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]

You can keep it together without shouldering everything on your own, Matthias.

[pheromonecoffee]

... The second people see you as weak, the second they start to treat you like you are. You're already treating me like I am. So what happens when everyone else finds out?

[substitutable]

You aren't weak. You're stronger than most. Enough that I doubt you're human sometimes.

You are human, though, Matthias. And you're hurting. Admitting to that isn't a weakness.

[pheromonecoffee]

None of us have exactly been human since this all started.

[substitutable]

You're still you.

... You're strong, Matthias. Like a freak. But you get hurt, and you suffer, too. That's not being weak. I don't think souldering everything and hiding it from everyone you know is necessarily strength, either.

[pheromonecoffee]

Just lay off. [He refuses to freak out like he did in Vegas again.]

[substitutable]

I'm driving you home. [He is not backing down from this.]

[pheromonecoffee]

I can get there myself. I'll call my aunt.

[substitutable]

... [Well, he can't exactly argue against that. His shoulders fall.] Just... take care of yourself, Matthias.

[pheromonecoffee]

I'm not as happy to get myself killed as you think I am.

[substitutable]

I'm more worried about outside forces than anything at this point...

[pheromonecoffee]

They haven't gotten me yet, either.

[substitutable]

It's too late by the time they do.

[pheromonecoffee]

Nobody dies before their time. That's why it's called their time.

[substitutable]

You don't have to sit and wait for that time on your own.

[pheromonecoffee]

You don't exactly get to have friends with you, either.

[substitutable]

When you die? Maybe... but why does that mean you have to live alone?

[pheromonecoffee]

Do I look alone to you? Not right now, normally.

Do I seem alone? I have a dozen people who, every time I talk to them, a voice in my head tells me how close they are.

[substitutable]

Then why don't you let yourself rely on any of them?

[pheromonecoffee]

Because I let one person see me break down in the last six months. And he's the one who won't stop criticizing how I survive.

[substitutable]

I'm just worried about you.

[pheromonecoffee]

Well there's no point. I was fine then, I'll be fine now.

[If joking doesn't work with Shintaro, maybe anger will.]

[substitutable]

... That's not going to make me stop worrying about you. Or anybody else who worries about you.

[He shakes his head.] I may've known you for less than a month today. To you I might just be a busybody, or you might think that I think you're weak, but that doesn't matter to me. I met you and talked to you and I liked that. It was fun, to talk to you. I got interested, I got curious. I thought it'd be nice, to be your friend.

If you're going to be fine, that's great! That's good, I'll be glad. But that's still not going to make me stop worrying, and it's not going to make me leave you alone.

[pheromonecoffee]

[He bites back a "So what is?"]

... I'm calling my aunt. I don't need a babysitter.

[substitutable]

[He's silent. He'll nod. But he doesn't move; he's not leaving Matthias until he's sure he's got a way home safely.]