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

[pheromonecoffee]

Weren't you doing something before you started following me?

[substitutable]

It's done. Didn't you come here with things to do?

[pheromonecoffee]

Are you going to follow me if I do them?

[substitutable]

I can't say I won't.

[pheromonecoffee]

What's going to work? The only thing I have left is asking nicely.

[substitutable]

That wasn't your first choice? I won't talk; I just want to make sure nobody's gonna attack you again.

[pheromonecoffee]

I thought you'd get the hint around the time I said "I'm fine."

[substitutable]

You made your point. I'm still worried.

[pheromonecoffee]

I've been putting a gun to my head and pulling the trigger for five months. I not only remembered dying, I remembered everyone Minato ever cared about thinking about him when he made the decision to die. I remember Minato and his friends set up as human sacrifices and the only reason they didn't die was a dog.

I remembered being asked to kill a friend.

This is nothing.

[substitutable]

What downed the camel in the end was one last straw, you know? You're capable, Matthias, but people are still going to worry about you. It's how people are -- they care about you, and they'll worry whether you're the strongest in the world or not.

[pheromonecoffee]

Do I look broken to you?! [Don't answer that.]

[substitutable]

[He won't. He just looks at Matt v seriously. Does he even have to answer?]

[pheromonecoffee]

... Bullshit. I'm fine.

[substitutable]

[He sighs.] You're not broken. You're just worrying sometimes.

[pheromonecoffee]

You read too much into it. Nobody else is worried, and they've known me longer.

[substitutable]

Your friends are all desensitized to this whole thing and made jokes when you asked about human sacrifices. Or they're twelve. And the fourteen year old's been worried about you and has been saying so in every conversation I've seen you guys have on the network.

[pheromonecoffee]

... He's actually seen me get into trouble. It's different.

[He... feels awful, though. He doesn't like remembering that he worries Ken.]

[substitutable]

Then he's also seen you get out of it. He's still worried because he cares about you.

[pheromonecoffee]

He doesn't follow me around.

[substitutable]

Don't let a fourteen year old kid follow you around. Get him to worry about himself first. But he's worried. You know that, right?

[pheromonecoffee]

Hypocrite.

And I know. I'm not stupid. Why do you think I try to act normal around him?!

[substitutable]

That's not the point. The point is that you should be aware more than anyone how much people actually worry about you.

[pheromonecoffee]

You're blowing it out of proportion.

[substitutable]

You're blowing it off.

[pheromonecoffee]

Back off.