[it startles her, the way he shatters the panel. she's so on edge watching this, this part of her life that drove her to the brink. she jitters backwards, fists curling, expression - a lot, but mostly agonized. every time she relives this, it's so hard to pull herself back out of the hole she's been slowly ascending while she's been here.
she opens her mouth. and then closes it. and brings a hand up to rest over her heart instead.]
[ It's not even his memories. He's never been ostracized like that before. But still- still... seeing the innocent hope in Nimona's eyes get squashed by an iron fist makes him beyond angry.
He takes Nimona's other hand, and leads her away from here. ]
[she stumbles at first, but. she follows, quietly, letting him lead.]
... When I first saw you when we got here, you were that big shape. I thought... [well. she thought he was like her. that's the last thing she remembers, the way gloreth's statue stared at her across the city, the way she ripped herself apart into something worth killing.]
[ She can hug him for however long she wants, he doesn't move to shrug her off. He doesn't really know what to say either, because she's right. He doesn't believe. He'd given up on himself a long long time ago, and now that he's dead, all he can see is this insurmountable wall in front of him. ]
I wish I knew too. ...But the dead have no future. That's just how it is.
[ Does he want one? ... He shouldn't have one, doesn't deserve one, not after he'd literally thrown it away. It's impossible for him, and so he'd never given it any thought.
But does he want one? ...
His free hand drops to his side, reaching into his pants pocket and carefully pulling out his rock: it's just a plain, ordinary rock, one that you could find anywhere. But he knows it's the same one as in the memory Nimona had seen, the one that had embodied all his hopes and dreams. ...
Does he want a future? His fingers close over the rock, holds it tight. ]
[she pulls back just a little bit, just enough to look at him, and then at the rock, and his fist, and she puts her hand on top of his hand. over that rock.
that's answer enough, to her.]
You can still have one. Nico keeps telling me that I can. [...] If there's a way to go with someone, maybe you should. You're alive right now. You could be alive somewhere else.
[this is like the second time she's heard this from someone she really cares about, so she has to suppress the urge to throw a tantrum, but. it's fine.]
Your brother? [she asks, watching him with her head tilted a little.]
Yeah. My younger twin brother, Tsukasa. You'll probably see him if you hang out around me long enough.
[ They're twins, so basically Tsukasa would look the same as he does, anyways. His little brother whom he hates and loves, wants to kill and wants to save. It's complicated. He hasn't even begun thinking of what he's supposed to do with him. ]
[ As if that explains everything. Hanako's the older brother, so of course he has to take responsibility. ]
It never really came up. But he's the reason why I... —!?
[ It's only a blip of a memory that gets a chance to show up this time, before Hanako slices it in half with his knife. He knows what came right after that, and he doesn't- can't- reexperience it again. ]
[she startles slightly when he slices at the panel, but. it's not like she blames him. if she hadn't gone nearly catatonic watching her tragic backstory play out in front of her for the fifth time today earlier she might have run.]
[ Hate that Tsukasa is super cute sometimes despite his everything, and Hanako keeps slicing the panels in half before any more of the scene can play out. And it hurts every time he does it, knuckles white, jaw set, as if Nimona can't also feel the guilt he has in his heart for his brother, the fear, the disgust, the sorrow, the love. ]
...nothing. He did nothing wrong.
[ Tsukasa did SO many things wrong, but it's not his fault. Hanako is the reason he's like that. ]
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she opens her mouth. and then closes it. and brings a hand up to rest over her heart instead.]
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He takes Nimona's other hand, and leads her away from here. ]
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... When I first saw you when we got here, you were that big shape. I thought... [well. she thought he was like her. that's the last thing she remembers, the way gloreth's statue stared at her across the city, the way she ripped herself apart into something worth killing.]
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Thought what?
[ He has no real destination in mind. Just that walking feels better than standing still. ]
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[she doesn't seem to mind just walking.
he can probably see a flash of a comic page that wisps by.]
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We're close enough.
[ Monsters.
As if responding to his thoughts, a panel of his own passes by, a distorted image of Hanako as any normal person would see him. ]
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We're close enough.
[she agrees, quietly. a beat of hesitation.]
... I made my mind up too. I wasn't going anywhere. Not after that.
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[ Nimona, who is a thousand years old, compared to his paltry fifty. ]
I thought, despite everything, you hung on. I was the one who gave up.
[ He was the one who died. Nimona, if she's alive, she can still move on. ]
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No. I was done. [...] I was ready to be done, and then I woke up here.
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His grip on hers does tighten, though. laces their fingers so it'd be even tougher to let go ]
That still counts. You still hung on. And now things are getting better, aren't they?
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... Yeah. For now, I'm doing okay. [she's a little shaky, but she's not lying.]
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And you'll be alright in the future, too. As long as you have one, you can always make it better.
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I wish I knew what to say to you. [...] You never believe me when I say that sort of stuff to you.
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I wish I knew too. ...But the dead have no future. That's just how it is.
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Do you want one? A future.
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But does he want one? ...
His free hand drops to his side, reaching into his pants pocket and carefully pulling out his rock: it's just a plain, ordinary rock, one that you could find anywhere. But he knows it's the same one as in the memory Nimona had seen, the one that had embodied all his hopes and dreams. ...
Does he want a future? His fingers close over the rock, holds it tight. ]
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that's answer enough, to her.]
You can still have one. Nico keeps telling me that I can. [...] If there's a way to go with someone, maybe you should. You're alive right now. You could be alive somewhere else.
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I... can't.
[ Shouldn't. Can't. He wants to, but the more he thinks about it, the more he'll want to- and he can't. ]
I need to go back to where I came from. There's somebody I need to keep safe. And I still need to... [ ... ] I need to deal with my brother.
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Your brother? [she asks, watching him with her head tilted a little.]
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Yeah. My younger twin brother, Tsukasa. You'll probably see him if you hang out around me long enough.
[ They're twins, so basically Tsukasa would look the same as he does, anyways. His little brother whom he hates and loves, wants to kill and wants to save. It's complicated. He hasn't even begun thinking of what he's supposed to do with him. ]
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Why do you need to deal with him? [what did he do...] I don't think I knew you had a twin.
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[ As if that explains everything. Hanako's the older brother, so of course he has to take responsibility. ]
It never really came up. But he's the reason why I... —!?
[ It's only a blip of a memory that gets a chance to show up this time, before Hanako slices it in half with his knife. He knows what came right after that, and he doesn't- can't- reexperience it again. ]
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... What did he do?
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...nothing. He did nothing wrong.
[ Tsukasa did SO many things wrong, but it's not his fault. Hanako is the reason he's like that. ]
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she doesn't seem to blame him for just - cutting the frames over and over. she won't stop him, holding his hand tightly still if he lets her.
and when the last one comes up, she punches it, helping him get rid of it.]
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