003M action;

[toobig]

[For once, Bertholdt is outside of his apartment. This is a very strange thing, considering he's always closed up inside away from everyone. Despite his shyness, even shut ins have to get groceries and Bertholdt had decided to take his work with him, stopping to sit in the park before he heads home. It's not too hot out, which means he won't overheat, around five o'clock in the evening. It's getting a little cooler out generally now anyway.]

[He can be seen sitting on a bench in the park with a thick manuscript in his hands, checking through each page slowly. After a while he'll pause in his work to light a cigarette and relax back against the bench. For anyone who's only known Bertholdt over the Network, it might be alarming to find out that he's 6'5". While he's sitting down, it's apparent that he's really tall regardless.]

[He's not a big talker, but maybe he'll appreciate some company?]

Comments

[wirsinddiejager]

[A lot of strange shit has been happening to Alan lately. He met someone from a past life and remembered shanking people with her. He remembered dying. He made out with a hot girl and is now kindasorta dating with her. It's been a busy couple of weeks.

That doesn't mean he's going to give up on his normal routine, though. It's a nice day, so he's heading into the park to do some sketching. And, as usual, he's wearing the awesome jacket he got with his first echo.

He slows down, surprised, when he notices Bertholdt. Isn't that the guy from the network? He's not entirely sure, but he could swear that face is familiar.]

[toobig]

[Bertholdt's idly scanning the park when he sees the teenager. He recognizes him from his video... and remembers their conversation about scorpions and other things on the Network. He's about to, well, ignore him when he sees the emblem on Alan's jacket though, flicking his cigarette ash and staring a little. He'd... seen that before, hadn't he...?]

[wirsinddiejager]

[Well, the way he's staring back pretty much confirms it. Alan's not sure why he decides to sit down next to him and start chatting - it just seems right.]

Hey, you're that guy from the network, aren't you?

[toobig]

A guy from the Network, yeah.

[He shrugs a little. There's plenty of people on the Network. The Numbers Club needs a secret signal to recognize one another. 'The president's shoes are untied.' Whatever.]

Hey, uh... What's that symbol supposed to be?

[He's not going to point, cause that's rude, but he will gesture at Alan's jacket.]

[wirsinddiejager]

The wings?

[Alan raises his arm a little, glancing at the smaller emblem on his arm, then shrugs.]

I dunno. It kind of seems important, though.

[That's the best way Alan can describe the feeling the wings evoke in him. They're important, something to admire, something to strive towards. It's one of the few positive feelings he's gotten out of his echoes.]

The jacket was, uh. The first echo I got. It just appeared in my room one day.

[toobig]

Oh... sorry, it just felt... like I've seen them before. That's all.

[Weird. Another person who Echoed similarly to him maybe...?]

I'm-- wow, that was, uh, rude of me.

I'm Bertholdt.

[wirsinddiejager]

Huh. Could be an echo thing.

[That would make him the fourth person who's had echoes connected to Alan's. He's starting to wonder if there's some kind of pattern to it.]

It's fine, a lot of people don't like to say their name over the network.

I'm Alan. Nice to meet you, I guess.

[toobig]

Maybe... I don't know. I've... well, there's been other people too so, uh...

[He just nods.]

You too.

[wirsinddiejager]

Well, I've never seen the wings anywhere else. I tried googling them but never found anything exactly the same.

[Not that he's particularly skilled in the art of Google Fu.]

But yeah, who knows.

[toobig]

Right.

Uh, sorry... that was rude of me. I promise I don't, uh, stop random teenagers I see around normally.

[wirsinddiejager]

Sure you don't.

Seriously though, I'm the one who decided to stop here.

[toobig]

I-I don't...!

[Waah, don't fluster him Alan.]

I just... thought I'd recognized you.

[wirsinddiejager]

[But he is so easy to fluster it's hilarious.]

Yeah, and that's why I stopped too, I thought I'd seen you on the network.

[toobig]

Oh...

I don't use video much... I wonder where...

[wirsinddiejager]

[He shrugs.]

Can't really remember right now, but obviously you must have used it at some point.

[toobig]

[No don't just shrug. He's too shy to be on video all the time like you crazy kids.]

It's just, uh, strange... I keep meeting people a part of me remembers...

[wirsinddiejager]

...Oh. You mean like an echo thing.

[Alan's not sure he likes the idea of remembering someone from his past life, considering how it turned out with Mikasa.]

[toobig]

Yeah... You're the third.

[He scratches the back of his neck.]

Sometimes I wish... we could all just forget again...

[wirsinddiejager]

That'd be nice.

[Really nice. He leans down against his knees, staring at the ground.]

Doesn't really seem like it's an option, though.

[toobig]

Especially for... uh, kids your age. You can't really just... switch schools somewhere else.

[wirsinddiejager]

Yeah. Can't really tell my mom that we need to move out because I'm getting freaky memories from my past life and the alien conspiracy might target her because of that.

And...on top of that, it kind of feels like we have some responsibility. We can't just run away from all this.

ha ahaha ha aha h a ... .a.h.a..a....s.so...b.....

[toobig]

Right...

[A beat.]

Wait... you think that... it would hurt your mom? Why?

[wirsinddiejager]

[Still steadily staring at the ground.]

That's what happened to someone else. They turned his mom into a monster that attacked him. And I think someone else's house got burned down.

[toobig]

I didn't... I didn't think something like that could happen.

That they'd... hurt people outside of the Network...

[wirsinddiejager]

It makes sense, doesn't it? Hitting us where it hurts the most. Did you think they'd be too nice to go after our families or something?