It is, Ryo thinks, a very good thing that he has experience dealing with gods. He's worked with people with very little experience with humanity's perspective; he's felt the pressure of divine rage, even though it wasn't directed at him; he's befriended more than one incarnation of Death. A few months ago, the sheer volume and power of Ten-Nank's response would have shut him down entirely; now, at least, he can handle it.
For certain values of handle it, that is - he's still a bit breathless when Ten-Nank returns to normal volume. It had been what he'd asked for, yes, but it had also been a lot. It's the joke about paperwork - it might not even have been a joke, but it was definitely about paperwork - that snaps him all the way back to reality. "Oh!" he says, almost automatically, filling space while he scrambles to put his thoughts in some semblance of order.
It's too much to sift through entirely - he gets the feeling that he'll be spending a lot of time in the future thinking over this conversation - but the important parts...the important part is that Ten-Nank isn't just made of stardust; they're a living galaxy, and they could feel everything that happened inside them - that it was all a part of them. The important part is that connecting with the void changed them. The important part is that parts of them left - void travelers? - and other, outside parts entered. The important part is that they made a choice.
The important part is that Ten-Nank likes tracking...
"Oh," he says again, thoughtfully this time, an acknowledgement instead of an attempt to find anything to say to fill the silence. "Does...does the Ministry help you keep track of the parts of you that left?" It may not be what they meant - it might not even be close - but part of me left and I want it back resonates too deeply for him to start anywhere else.
I am both living and dying right now, thank you
For certain values of handle it, that is - he's still a bit breathless when Ten-Nank returns to normal volume. It had been what he'd asked for, yes, but it had also been a lot. It's the joke about paperwork - it might not even have been a joke, but it was definitely about paperwork - that snaps him all the way back to reality. "Oh!" he says, almost automatically, filling space while he scrambles to put his thoughts in some semblance of order.
It's too much to sift through entirely - he gets the feeling that he'll be spending a lot of time in the future thinking over this conversation - but the important parts...the important part is that Ten-Nank isn't just made of stardust; they're a living galaxy, and they could feel everything that happened inside them - that it was all a part of them. The important part is that connecting with the void changed them. The important part is that parts of them left - void travelers? - and other, outside parts entered. The important part is that they made a choice.
The important part is that Ten-Nank likes tracking...
"Oh," he says again, thoughtfully this time, an acknowledgement instead of an attempt to find anything to say to fill the silence. "Does...does the Ministry help you keep track of the parts of you that left?" It may not be what they meant - it might not even be close - but part of me left and I want it back resonates too deeply for him to start anywhere else.