Even as Tolten tried to lessen the mental blow, Mikado still felt it, and blinked as if dazed. The man was speaking of a different world like a favorite canon, but with a familiarity of one speaking of their own home. The boy's mouth opened and shut a few times, words not lining in ways he could fit into sentences. His mind caught on the most inane part of what had been said.
...A clean, renewable energy source?
It made the boy laugh suddenly, quick and nervous. "Aha, my--" Home? World? "...Where I'm from," he gave as an echo with a briefly pained face. "Would probably give a lot for an energy source like that. There's all kinds of green movements, trying to get people to be more environmentally conscious. I didn't really think too much on it, but there's a whole... Um...." He had started rambling in a kind of light panic, and as he realized this, he swallowed the rest of the sentence he had been speaking. The man must have thought that Mikado was a complete idiot. The realization made something like regret churn in his stomach. This had been one of the few simple and easy interactions to this point, and Mikado liked Tolten, and could see them becoming friends. But....
A different world spoken of, and taken seriously, was enough of a blow. Tolten continued, and Mikado openly gaped. The thought of dozens, of hundreds....
It did explain all the oddness, as Tolten put it, but it also destroyed a part of the reality Mikado had attributed as fact. This did not exist as either a positive or a negative outcome. It was attributed to change, which served as both Mikado's driving point and a bane of his existence, and therefore was only taken as it was. A possible truth. A possible shift. And if the shift was actual....
He clapped his hands against his cheeks suddenly, hard enough for the sound to echo. When he dropped them there were red impressions, but the glazed look had somewhat left his eyes. He nodded to the man, giving a thin smile. "...It would explain a lot," he admitted quietly. Then looked slightly embarrassed. "Do you.... Can you do magic?"
no subject
...A clean, renewable energy source?
It made the boy laugh suddenly, quick and nervous. "Aha, my--" Home? World? "...Where I'm from," he gave as an echo with a briefly pained face. "Would probably give a lot for an energy source like that. There's all kinds of green movements, trying to get people to be more environmentally conscious. I didn't really think too much on it, but there's a whole... Um...." He had started rambling in a kind of light panic, and as he realized this, he swallowed the rest of the sentence he had been speaking. The man must have thought that Mikado was a complete idiot. The realization made something like regret churn in his stomach. This had been one of the few simple and easy interactions to this point, and Mikado liked Tolten, and could see them becoming friends. But....
A different world spoken of, and taken seriously, was enough of a blow. Tolten continued, and Mikado openly gaped. The thought of dozens, of hundreds....
It did explain all the oddness, as Tolten put it, but it also destroyed a part of the reality Mikado had attributed as fact. This did not exist as either a positive or a negative outcome. It was attributed to change, which served as both Mikado's driving point and a bane of his existence, and therefore was only taken as it was. A possible truth. A possible shift. And if the shift was actual....
He clapped his hands against his cheeks suddenly, hard enough for the sound to echo. When he dropped them there were red impressions, but the glazed look had somewhat left his eyes. He nodded to the man, giving a thin smile. "...It would explain a lot," he admitted quietly. Then looked slightly embarrassed. "Do you.... Can you do magic?"