Text > Video | discussion of parent death

[pheromonecoffee]

Let's set the scene here.

Bridge. Late night. Green full moon.

Six year old alone in the backseat of a car. Front seat? Two coffins.

Giant explosion. Car destroyed. Boy not destroyed. Coffins in car probably destroyed. 90% chance of coffin destruction.

Giant monster. Robot teenage girl fighting monster. Robot girl losing.

Robot girl stuffs giant monster into six year old. How? Fuck if I know.

Moon stops being green. Bridge is on fire. Car is on fire. Six year old is not on fire.

[Video flashes on. Matt's hanging around LCU's campus. It's pretty dead since it's only summer sessions and he's not by the library or anything. He'd come to pick something up, and... Well, the walk here had been eventful. He should drive more, as attested to the scrape on his cheek. He's a lucky kid.

That aside, he looks... not very amused.]

So if we're playing the crazy echoes game anymore, I think I'm winning. [He laughs a little, covering his face with his hand in sheer exhaustion.] Coffins in a car? You know what the craziest shit about this is?

I seriously think I just watched Minato's parents die. That's... that's some fucked up kind of thing to show a guy. And that... thing. That monster.

[And Matt completely freezes. And then he laughs. And it's not a good laugh--it's a kind of crazy, kind of broken laugh.]

No wonder he had to die. That thing inside of him... [And then his laughter just completely stops and he drops the phone he's recording on. That thing. That thing looks so similar to Thanatos. And Thanatos... Thanatos is Phillip. His friend. He curls himself up where he sits, resting his head on his knees and the video just shows the summer sky.]

Let's just pretend. This never happened.

Comments

[substitutable]

[What a baby. He'll try to be gentle.]

... There's been graffiti around town that's pretty anti-Numbered. You might've run into those. Do you have any other injuries or did you heal yourself?

[pheromonecoffee]

No major injuries. I think it freaks people out when I summon.

[He appreciates it. He's still being a baby about it though.]

[substitutable]

An incredibly understandable guess. It is pretty freaky.

[He'd put a bandaid on it. It's Shin. He probably has one on him all the time. He'll take a dry napkin and get rid of the extra water before sticking it on, then moving his hand up to gently pat his hair.]

That's good though. I'm glad you're not too hurt.

[pheromonecoffee]

You're doing the babysitting thing again. [He's grouching a little.

It's good for him.]

[substitutable]

Get used to it. What were you doing on campus?

[pheromonecoffee]

Picking up scholarship information. And something for my dad from one of his old classmates.

[substitutable]

I see I see. [He's putting his water bottle back in his bag, rolling up the wet napkin to throw into a trash can later.]

Did you get what you needed?

[pheromonecoffee]

Not yet. I wanted to sit down for a minute. [Which is how he wound up thinking which is how he wound up scared which is how he got on the network.]

[substitutable]

Okay.

... I'll go with you. When you're done, I'll drive you home -- don't argue. If they're willing to assault you in broad daylight, I'm not letting you walk home.

[pheromonecoffee]

You're really pushy. I can handle myself. [Until he gets a chance to think about echoes again.]

[substitutable]

[He sighs.] Do you really want to be left alone with your thoughts again?

[pheromonecoffee]

I'm going to be alone eventually.

[substitutable]

If you're home, that's better than the middle of an open campus. [He hasn't lifted his hand yet. Pat pat.]

[pheromonecoffee]

[He ducks away, frowning.]

How would you know? I'll be fine.

[substitutable]

[He drops his hand but he's frowning very seriously.]

I want you to be somewhere where there is someone in case those guys you fought off with Titania are still around or you get another Echo that hurts you. If you're not going to go to anyone I'll stay with you myself.

[pheromonecoffee]

I survived for seven months without anybody holding my hand.

[substitutable]

[He leans back on his hands, stretching out his legs.] I'm not denying that. But I think you can use the time to recharge once in a while. Things that are constantly working and being put to use wear out -- nothing lasts forever, especially without a break.

[pheromonecoffee]

I had a break. Vegas, remember?

[substitutable]

I think you need another one.

[pheromonecoffee]

No time for one. Especially not with people thinking we're dangerous.

[substitutable]

Especially with people thinking we're dangerous, I think you need breaks so you don't start laughing like a maniac on public property.

[pheromonecoffee]

... I made sure to find a place away from people before I started thinking about it. [He looks away.]

[substitutable]

Before you got on the network.

... You wanna move somewhere with less people? It's just summer classes today, but people still use this path to get to the parking structure.

[pheromonecoffee]

Next time, I'll keep it to myself. [He pushes himself to his feet, dusting off his jeans.] I'll be fine on my own.

[substitutable]

That's not what I mean.

[He's following him up, picking up his bag.]

You're not fine. You might be -- you might glue yourself back up, overcome things, whatever, but you're not fine right now and I'm not leaving you alone.