[Week 16, Day 6 || Video || All good things come to an end]
[Twice now, there’s been fire. The second wasn’t as intimate as the first, instead being almost observed, looked over, because by then, there was a distinct fog marring the edges, blurring them out to the point where it almost distracted Mello from the fact that what should have been intolerable pain refused to register, and the atmosphere lacked
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And he didn't know how to feel, then. He still doesn't. He and Mello reached a tentative-- truce would be too strong a word, when there were never any overt battles. Understanding, maybe. The beginnings of a path out of awkwardness, if that's even possible, when you're best friends, but have a different set of memories, one of which includes. That. That insane, amazing night, and things Matt never should have said.
J and Marco came back different. Has Mello done the same? Matt fires up a cigarette, a real one, thank fuck, from the summoning shop, before he hits the button to record.]
M, it's Himorogi. D'you remember what that is?
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[A swallow, and Mello clears his throat before he can speak properly. It's so damn itchy, raw. The voice comes from his right, and he turns his attention towar...
Oh, what the fuck. No.
No.
He squints, places a hand over his eyes to block out the burning light while reaching over to grab the Hitomi with the other. His palm obscures the screen without him realizing, right away.]
Just.
[Let me wake up for real.]
Gimme a minute.
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'kay.
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Kannagara.
Fucking ...trees and shit. God, he hates this place.
Shade. He needs it pretty badly. The screen is showing nothing more than his surroundings: green and bright, because Mello has the thing decidedly turned away from him as he walks. That paranoia is kicking in. The one where he thinks (knows) everyone can be watching, and he really isn't too keen on having the whole fucking world in his face, right now.]
How long. [Flat tone.]
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But even so, she wondered if she should make it private or not. Private means a certain connection, an acknowledgment. However, M is nothing if not paranoid, so perhaps it is better to keep it private anyhow. M guards his privacy jealously, after all.
She selects the audio because, well, that's what he usually prefer, wouldn't he? Especially to her. Even though he disregarded that the last time he was here.]
Hi.
[She has nothing else to say, after making all those decisions on how to approach him.]
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When he went home, Mello did his best to push this place out of his mind, save for important details.
Details that did nothing to help him, in the end.
And yes, he switches to audio, too. You get what you give with him, J.]
'Ey.
[He's a bit disoriented, though nothing that stops him from knowing exactly who this is. And he will never understand why people feel the need to approach him needlessly. Because if this girl has a brain in her head, she wouldn't even think about trying to talk business with him the second he got back.
So, generic, it is.]
You doin' alright?
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[She tries to keep it neutral, both subject and her tone of voice, but she can't help herself but let the bitterness bleed out, just a little bit.]
Lot of that has been happening lately. People coming and going, usually without their memories of this place.
Have you talked to Matt yet?
[Because, honestly? She's not in the mood to talk about business or anything involving the V. She's a little wrung out still from coming back, still trying to recover from a relationship with a sweet boy who dumped her for attacking his mother, and rightly so. And if M wants in on the V business again, well, that's something he has to figure out because even if Jessica wanted to help him she doesn't know how.
Let the little details such as that to Matt, whom he trusts more.]
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And he has to wonder whether time worked itself out the way it was supposed to. If things happened the way they did because of the information he had, instead of in lieu of it. It's entirely possible.]
Yeah, just a minute ago.
[People coming and going. And yet, he couldn't have been lucky enough to stay gone. Mello isn't entirely letting himself accept what that would entail, right now.]
Everyone still staying where they were? [Three days, Matt said. And Mello knows that in this place, the world could've cracked in half and mended back together by then.]
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He's not really sure how he feels about Mello, either. Mello who knows him, his brother, and his deepest, most jealously guarded secrets. Mello who's been to worlds like Kannagara before, been to Amestris. It unnerves him, especially when he knows nothing about Mello.
Ed isn't quite paying attention to the Hitomi when the video plays, but he recognizes the face, and it registers vaguely that there's something wrong with him. He's unconscious, maybe injured? The petty part of him wants to just ignore it. But he never could just turn his back on someone in trouble, and now is no exception.]
You look like shit, Mello. What the hell happened?
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[It's the thing he hates about the Hitomi: the records it keeps, the dreams it records, the fact that someone he has absolutely no recollection of meeting can address him by name.
It's an uncomfortable feeling, considering that names are so sacred, where he's from. Something to be protected and hidden, and even aliases possess the chance to reveal too much.
Though, yeah, he can imagine that he looks like hell. And for maybe the second time in his life, Mello doesn't care.]
Least I'm alive, yeah? [Not that it matters here. Life and death, two things that these fucking gods have taken and warped to the point to where they merge, are almost indecipherable from each other. It's such bullshit, that someone's most base possession, state of being, would be rendered unimportant.]
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And maybe it's just a combination of everything that's happened recently, but Ed can't help but snap a response:]
Yeah, that sure narrows it down. To just about anything.
[There's an agitated huff, and Ed looks off to the side.]
As if that means anything when nothing stays dead.
[He sounds supremely bitter in that one statement, and it's partly because he thinks this Mello is the one he talked to the other week. Mello should know better than to be so casual on that subject with him, knowing how Kannagara works.]
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Sharp eyes glance at the screen, though the rest of him just appears absolutely weary. Mello feels like his entire brain is sagging, and it's not a feeling he's used to. Something he's experienced before, yes, but never accepted.
Why do you know my name? is nothing short of a stupid question, here.]
Who're you?
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Which makes him curious, really. Is this the one from before, the one he'd sparred with once and talked about his dream? Or is it the other one, that had no memory of Kannagara?]
Oi. [It's about then that he realizes he's never found out the man's name.]
You alright?
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What does he remember? That this one was missing, that the one looking for him made Mello feel a pang of jealousy, in the comparative sense. If he went missing, despite everything, he is sure that L would attempt to find him, but would never publicly ask after him like that.
And yet, never once, did it make him feel like his loyalty is unfounded.]
As well as anyone can be in this shithole, yeah?
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Heh, ain't that the truth.
[Pause long enough for a shrug.]
You're in Himorogi. Ya hadn't kicked it at the end of that week, so I'm guessin' the gods gave ya a return ticket home for a bit.
Which one are you, then? The one that was here the first time, or the one that had the bad luck of showin' up right in the middle of shit goin' to all hell here without memories of this place?
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Blasphemy and mockery.]
First time. [He's sure he was the first. Sure, because there was no mention of another him when he arrived, and sure that he was home, where he was supposed to be, when the gods decided to fuck around with his impostor.]
And I wasn't here for that, but I just heard that shit got really bad. Is everything still fucked?
[A genuine curiosity. Because Mello wants to know how on guard he should be, despite the fact that the very answer to that question while in Kannagara should be: very. Always.]
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