fiddlestick | IC Contact

[Rean just blinks when he sees he's actually gotten a response. Elliot's not a morning person, he knows this, so this is actually a little worrying. But the response is a step in the right direction, so...]

Give me a bit of time to actually get ready, but yeah, I'd love to. 7, 7:15 or so sound good to you?

[Hey you don't know maybe he's become a changed man in the past week since you've spoken to him.

No. No he hasn't. That's a lie. It should be worrying.]

Yeah, sounds good to me.

[And then he adds, because he knows this sounds really...short and brisk]

Eren did get the message to me. I'm happy you're feeling better enough to contact me.

[So just...so you know, you're not walking into a raging inferno or anything]

[(x) Doubt

But the quick responses are a comfort, as is the confirmation Eren passed along his message. He'll take what he can get.]

All right. Meet you there.

[It takes Rean a little less time to get ready and out the door than he expects. He's actually gone through with the effort to put in contacts and style his hair, today, too, which he really hasn't bothered with in a week. Unfortunately, no amount of prep is going to magically rid him of the dark circles under his eyes, but it's fine. He can't imagine Elliot's expecting to see him in perfect condition, and he's not expecting to see Elliot faring much better.

He arrives a little earlier than intended, lingering outside to let the brisk air settle into his bones and center his thoughts. He's not so out of it that his senses don't kick in once Elliot's close by, though, and once he catches sight of his redheaded friend he pulls a hand out of his pocket to hold it up in greeting.]

Hey. Long time no see.

[Accented with an almost bittersweet smile. He is genuinely glad to see Elliot, though.]

Yeah. See you soon.

[Elliot puts down his phone after that, and goes to get ready. He too tries to put an effort into his appearance: he showers, he brushes out his hair, carefully ties it up and puts on some clothes that were still casual- but didn't look slum either. There's no hiding the bags under his eyes, but he likes to think he looks presentable.

Afterwards, he heads out. He arrives early to the McDonalds, but Rean still manages to beat him there. The moment he sees Rean, all in one piece? He smiles with relief and picks up his pace to approach]

Hey Rean.

[And forget waves or handshakes, this one is stepping in for a hug. At least it won't be bone crushingly tight like a pure Craig hug]

Haha, yeah. I've missed you.

[The hug is a bit unexpected, but not unwelcome. Rean's eyes widen for just a second, before his held breath comes out as a short laugh and he wraps his arms around Elliot, as well. Not tightly enough to break him, but tightly enough that it means something before he lets go.]

I've missed you, too. You're definitely a sight for sore eyes right about now.

[This much, at least, is still okay.]

C'mon. Let's get some food and caffeine in us and get out of the cold.

[Before we get into the heavy stuff. He doesn't say it, and he's smiling, but he's sure Elliot can pick up on the implication.]

[You know, it's not that he was expecting Rean not to return the hug, but it still catches him a little bit by surprised when he does. Rean was here with him, not behind a wall of "read" statuses, not just in messages given to him by Eren. He was here.

He lets go after a moment, looking up at his friend and giving him a little nod]

Yeah, good idea. I did not sleep well, so caffeine would be a blessing.

[Yeah, he knows the conversation will get heavy. But first: caffeine. He holds open the door for Rean. Go on in you nerd]

That makes two of us. [A pause, and a little self-deprecating laugh.] Probably obvious, looking at me, huh.

[But all right, in he goes, and up to the counter. One coffee and Egg McMuffin ordered, he stands off to the side to wait to get his food while Elliot orders.

It won't take him long once Elliot's gotten his stuff to find the two of them a table, sliding into the booth with a sigh.]

Haha... I'm just smelling the coffee and it's already like "ah, sweet elixir of life."

Well... I did have a feeling. No one ever sends messages at 5 in the morning unless they haven't been sleeping, you know?

[Even early risers aren't that bad about it okay. Sure they are sick twisted people, but they aren't THAT bad.

Elliot himself orders the pancakes and the largest coffee he can get. And of course, he will be filling it with sugar and cream like there's no tomorrow. Some things never change and it's this boy. He sits down from across Rean, taking a sip of coffee with bliss]

Ahah, no kidding...I feel life coming back into me.

[Wonderful wonderful coffee.]

So...why didn't you sleep?

Hey, hey. Sometimes I do actually get up that early for other reasons... not when it's this cold out, though.

[He'd normally be up that early to go for a run, but like. Not in this? He's sane-ish.

Rean's got a bit of cream and sugar in his own, but nowhere near enough to match Elliot's. Still, no judgement here. Live your best life, Elliot. Rean will just be blowing on his much more bitter coffee and taking a sip of it.]

But... yeah. [He sighs, glancing out of a nearby window.] It's Crow. I've been talking with him a little the past few days. He's been messaging me the whole time I've been "gone." But he didn't yesterday, and I guess I got worried, so I reacted out to him. Asked if he'd had a good day, just keeping it casual like it has been.

He said he'd had better, then suddenly apologized to me "for everything" and just. Didn't answer me after that.

Yeah, I know you do. But you don't get up to message people, is what I mean.

[Because that'd be weird and crazy. It just happened today their mutual crazy worked out.

And....ah. this conversation again. The one that kept him up all night. For a moment, Elliot closes his eyes and lets out a sigh, a very tired sigh. Dangit Crow. Why did you do this? ]

Crow... [YOU DUMB BIRD]

Y-Yeah, my lack of sleep has something to do with that too ... [Except from his tone, it's clear he knows Much More than Rean does about what happened.]

How much do you remember about Crow in our other life?

[Ah. That's precisely the tone he was worried about hearing, but... here they are. No turning back.]

...Enough that I'm pretty sure I know what he was apologizing for. That's a part of what I wanted to tell you.

[He sighs, closing his eyes as he continues.]

One of the first memories I got back was of Crow in that blue robot, telling me I never had any hope of beating him before knocking me flat. And I tried for months to tell myself it wasn't Crow I'd heard, but...

Then the other things started to click into place. Him wielding that same double saber, the way he sounded back in January when his app went crazy. And even before he remembered Ordine for himself, I remembered some other things – meeting up with him apart from the rest of you, me yelling at him and actually being angry and hurt. Him joking about how if I "joined him," he'd have less work. Me asking him to tell me what drove him to do what he did. But I still don't remember entirely what that was.

[He meets Elliot's gaze, now, serious. But for once, he doesn't look fearful or sad – that fire is back in his eyes, the one that flares up when he's taking action and intends to do something about this.]

From the way you're talking, I'm guessing that he does, and he talked to you about it.

I want to know.

[He listens to Rean. A lot of those memories were ones he didn't recall yet. The robot for one. Crow had mentioned Ordine to him, but even now all his memories was of Class VII having one robot - a silver one named Valimar. Several conversations would've been different if they had two robots on their side.

Different memories than his own, but they all fit into place. Like a puzzle that revealed an unpleasant image that neither wanted to see.

But Elliot knew he couldn't run from reality. Not any longer. This conversation was going to come sooner or later, some part of him already knew that.

He couldn't screw it up like he did with Rean's power.]

The...The other Crow...he was a terrorist. He went by "C" and led a group called the Imperial Liberation Front. They wanted to kill some politician....Chancellor Osborne? I don't know why, but they were willing to go to some drastic lengths to do it. Bad enough that somehow it even...kicked off the civil war.

He did all this while he was in Class VII with us, with none of us knowing.

[Neither of them want to see it, but they have to. They have to see their puzzle lying broken if they have any hope of putting it back together the way it's supposed to be. The way it was supposed to be back then, too.]

...I remember him. We met up with him after helping out in Heimdallr, right?

Admittedly, I don't remember a lot. Just that we met him, that he mentioned there were "turbulent times" in our future... and that being around him made my chest hurt like it did before that thing took over.

[He shakes his head.]

Not that any of that really matters right now, though.

He talked to you about all that?

[He gives a nod]

Yeah, I remember that too. I remember finding him pretty intimidating but I'm easily intimidated so that's not important. [He gives a worried bite of his lip] Your chest hurting sure isn't a good sign though...

[Still, Rean's right. None of that matters. ]

He did. He wanted to know how much I remembered...guess he finally put enough pieces together himself.

[He pulls his phone out of his pocket]

You can read the messages if you want. Might be easier than me trying to recap while sleep deprived.

[Rean nods at the suggestion.]

Yeah. Might as well actually get at your pancakes, too, before they get cold. Thanks.

[He reaches out to take the phone, eyes falling on those messages. He could scroll up to see the ones about himself, but he honestly doesn't have it in him to care about those.

He reads through the conversation slowly, alternating between sips of coffee and biting at his lower lip. His brows knit together, and while there's a definite sadness that settles in his eyes, that fire never dies out.

He was missing an illusion, Elliot. A mirage.

Like hell.

My past self hesitated

Rean asked him if it was all a lie, and he hesitated

That makes more sense with the Crow he remembers from afterward, the one in the dark coat, the one who made him lunch and asked him about girls to try to throw him off of serious topics, who fought alongside him at the end, who...]

[When he speaks up again, it's quiet, a bit harsh.]

...Idiot.

[He hands the phone back.]

He can't really believe that, can he? That it was all a lie.

[Rean sure as hell doesn't, and it's obvious in his voice.]

[Yeah do yourself a favor and don't dig too deep into Elliot's texts Rean. Some of ones with Eren get dirty.

Elliot will heed Rean's advice and start digging into the pancakes while Rean reads. Or rather, he forces himself to dig in because there is a temptation to just watch nervously as Rean reads, and he rather distract himself. so by the time he hands the phone back, Elliot's half through with the pancakes and swallowing.

Right good. Food has been taken in. Will survive.]

I don't know. I think he's reeling right now, I've seen it happen before. Someone realizes their past self did bad things and...it colors everything.

Point is, he's not playing with a full deck even if he thinks he is.

[He wasn't going to switch over, Elliot! He doesn't need to scar himself like that!

But yes, good. Continue to survive, small squishy mage, your friends need you. After all, you're the lone bastion of sanity.]

...heh. Euphemism he'd use. [It's not a real laugh or smile, it's too bitter for that, but.] He really did get under our skin, huh?

[And that's too fond to be anything but loving.]

It makes sense, though. I mean, I've been reeling myself for the past week.

[A pause, then he bites at his lip again before sighing. He needs to just be out with it to Elliot, as well. He's seen the texts, so he knows: Elliot and Crow both know already. It's just a matter of confirmation, now.]

...It... wasn't all because of whatever that power is. I remembered something, just before it took over.

[Oh that's a sad day when he's the bastion of sanity. But Elliot gets his own small quirk of his lip at Rean's remark]

...Yeah, he did. Both of you have.

[It was only a few months ago that he wasn't sure if he wanted to meet anyone from his memories. But now...he didn't want to think of having a life without Crow and Rean around in some capacity. They'd entrenched themselves too deeply into his life.]

Mm, case in point. [no denying what Rean did, but Rean talking about what happens catches his attention]

What was it?

[A slow, deep breath.

Here goes.]

When Raina attacked Crow, I didn't even see her. I saw another robot, like the ones Crow and I had, but in red.

It stabbed its tail into the ground as Crow, in Ordine, was running towards it to clear a path for me. Then the tail came out of the ground right in front of him, and...

[Unconsciously, he brings a hand up over his heart to mime the spot.]

Right through Ordine.

[His eyes widen as Rean explains. Another robot in red, and stabbing Crow right through.]

So...So t-that's how he got that scar...

[Elliot looks down at the table for a moment, processing it all. Part of him had known since he saw Crow's scar that he'd meet his end somehow. You don't really...walk away with a scar like that. But to hear how it happened is...it's surreal...almost like it's hard to believe it happened.

It also doesn't escape his notice that it happened when he was fighting with Rean. On the same side.

But he'll get to that in a moment. Rean first.]

So...that memory showed up, and you panicked because Crow was in danger again...and that's what set that power off.

[A single nod.]

All I remember thinking was "not again."

...I remembered a little more of it later, on my own. I called out to him, and he said he was "fine," that it "barely scratched him."

[He manages a weak smile.]

I wanted to believe it, then, but... even if I hadn't already known deep down in this life, I guess that scar of his proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt, huh?

Yeah...it does...

[Rean manages a smile, but Elliot doesn't. He looks incredibly sad. Even if he knows all of them had to die somehow in order for their current selves to exist, it's still never easy to hear about any of their deaths. ]

But...it also prove he did care. If he was clearing a path for you, that means he was fighting on our side, right?

[Rean nods again. He knows this, too.]

...There are other things that I remember, even from when I remember being angry with him.

He'd come into the room I was staying in because he knew I'd be overthinking my options. He was kind of an ass about it, teasing me about it, but... I think that was just him trying to hide that he was worried, looking back. Still trying to act like the "bad guy."

...he brought me lunch, on that airship. Made it himself, even, even though we had the Noble Alliance's chefs at our disposal.

I remember him chewing me out for almost getting caught up in an explosion, trying to put on that same cold voice like he didn't care even while he was telling me to my face he did.

And I know he was with us at the end. I don't know how we got there, but it doesn't seem nearly as important.

[He shakes his head.]

If anything was a lie, it was him telling us he didn't care. I'm sure of that.

[Holy crap Crow, you're hopelessly gay for Rean even when you're trying to be a big bad terrorist.

But no, hearing this? Causes him to relax some. Yeah...his other self was right. Rean's memories prove it. The Crow he knew, the one he missed- he was real. He wasn't a mirage.]

That...all sounds like Crow, alright. He likes to play it cool, but he cares a lot.

I don't know what drove him to become a terrorist, but I get the feeling he didn't join just to cause misery.

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