(Untitled)

[halfahead]

Glitch was already up and about when sunrise came along, and had found himself a good spot to watch the sun peek out from behind the ocean and start climbing. When the sun was moving overhead, so was Glitch, already heading towards the compound for another book as the light stretched his shadow against the path.

Comments

[heartliketin]

He heard the shouting before he heard anything else and Cain dropped what he was doing to go running as fast as he could, panic riling him as he mentally chanted the same thing over and over again. Not again, not again, don't let me lose someone again and he whipped through trees and foliage before finding that Glitch...wasn't there.

Logically, he had to check the areas around, so he went into the school, the Hub, and finally the Compound, where he found him just sitting in a chair. "You're bound to give me a heart attack one of these days," he warned Glitch, exhaling in relief. He looked fine, if a little skittish.

Cain crossed the room and crouched down in front of him, trying to get a good look at his face. "What were you hollering about?"

[halfahead]

Ambrose simply looked at the man for a while, face remaining blank as his eyes judged him. He could be a figment of the imagination, could be another facet of this illusion or torture or whatever Azkadellia had chosen for him, or could be dead too.

"I didn't shout," he said quietly, and waited for the man to show him what was really going on, intentionally or not.

[heartliketin]

Cain stared with a little more concern, not touching him even if he wanted to reassure himself with a firm hand to Glitch's cheek. But even the way he was speaking, that was enough to tell him it wasn't Glitch, not anymore. "Yeah, you did," Cain said, a little lost himself. But he took a deep breath and steadied himself, looking him up and down. "Ambrose, it's me. Cain. Wyatt Cain, remember?"

[halfahead]

Ambrose recognized the name, although he'd never seen the man before. It was practically at the top of the roster for the uprising calling itself 'The Resistance' and Ambrose had kept a sharp eye on that list in case things had gotten out of hand.

In that case, he wasn't dead. He wasn't particularly fond of the other two options that left him. Ambrose cleared his throat. "I've never seen you in my life," he said honestly, and he realized that this could be one of the magical terrariums Azkadellia used for more 'humane' prisons. "Are you feeling alright?"

[heartliketin]

Cain was not feeling alright, no. No, alright was a few spans back by now seeing as the man he'd just about vowed the rest of his life to didn't know him anymore. He gaped up at Ambrose and sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Not really, no," he said, and sat himself down on the nearest table, directly across from Ambrose. "You not remembering me is not alright."

He slowly pulled off his hat and set it in his lap, staring at Ambrose worriedly. "What's the last thing you remember?"

[halfahead]

He nearly apologized, the thought that maybe being headcased had genuinely distorted his perception slipping in, only to be stomped as soon as Cain asked what he remembered. Besides, the only zipperhead symptom he could attribute was the actual zipper.

Ambrose restrained his glare, instead giving Cain a bitter smile. "The last thing I remember is you asking me this question. What are you after?"

[heartliketin]

Cain exhaled deeply, rubbing his palms up and down his thighs as he very quickly started to feel about as tired as he had when things got too dark and dim for him to deal with. "I'm after one memory of our last three-plus months together," he very honestly said. "Or anything before that." Say, eight to ten missing annuals?

He didn't know what he should do. He knew what he wanted to do, but that wasn't the right call, not at the moment. "What questions do you want to ask," he settled for offering, knowing that Ambrose liked knowledge. Glitch did, too. In a way.

[halfahead]

The thought that he'd been around the resistance member for over three months was quickly ruling out...well, any of the options. Azkadellia would know he'd never believe that and wouldn't use it, which meant that whatever the man was saying was probably true.

"I'd like to know how you found Wyatt Cain's name," he started, trying to restrain the thought that he might be missing over three months. He wanted to panic, but refused to. "If I've really been released for over three months, how did I even get here?"

[heartliketin]

"I am Wyatt Cain, sweetheart," Cain noted, his tone a little biting and frustrated. "And it's been longer than three months," he said, a bit gentle all things considered. Part of him wanted to reach a hand out and take Ambrose's hand, but he restrained himself. Just went cold as tin and iron all over again, staring blankly at the other man.

"I don't exactly have any dates, but it's uh, it's been about fifteen annuals since Princess DG was allegedly killed," he said, voice hoarse and a bit husky.

[halfahead]

"She is dead, I was at her funeral myself," Ambrose said immediately, almost biting the words out as he tried to ignore that Cain had gotten the time frame right and knew when the eclipse would come. It just sent him to shaking more, so he stood up out of the chair and started his own form of pacing. Line after line in a seven-pointed star as he tried to piece things together in his mind.

He stopped suddenly, eyes wide and horrified. "If you know, then everything's failed." He twisted back towards Cain. "I've failed, and if you're here so did the re...so did you, and we're all going to die slow, painful deaths." He paused. "Although that may have already happened, considering it would explain the zipper and the excruciating pain when I showed up."

[heartliketin]

Cain just kept his head bowed low, trying to ignore something that said 'you might have just lost him forever' and the gnawing and hollow pain that came with that thought. There was the notebook, back home, but he didn't know if he could get Ambrose there. "She didn't die," Cain assured him. "I know because you, me, her, and another friend were traveling about the O.Z., which is hard to do with a dead woman."

Cain flexed his fingers and stared at Ambrose, still feeling completely sick, but he just wanted to laugh at how stupid the whole thing was. "Listen, there's a notebook of our travels, of your time here, of pertinent information, just in case of a glitch like...well, like this," he admitted. "Do you want me to go get it, Ambrose?"

[halfahead]

He stopped his pacing again, just watching Cain as he forced himself to accept that this was somehow real. Ambrose swallowed, letting a trickle of hope in along with the panic. "So...it's okay? She's safe? Did we happen to stop something important while traveling?"

Ambrose frowned, head tilting to the side. "A glitch. So I forget these things often, then, and apparently this is a regular occurence." Ambrose nodded, looking around the room and trying to remember something about it, his mind coming up blank. He wanted to panic (fifteen annuals and over three months, gods) but refused. He couldn't afford it. "I'd like to see it, thank you."

[heartliketin]

"She's fine," Cain assured him. "A hell of a girl too, stronger than most anyone I've met and saved our lives many a time." He did reach over, then, just enough to squeeze Ambrose's shoulder, just barely. "And we stopped the eclipse. We stopped the Witch," he promised.

He let go before even a full ten seconds could pass and rose slowly to his feet. "You coming with or am I bringing it back here to you?"

[halfahead]

Ambrose barely noticed the squeeze. His mind was still frozen on the fact it had turned out okay. He was tired and broken and apparently had a zipper in his head, but it was okay. Ambrose tipped his head up, looking at the ceiling with a quiet breath. "Hell was worth it, then." He didn't ask about Azkadellia because there was only so much he could take.

Ambrose nodded, still thinking as he started towards the door and having a hard time ignoring how...fluid movement seemed. He frowned. It still felt like he hadn't moved in months, and it caused the occasional stumble while walking. "What did I do for ten annuals and three months?"

[heartliketin]

Cain followed him, half of him wanting to open up that zipper and look inside, just to see if he was there. This couldn't just be a glitch. Even when he became Ambrose, he knew who Cain was. This was just strange.

He swallowed the discomfort and led Ambrose out the door, a hand on his back before breaking away and started at an almost breakneck pace. "Ten annuals, don't know. The last month of that tenth annual though, you saved the O.Z. And the three months after that, you've been here. With me," he said, flatly. "On this Island, getting a second chance."

[halfahead]

Ambrose followed, still a bit disoriented at moving in general, and even more confused that it seemed so unnatural. Cain was moving quickly, and apparently Ambrose could match him step for step. "Must have been quite a month, then," he said, and finally swallowed his pride and asked. "Cain, do you know me well enough that if I'd had leg surgery I'd have told you?"

There was something else in that 'with me' too, but Ambrose wasn't paying more attention than simply noting it in the back of his mind, adding it to observations of the man.