No way. I respect physics way too much!

Hi, welcome to ‘Aside With Shiv’

On this show, we learn a little about ourselves every time. Sure, you’re sure, for sure, that regular people don’t need to imagine themselves in front of a cozy fireplace, wrapped in a blanket and a mug of coco steaming away at their side, whenever they need to get their shit together. But, hey, it helps for you.

Anyway, a couple of things happened. All of them in close enough succession to make them seem, almost, simultaneous.

You walked away. Probably with a stoic façade, declaring yourself an ally of gravity. Find someone else to ruin the basic rules of universal law, chump.

Then, you weren’t walking or stoic anymore. Just like Those Dreams you found yourself caught between oblivion and lucidity. That infinitesimal point in time where you see the world clearly. Where the strings of a malicious puppeterr glitter against the darkness of actuality.

We'd like to ourselves masters of our own destiny. We'd like to think we have a choice in matters of importance. We don't. Sad, but true. If you're covered in oil and grease, odds are there's a good reason for that. Choosing one thing over the other - ultimately - is irrelevant in the larger scope of things. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you chose to bake one thing over another. What matters is the one predetermined thing bound to happen; Your house burning down.

You're pretty sure the mastermind behind all of this is destiny. Destiny is a cruel, unchanging monster. Toying with you like a cat would a mouse. Keeping you alive for long enough to have its fun, then shrieking its ghastly howl and sucking your bone marrow, as its adrenaline tendrils keeps you alive for long enough to experience every single moment of excruciating pain. Exactly like cats do. All. The. Time.

Well, at least one of you is having fun with all of this. Maybe, one day, you'll look back on this moment and laugh as your social status died this very day. Or all those other times, like:

When the ravine almost closed up on all of you, as it turned out to be a dormant monster.

The exact moment of realization when it occurred to you that Jorrel and Emalie were together.

Your emotional state, whenever you think about how stuck you are, between exploring the world with your friends and your father’s expectations of you. Right, and the whole village, seeing as how they'll have no roboticist, once your dad dies.

That time a spider fell on your shoulder.

That time you just really needed to cry because goddammit life is tough, okay!?
 
Today is the day you understood what 'do a Shiva' meant. Let’s see what the dictionary has to say.

To Shiva (to shi-var)
[noun] To cry and/or scream, with **** intensity, at the same time. Mostly due to fear, sadness, or anything at all, really, if we're being honest.
Examples of Usage:

1. Man, I did a hella' weak shiva when my parents were eaten by a tribe of cannibals and **** me to watch. Embarrassing.
2. A spider fell on Shiva and she would not stop doing a Shiva for hours. She can be so impossible, sometimes.
3. "Of course I'm crying! How come you guys didn't!"

Jorrel, gesturing at you, looked to Emalie and says, "You didn't tell her what would happen?"

"I told her to hold tight and she, like, stepped into the portal-" Emalie made a display of mimicking your sudden fall, complete with tumble and all.

"Right, and you could, maybe, have pointed out the tear in reality to her, instead of treating her to shitty free-fall!" Despite being a together for seven years, Jorrel and Emalie had the uncanny ability to never run out of things to argue about and the same intense shared love of arguing for arguments sake. Jorrel weren't really arguing for you. He was just... arguing.

Through tears and sobs, you kinda manage to say, "You didn't tell me about any holes in the ground!"

Oddly calm as always, Mute joined the conversation from somewhere else entirely, "Technically, it wasn't a hole in the ground or - as you said - portal. The flash-light swung around and when the light hit Shiva, she aligned with the gravitational pull of this place. Or, more accurately, the polar opposite. To get in, you have to touch something trying to get out. To get out, you need to... probably the opposite. Hopefully. For our sake, let's pretend so."

In the darkness of - whatever this place was - Mute was using his glowing-sticks as a source of light, drawing his usual map and writing down his usual notes. He barely looked up at you as he spoke. Most likely catching on to your internal monologue, Mute's bueautiful eyes looked right at you and added, "Oh, right, also, are you okay?"

Thumb. Thumb. Thumb. Yes, hello? This is Shiva's rational thoughts. We'd like to partition for a case of 'forming coherent sentences when talking to our crush.' Ha ha, yes, Ma'am! We know it's a silly concept. Yes, well, you're entitled to your opinions. Okay. No need for ****, I'll leave. Oh god, blood everywhere. Finnigan! Finnigan, you bastard! Call an ambulance! No, not for me! She's going on another brain tangent. Yes! I know! She's just staring at him! I KNOW, FINNIGAN, she's making quite a fool of herself.

"I'll take that as a yes," Mute says, turning his attention back to his maps and notes.

Oh my god, you managed to maintain eye contact with him for several seconds. That's a success. Except you're still grimy, dirty and ugly. He was probably mostly looking at you to process the sheer amount of ugly cry-face in front of him. So, not a success, actually. Damn.