JANUARY - FEBRUARY TEST DRIVE MEME

[indigo_events]

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Comments

i feel like im moving a tad fast but also i don't wanna yell at arthur any more so idc

[ghostpeppered]

Arthur. [ And maybe his voice is sterner than it should be. ] The arm you lost is the one you pushed me with. And you were an off color.

[ And yes, the hand was at his back, but he remembers turning around, seeing green, how did he forget- it was everywhere, even after his ghost finally surfaced- and where did that fog even come from? There'd been no water or anything of the sort, the sky above had been fine- no. No, no, panic wouldn't do good here. He keeps tapping his finger against his face where it still rests in the cross-armed shield against the world. Think. T h i n k. ]

No, the only thing I remember seeing was a bat in the entrance. There wasn't much to the cave. Something else must have happened.

[ Why'd he have to fall so fast? Why couldn't he have seen more? This isn't right! Lewis glances back at Arthur out of the corner of his eye. ]

Is that all you remember? That fog was pretty weird, don't you think?

[ Wasn't there something about- right, right, some entities, demons most commonly but not exclusively, could influence emotions. Amplify. ]

How... were you feeling before everything?

lol, do what you want it’s rp

[hatedthemost]

Fine?

[He says, still clutching at his shoulder, still not really looking right at Lewis. Of course he knows that's not exactly true.

It's not really a lie, either. At first, that night was pretty much normal. Sure, he didn't want to be there, but he'd have gotten over it quick, just like all their other investigations.

It's just that his "normal" was never really...great. Never has been. Back then...it was Lewis and Vivi, you know? Everyone said their names together like that, like a unit. He used to look at the two of them, so perfect for each other, and wonder why he was even there. How much longer he would be. Of course they'd leave him behind eventually. Even riding alone in the back of his own van that night had felt like some sort of sneak preview. Nothing new, nothing really special - just a little more of what he'd been thinking for a while.

But, god - god, what a shitty, petty thing to think about now.]

I was fine, I guess? Why - I - I pushed you?

[Look, you have just given him a LOT to process in a very short amount of time.]

im going to cry i love arthur so much. baby. baby boy

[ghostpeppered]

Yes. It's why I attacked you at the abandoned manor.

[ He's still upset about that. But the duskull's been keeping an eye on him. And- well. They were paranormal investigators. He may be a bit rusty, but it's becoming increasingly clear that things aren't what he thought. ... After all. Arthur was always a terrible liar.

They normally let him say 'I'm fine' and waited for him to come forward on his own terms. Thought it was respectful, didn't want to push too much. Vivi sometimes wanted to press on, but Lewis had thought maybe their friend would want space. It was clear something was up. And sometimes they missed it, but. 'Fine' wasn't always that. Far from it. ... Some friends they were. But here he was again. Waiting.

Letting Arthur make a move he's not sure the other one will make. ]

hes baby

[hatedthemost]

[Arthur, meanwhile, has moved right on past his own feelings, as is his usual habit. Who even cares how he felt back then - so much has happened since, even before today. He runs a hand through his hair. It's the bad one; he winces for a second as a few hairs get caught in the joints and yanked out.

Lewis was gonna kill him in that manor. He hadn't known it was Lewis then, but he'd known that much. Seems kinda fair, now.]

I'm. I'm sorry.

[But what can you even say?]

BABYYYYY

[ghostpeppered]

[ He wants to back out of this conversation. He wants it more than anything, holy crap, everything feels like agony in his chest. But they can't, can they. Actions have consequences. All of them do. That's the harshest lesson that's been pounded into his brain since that night, and it won't stop reiterating itself. And yet... ]

Arthur. I need you to tell me exactly what you remember from that night, as clearly as possible. Don't skip a single detail.

[ It's a cruel thing to demand. Lewis knows it better than anyone. But if he's right... ]

[hatedthemost]

U-um.

[Arthur's eyes dart back up at Lewis, but he can't seem to keep looking at him for more than a second or two now. Ironic, after how long he's wanted this. He looks at the ground instead. The Dedenne shoves her way beneath the hand that's tugging at his own hair, urging him into petting her instead.

A cruel question? Maybe. But Arthur's gone through that night a hundred times before - to the authorities, to Uncle Lance, to Lewis's parents. To himself. To Vivi, even, before he realized that wouldn't work. He knows by now how to tell it, at least. Has noted all the details that seemed to matter, condensed away the parts that didn't.]

We, um. We went out there after dark, from - from my place. You drove.

[Already a few things that had bothered him at the time: the petty old thing of feeling left out, and then that old Arthur chestnut of "why can't we just visit the spooky place in the daytime if we gotta do it". But his voice is already going flat, like a recitation, his nerves settling into the old familiar shape of guilt this story always takes.]

It wasn't that far off the road. It had a sign out front, with a skull. There was all this weird green fog in there, but...there were bats inside, too. [So, not poisonous swamp gas? It's come up.] We didn't go in very far before the path split. Vi took Mystery and went one way, and you and me went the other.

[He remembers he'd already been nervous, spooked by the bats and the frankly creepy vibes. Clinging to Lewis. Still, he'd been surprised when they split up the way they did - that the two of them didn't want to go together. But things like that got pruned out of the retelling.]

You were in front, and you had the torch. We kinda went - we went - up, a little bit. [Sorry, Lewis, this is Arthur only realizing just now how this connects to the whole cliff thing. He'd known they went up. He just...hadn't thought that part was important. Hadn't really remembered there was a cliff at the end.] Um. I-it was...really cold in there, in the tunnel, and there was a lot more fog. I - I might've been looking around, or it was too dark or foggy, but I -

[But he didn't see anything happen to Lewis, is usually how the story ends. The last he remembers of him, he was right there and perfectly fine. He didn't see what got his arm either, for whatever that's worth, but that's always been an afterthought. That's over, it's done with, it's not that important now. His hand travels idly again to his stump - his shoulder, again now, his robot shoulder.]

...Vivi. She, um, she says she, uh...she heard me screaming, but I couldn't really tell her anything when she found me. Shock, I guess? She, uh, she got me out of there. I don't really remember that part, I think I passed out pretty quick. She, um. She doesn't know any more than that.