, then y on this matter.

It wasn't your fault.

[agoodname]

[ At first, his expression is frustrated--angry. Then he reads that last line, and it crumples into something extremely upset ] Now that is wholly untrue.

[enigmaster]

You didn't kill them.

[agoodname]

I may not have driven the knife into my mother's back or poisoned my father, but I was the impetus for the forces that did.

[enigmaster]

Extremely cowardly forces, I should add.

1/2

[agoodname]

Cowardly or not, it wasn't a random circumstance.

2/3

[agoodname]

They were aiming for me. And my parents were caught in the crossfire, either deliberately or accidentally.

[agoodname]

I'm the reason they're dead.

[enigmaster]

[He so badly wants to argue. He knows it makes logical sense, but he can't see this as being directly Oswald's fault. Indirectly seems pointless, to him. But he's trying to come at this logically. That isn't going to work, is it? ...] I'm sorry.

[agoodname]

[Oswald looks at his phone, brow furrowing, obviously expecting more of a fight--and there's a moment of surprise when he doesn't get it. And his expression crumples into something pained. It takes him a moment to control himself enough to respond] Thank you. [ he wipes a hand under his eyes, quickly, after flipping his phone closed ]

[enigmaster]

Pushing you wasn't my intent.

I'm

[he considers, for a while, how to finish that sentence. but it feels like... honesty might be warranted.]

just concerned.