I can move mountains, I can work a miracle [OPEN]

[rassera]

WHO: The residents of Nonah 05 + YOU!
WHERE: Nonah, Residence #005
WHEN: All month long (January)
WHAT: Nonah 05 open log for January Shenanigans
WARNINGS: Obligatory Bull and Tetsuo warnings apply.


Starters will be appearing in the comments. If you want something specific from any one person (Kaneda rassera, Tetsuo iamtetsuo, Bull rideme and Ken amadaman), feel free to drop them a line and ask! Otherwise, feel free to add your own starters for the whole household or individual residents as you like.

Comments

Re: Jan 7, afternoon

[rassera]

[Tetsuo couldn't have made it to the bottom of the steps before Kaneda had followed, opening the door to Nonah 05 and stepping out. Whether he had seen Tetsuo take the jacket off or found it hanging on the hook, that didn't matter. It was now slung over one of those defined shoulders.

The door shuts behind him, feet clicking against the concrete until they hop onto the first step. They don't go any further, with Tetsuo where he's at. But from here his voice speaks up, still hoarse from the night before, and raspy in the back.]

It's cold out.

[No, he's not going to address the issue yet.]

You forgot my jacket.

[It wasn't forgotten. You don't hang something up on a hook to forget about it, especially when you leave the house the next second. Confusion washes over his face as he drills holes into the back of Tetsuo's head with his eyes, searching for answers.

He'd...stopped the curse, right? He'd brought Tetsuo home.


Why did he want to leave again? It just didn't make sense, and if anyone could see Kaneda right now, it was as plain as day on his face.


What did I do wrong?]

[iamtetsuo]

[The lump in his throat builds until it feels like he swallowed a rock. Tetsuo made it down the steps and a few more away before the door opens again. Even before Kaneda speaks, Tetsuo's stopped walking.]

Why do you have to do this?

[There's no point in saying he didn't forget it, so he's cutting straight across the topic to the point. It's not about the temperature; even if it was eighty outside, they'd still be having this conversation. That's not why Kaneda followed him.]

[rassera]

[He's right--this wasn't about the jacket at all. Tetsuo...as far as he thought, was back in Nonah for good. Peter Pan had tricked him, used him for a petty wish fulfillment, leaving him to die..no--dying implies that he could be saved--leaving him dead in Kaneda's arms.

His posture slouches, resting his hips against the stone railing on the side of the steps, hands leaning back to cup along the inner edge of it.]

You're not making any sense.

[Whether or not he means the statement, or the whole action entirely...that's up for grabs.]

[iamtetsuo]

[He'd almost wondered if Kaneda would follow him at all.

Some shred of memory of his past life sticks with him, feeding a repeating line deep in his subconscious - if Kaneda wanted to, if there was anything really left between them at all.. he would have been there. He would have done something. But of course, Kaneda could not have left it at that. Maybe Tetsuo's glad he didn't, maybe he's not - everything's collected into a painful barb of emotions until he can't sort them out anymore.

So he'll say what has to be said. Every word feels like his heart's being squeezed all over again, but this isn't a pain that'll end. It's one that's been slowly killing him since the day he showed up on these steps, and one that's never, ever going to go away. What does Kaneda want from him? Why is he still here? Why did he mark him with that jacket until he got back? Simple.

Closure.

For the first time in what feels like forever, Tetsuo feels like himself again... and he would give anything to be someone else.]

You want me to say it?

[His throat closes on him completely, clipping the sentence oddly short. Shaking his head as if that'll help, he tries again. Again, he's trying to move to cut Kaneda off verbally, cut the conversation short until it can't hurt him anymore.]

You win, Kaneda... Is that what you wanna hear?

[On the inside, he's willing himself to scream it, find that bravado he found with his power. In reality, the words are little more than a whisper. Maybe too quiet to be heard from how far away Kaneda is.]

[rassera]

[Tetsuo's answer FLOORS him. Eyes shoot open wide, staring after Tetsuo's slouched body in...awe.


The silence speaks for itself--Kaneda can't think of a response just yet. There's no laugh, not even a confirmation or denial. He just...can't process it. This time, it's Kaneda who's got the lump in his throat, trying desperately to swallow it to the same place he puts his fears, his doubts, everything that he said he'd deal with later. Because this felt like one of those moments.

But it won't go. It stays there like an itch you can't scratch, driving him crazy until he speaks up.]

I...what?

[It was meant to be strong, but confusion overtakes it before anything. Win... This wasn't a contest--


But it always was to Tetsuo, wasn't it, Kaneda.]

[iamtetsuo]

[He manages to force his voice to raise a little in volume, just in case that's Kaneda not hearing him instead of not understanding.]

You were right.

[His eyes trace the ground in front of him, steadfastly refusing to look up. Kaneda's behind him and it's still too hard to look straight forward, but he manages to tilt his head somewhat to the side, just enough to catch a sliver of his face in profile. He swallows again, feeling heat well under his eyes and not having any ability to do anything about it.]

Go on, Kaneda.

[With that, his head turns forward again.]

Go live your life. I won't interfere anymore.

[rassera]

Dammit.

[He had a feeling that's what you were going to say.]

Tetsuo, you live here.

[It's the first time his body shifts since he's stepped out, leaning on that concrete railing as he watches Tetsuo's body language, ready to chase him down should he break into a run.]

What's it gotta take to get you to stay?!

[iamtetsuo]

It's too late for that.

[rassera]

What?


No, it's not. You. LIVE HERE.

[iamtetsuo]

YOU do. Maybe I got assigned here, but that's all it was.

[rassera]

Yeah? So how come you keep ending back up at it, huh?

[iamtetsuo]

[His face clouds, not that Kaneda can see. But Kaneda can see the way his shoulders draw up, head ducking down defensively. Tetsuo has an answer, clearly.

They're just trying to control you.

They don't want you to be free.

They have you in a cage, Tetsuo...

Words after words after words in an endless cascade fed his own internal fears until he couldn't tell what was Pan's views, and his own.]

Don't think it's because of me. It's because of what I can - [He cuts off. Kaneda knows already.] - could do.

[rassera]

[Kaneda takes another step down those stairs, finding it easier to get closer now. Tetsuo isn't moving, he doesn't have to worry about him bolting like a skittish animal.]

They want you here. That's why they fought for you!

...


It's not about that, alright?

[iamtetsuo]

[It'd be hard to miss Kaneda's footstep, but Tetsuo still seems rooted to the spot.]

Bullshit. They wouldn't fight for me.

[Kaneda.. Kaneda might; he's really not sure where they stand. But no one else really has any reason to.]

[rassera]

Well that's what they did.


They were the first ones to join me.

[It was true. Ken had already started packing from the moment Kaneda broadcasted, and Bull was practically waiting on his word.]

[iamtetsuo]

Sure... that's because Pan got a whole city.

[rassera]

Dammit, Tetsuo...

[His head hangs low, hips leaning against the stone railing again. It's like he won't believe anything he's saying.]

They WANT you here.

[iamtetsuo]

They shouldn't.

[That's not something he'd have used as an argument before. That's not even a thought that normally would have occurred to him; normally he'd be so determined to prove himself he'd rather die than hint that people might be right. It's said with at least some familiar-sounding bitterness.

What has Pan done to him?]

[rassera]

Oiii...don't DO this.

[There's something so hollow about what Tetsuo says. As if his own self esteem and opinion mattered to no one. Not even himself.


Don't ruin this for yourself, Tetsuo...]

[iamtetsuo]

[There's no answer. There's no visible reaction. He's not doing anything that hasn't been done already, Kaneda. Why is it that you're the only one who doesn't seem to get it?

It's been over for a long time, any last ties he had severed with the pull of a trigger. Whatever Tetsuo wants it to be - and he has no idea what that is anymore - doesn't matter enough for him to figure it out. That's how things are.]

[rassera]

What, you want proof?!

[Energy surges through his words as he leans forward on his hand.]

Proof that people want you in this house?!

[iamtetsuo]

[His head tilts to the side, almost catching Kaneda in his peripheral vision. As melodramatic as he is, he's listening.]

Like you'll find any.

[rassera]

[Did you just challenge him on this, Tetsuo.]

Want to see it or not.

[iamtetsuo]

[Maybe. There's no answer, but a skeptical look counts, right?]

[rassera]

[Well, skepticism? Meet confidence. Because he's opening that door and daring Tetsuo to follow him with his eyes.]

C'mon. I'll show you.