chatime | ✧ — peach iced tea.

[ it seems like thorns is just paying attention elysium running off...

but then he is just going to wander after the person sneaking away. hi. ]

I have some questions.

[ thank you elysium for being so loud ]

[ before thorns even asks his questions they say they don't know anything while trying to sidestep to make their escape. they very clearly look nervous… what's thorns going to do?

in the meantime, elysium is menacing this poor person who actually knows nothing. but he sure is being flashy enough to keep everyone's attention off of any questionable activities thorns might default to. he's welcome!!! ]

[ thorns is just going to wrap an arm around their shoulders and just steers them around a corner without anyone noticing.

there's a well hidden doorway, and thorns stops there with his new buddy. ]

I have some questions. There was a pretty young group here last night, and one was a perro–he got really drunk? Did you see him?

[ there's a flicker of recognition in their eyes, but they keeps quiet, still trying to slip free with as little fuss as possible. under their breath, they mutter it like a mantra—they don't know anything, they see know anything, they have to not know anything—which, if anything, only makes them seem more suspicious. they're almost manic.

the one with elysium is luckier; they scuttle off without interference. elysium is left staring. voice then pitched in mock surprise: ]

… Huh? Where'd he go?

[ they are so stupid. one might think this is how they lost the other guy. ]

[ okay, well, this confirms that they fuckin knows something. ]

I am going to ask you yes or no questions. If it's a yes, I need you to blink twice. If it's a no, blink once. Okay?

[ he will see if this works. ]

Did you see our friend? If you saw your friend, was he alive or dead?

[ not me making back-to-back typos in my tags to you… bursts into tears

but that, of course, only makes them lock up entirely, eyes and mouth snapping shut all at once.

on the other side, elysium isn't faring much differently, trying his hand (and mouth) with nearby shopkeepers and locals. either he's flat-out ignored, or they make it abundantly clear he's not welcome. tough crowd. he does purposefully keep people from wandering in the direction thorns had, though—the only thing worse than having to take a detour is talking to an annoying guy you really don't want to. so! there is that. ]

[ okay.

well, this is where the corazonix cam be useful. he is just going to try to get a better idea of what this guy's vibe is. is he sick? ]

If you don't tell me, when I run into whoever did this, I'll just tell them that you told me everything anyway.

[ will he? no. ]

[ it's fear! they stammer out that death would be preferable to what they would put him through for blabbing. if he is going to die anyway, he would like to die on his own terms. which is at thorns' hand, apparently.

can't believe thorns would genuinely leave elysium on his own during another mission because this is where things stop being a one man circus. he notices something very wrong from his periphery—and with one glance towards thorns, he

makes the executive decision to pursue. bye!! ]

[ cool! he is going to kill you!!

well, thorns is aware that this person has absolutely no reason to believe that thorns can get rid of whoever it is they're so terrified of, so he won't bother to make any promises that might seem too optimistic. he sighs and just turns around to go back where he came from and

uh

where the fuck is his stupid future husband. ]

[ no longer anywhere thorns will be able see him!!!!!!! if thorns opts to use his cheater abilities again, well.

his stupid future husband is just intensely stressed and seems to have gotten himself in another fight. it's fine. ]

[ well

the last time they got separated while investigating something, elysium had a rather horrific death, so thorns isn't too thrilled right now. in fact, he can feel his brain switch to panic mode as every worst case scenario plays in his head.

he will try to track him down. it hasn't been that long since thorns walked away, so it's not like elysium could have gotten too far. still, a lot can happen in just a matter of seconds, so he hurries. ]

[ imagine if i just killed him off again

but, no. that intense stress blooms into a mess of various other emotions—denial, frustration, and then pure and unadulterated anger before it flatlines into calm, almost unnaturally so. it'll stay like that up until thorns finds him.

thorns will find him in an another alley, back facing the main road with his sword drawn, pierced directly through the chest of the person they're looking for. there is one gash on his arm that he's bleeding from, but he's in one piece. and isn't that what matters? ]

[ he thinks, not for the first time, that he should have never brought elysium with him. nothing ever goes well by bringing him along. he recalls their joking of keeping elysium locked up, and there's a moment where he is genuinely considering that option.

thorns walks over. ]

What happened.

Oh. You're already back?

[ he doesn't turn, but his voice is kept light. he did the right thing, then, because if it wasn't him it'd be thorns. nevermind that this was a rather drastic solution to come to within the short amount of time they'd been apart, all he thought about was the guilt thorns would feel (was this the only option…?) and his body had moved instinctively.

there's a croak of 'why…?' and this time

elysium slices his throat clean. ]

I don't know if here's the place to be having this conversation. Now that we've solved our mystery, why don't you head back first and tell the others? I'll have to clean up.

[ it's in this moment that thorns realizes this timeline is not going to work out.

he had been fully aware that their priorities have been skewed, but it's been fine as long as the two of them can be together. but looking at this makes thorns realize that kind of thinking from him isn't going to do anything.

if elysium is this obsessed with him, then he is going to die. there is absolutely no way that this kind of behavior, elysium just killing off one of their allies as casually as he might say hi, is not going to end with him dead. and thorns cannot let that happen. ]

I am not letting you out of my sight.

[ a guy kills one npc and suddenly the timeline is deemed unsalvageable

the body slumps back, hitting the floor with a solid thud. it suddenly occurs to elysium how strange this must look to thorns. the thought drives the air from his lungs and leaves him struggling to breathe. he doesn't want to look at him, doesn't want to see the judgement there, but forces himself to anyway, shoulders stiff as he casts a glance over his shoulder. ]

… Are you upset with me?

[ sharper than anything else that's surfaced so far is fear. to his credit, his voice is kept level. ]

[ he's very upset with him, but it admittedly isn't because he just killed an operator and more because he wandered off and something terrible happened. if anything, this simply reinforced the idea that thorns cannot let elysium do anything.

but thorns is aware that answer is kind of crazy. so. ]

No. Come on, we need to clean this and then go somewhere safe.

[ a pause, and then he adds. ]

Remember, I'm in charge of the mission. You're the one who did it, but they're going to be going harder on me.

[ potentially not being able to control his squad, separating from the rookies in the first place the night before... so, thorns does not want to leave. ]

Ah. I…

[ he what?

it dawns on him that he doesn't know how to act here, realising with sudden clarity how much he's leaned on his one ability as a crutch. the problems he'd faced until now were clean, clinical, cut-and-dry. there's no negotiating with death, only rewinding and retracing and trying another path. having to deal with something more ambiguous that will potentially put a strain on his relationship with thorns is another thing entirely. if he isn't upset, does he think something's wrong with him? objectively, this isn't him, is it?

so what does he do? play it casual again? show remorse? instinct takes over, and he steps back, foot hitting the corpse behind him. his heart thrums like a trapped animal, breath too shallow to fill his lungs. restart. why is he even thinking about this when he could just restart? go off on his own so thorns wouldn't have had to come across this? no, that's wrong. he should go further back so that this would've never happened in the first place—a death so close to him isn't something thorns can just write off.

… but then, he realises again, how he doesn't want to be the only one carrying memories of their time together. even if it's nothing more than a single night sky, fleeting exchanges they could share any time, he wants them remembered. his breathing steadies, slowing as his eyes fall shut for a brief second. the zero to one hundred when there really wasn't any need to escalate it that far! whoops. ]

That's bullshit and you know it. That excuse only works when you're a trainee. Even then, what responsibility is there to take? The mission was flagged low-risk. They would've thrown another rookie squad at it if you didn't step up.

[ … ]

I'm taking his body to a lab. He was exhibiting similar behaviours as the Terrans used against us in Zeruertza.

[ he could continue to argue, but decides to drop it. or at least, drop it here, since this really is not the place for it; they have no idea who might be listening in right now. ]

... mm. You need to give me a full report once we're inside.

[ he won't bother to ask if elysium could have not killed him and instead subdued. thorns has been on the field long enough to know that sometimes you just have to make split second decisions, and then you have to live with that choice afterward. it's not like he was around, so thorns can't actually decide if it was necessary or not. ]

Be mindful of him.

[ he thinks about how this might actually break apart the friend group, depending on how others take the news and who they blame. they were already annoyed with the defender when they didn't think it was as serious as it could be. ]

Yeah.

[ he finds himself on autopilot cleaning off his sword and unfolding the jacket from his bag. carefully, he drapes it over the body before hoisting it onto his back. warmth seeps through, bleeding into his clothes and onto the floor. the literal weight of what he's done presses down on him, and yet all he can think about is the person standing in front.

it's wrong for him to fixate to this degree. he knows it. anyone else could've been standing on the opposing end, no matter how close, no matter how distant, and he would've done the same. he can admit that to himself, but if he lets his mind wander further down that path, he'll come apart at his seams.

once he feels the body is secured, he clicks his tongue, gaze skirting deliberately away from thorns. ]

… Let's go.

Right.

[ he thinks, briefly, if he should be the person breaking the news to the others, but somehow he's the better choice between him and elysium right now. things that people would have never guessed just a year ago.

people do their best to avoid looking at them, but once they start approaching areas that the more common person may wander down, some start to more openly gawk. ]

We need to look at your injury, too.

[ the mention of an injury has him going quiet. he pauses, glancing down at himself. he'd been so fixated on the air being ripped out of him that it takes staring directly at the wound, focusing on it, to even register that the distant stinging he'd felt belonged to him at all.

after cycling through as many timelines as he has and experiencing the majority of them in the late stages of oripathy, minor wounds really aren't anything. he'd forgotten. so many things he'd done to hide the peculiarities he'd built up discarded the moment he'd grew too comfortable. stupid. ]

… Oh. [ he wants to say it looks worse than it is, but now isn't the time. ] We can get everything else done first.

[ not a no, not a dismissal. an improvement over the usual response. yes!!! ]

Thinking about it… if we wanted to make the best use of a medic's time, shouldn't I be the one to break it to the others? If they feel like they need to beat someone up, it'll only be one person they'll have to patch up as opposed to two.

[ the way they both just immediately assume there will be violence. but thorns just shakes his head. ]

... I'll do it. You can be there to answer questions since you were the witness, but it's still my mission.

[ thorns does not think that the difficult part of the job should just be passed onto someone else. ]

But you do need to tell me everything that happened before we let them know.

[ for being so chatty seconds prior, the reminder that thorns isn't going to let anything go shuts him up real quick—whereas the last thing he'll do is let thorns take the fall for his own actions.

and so he just looks ahead while thinking about what he'll say and the moves he'll make to prevent it.

they eventually end up at a rhodes-affiliated lab. it's a good thing elysium typically wears black, as by the end of it, his entire backside is both drenched and encrusted in blood. the staff there very nervously hand him a change of clothes. he takes a plain white shirt, if only to make their walk back less awkward.

but, they are given an empty room to discuss what they need to before that. elysium just laces his hands on his lap and stares at the table. ]

[ well.

thorns does not sit. he walks to where elysium is and starts to expect where it looked like the injury was so that he can get a better idea of how bad it is. ]

Tell me what happened, starting with why did you leave?

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