notscary | inbox. duplicity.

Something tells me I was not the intended recipient.

God, I'm so sorry.
Looks like a bunch of private photos are getting sent out without our consent.

[ definitely doesn't want pictures like that one getting sent to people who may just not be into it, too. just peachy. ]

I have heard of this phenomenon. Fortunately, I do not keep anything on my own devise.

No need to apologize. I don’t mind.

Haven't been here more than a few months, but the city just keeps on giving when it comes to stuff like this.

That's a relief. I'm really glad.
I hope you were mostly unscatched, like I'm guessing from what you said?

[ nothing on her phone and all. ]

So I hear. How long has it been for you? I only just arrived two months ago myself.

I was spared. A friend [ dream would probably not love her referring to him as simply that, but ] advised me to be cautious.

And, I admit I have never been much for photography. In the past, I was always the one posing.

Four months for me. There's a lot to be wary of here. Some of it we can avoid better. It's good your friend cautioned you.

Where I'm from, we didn't have cameras like this where the photo shows up on a little screen that so we can look at it right away, so I guess I'm a little enamoured by the whole deal. It's another form of art sometimes, too, which I like. Less so the random naked pictures...more when I take photos of animals, nature. Stuff to inspire some of the stories I like to write.

He has been a great help to me, in more ways than one. [ like helping her with quota. and clothing. and acclimating her… ]

You’re right, it is a great form of art. I was present for the invention of the camera, but I am not as familiar with its current form. Everything has modernized.

Nudity can be beautiful when properly photographed. It is all about form. And authenticity.

What stories do you write?

I had a friend from home who was already here that helped me kinda like that, too. :) [ not that he's making any assumptions!! steve isn't a dom, but yelena hadn't minded eddie spending the night there, bouncing back and forth between there and sub housing until he'd signed a contract. ]

Really? What year are you from?

I don't think the photos I specifically send to someone who's just as horny as me are really all that artful, though.

Ones full of fantasy and adventure, usually. Horror themes, sometimes. I mostly write them for this roleplaying game I play.

I feel I would have been adrift had I not had someone from my world. More than I am, in any case.

[ she’s about to show her age here. ] I was brought into the world after the Invention of the Wheel, in the early days of civilization. I do not recall the year itself. My eight sisters were born before me.

Perhaps you only need the proper inspiration. This one was quite creative. I like the vantage point.

You should tell me more of this. What is “roleplaying”?

[ huh. eddie isn't a walking compendium of academic knowledge by any stretch of the imagination. no, he's quite the expert in metal music and d&d lore/gameplay -- but how she answers has him musing the meanings behind her words about when she was born.

still. he won't be too forward, just his version of politely curious. ]

Wow. So, you. Have lived a really, really long time, then. Got a big family too. I'm an only child myself.

Ah, thank you. I'm not upset with how it turned out, if I'm being honest.

Sure. I love talking about this. The game is a form of tabletop roleplaying game, which means you play it in person, with a game board, figurines, dice. I write a choose your own adventure stories within a story and other people create characters that they play as, aloud, and I guide them through it. The "roleplaying" part. I like putting together those campaigns. It's the most fun part for me, deciding what sorts of monsters or enemies, treasures and secrets, the adventurers might come across.

In a manner of speaking. I am Calliope of the Nine Muses, from Ancient Greece. [ she’s not trying to impress him. he may not have even heard of her, since he more likely isn’t from her world, or at least not the time she’s from from what she’s gathered. … but it is kind of a Big Deal, at least where she comes from. ]

I am sorry, I did not catch your name either? I feel I ought to know, after the photograph.

I am afraid I have never heard of it, but you seem quite passionate about it. Do you play often?

[ ...well. give this indiana boy a moment to process. ]

I hope it's not rude to say that I've heard of you before. I'm from the twentieth century, though, so it's mostly been in books. You're a Muse? That's, like, a Goddess, isn't it?

It's Eddie. :)

Yeah, I've played since I was a kid. Started out as a way to escape and, well, still serves that purpose sometimes. But it's just a hell of a lot of fun, too. I played a lot at home, yeah. But I've just tried to get games for it started up here in the city. A few people know about it already, and there's other who are up to learn. The game's called Dungeons and Dragons, too, kind of self-explanatory for the genre it usually falls under.

No, it isn’t rude. Do not believe everything you read in books, but I am a goddess, yes. A Muse.

It is nice to meet you, Eddie.

It saddens me I do not know of it. Is it a widespread game? I hold all the knowledge of stories and art, but I have been disconnected from my worshippers for a long time now.

Books are great, but critical thinking is even better.

Well, it's wonderful to meet you too, Calliope. Never thought I'd meet any goddesses before I came to this place.

It's fairly well known. But a lot of people when and where I'm from are under the impression that it's inspired by evil. Satan? It's just a game that nerdy people, like me, play. A scapegoat for, who the hell knows. Have people always been that willing to be so short-sighted, throughout all the years you've been alive? I think I know the answer, but part of me is a little hopeful.

One should aid the other, in my opinion.

You know other goddesses? Should I be jealous?

I do not wish to jade you even further. Many men are shortsighted, and frightened and look to brand that which they do not understand as evil. But not all. I have seen the best and the very worst of them.

That's how I've always thought, too.

Well I'm having more earnest conversation with you, so I don't think so. :)

I like to believe my little circle of friends is some of the best, and I've met even more of those great people since being here, actually. Honestly, Calliope, you're not gonna jade me. My town basically thought I was possessed by Satan himself and were hunting me down for something that I didn't do -- which, it was all a pretty big mess and I don't think all of them are bad, but it seems like the majority of humanity wants someone who's easy to blame rather than asking difficult questions.

If I am to be honest, this is the most I have spoken with someone in what feels like weeks, perhaps the entire time I have been here.

I am sorry that you went through such an ordeal, Eddie. Your heart is kind to give them so much grace and understanding. I feel I am not as gracious toward humanity as I once was.

I'm glad you feel like you can talk to me, then. I know we just met, but I'm always around if you need an ear.

Thank you. I wasn't that gracious at home. I've never been one to conform, and I've only ever egged on their judgmental opinions. But I've had a bit of time to think about it since I've been here. A lot of the town is made up of questionable people, but I don't think many are as close to the evil that they think exists.

Do you like telling stories? Writing? Or is there another kinda hobby you have?

I play guitar, too.

[ just rattling it off, since calliope sure seems to enjoy talking with him, so why not? ]

Thank you. If you need the same, I am here as well.

Creative souls often stand out, I have known many. You should not let them mold you. Do not allow them to smother your spark.

I once wrote. Daily. But my scroll was burnt away to ash and I could no longer write, or do anything I wished to do.

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.

Never planning on letting anyone else mold me. Really do like how genuinely you say that. It's how I've lived my life for as long as I can remember.

Someone took the ability to write from you? And...even more than just that?
I'm sorry, Calliope.
That's bullshit.

[ deducing that that's what she meant, anyway. ]

[ she didn’t mean to kind of. give a non-answer. but the question had dredged up so much.

even here, more often than not she feels stuck.

she doesn’t know what compels her to tell this man she has never met this. her story, the last of it. ]

I was… confined for a very long time. Against my wishes.

I was taken from my home, by a man. He kept me as a possession. And he did worse than that to me.

He then gave me to another to do the same.

[ for as young and often reckless as eddie can be, he's very respectful of the privacy, the stories, of people who entrust him with more intimate details. he doesn't expect calliope to go any direction with what she shares. eddie doesn't think that far ahead, but he can be a good listener, sometimes. especially when it's words on a screen that peer back at him: he focuses, even if he isn't suited to be a wise, sagely confidante. ]

God.
And then you got kidnapped and brought here.
There's no 'sorry' in the world that's ever gonna be enough.
I wish you had more autonomy here...it's wrong that you don't. For any of us, but going through that?
I don't think it's fair to suggest I could do anything other than listen, but I'm glad that I get to talk to you. I hope we can be friends, do something together in person sometime.
If you want.

[ giving a distraction sounds ludicrous, but he has to offer something. and this is what eddie settles on. ]

[ her eyes sting, for a moment. she has not wept since she left her world and came here. not for herself, not over what happened. not even when the city paraded the memory of her dead son. calliope does not cry much — not since she was a young goddess, and her life was torn asunder. she has withstood much. ]

I do thank you for listening. For being kind.

I feel as if I have been transported from one prison to another, promised the keys of freedom only to have them wrenched from my grasp.

I would like that. We are friends already, Eddie, if it is not so bold to say.

I always try to be. It sounds wrong to say I'm glad that I was the one to be able to listen, but I am.

[ while he cannot empathize, eddie knows in his heart of hearts how sincere he is. and someone who is hurting should have an earnest ear tuned in. ]

I hope you can find something here that will bring you some peace of mind. I know it would be hard, but there are nice places to go in the city. Even more nicer, kind, people.

Not bold. I consider you a friend now too, Calliope.
Do you have anything you remember doing with friends that you haven't gotten to do in awhile?

[ she thinks about it. ]

I confess, for the most part I have been reluctant, and hesitant, to enjoy any part of the city. My Mothers have called me bullheaded… Besides the library, though I find the collection somewhat lacking. Most of it is pornographic. It gets repetitive.

I do miss playing music, and painting. You say you play the guitar?

inbox. duplicity.

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