[ it hurts. always.

even now, even without the thoughts and emotions of everyone around them flooding into her all at once, her mind has been flayed open and only horror remains. he speaks of memories and something deep inside of her recoils - she remembers everything, even the things that aren't hers to hold, a weight too heavy for one girl to bear.

river flinches away from him, her expression shuttered from awe to pain and an edge of fear that she tries to hide by ducking her head away. ]

Doesn't belong.

[ his memories or hers? both, maybe. it's why she'd asked, after all; she knows a mind can only hold so much before breaking. he says all of time exists in his head and it sounds unbearable.

but still, he smiles and he laughs and river wishes she could do that too. so she worries at the edge of her sleeves, face still mostly hidden, and continues. ]

Doesn't - doesn't belong here. Time. It's abstract. Measurements are drawn based on observations of solar cycles that don't exist from one system to another. It's unequal - inequivalent. Who gets to decide their sun is the right one?

[ clocks are liars and don't even get her started on calendars. but her voice is quiet and maybe she isn't only thinking about the stars. ]