Back at Marginal§
It is the same morning in Lindoma, a few hours after the call from the stairwell. Vlad is back in his own flat at Marginal, the bag still half unpacked against the wall, the window open onto the courtyard. He has slept badly on his own bed for the first time in six days. The phone goes on the table beside him.
Vlad's phone, at Marginal
-
You have been quiet since yesterday, which is fine, only checking you got home
-
I've got home
-
I have been talking with Nozaki
-
Good
-
How is she
-
She is fine
The letter§
Vlad's phone, at Marginal
-
Last time she has been crying and now she has been writing a letter to me
-
A letter, as in on paper
-
Yes. She will read it to me soon
-
Read it to you, so it is not in English
-
It's not in English
-
Then she wrote it for herself first and you second
Deep how§
Vlad's phone, at Marginal
-
Maybe, but she has gone really deep last time
-
Deep how
-
She shared struggles she wouldn't have shared with Akima or anyone else
-
Like, her work is precarious and she is overwhelmed by her situation
-
She has an old mother to take care of, and she wants to leave Japan and move to Fluid
-
That is a lot to hand someone
Knowing and being able§
Vlad's phone, at Marginal
-
Does she know what moving here would take, or is it still the idea of it
-
She knows what moving here would take
-
That is good, maybe
-
Knowing what it takes and being able to do it are two different things however
-
I know, and she knows too
-
In fact, she told me that she cannot leave right now
The coast, next week§
Vlad's phone, at Marginal
-
Anyway, when do you have time
-
You said we would go and watch the platform from the coast, and I have nothing but free time until I don't
-
Maybe next week, because right now I need to rest
-
Next week is fine
-
Rest properly, and not the way you rest on a train