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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Mar 4, 2012 20:11:20 GMT -5
Xavier isn't sure whether or not to believe Pierce. He wants to believe him, but everything is so confusing and he doesn't know what to think, doesn't know what's going on anymore. Doesn't even know if he knows himself. His head aches and his thoughts try to slip away. What doesn't he remember?
He watches Pierce as he leaves, hands clenched tight into fists and all the twisted emotions come rushing back and he feels like he's drowning. He'd better walk home tonight, because Xavier isn't sure he can get through a bus ride without killing someone.
The sweetness that was the afternoon only makes it all the worse.
OOC: Shall one of us timeskip next round?
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Mar 5, 2012 19:19:57 GMT -5
OOC: Timeskip.
The next morning snaps on like a lightbulb. Pierce squints at the sunshine peeking through his blinds and wonders when his life had become such a miserable, fleshy mess. For the first time in years, Pierce Fobster curls up back under his blanket and contemplates just hiding from the world for the rest of the day.
Eventually though, rationality retakes its place and he casts one last forlorn look out from under the perfectly white sheets before groaning and shoving himself out of bed. He had no work today at least, which gave him some time to plan- not that he needed to do a lot of that since he already knew where they were meeting. The aftermath of the meta-fight had prompted him to do many things and preparing for Rampage’s eventual recovery of memory was one of them.
So it was mostly mental preparations and sending Xavier an address. Might as well use the number now that the red head knew it anyways. It wasn’t the address of his chosen location- that would wait until he was face to face with the other without the need of any interceptable text messages to get in between them.
And then he waits until Xavier’s shift is near its end before getting on his scooter and driving off. The location he’d texted was a bus stop close to the library and one he suspects Xavier usually gets off of anyways. Hopefully he’d come.
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Mar 5, 2012 20:21:02 GMT -5
Xavier had spent the previous night falling apart. Questioning Pierce, questioning himself, finally forcing himself to think long and hard about everything he didn't remember. And the more he thought about it, and the further he thought back, the more he realized there was nothing. Where was he born? He doesn't know. Where did he grow up? He can't remember. Where did he go to school? No idea. Who did he know? No-one. Who was his family? No-one.
Who was he? No-one?
"Who are you?!" he'd screamed at the mirror, because the longer he looked at his own face, the more unfamiliar it seemed to him. Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong, everything was wrong. There was nothing concrete past more than a month ago. No places, no people, no events. No memories. Nothing. He was nothing.
And after he'd broken the mirror into little pieces and picked the shards out of his hands and watched the skin heal over within minutes, he wondered if he'd always been an unregistered metahuman or if it was a new development. Then he'd laughed and laughed until his chest ached and tears ran down his face, because of course he didn't know.
He felt much better after a good night's sleep and dreams of running free and hurting people and playing cat and mouse with someone who hated him. It was comforting to know that someone cared enough to hate him. You didn't bother hating nothings.
In the morning, it occurred to Xavier that perhaps he wasn't quite as without memories as he'd thought, and he'd spent the day putting himself back together well enough to make it through work. He doesn't even look troubled as he steps off the bus and looks around searchingly for his tall, pale librarian.
Of course he came. He could no more resist a call from Pierce than the ocean can resist the pull of the moon, regardless of what doubts and suspicions might fester in his mind.
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Mar 5, 2012 20:55:23 GMT -5
He keeps his visor on for the duration of the wait, watching the rest of the city pass by through grey-tinted plexiglass. Cars drifting by on the river of tarmac, the warmth of the sun leaving the ground beneath him as it seeped into the bright, smog covered skies. People drifted by, shadows and the sound of voices and footsteps against the artificial lights as they faded in and out of Pierce’s empathic senses.
His eyes slide to rest on the bus that’d arrived at its stop and the red head that’d stepped off of it. Behind the security of his helmet, Pierce smiles tiredly at the sight despite the building sense of anxiety slowly blooming in his chest. The expression quickly dies though, his awareness of the weight of the knife in his jacket’s sleeve grounding him again. Phobia had no intentions of killing Rampage, but if worse came to worst he at least would have something to use.
Sitting back on his scooter, Pierce lifts a hand to wave and get Xavier’s attention.
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Mar 5, 2012 21:40:57 GMT -5
There's a flutter in Xavier's chest as he spots the familiar figure on the scooter, raising his own hand in acknowledgement as he begins to walk, then jog over to him. He really wants to just get on that scooter and put his arms around Pierce and go back to that carefree ride when Xavier Goodkind thought he knew who he was and life seemed simple and good.
Unfortunately, life isn't that simple, and Xavier has spent his day building confused impressions of reality out of dreams. He thinks he may know who he is, and he has suspicions about who Pierce might be which he dearly hopes are wrong. But just in case, there's a handgun tucked into the back of his pants, hidden away beneath his coat.
The thought of killing Pierce makes parts of him want to scream in agony and curl up and die, but if worse comes to worst he has to put his freedom first.
After all, if he is an escaped meta-human experiment, there's no way he's letting them take him back.
Still, he manages a dashing grin with just an edge of instability, and greets, "Fancy seeing you here, my friend."
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Mar 6, 2012 16:04:15 GMT -5
“Xavier,” Pierce greets warmly and pretends not to notice the frayed edges of the his smile. He shifts forwards in his seat to make room for the other man, starting up his scooter.
After a moment, he ventures, “How was your day?” He could guess, of course, but as he rather likes Xavier; at least enough so to let the the red head vent at him if need be.
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Mar 6, 2012 16:21:34 GMT -5
Climbing on behind Pierce, Xavier can't resist curling his arms tight around the other man's chest and burying his face against his jacket. He's suspicious, he really is, but being close to Pierce just feels so good, so soothing, and it makes him cling to the man like a lifeline.
"Same old, same old," he lies, voice muffled by Pierce's coat. "Slept, made food, went to work and made more food."
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Mar 6, 2012 16:51:16 GMT -5
Pierce stills when Xavier wraps his arms around him. It was such an alien sensation, the warmth and the strange sense of safety that accompanied it. Phobia like to think he would have never allowed it but the body seemed to crave touch and touching on such a fundamentally instinctive level that he finds it difficult to resist.
“Sounds like a decent day,” Pierce whispers back, leaning into the embrace for a moment despite himself, eyes closing at the warmth. After a minute of silence, he murmurs, “I’m sorry. About all this.” Xavier had been so happy yesterday. It’s all Pierce can think of with the dark, jagged edges of painful emotions behind him now.
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Mar 6, 2012 17:15:10 GMT -5
"Mrf," Xavier mumbles, clutching a little tighter. Maybe he's just being gullible, but he believes Pierce when he says he's sorry. He can't believe that this shy, soft-spoken man would want to hurt him, and Xavier can't believe that his instincts would be so wrong that he could feel this comfortable around someone that wished him harm.
However he knows Pierce, it's not because he'd hunted him. Maybe Pierce had helped him escaped. Maybe he'd been a point of caring in the sea of apathy that haunted Xavier's dreams.
But even if Pierce isn't a hunter, that doesn't mean he's safe.
Lifting his head, Xavier rests his chin against Pierce's shoulder and asks softly, "Is this a trap?"
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Mar 6, 2012 17:29:27 GMT -5
“No,” Pierce answers softly and is idly glad for the helmet because he’s pretty sure he might have done something embarrassing otherwise. “It’s common amongst the likes of us but this particular situation doesn’t warrant much of a trap.”
Then he shakes his head and sits up slightly, casting Xavier a meaningful glance. “We should talk about this when we get there.”
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Mar 6, 2012 17:43:17 GMT -5
"Us?" Xavier says, eyes widening. Is Pierce implying that they're two of a kind? But... he was so certain that he'd been alone! He was so very alone in his dreams, just him and the pain and his uncaring creators.
Then again, Pierce was significantly older than him. Maybe there'd been others before him. Maybe he hadn't met Pierce before, but just recognized a kindred spirit. Maybe Pierce was another escaped experiment, just like him. Maybe.
Maybe not.
The confusion is back in force, and he can't think of anything to do but hang on and mumble, "Okay."
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Mar 6, 2012 18:14:31 GMT -5
It was probably going to disappoint Xavier to discover that their previous relationship with each other wasn’t anything near as profound as his speculations. Just a terrified play-thing and the monster child.
Pierce inclines his head in a nod before then turning and proceeding to drive the scooter out onto the road, joining the sea of traffic. The place wasn’t too far away, about a fifteen minute drive, but the roads drifted towards the edge of the city where the street lamps began to disperse, leaving only the occasional stranded, crooked things, decorated with graffiti. The red tail lights of cars became fewer and further in between soon as well, leaving the road lit only by the scooter’s headlamps.
After a while, Pierce pulls onto a rather dusty road, leading into a the dried grassland, the shadow of a dead factory looming up in the distance, skeletal and silent against the bright night skies. He doesn’t drive up to it though, instead coming to a stop at the foot of a dry, sun baked hill with scraggly pale grass sticking out of its sides. An open area, easy to see anyone approaching and far away from any surveillance that might be scattered throughout the city.
“Here we are,” he says to Xavier, pulling the key out the ignition and glancing back at the other man.
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Mar 6, 2012 18:28:32 GMT -5
Xavier lifts his head from its resting place against Pierce's back - what, he dozing off a bit, not at all - and uncurls his arms from around Pierce's waist. Stretching his arms up and arching his back with a pop of vertebrae, he takes in their destination.
"Mm, romantic," he says, voice tinged with sarcasm. Though admittedly the stars are very pretty out away from the brightness of the city. Billions of little suns circled by billions of little worlds possibly populated by billions of people. He wants to reach out and snuff them all between his fingers and hear the cries of billions as they die, cold and abandoned by the light.
When he meets Pierce's gaze, he's smiling.
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Post by Phobia/Pierce Fobster on Mar 6, 2012 18:49:04 GMT -5
Pierce makes a strangled noise and glances around. He made sure to pick an unromantic spot! There was a rusted pile of cans over there even, how could that possibly be- oh.
Sometimes, he needs to panic less and get a better sarcasm detector. After a moment more of embarrassed noises, he stands up off the scooter and locks the parking stand in place before taking off his helmet. After a moment of surveying the area and concentrating on his empathy, he decides that they’re quite alone and places the helmet on the scooter’s seat, turning to Xavier.
That smile earns a rather awkward cough but now that they are here, Pierce is determined to get to business.
“What do you remember?”
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Post by Rampage/Xavier Goodkind on Mar 6, 2012 19:03:01 GMT -5
Slipping off the scooter after Pierce, Xavier chuckles at the other man's embarrassment. Honestly, in the midst of all the confusion and emotional turmoil, Pierce still makes him laugh. So sweet he could just eat him up.
The question is sobering, however, and Xavier's expression turns pensive. He drifts closer to Pierce as he speaks. "Not a lot. I've been having... dreams. But I'm pretty sure they're not just dreams. I remember... impressions, I guess. Of captivity, and pain, and hating them all so much, but they didn't even care-" He sucks in a breath, trying to loosen his hands from the clenched state he suddenly finds them in. "I remember escaping."
And he doesn't remember a single thing that Phobia would actually know about.
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