Welcome to the Sphere, Mirror.

[crownofsnow]

Characters: Cross crownofsnow, Dash reckless_rebel, and Mirror hypergol
Date/Time: November 18th, Wednesday
Location: Hall of Beginnings
Rating: Pg-13 (nudity and cursing)
Summary: Mirror is born in the Sphere and two people are there to greet him. ...People that seem to know him.

Comments

[crownofsnow]

Cross hadn't expected the goop to over shoot its usual...goop zone. He hopped back a few steps but, he wasn't in time to keep it from getting on his boots. He made a sour face at the sticking substance and shook his foot with a hiss. There was no doubt in his mind patients would laugh about it. ...Maybe it wasn't so bad. He set his foot down to peer at the newborn. The towel nearly slipped from his grip as he laid eyes on the startled boy.

He recognized that thin build and light blonde hair. Ever since Shiro had left he'd committed everything to memory. "...A-are you alright?" Maybe he could hope for just a rebirth. He might remember. He might just sigh and try to hide his coughing again. Like always. His reactions didn't give Cross any hope. He was okay. Wasn't that what mattered. As long as he was alright, he could deal with the rest. He picked his way around the goop with care.

"We...we all start like this with a dream before we're born and...no memories." It hurt. He couldn't pretend it didn't even if his smile gave nothing away. Welcome back. He wanted to hug him and tell him he was glad he was alright. But, he wouldn't make a mistake with how he handled this. Sometimes he wondered if that's why Shiro disappeared again. "Can you stand?"

[reckless_rebel]

Dash heard the weird note in Cross's voice. He'd known the guy too long to miss it. Most people wouldn't even register anything wrong with Cross's polite facade, but it pinged Dash immediately. It took him just a moment to figure out what was wrong--because in that moment he looked at the newborn and he knew why Cross sounded like that.

There were exactly two people whose faces would hurt to see as badly as this one. And both of them had been gone longer. Dash drew in a sharp breath, and he did drop the journal and map and coins. Other rebirths he could deal with. They hurt sometimes, like Range or Seven or Shiro, but he could deal with them. Put on his greeter face and soldier on. Or avoid them and try not to think about it. This was different though, it was like a punch to the gut, and he couldn't deal with it as well as Cross did. He couldn't manage to slip into the familiar lie when the hurt was that raw and staring him in the face.

He didn't even notice that he'd stepped forward until he was hauling the blond up by his arm harshly. The goo and sticky grossness of the hatching goop was utterly ignored as he drew back a fist and punched the other man in the face. Not as hard as he could but still fueled by hurt and fury--not at the man himself, but at the whole fucked up tree and what it did, taking people and then returning them at whim. It was too much.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Dash hissed, voice thick with an emotion somewhere between abject anger and something mortifying close to breaking into tears. His grip was probably bruising, where he still held onto the blond's arm.

[crownofsnow]

In hindsight, he should have prepared for Dash to lose it. But looking back wasn't going to solve the present. He tossed the towel onto his fold out chair as he stomped over to deal with his best friend. "Dash," His voice was soft, deceptive. It wouldn't be for long. As much as it ached to see Sky again this wouldn't be tolerated. He grabbed Dash's hands and forced them to let go. "Stop it."

His politeness had been replaced with anger, smoldering yet just as dangerous as anything explosive. He was almost sorry when he used his left fist to deck him. He didn't slow down. The anger rose up in his chest and made his already aching heart feel like it was burning. "You idiot! If you're angry at this place, come spar with me. Don't go hitting someone who doesn't remember it or himself!"

The sir had tipped him off. It confirmed what he didn't want confirmed yet he had accepted it. This place had continuously been cruel - like it would stop any time soon. "Don't you dare justify it! There's no CALL FOR IT!" He kicked at him once and walked back over to the chair. The towel was collected a second time and held out for the confused blonde. "I'm sorry." His voice trembled faintly, the edge of his anger still just beneath the surface. "I'm sorry for all of this. I'll explain everything once you're dried off and dressed."

He inspected the trickle of blood with his sight and sighed. "And I'll get you some ice for that, I'm a medic."

[reckless_rebel]

Dash knew he was in trouble from the sound of Cross's voice--that couldn't fool him after all this time. Didn't matter, he let Cross drag him a few steps away, too dazed with the stark, horrible realization that Sky didn't remember. The fist hitting him hurt, Cross could really pack a punch, and the kick did too but he didn't even bother to try to dodge. Because Cross was right. If he was this on edge he shouldn't be taking it out on newborns who didn't deserve it, who probably didn't even know what the hell he was so angry about. He'd take Cross up on the offer for a fight later. Later. It seemed he really needed it, anyway. Right now his two best friends were here and alive, and okay, so, one of them didn't remember, maybe not even a single thing, but that wasn't the important thing right now, Cross was right.

Dash took a deep breath while Cross handled things--well, for a minute. He couldn't stop himself from moving again, approaching Cross and Sky--no, whoever this man was going to be, and grabbing both their arms. They got pulled into a hug, a really tight, very goopy and messy and sticky hug. It was kind of gross, but Dash held on like his life depended on it for a minute anyway. He didn't want to let go, what if they both disappeared and left him alone? He'd snap, he knew he would.

"Shut up." He whispered, not to anyone in particular, just his own insecurities. "Fucking shut up." A moment of silence and he gritted his teeth, forcing himself to let go by forcefully shoving them both away, not that that was going to save his clothes from being totally gooed. "Don't even... Fuck this is so gay." Dash turned away, pacing to the end of the room to lean against the wall and compose himself for a moment, Cross could handle the explanation for now. Dash needed to regain his balance badly, and he wasn't going to do that staring at the memory-less figure of his friend. He closed his eyes, shoulders hunched and arms crossed, his back turned to the other two while he struggled with the rage, hurt, relief and sadness seeing that face again gave him. It reminded him not just of Sky either, but Fullmetal, and his fingers clenched, digging into his arms as he physically fought down the urge to scream and punch the wall or worse.

He really needed to take Cross up on a fight before he hurt someone on accident.

[crownofsnow]

Some days Cross really wished he had slept in. Pain was to be expected in this place but, he was so sick of all the suffering. Too many questions were left unanswered and he was about ready to go confront Fugue like Snow had. The thought reminded him of Lucy, another name and face in a long line of people that had disappeared. He was afraid to go look and see for himself she really wasn't lost. Reguardless of all the pain he went through it was the pain of others he wanted to end. He could endure. That was alright with him.

He semi-expected Dash to hug them when he was reaching for the newborn clothes. For once he didn't curse the goopy mess, a hug was a hug. He held onto both of them, his breathing even. Someone else had come back, as painful as it was he was relieved. Maybe now he could face what Sky had left behind last time. The boy stumbled away and collected himself for a moment. His left hand closed about another towel and held it up in case the blonde boy would need it. "Its not your fault you forgot. It happened to me too. ...a long time ago."

He nudged Wing away from the pot of tea he'd brought along while he risked a glance at his best friend. He was going to drag Dash off to spar with sometime today. Maybe they could get Bastet to spar with them too. He turned back to the hatchling with a gentle smile. "You were a scientist of rocketry. We kept your equipment. You didn't remember much before you disappeared. But,...you were our housemate and friend. We learned more about explosives through your teaching."

Not to mention the incident with the rocket. He held out the clothes for him before he continued. "We all start out with just a dream. Its what we pick a name from. I'm Cross but, my real name is Allen. You can get back your memories from little crystals. ...they always take something from you, so be careful." He paused there and laughed nervously. "Ah, I mean a payment! Nothing from you directly that would hurt you. They're like childish pranks."

[reckless_rebel]

Dash remained by the wall, turned away from the two other boys. A fight with Cross would really be good later, something violent and bloody, just to let go of some anger and built up aggression. Having anyone else along that could keep up with him and Cross in speed or strength wold be fine with him. Dash wasn't sure how badly Cross needed violence, but he suspected it'd do his friend at least as much good as it would do him. Anything to somewhat dispel the empty, hollow feeling that lurked somewhere between guilt and mindless rage in his chest. Guilt, because maybe there was something that could have been done to prevent this, prevent a friend's memory loss and disappearance and the whole fuckery in general, rage because of, well everything. Dash was pretty sure Cross felt both just like he did, really. Not that he'd ever asked.

Dash held out his hand without looking, holding his palm up for Timcampi to land on while Cross handled the smoothing out deal. Diplomatic and gentle wasn't Dash's strong point, and he was still pretty upset. Looking at the golden winged ball in his hand he frowned, eyes unfocused as he listened to the the other two teens for a moment. "Name's Dash." He added gruffly, still not looking at the other too. "I think my codename back home might be Quicksilver, I don't tell that to most people, so keep it to Dash is public, okay? Anyway, Cross is right, you need to pick a name."

He ran his free hand through his hair and put Timcampi on his shoulder, turning around and crossing his arms again, but not approaching the other two. "Like Cross said the memory crystals give minor annoying punishments, but you get a memory back. That's worth something. There was a fire recently but most of your old stuff survived it. You can have it back if you want."

Dash paused, glancing at Cross's back, but he didn't need to consult his roommate for the next part. "We live with a kid and this other guy now, but if you wanted to move in with us again, you can. Otherwise you have to stay at temp housing, which is bitch crowded right now. I mean, even if you just wanted to stay with us until you got on your feet, that'd be fine. I know it's kind of a weird offer since you obvioucly don't know or remember us or anything, but..." He shrugged looking down at his arms and curling his lips in disgust at the rapidly cooling goop on his clothes. "Bonus to it is we've got our own private shower and central air control, trust me it's a luxury. And I forgot how fucking gross this shit is."

[crownofsnow]

Cross did have the same feelings as Dash about the Sphere. He kept moving forward and leaving them where they were, burning away without any outlet. It wasn't healthy, he knew that. It was his only method to cope. "Its Cross in public." He stated as he offered the new borne clothes to the blonde boy. Everyone got the same pale, one size fits all set of shirt and pants. He'd dealt with them he assumed three times according to his time as Snow.

There was more than his old stuff Cross thought as he wondered if he dared go visit that place. Justice had showed him the way and he wouldn't need to travel with Bastet now. He glanced at the cocoons and ran a hand through his hair to dispel his train of thought. The present was more important. "You called yourself Sky before. You hadn't recovered your name yet." He picked up a journal and brushed it off before he held it out for him. "This is Edensphere. I don't know why its even remotely called Eden. We can't get out and everyone has to recover their memories if they want to know who they were."

Like Jack and the elusive writer who knew far too much to probably be healthy. "Everyone hatches like that - Greeters like us welcome them and explain what we can. I don't know how its breathable, the goop I mean. You'd have to ask the Boss of the medics. Lezard is a little eccentric though." He dug out the money pouch Dash had dropped and presented a rolled up map scroll with it. "I know you knew Sinner somehow, he disappeared and came back as Alchemy. I'm not sure how receptive he'll be he lost his brother recently."

He could remember how badly Dash had reacted to losing Want. It was a relief that Codename had come back. "The head of the adventurers Snap might know you too, they're from the same place." He pulled out his journal and held it open. Writing scrawled across the pages in various handwritings while he peered down at it. "We communicate through our journals. Everything you write on yours will be seen by the rest of us. Unless you cross it out, or something like that. Damage to the journal transfers to the rest too. Someone shot theirs by accident and it left a hole in the rest. And it wouldn't a burden at all for you to live with us!" He tended to crash on the couch all the time when he couldn't sleep.

It wouldn't be a new or, strange arrangement. "Ha, no need to stay out of our way, we don't bite!" Unless they were fighting over the last slice of pizza. It was usually solved with a bout of Mario kart on the Wii and Cross crowing in victory. Cross grinned at the name and nodded once. "Mirror it i-" A hacking sound made him look up and he had time to reach up and catch a pair of woolen socks. He recognized the dark blue socks as a pair he'd lost months ago. Wing had turned around on Dash's shoulder, his sharp teeth still exposed and the edge of another pair of socks visible between them.

"...I don't even want to know."

[reckless_rebel]

Dash eyed Wing a little suspiciously. He was kind of getting used to the thing coughing up random shit that had gone missing, but it was always weird. He shook his head and looked at Sky Mirror, instead of giving the sock-thief any more thought.

"Allen's right... We wouldn't mind if you stayed. It wouldn't be new, and it wouldn't be imposing." In fact he'd feel weird letting Mirror live anywhere else. Not just because of the guy's weird habits with machinery, but just because... It seemed safer, even if Dash knew it wasn't, if they stuck together. If they stayed in the same house people could keep an eye on Mirror.

Logically Dash knew that having someone around, even watching you, wouldn't prevent disappearance or death. But it wasn't a rational feeling, and he didn't think feelings had to be rational, to be acted on. He stepped up next to Cross, shaking a bit of goop off one of his hands. He'd really need a shower soon. "Anyway, Mirror. Anything else? I can show you the house and get you some ice for that." No apology though, even if it wasn't Mirror's fault for disappearing in the first place. "Shift's almost over, but after that Cross and I have something we need to do." Beat the stuffing out of each other as violently as they could get away with. "But the Midget or Wolverine ought to be home to introduce you too, and what we need to do won't take all that long. Give you time to settle in, I guess. Did you have more questions though, first?"

[crownofsnow]

Cross tucked the socks into his pocket and did a quick check of the area for anything else he should hand over. Mirror wasn't like Rabbit or any of the special needs hatchlings. ...But that cough Sky had before, he'd keep a sharp eye out for it. Nothing his ass. "That's fine. Its a lot to take in, Mirror. You can ask us anytime you want to." He returned the smile while he retrieved Wing. The golem wrapped its tail around his neck.

He moved to sit back down. He'd let Dash handle the showing back to the house. The shift wasn't over and he couldn't abandon his post. "That bruise is only going to get worse without any ice on it." He couldn't count the amount of times he'd regretted not putting a bit of ice on an injury. It felt better after some time with ice applied to the spot. Cross really didn't want to leave Alfons to fend for himself.

He couldn't abandon his post either. "It won't take long but, the clinic has ointments for injuries like that if you'd rather go that route."

[reckless_rebel]

"Sure, you can ask us anything, any time." Dash rolled his shoulders in a shrug and stepped towards the door, glancing over his shoulder at Mirror and Cross. "We know you're tough, buddy, it's just..." He shook his head, deciding not to finish the sentence. It was a lot to take in all at once. And he had to admit he hadn't been helping matters.

"C'mon Mirror. We can head to the clinic then I can show you the house, what you do from there is up to you, but I seriously recommend a shower and a change--I think we still have some of your clothes, but you should fit in mine if not." He looked away, starting to really head towards the exit.

"See you in a bit Cross, Melee Island after your shift?" Dash didn't look over his shoulder to confirm it. If Cross said yes then he'd pick up a bit of extra medical stuff at Wellspring in preparation for the mutual ass kicking.