[RL with Setsuna, backdated to the 14th.]

[nonesodangerous]

There were several things noticeably wrong with the way Tieria woke up. First, that he was lying down, on solid earth, rather than floating peacefully in zero-g. Second, that he was staring up at the sky. Thirdly, and most importantly, he couldn't feel his arm. However, instead of the more serious issue of the arm being missing, it was instead

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[doomedyouth00]

Years as a soldier meant that it took next to nothing to wake Setsuna up. Although of course, this wasn’t the type of situation that resulted in death if he wasn't immediately awake and aware of his surroundings (at least, in theory it wasn't). It was unsurprising then that all it took was a change in Tieria's breathing and a slight tensing of his body to pull Setsuna into consciousness.

[doomedyouth00]

Setsuna shrugged; Tieria made a good point, but Setsuna was still inclined to believe that something had happened to make them act like that. Mostly because he remembered feeling attracted to Tieria earlier, and now all such feelings had disappeared, which made absolutely no sense.

"Perhaps. But it seems strange that we would behave like that of our own volition."

[nonesodangerous]

Frowning, Tieria tried to think of other possibilities. Could they have been drugged? No, because he would have to have been drugged before coming down to Earth, and the chances of someone drugging him on the Ptolemaios were slim to none. This was beyond a practical joke, and he didn't suspect anyone on the ship was that malicious. (He doubted Haptism's "issue" would present itself in such a childish fashion.) And besides, no drug would have that kind of effect. An aphrodesiac wouldn't cause him to single out Setsuna and make the long journey down to the planet. Would drugs even have an effect on him? And how would they be administered to both of them? No, drugging was impossible.

He was rapidly running out of ideas, he would have to research it. Even if Veda had nothing in its databases about such a phenomenon, there was always the Internet.

...the Internet. That place.

"...Setsuna."

[doomedyouth00]

Setsuna tore his gaze away from the grass (Tieria had been silent, thinking, for a long time, and Setsuna's attention had wandered somewhat. He had been gazing at the ground thoughtfully, trying to think of a reason behind their actions) and looked up at Tiera once more.

"...What?"

[nonesodangerous]

Tieria was hesitant to explain the conclusion he'd come to. After vehemently denying the possibility of some kind of interdimensional hub (even now the idea sounded ridiculous) he felt somewhat stupid bringing it up as a potential cause. He took a deep breath, and tried to explain as best he could without sounding like a fool.

"I can only think one thing that could do something like this, something with such a dramatic effect yet with no motive. But it would mean," he paused, moving his focus to the ground before continuing, "that I had made a rather large error in judgement. An underestimation, if you will."

He glanced up at Setsuna. "A virus from that community. Which would mean that it is in fact real, and not some game."

[doomedyouth00]

"..."

For a moment, Setsuna was speechless. He personally hadn't given the community a whole lot of thought: for him, it was just somewhere to go if he got bored. Although he wasn't sure if he wanted to believe that everyone there was from different worlds, it didn't really affect him, so he didn't let it get to him too much. Tieria, on the other hand, seemed to get very frustrated about it, he knew. Which made it all the more surprising that the only valid excuse he could come up with was to blame it on the community.

That being said, it was also a very far-fetched excuse. Setsuna didn't see how a website could possibly cause people to act in a certain way.

He eventually spoke, his tone flat and almost ironic. "...The community."

[nonesodangerous]

"Look, I don't want to believe it either," said Tieria, getting irritated at Setsuna's tone. "But if you can think of something that makes more sense then by all means, please tell me."

[doomedyouth00]

"I thought you didn't believe the stuff from the community?" Setsuna asked calmly. He was intrigued to find out what had caused Tieria's sudden change in attitude, so figured he shouldn't wind him up too much.

[nonesodangerous]

"I don't! Didn't. Whatever. But I honestly can't think of anything else. It fits too well. Of course, the ramifications of this situation could be staggering..."

Tieria went quiet, seemingly in the process of attempting to calculate just how badly this could affect their situation.

[doomedyouth00]

"I suppose..." Setsuna also fell quiet, watching Tieria as the other boy thought. He honestly had done a complete 180 and had decided that the people from the community had been speaking the truth. Setsuna didn't quite know what to think about the matter.

"So. Something happened on the community that made us think we...were attracted to each other?" It didn't sound right saying it aloud, and it made Setsuna want to cringe from embarrassment. "Is that what you're saying?" He asked, trying to get the conversation back to the point at hand.

[nonesodangerous]

Tieria turned away, unable to even look in Setsuna's general direction.

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying."

[doomedyouth00]

"So the viruses they talked about are real." It was more of a statement than a question. Setsuna frowned; this whole thing was giving him a headache. It didn't make sense, and yet, there was nothing else he could think of that could have caused it. He lifted a hand to rub at his forehead.

"I'm going home."

[nonesodangerous]

"Wait!" Tieria blurted out, almost turning to reach for Setsuna. "Did it..."

He trailed off, changing his mind. "You won't tell them, will you? The others, I mean."

[doomedyouth00]

Setsuna had already turned away to begin walking back, but at Tieria's words he stopped, although he didn't turn to face him again.

"...No."

The thought hadn't even occurred to him. Why would he go running to the others and tell them? He was just as embarrassed by the whole thing as Tieria presumably was.

[nonesodangerous]

Tieria said nothing else. He waited as Setsuna walked away, before heading in the direction of the airport, to start the long journey back home to the Ptolemaios.