[Rion shakes his head, tucking his chin against her hair as he holds her.]
It's not your fault.
[He focuses solely on this girl, though he's aware that the forest has gone silent. Did the young man destroy himself? It's the most likely outcome based on what he's learned, but the details don't truly matter. What matters is that she's devastated.]
No matter how many times you go through this... even if you think of every single thing you could have done differently... it will never be your fault that you can't go back and change it.
[If it sounds like he knows what it feels like—well.]
[Echo frowns. She feels bad for whatever it is that Ange's going through. And not just for the obvious problem.]
I see. That is a valid concern. There's something I really ought to be doing now, too, but...
[She doesn't want to talk about it, plus she remembers that Ange already knows about Noise. It may take her a bit longer to remember that this Ange doesn't.]
I've noticed that people who try not to thing about things outside of their control seem to be less troubled. I'm not sure how foolish that is, however.
Her confusion at his actions is not at the forefront of her mind right now, though. She puts her good arm over her eyes.]
You...you don't know...! You weren't here when this started...
[In fact, the beginning hadn't even happened this time, but she's still not going to let herself get off scot-free. Sobs start escaping Echo even as she tries to continue.]
And now...he can't...
[Thanks for crying too hard to make that not mysterious, Echo.]
[Another assumption, but one he sounds utterly confident in. If Oz was a friend of any worth, he can be sure of that much—and for whatever certainty Echo may lack, he'll embody it himself for her sake.]
More than anything else, that's what you need to remember.
[He's absolutely right. There was something else entirely going on with Oz and coincidentally enough, it did involve time travel and going through this multiple times. Echo was just around for the last part. She has a very strong argument for her being responsible anyway.
She shakes her furiously head under her arm. If this weren't a dream, she'd probably be keeping her emotions more in check. It's hard to hide what's been going on within your own mind when you're essentially inside of it.]
It does not matter! This is only the b-beginning. Everything...it's all ruined for him now...
[Whatever she's talking about definitely seems to be what's upsetting her the most.]
The issue is definitely different from what Ange was assuming. Scott seems like such a social guy - well, in comparison to her, certainly! - that she thought he just really wanted to be able to stay in touch with everyone, even if that was impossible.
But it turns out that his wish is another impossible thing entirely.
Ange is clearly caught by surprise at this twist. She glances over at him even if Scott isn't looking back at her, staring at him with wide, surprised eyes. ]
This.. was about us?
[ Scott's selflessness isn't necessarily the surprise, but-- you know, Ange is included in that. He specified it.
And it's not often that people wish for her happiness, let alone when it may be at the expense of their own, as Scott is also specifying. ]
[He's not wrong. She still has the scars, but luckily her preferred outfit already hid them. People who know everything about her would also know that it takes some very special circumstances for her to even get scars, so she really doesn't want anyone else to see.
Echo does lower her arm a bit so she can meet his eyes. Her sleeve apparently did all it could to deal with her tears. Or maybe it was a dream thing.]
These will heal. [Eventually. But this is totally what he means, right?] I am not concerned about this. What happened to Lord Oz was a great deal of importance to many people, however...
[In general. Echo wasn't tormented by whatever they went through, but she does feel a little bit bad about that part too.]
[Even if he didn't already know that much, it wouldn't have been nearly as much of a concern. Injuries are almost always the first thing to heal.]
There's more to healing than physical recovery. [But he knows he'll have to be more explicit than that. Echo doesn't seem to be accustomed to being treated like a person with worth, if her earlier behavior is any indication...]
What happened to you, and how you feel about all of this, is just as important.
.. idiot. No one dies for real in this place. You know that, right..?
[ And sure, dying still isn't very pleasant, but Ange has never really minded it all that much. Even less with the fact that she knows people come back here.
(At least it's a kind of fond-sounding idiot. The way you might scold a sibling, really, rather than anything actually angry or insulting.) ]
Besides, this feels.. [ .. she pauses, sounding a little confused. ] Even less real. Don't you feel it..? It's.. strange..
[ Ange is quiet for a very slight moment too. Like she can't response too instinctively, like she has to think about it for a moment. It feels a little vulnerable to say this, after all, especially to someone she doesn't know all that well.
But she still knows it's true. And she can't think of a better excuse, so-- the truth it is, no matter how embarrassing. ]
Because I can't leave you behind like this.
[ Or rather-- she won't. She refuses. Ange knows she won't feel great if she just leaves here on her own now. ]
[Kurt knows that, but that doesn't diminish the impact of death in his eyes. It's still horrible and something he wants to prevent at all costs.
Still, the rest of what she says gives him pause. He had been in panic mode this whole time, so he hadn't really dwelled on how weird all of this had felt. How unreal. Almost like...]
Yeah. Now that you mention it. Something's weird about all of this. Is this... some kind of simulation? Or a, a nightmare?
[He winces.]
Please, Ange, please tell me this is just a bad dream.
[Almost all of her existence back home was exactly that: not being a person of worth. Or, really, not being a person. Even being in other places hasn't gotten all of the mental effects of that out of her system.
Echo seems to calm down a bit if only to frown at him uncertainly.]
I have already been telling you what I feel.
[Not that she's an expert in that department, especially when it comes to her own feelings.]
[Her question gets Scott to look up from the ground to meet her surprised glance with that still more melancholy demeanor. Maybe, normally, he'd acted slightly offended or give Ange a hard time that duh it's about her and his other friends, but he keeps that more serious expression.]
Yeah, of course I'd want my friends to be happy. Especially you.
[Because Ange is a close friend and she's been through so much crap back home. And he's aware that she can't exactly be happy at home, given that she's dead, but... maybe he can hope for it anyway. Peter managed to come back to life and even if he was only around for a short period just to tell Scott that, he's glad to know anyway.]
[ The girl stares at the now-hazy dream around them. It's still hard to think of what to say here. What do you say or do in the face of such overwhelming care? Do normal people know how to deal with that?
.. Maybe the kindest thing she can do is just be honest in return, right..? ]
Scott, I..
[ Something in her gaze grows a little bit more sad - no, worried. ]
I don't want you to have to worry that much about me. I don't want you to be sad.
[The confusion fades over the course of a few seconds, gradually replaced by sympathy. She's softer than she lets on, it seems. He supposes that's not so much of a surprise given her responses so far.]
You know this isn't real... [he replies, but it's only a mild retort. He thinks maybe he understands her hesitation. And as much as he hates the idea of her staying in this memory for any longer than she already has... perhaps it won't do her much more harm to follow it through to its conclusion.
He turns one hand upwards as an offer—the one less bloodied.]
It will... take them a minute.
Edited (that was the wrong dash!) 2025-04-20 04:06 (UTC)
You have, in a way, [he agrees. Her feelings have cut through the flat exterior she seems to favor, which he thinks must speak to their intensity.] But do you understand that they matter?
[ The girl doesn't seem to respond to him saying it's not real. Though in her gaze is confirmation that he's right about that. She knows it isn't real. And yet she's staying all the same - even if she doesn't want to further elaborate on it, feeling weirdly vulnerable in this moment.
Instead she's quiet for a moment, only to then speak up with: ]
[A small breath leaves Scott at that, not exactly sounding defeated, but tired in a way. Like he's committed to what he's about to say next, even if may end up sucking in some way in the end. With how the dream's about to fade, maybe it's fitting. Perhaps he'll be lucky and he'll get the last word in between them. He'd like that.]
I'm going to worry about you, Ange. You can't change that. [...] If it ends up with me being sad, then it'll just be something I'll carry.
[He's glad, at least, to be able to reassure her with some certainty. One small upside to the recurring nightmare.]
That's how it's always gone. [He wakes from his dazed state, struggles over his failure, then—] The EMTs realize I'm alive, take me into an ambulance... and I black out to another day.
[If this world might make something more of it than bringing Ange into his dream, he couldn't say.]
[The lack of a clear yes tells him well enough what her answer really means, but it's better than he expected. He's never expected his encouragement to take hold in a day, and with the both of them stuck within their own memories, how much can he expect from this moment?
He lets out a breath and offers her a comforting shoulder squeeze.]
It's good to hold onto that kind of meaning. But... be kind to yourself, when you can.
[The surroundings start to get fuzzy. His own awareness is already starting to feel vague, but he keeps his amber gaze on Echo.]
[ Well, as long as he wakes up, it should be fine, she thinks. He'll wake up in that shitty place they're all stuck in, just like the rest of them. It isn't ideal, but it's better than-- who knows, than this being some crazy dream where he might just die for real. That's the part she's worried about.
Though with the way he's speaking now, there's another part entirely she can't help but worry about. The girl's eyebrows knit together as she thinks about it. ]
I don't think it's really healthy to dream about this all the time.
[ Says the heavily traumatized girl who never got therapy.
But.. you know. Takes one to know one, probably. She can be a little bit of a hypocrite! ]
[Echo nods stiffly, but she still doesn't make eye contact as she frowns uncomfortably. She's all too willing to let consciousness return to her; this dream had gone on far too long for her liking. As the scene grows hazy, she closes her eyes, if only in hopes that opening them will mean she's awake.]
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