text | un: anonymous

[possessum]

( This is not Peter Graham, though of course, posting anonymously takes away that possibility. The user didn't want to use the boy's network handle, to inevitably be seen through the filter of "Not Peter."

The user is trying to define his own identity. )

why did you choose your title here on this THING
what is the meaning
?
?

( ...Texting is still something he struggles with, though the demon has been watching and learning and forming his own conclusions on how to do it. Autocorrect is a life-saver. Two questions get two question marks. ....Even if they go in the wrong place. )

i will grant you a
GOLDEN COIN
if you
RESPOND

( ...For those who know Paimon fairly well, that particular offer of exchange might betray who he is. But the demon of Knowledge is curious to hear reasons, and within them: perhaps stories, memories, self-perceptions. There is a meaning to everything, whether simple or complex.

And perhaps by the end of it, he will know what title he would give himself, here on the network. )

Comments

[noniad]

[Perhaps Ortus ought to be frightened. He thinks he may be, in a physical sense, judging by the habitual tightening of his stomach paired to the rush of false clarity that comes with certain fears.

But what he feels in his heart is a gush of soft, familiar concern. He knows what a fit of too much resembles, the ways a mind might buck at its housing and at sense when overwhelmed or simply sent tumbling down strange corridors by no logic perceptible to the outside world. He has seen Harrowhark too often in abject distress at herself and the disobedience of her will and her body to flinch from the stranger's outburst.

It is a deeply painful thing to not know oneself. It follows that the relief of discovery might be paired with jubilation in equal measure.]

I am glad to have been of aid to you, given your help to me.

I hope that you are able to find a name that suits, good stranger. I would be pleased, if it does not trouble you, to know what it might be, once you have ascertained it for yourself.

[possessum]

( Truly, Ortus was one of the first here to inspire Paimon so profoundly... and it struck the demon hard, wild. But like a light that burns too brightly and quickly — it fizzles. Explodes, not entirely, only in small doses, little bursts that leave it scorched and stunned for a few moments.

And Paimon is a being of reciprocation. Though he can't hear this person's voice or manner of speaking: their calm way of typing, their choice of words, catches hold of him and helps smooth out those strange frayed, singed edges. This is a poet, and someone with power, and someone very WISE. Somehow who has helped him. He feels at ease, much too easily, latches onto the way this person "feels" to him. Ortus; it is a word that means, among many other things, "beginning".

It takes a few long moments, but his spirit finds calm again. Switches, again. )

i shall gladly gift it to you once it is made
ORTUS
you will know it
as you will know me

( That sounds... ominous, but he means it in a completely favourable way... To know him is a privilege, in the sense that he can assist, give greater gifts than simple gold coins. But he hasn't forgotten that initial promise— )

would you prefer the coin to be of a particular land
?
some prefer gold of egypt
some of greece or rome

( It's the same, underneath, but the engraving, the era and civilisation associated with it... Humans have made many different requests of him, that way. )

[noniad]

[That is unexpected. Ortus expected no payment beyond the knowing of the name, but now this stranger offers him coin of gold from places Ortus has yet to learn of.

There is an instinct to demur. Humility and poverty are values the Ninth holds dear by necessity. It does not do for members of the most meagre House to aspire to all that which glitters and gleams.

But he is striving to be better about accepting kindnesses. Surely, they would not offer if it was a great hardship to them. Ortus may hedge his bets.]

I would be greatly pleased by any coin you saw fit to give me.

I have never heard of these lands. Perhaps you might grant me the coin that you like best, if that is not too dear an ask of you.

[possessum]

( The one he likes best...? It isn't the first time in this place that the concept of choosing has been presented to the demon lord, and so it is not new, but it is still... foreign.

Perhaps not long ago, he would have insisted that the other pick very specifically, that the request of their heart be fulfilled, but now he can see that this is their request. For him to choose; they don't know which one, have no preference. It is up to Paimon.

He will put much thought into this. For the first time, perhaps in all of his existence, thinking of each coin and which one he may like best, and why. Rubbing his fingers over each imprint, taking in each written language, finding a... preference. (....It's all given him a bit of an identity crisis, but in ways that are less aching as they usually are. No, this does not ache. This feels... a bit exciting?) )

i under stand
i shall ful fill this request after taking some time
i shall contact you so that i may bestow it upon you
thank you ORTUS

[noniad]

Thank you, truly. I will wait to hear from you, and am eager to see which coin you choose.

[Ortus will reflect on this peculiar interaction for some time into the future, waiting for the delivery of the promised coin with an odd certainty that it will be sent to him at some date yet to come.

For all the stranger's unique manner of speech and evidently excitable manner - not to speak of their unfamiliarity with some social mores - Ortus perceived no malice in them. A sort of erratic flightiness, perhaps, but an earnest nature. Childlike is not quite the word, but there are qualities of the forthright curiosity and moods of a child, generous and fretful and preoccupied with all sorts of questions about the world by turns.

He feels an unexpected nascent liking for them, whoever they are, and cannot but to wish them well.]