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]

There's nothing we can do about what happened in echoes. It's happened. It's like... a really bad nightmare.

[darkhourdear]

[...actually treating them like nightmare is a really good idea.] But nightmares are still scary.

[pheromonecoffee]

Yeah, I know. But they can't hurt you. [Yet.]

[darkhourdear]

No. They can't. But sometimes that's hard to remember.

[pheromonecoffee]

I'm okay, really. Promise.

[darkhourdear]

[Phillip clearly does not believe him. He might not be the smartest person ever, but he's very good at reading people. He just... chooses to ignore what he reads from them sometimes. This is not one of those times.]

I still think you should talk about it to somebody.

[pheromonecoffee]

... You're really worried, huh?

[darkhourdear]

[Phillip nods.]

You try really hard to make sure other people are happy. So you should be able to be happy too.

[pheromonecoffee]

I probably don't try as hard as you think. And I'm not unhappy, either.

[darkhourdear]

But are you happy? Not being unhappy is different.

[pheromonecoffee]

[There's a long quiet moment.]

I'm healthy. My parents aren't caught up in this mess. I have friends... a girlfriend? I guess. Maybe. I'm starting college in a couple months.

[Yes, Matt, that is a beautiful list of things to be happy about.]

[darkhourdear]

You have a girlfriend?

[wait no. Phillip don't get distracted.]

You're not answering my question.

[pheromonecoffee]

We started dating, I guess, when I got back?

[No now he has something to latch on to.]

[darkhourdear]

Really? Who is it?

[phillip = easily distracted by romance.]

[pheromonecoffee]

Sasha. You might have met her. She's got a lot of bad jokes.

[darkhourdear]

I don't think I have met her. Is she on the network?

[pheromonecoffee]

Yeah. She was at the party, too.

[darkhourdear]

Really? [and he missed her???]

[pheromonecoffee]

Yeah. She comes over once in a while, too, if I offer food.

[darkhourdear]

That's so cool! [aaaah matt you're so grown up with a girlfriend and everything!!]

[pheromonecoffee]

I'll introduce you next time she's over.

[darkhourdear]

Ok! [...had they been talking about something important???]

[pheromonecoffee]

[Exactly. Matt sighs and leans back on his hands.] You ought to get home before someone notices you're missing.