"The time at - ah. I know people now but it took me a long time to build up enough contacts to - function adequately without just relying on Cricket all the time and I still wind up leaning on him a lot, or, well, not this week since I haven't been bringing him here but before that. I wouldn't have been confident enough of being able to get people on the phone to do something like this, without him on hand, five years ago. But I guess that's a pretty different use case."

"Yeah. Though—the thing about knowing people, and being able to find the ones you don't know, is that... the use case is 'everything'. There's nothing you can't do, if you know enough people. It's... power, and it's safety."

"Wow are we going some places with this conversation, how's the food, do you want to talk about something that is less depressing, I don't mind personally but we all know I'm crazy?"

"The food's great! I am currently also crazy in a way that makes me really not picky about conversation topics. Is there pie left, I figure there is but perhaps you unhinged your jaw and had three quarters of a pie for lunch today."

"Yes there is, I did not unhinge my jaw even a little bit. —I read your interview with yourself, by the way. From twelve years ago. On the topic of being crazy."

"Oh no, the ancient texts. How'd you wind up that far in the archive?"

He almost says the honest answer but then he remembers the thing where Haru's backlash makes him feel like everyone hates him and that's awful and given that he is currently not really feeling resentful of Haru anymore that'd just feel mean. "Honestly I was actively looking for stuff about you because I wanted to know you better, as a person, so that I could try to work on feeling a bit less—distant. Which may be presumptuous." Man, Kang Jaeha, maybe the reason why you think everyone else is a machiavellian villain is because you fucking are.

"Oh, that's completely fine, did it leave you with questions or anything?"

"Not—exactly, but—well, I kind of want to apologise? I think I've been—accidentally insensitive in how I've interacted with you while you were backlashed, in ways I wouldn't have been, if I'd known better. So I'm sorry."

"- oh, I appreciate that, but I have gotten a lot better at managing it than I was when I was less than a month out from awakening like when I wrote the post! You're not responsible for it or anything."

"...nevertheless," he shrugs. "I don't want to be gratuitously upsetting if I can avoid it and now I probably know how to avoid it better."

"Thanks. Backlashed Me is high maintenance but I try to be nice to myself."

"On another note, I... know it's only been like a week," time is fake, "but I kind of want to spend five, ten minutes without the bracelet on while awake—handcuffed, maybe—and then rebraceleted, so I can try to figure out what—he's like. Because... if I can turn him into an acceptable shape... I'd like to be able to guide you better, if possible? Uh, I guess you did mention that the post is pretty old, but the thing you wrote about how—the things that feel like they ought to help, socialising and stuff, don't—but they would if I didn't have my bracelet on."

"- sure, I'm not averse if you want to, the bracelet being on whenever you're conscious is so you don't have to experience your backlash. It might be an idea to first try when I'm not backlashed, though, just - in case my capacity to hold more backlash than I start the experiment with becomes relevant. In the morning maybe? Wakeup as normal and then you can try it if you still feel like it then."

"Yeah. Sure. That works."

If they are both done with their meals he can take their bowls away and fetch more pie.

Pie! "I think strawberry rhubarb pie is pretty common but I seldom see just-strawberry pie."

"Seems like having had twelve partners to cook for is allowing me to enrich your culinary existence."

"I'm glad something good came of it. How'd you make it not - liquid, strawberries are so liquidy -"

Well he can share the recipe but since Haru is looking for social interaction he will also explain how it goes, too.

That's very considerate of him.

Checklist and bedtime?

Sure. He can even look forward to waking up now because maybe he'll be able to make progress on no longer being used like a tool.

In the morning, there's Haru and a bowl of Cheerios at the dining table. "Morning."

"Good morning."

For some reason he woke up horny today and Haru is very attractive. This is personally inconvenient and he's glad he's about to be hit with enough backlash to kill an adult elephant so that it won't be a problem for much longer.

Well, Haru's not going to reach across the table and pull his bracelet off. Maybe Jaeha wants breakfast first. Maybe Jaeha wants breakfast that takes an hour to cook first, how should he know.

Nope, he wants coffee, black, because he'll need it, but then, "So how should we do this?"