[Phone, semi-accidental... god help him]

[salvagedlight]

[He's been resisting it for awhile, now. But that string of numbers just won't leave him alone, and it's getting to the point where even his dreams have gotten infected with it. So, finally one night, walking back to the closet of an apartment he's sharing with his brother, Ben juggles the phone out of his pocket without dropping his bag or his coffee and slowly punches it in, with a hesitation between each number.]

[Random passerby can be forgiven for turning to look at him as he yells in surprise as his phone screen is suddenly flooded with text, both hand-written and typed, as well as a myriad of voices coming out of the speaker only for him. The poor coffee goes flying and the poor phone is dropped as well - at least it drops on grass so it doesn't break?]

What's going on here?

Comments

handwritten;

[memoryreprieved]

[ Huh.. That voice. It sounds awfully familiar... If only she could pinpoint...--

Hey, isn't that...? Is he... talking to hims-- no? That's two voices.

Uh... ]

You wouldn't happen to have been in the competition a few weeks back would you? [ Shion, be more specific. ]

[salvagedlight]

Competi- what? [The question blindsides him, honestly; he was there, but he was just one more face in the stands.]

[memoryreprieved]

Competition. The skateboard one? [ Maybe she's getting ahead of herself, but she could have sworn... ]

[salvagedlight]

Uhh- I wasn't in it, but I was there, yeah. [He'd always be there to support his bro.]

[memoryreprieved]

Oh. I guess I have you mistaken for someone else? [ She could sworn she still heard some earlier squabbling... ]

[salvagedlight]

Maybe my brother? Ciel competes in those tournaments, I kind of...

[There's a small pause as he glances down at his right leg.]

...can't.

[memoryreprieved]

[ There's one little problem. She cannot see you looking down like that, dude. Which is why she might just... ]

Why not?

[salvagedlight]

[He should've expected that, really. And he kind of did. Which is why he doesn't hesitate to answer - he's had to tell the story a lot in his life, and whoever-she-is (the handwriting looks more feminine, at least) is only asking, not prying.]

I was in an accident a few years ago - my leg's not right, I can't skateboard anymore.

[memoryreprieved]

[ Ah... Uh. Whoops. Yeah, that would... explain things. It would also check him off as being the boy at the tournament. At least if he's telling the truth. That's at least the convenience of hearing him though..? He... sounds honest enough. Still. Eh heh... Eh heh, heh.

Well. She did ask. ]

I see. Sorry. You just sound a lot like the boy I talked to there. [ Uh... Don't make this awkward and move on time! ]

You mentioned you had a brother?

[salvagedlight]

[And that will get a small chuckle out of him, which she can probably hear.]

Yeah - a twin brother. We look the same and sound the same and everything.

[memoryreprieved]

[ Oh... Oh. Well then. ]

No wonder why I thought you were him! I had no idea. Then I must have met him there. He was on after my team. He helped me actually.

[salvagedlight]

His name's Ciel. I'm Ben. Uhh - what do you mean, helped you?

[memoryreprieved]

[ Ciel and Ben, huh. Time to make a footnote. But then... ]

I almost wiped out on the last ramp. Guess I wasn't paying attention. Good thing he caught me.

[salvagedlight]

Oh, it's you! Wow, you're on this thing, too? Ciel is too, this is just weird now. But yeah, I remember that - good thing he was there, definitely.

[He wasn't sitting close enough to see who it was, other than a girl, but he remembers the incident pretty well.]

[memoryreprieved]

Yeah. Though talk about embarrassing. Guess I'm a little out of practice.

So, wait both of you are on this thing? I guess I'm not going twice as crazy then.

[salvagedlight]

Yeah, he is - although he didn't tell me he had it going on, too, I just found out like three seconds ago. But you're not hearing someone talk to himself, I promise.

With us, at least.

[memoryreprieved]

Good. That's the last thing I need. It's weird enough being able to use this anywhere. I wrote on the bathroom mirror once and it still worked.

[salvagedlight]

Th-The bathroom mirror?

[Excuse him, that's a level of brainbreak he does not want.]

[memoryreprieved]

[ Look, she was just curious, okay? And it happened just the once! Though... ]

I guess just be careful not to go writing any weird strings of numbers on them when you shower?

[ Haha. Joke, Ben. Joke. ...Really bad one. She apologizes. ]

[salvagedlight]

[It's not even processing as a joke, sorry Shion.]

I wasn't planning on it, but- why would anyone-

[memoryreprieved]

I was curious? [ Yep, it was totally her trying it. ] I mean it works on a notebook so..

[salvagedlight]

That wasn't- [The smartest thing she's ever done. But he stops himself just before he says that.]

I won't, trust me.

[memoryreprieved]

[ ...

Did he just really!? ]

It's not like I was in the shower! I just walked in to try it! I wasn't doing anything else in there!

[salvagedlight]

[HE COULDN'T HELP IT OKAY THE WAY YOU SAID THINGS]

Okay, okay, whatever you say.