riverviewlogs | [closed] can i roll a friendship check?

If I had amnesia, I sure don't remember it.

[He forces a laugh at his own joke. He's fully aware it's not a good one.]

You guys run a store? I guess I didn't hear about it, but that explains why you've been in and out so quickly. That's cool! I should check it out. Oh, yeah—could you grab me a soda?

[When Ed asks about Magnus's settling in, he sighs.] I thought I was making some friends, but... It got kinda weird really fast. So... Eh. [He waves his hand in a so-so motion.] I don't mean like all of my friends, just... y'know, the ones I was hanging out with the most.

[He's polite enough to just suppress the eye roll at that joke, smirking faintly but not commenting as he grabs two sodas.]

It's complicated. Where I was before we kind of needed a store with the basics to get people settled in. There was no electricity or natural light, so we sold things like candles and blankets. My brother and I can repair things pretty fast so I got hired on for repairs and after the guy running the store disappeared I found he had left it to me. I've been running it ever since, and now... it's here.

[He doesn't sound too thrilled about it, but he hands Magnus his drink before cracking his own open with a hum.]

Al and I are trying to get our names out there for repairs again, the store itself probably won't come in very handy with all the technology and variety this place has to offer... stock and space is too limited, I think. But- no harm in keeping a small sampling of stock and just using it as a repair shop.

[He flashes a grin at that, Purg's post-apocalyptic like setting didn't allow for much, the General Store was all they had on the lower level, but here it probably wouldn't gain much interest.]

Once we're set up, I'll let you know, you can come by and be completely underwhelmed.

[At the sigh though, Ed's attention is back on Magnus and he frowns with the explanation. He wasn't really one to pry and nothing had been offered that he could gain much information from so he's not sure what to say. With his friends here, Nico and Jay, it was best left untouched. Magnus wasn't like them though, and he wasn't sure the same approach would apply here. His expression is serious, clearly upset on the guy's behalf despite barely knowing him at all.]

Do you want to talk about it?

[He gets the picture that this store isn't quite the promising opportunity that he would've thought, so he drops his enthusiasm appropriately.]

Yeah, sure thing.

[When Ed expresses interest in Magnus's problems, he scrunches his face in thought. Yeah, he does want to talk about it, but he doesn't wanna be that guy. He treads lightly—he decides he can at least skim the surface of it without making things too heavy.]

I think they tried to poison me?

[That's not heavy...?]

[Ed is excited to have it back, which in of itself made him uncomfortable. He shouldn't be missing parts of Purg that much, especially here - where things were better and he had his brother again. Nevermind the fact that he didn't know how it got there, which was also entirely unsettling. Besides an empty floor plan to store repairs - which was the part he was anticipating - would probably just be super boring to anyone that wasn't him, and he got that, too.

His expression drops abruptly with the reveal.]

That sounds more dangerous than weird. How did that even happen?

[Look, Magnus. You now have a rapt audience, drink in his hand forgotten as he regards the guy curiously, still clearly concerned.]

Well, I mean, like—

[He must not be fully convinced that they were ever really trying to hurt him if there's still a part of him that's trying to defend them. It's... weird. He's kind of internally justifying their behavior to himself, but convinces himself to hold strong to his original impression.]

Okay. If you met these people who say that they knew you before, and you just didn't have those memories, you probably wouldn't believe them, right? Well, I did. For a little while. Considering this place isn't exactly normal anyway.

[He's making small, choppy hand motions as he tells his story.]

But in the back of my mind I always kinda told myself to be careful, because I didn't wanna get tricked, y'know? And then the other day they sit me down and tell me, 'If you drink this inky black thing I have in my flask, you'll remember everything.'

...So I walked out.

[Ed's pointedly listening to the entire thing before speaking, because he has one impression right off but Magnus is still talking so even to reassure him he doesn't want to interrupt.

Then he drops the bomb about the flask and Ed's flat expression changes to something more disturbed. Before quickly composing himself as if that never happened. See, Ed is either the absolute best person to talk to about this, or the worst. Depending on a few things.]

I don't blame you.

[He takes a sip of his drink to give himself a moment to think of a proper response. Nothing about that could have been easy, and he's not sure if he's going to make it worse with what he has to say, so he wants to be careful. Ed looks almost wistful as he continues.]

Here's the thing. If someone said that to me, I would believe them. I've been doing this for awhile, and if there's one thing that remains consistent it's that people come and go a lot. Hell, I've had to have that conversation myself with a few people. 'You don't remember me, but I know you' is probably the most awkward ice breaker....

[But he's getting off topic.]

It's entirely possible they knew you here before, and you went home. Sometimes when people come back they don't remember being here at all, actually. It's also possible these are people from your home world that know you in a future or alternate reality. It's weird to think about, but all of it happens in places like this. Your gut instinct on that was right, at least.

Look, I don't know anything about magic, it's not my thing. It doesn't exist where I'm from and I'm still getting used to it, I'm not saying go drink whatever is in their weird flask but- they might be telling the truth. Either way, there are definitely other ways to find out, and you want to do it at your own pace, don't feel pressured by people you're not sure you can trust.

[Initially, he's worried by Edward's changing facials. The short silence as Edward thinks of a response makes Magnus think that Edward also suspects them of attempted poisoning, and that's. Scary. But what Ed says after that, about how he would've trusted them, is surprising.

Magnus considers it.]

I guess you've been around more than I have, huh? [He laughs, lightly, mostly to lighten the mood.]

I doubt I've been here before, but you make a good point. It doesn't seem like there's several universes or timelines similar to mine, but by that logic, this place shouldn't exist either... I still don't know if I can trust these guys. But maybe I can ask around about them? Talk to people they know here in Riverview and see if they're worth trusting. That sound like a good idea?

Something like five years.

[He was usually vague about it, time was harder to track in Purg - especially with everything that went on there. Still, if there was anything Ed was knowledgeable when it came to these worlds it was this. This he was good at, and if someone wanted advice or information he's going to give it.]

There's no way to know if you have, that's the problem. Everyone that has been, if they don't remember it they'll swear it's not true. No matter how many people know them and tell them otherwise, it's just not possible, except for the fact that it's true.

I never thought there was another universe like our's until some people started showing up in Purg that knew me and expected me to know them. Sure, that could have been the whole timeline thing in place but.... When my Teacher arrived she swore she didn't even have a child. How do you tell a kid their mom doesn't know they exist? Unless there was some other reality where he didn't it doesn't make any sense.

[At the question Ed nods.]

Finding out about them is the safest bet, I think. If they're really your friends though, they should be willing to make new memories with you without you remembering everything they do from their past. It's never been a problem for anyone I've known before, and like I said... I've kind of been doing this awhile.

[Oh, jeez. This is some heavy stuff Ed is laying down right now. Well, it's not like Magnus had brought up an easy subject to talk about... But Edward gives sound advice. Magnus considers the idea of making new memories regardless of whether he knows any of the old ones.]

I think you might be right. No matter how you slice it none of this Universes-Intersecting-Stuff is ever gonna make any sense. Even if I don't remember everything they do, we should still be able to maintain a friendship. I mean, they seemed fine with me not drinking this stuff and still hanging out, so...

[He shrugs.]

I'm probably overreacting to the whole thing.

[Ed is well versed in Heavy Stuff, Magnus. Welcome to life on floor six. He has to smirk at the "none of this will ever make sense" mostly because he believed it once himself, and now here he is educating others on the idea. He looks a little surprised when Magnus mentions they seemed fine with him not drinking it.]

Sounds like they didn't mean any harm.

[Or they're just being friendly until they have another opportunity to poison him, but Ed's not that cynical.]

If they're not pushing the issue, you might be safe. Maybe still check them out, though.

[It couldn't hurt, right?]

[He considers this for a moment.]

Yeah. I think you're right.

[He's made his decision: ask around. He's already met a few of Taako's friends, so he'll probably start there.]

Thanks for the advice, Ed. I think I know where to go from here. Hey—I'm glad I could stop you to talk, but I've got somewhere to be soon, so I better get ready for that. But before I go: what kind of animals does your brother like? Planning for the birthday party.

Anytime, it's no problem.

[Ed is alarmingly used to this considering his time in Purg. At the question though he immediately looks guarded for a second, before answering cautiously. Mostly because he'd already had the "don't encourage him" talk with Magnus so he's going to assume the guy's not about to spring a pet on him.]

He's fond of cats.

[Magnus grins, because he knows exactly why Ed looks so guarded.]

Don't worry, I'm not gonna give him a cat.

[Not a real cat, anyway. He's gonna put that woodcarving skill to use.]

See ya around, Ed.

[closed] can i roll a friendship check?

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