these zombies in the park, they're looking for my heart, oh oh oh

[psychofailed]

WHO: Kogami, Aerith, Tetsuo
WHERE: Nonah #6
WHEN: Idk now?
WHAT: Kogami and Aerith's date has an unintended guest
WARNINGS: Nothing I can think of. Will update if any come up.


[It's not exactly a "traditional" date, gardening with your girlfriend, but really nothing about their relationship so far has been traditional.

He still doesn't really know anything about flowers, but she's good at giving him instructions, and he's--if not a natural green thumb, at least a fairly quick study. At the moment, he's helping pull weeds, which requires, uh, less of a gentle touch. But it's not unenjoyable, honestly, and the weather is pretty nice. He stops briefly to wipe the seat from his forehead, when he notices something out of the corner of his eye--

A flash of color, a Hue. Someone else is here.

...Someone he recognizes, actually.]

Tetsuo, right? Aerith went inside to refill the watering can. She'll be right back.

Comments

[23wishes]

Feeling bad about it, probably.

[iamtetsuo]

You're wrong!

[She's right]

You think I haven't thought about this?! That I don't know what'll happen? I admit it, it's been a year already, but what if Kaori shows up, huh?! Kaneda's here! New people show up all the damn time! So stop butting your head into stuff you don't know a damn thing about already! I can't do anything about it so quit reminding me!! You got it?!

[He's breathing fairly hard after that outburst, staring her dead in the eye. ... he... totally meant to say... all of that. Sort of. Not remotely.

Shit.]

[23wishes]

[She lets him spit all of that out, looking eerily patient the whole time. He'll stop eventually, and when he finally does, she answers him with no hesitation.]

You like to think you're alone. No one else can have powers like you, no one else had ever felt the way you do or has ever been through what you've been through. It doesn't make you special. It just makes you lonely.

[This. Is not the way she expected this to happen, but she has to come clean now.]

There's someone I like back home too. It's not that serious, but if he were to show up...

[She glances over at the direction Kogami left in. Might he have overheard this? It's not the way she would have liked him to find out, but... she has to, sooner or later.]

It would be awkward. But I didn't hesitate with Kogami. I don't know how long I'll be here. I don't know how long he'll be here. And I'd rather have had time with him than waited years for Cloud to show up or get sent back home without ever getting close to him at all.

[iamtetsuo]

[Tetsuo hears it, but he's not really ready for the words. He won't be ready two years from now any more than he is right now; his tendency to avoid is too strong. Instead, he grits his teeth, clenching his remaining hand tightly enough to feel nails bite into his hand.

These are things he never wants to hear. Being special is his excuse for justifying the loneliness. Being something strong is his excuse for knowing he's weak.

So instead of being productive, or taking advice, or owning up to his hesitation he looks deep into those dark places that Aerith so kindly yanked back to the front of his mind, and hisses-]

You're still gonna end up alone if he leaves first, you know.

[23wishes]

[That probably sounded better in Tetsuo's head. He really should know better. Aerith had been alone most of her life. She's not scared of it. Loneliness is far from being her friend, but it's something she'd gotten used to.

She doesn't answer him with any fear or anger in her voice like he's baiting for.]

At least we'll have had some time together. It's been fun. Even if he goes home tomorrow... of course I'd be sad, but I wouldn't have any regrets. Can you say the same thing?

[iamtetsuo]

[He can't. Everyone leaves - Kaneda did for a while, even though he stuck around anyway. Thomas. Wanda. Minato. Yayoi. Rick. The list goes on. More people will always follow - what if he's dating someone who leaves first?

And deep down, he knows his time with Kaori might be short. He doesn't turn sixteen back home, or reality if this is some fever dream.

He hates it every time he finds himself caring to start with. His regret is ever getting to know anyone.. but the fear of being alone is worse. It's a situation without resolution. And again, Aerith just has to go and point it out.

Fury wells up, spreading a dark cloud over his mind to streamline his thoughts. How dare she?! Again, in a true display of owning up to his problems, he snaps that fury forward with a primal scream in an aimed shot at her, intending to psychically shove her to the ground before whirling on one heel to storm off.

Over his right shoulder, his red blanket billows dramatically, adding great effect to the ragequit.

Prying into this... she deserved worse.]

[23wishes]

[She knew there was a chance of this happening when she said it. Tetsuo is too volatile. Still, the risk was worth it; she knows it cut deep and so maybe she got through to him.

The attack comes and she yelps - more out of surprise and fear than pain - and then finds herself, just... on the ground. Pushed over. Oh.

He could have done much worse to her. They both know it.

Aerith chooses to let him go, sitting here on the grass bewildered instead.]

[psychofailed]

[Kogami had intended to stay on the back patio until whatever business Tetsuo had with Aerith was finished and she came back to seek him out.

But there's no mistaking that sharp spike in Tetsuo's hue, and combined with the yelp he hears, he hurries back out to see what's going on, and...Tetsuo's nowhere to be seen, while Aerith is on the ground. Kogami offers her a hand up, then asks--]

What happened? Are you alright?

[23wishes]

[Aerith comes around when Kogami holds out his hand very suddenly in her field of vision. She takes it and stands up just fine; she wasn't hurt at all. She really should have been.]

Ah-- Tetsuo was just... Tetsuo.

[That explains everything, doesn't it?]

I think I hit a nerve.

[psychofailed]

[Surprisingly, despite having spoken to non-blue Tetsuo exactly twice, Kogami knows exactly what she means.]

I see. What did he want to talk to you about?

[23wishes]

[Well, she could spew Tetsuo's secrets everywhere, or she could be decent and keep the problem of Tetsuo's crushes to herself...]

... Ah... nothing.

[And she smiles at Kogami like he might actually believe it. Or maybe that cute smile is convincing enough for him. Who knows.]

[psychofailed]

[He definitely doesn't believe it, but he also doesn't press because hey, not really his business.]

I'm sorry, my being here probably made it worse.

[Tetsuo freaked out when he first mentioned what he knew from talking to his blue self, after all.]

[23wishes]

Probably.

[Tact, thy name is Aerith.]

But that doesn't make it right. He's gonna hear about this later. Tetsuo's been doing better lately, but... Whatever happened with his arm, it just brought him right back to where he was months ago. It's a shame. There's a really smart kid under there. Somewhere.

[psychofailed]

I know.

[He's not sure if it's the right moment to admit this, and he won't go into specifics unless pressed, but...he'd wanted Tsunemori to look out for him, but now she's gone too.]

I met him the first time when people were the wrong ages for awhile. He was...peaceful. Even when he talked about the things that had been done to him in his life--[his hue didn't cloud; it was clean and clear and healthy] he wasn't angry.

[He wasn't struggling or desperate or lost. He wasn't like me.]

[23wishes]

That's when I met him first too. He felt so... overwhelming. He gave out this aura... I couldn't ignore it. I guess that's his future. His powers are just going to keep getting stronger...

[psychofailed]

[He goes silent for a bit, as if in debate with himself. It's none of his business, he knows. Tetsuo isn't really his business, regardless of how much the kid's hue reminds him of his own.

And yet...]

You--[He hesitates a second longer, then just presses forward]

...You can tell, right? Whatever it was that changed.

[...]

Can you help him?

[23wishes]

To be honest, I don't really know. I'm not even sure what it was that we both saw him as. And... now... he has so much anger inside of him.

It's not even irrational - Tetsuo has had a hard life. He's done bad things, too, but because he was a victim first, it's going to be harder to reach him. He thinks he's vindicated in doing these things. He thinks other people deserve it. I'm not sure what I could do to help him get past that. For now... I just try to be friendly. We're not exactly alike in our powers but we're similar. I like feeling less lonely, admittedly, but... Tetsuo needs to be humbled. It's not good for him to feel so superior to others.

[psychofailed]

[He relates so intensely to that anger, though. It's what he feels, white-hot, every time his thoughts drift to Makishima. But that's why he can't help him; he's too much like him, even if he's not and he's just projecting. Tetsuo needs someone stable and kind and hopeful. Someone like Tsunemori.

Somebody like Aerith.]

I don't know a lot about psychics, and things like that. But he remembered all those things, when I met him. He told me about being experimented on, about his anger, how he'd once felt like he was alone in his suffering.

[It's clear this has been bothering him for some time, now. Tetsuo's ill-timed outburst has just finally brought him to talk about it.]

But he said it didn't matter to him anymore. And it was true. He wasn't angry when he was telling me.

...He turned his life around, somehow. That kind of thing is pretty rare, back home.

[Especially for someone as damaged as Tetsuo. The implication, unsaid, remains clear: he wants to help Tetsuo become that person he met originally, but he doesn't know how.]

[23wishes]

Really? That doesn't sound right to me.

[She's seen plenty of people turn their lives around back home. So many of their friends fought for revenge for the things Shinra took from them. Their anger and hate was overwhelming sometimes, but they were able to move on. She can't believe it's that hopeless.]

It just takes work, that's all.