[ic] it starts with an earthquake

[pancakeboy]

[[ooc: backdated to the 27th.]]

It's dawn when Akechi wakes.

Grey light is filtering through the curtains and nothing stirs. Everything seems... fine? He can't remember the last time he slept this well, in fact. His arm is around someone, and his other arm's folded beneath the pillow, and—

Wait, what the fuck?! Back up!

The fact of himself hits him all at once, and he freezes in horror. Raven is in front of him—still asleep? Akechi prays he's asleep—and with a bit of luck, he won't wake for a good while longer. Long enough to sneak away to freedom, perhaps.

The last two months tangle in his head all at once. And he starts to work untangling them, of course, because that's just who he is. His hand tightens, half-perceptibly, in Raven's pyjama top.

Comments

[fogboundcrow]

"Considering Crow's connections, I imagine it might be an even greater advantage. He has the knowledge of the Metaverse and ties to many powerful allies who have doubtlessly given him a wealth of knowledge."

And, okay, maybe he's pouting just a little at that. There's still so much to live up to, damn it!

"It's difficult to say what will change. Time will tell. And we're still here for you, too. I'm sure Crow will talk your ear off the second he gets the chance."

[pancakeboy]

"Crow is going to be relieved he's not wiping my nose and digging me out of the snow any longer, I'm sure." It's almost the same old too-light tone. Then he blinks.

"You know, I bet one of those newcomers has taken my apartment? That would be typical, wouldn't it." Of course if he vanishes for two months he'll just lose everything. What else would you expect?

[fogboundcrow]

Heh. That gets a little smirk to take root. "Crow anticipated that and acted accordingly." He'll give Magpie a second to stew on that. "He put up a sign informing those within the vicinity that the apartment is occupied and that you rather like your privacy..."

Another lil' pause. "However, since Crow found a way to access his own bedroom, we do have an open vacancy, should you ever wish to stay here for the night."

[pancakeboy]

Magpie absorbs that. "Crow's old bedroom? You know, that idea's not immediately repellent."

[fogboundcrow]

"It's rather spacious. Since he regained his version of this room, he's left it open for any prospective guests. Ren seems happier as well."

His face crumples a little. "You know, he tried to check the soundproofing, since both rooms occupy the same space. He had me stand out in the hall while he allegedly pounded the walls and blasted loud music. I did not, in fact, hear it."

[pancakeboy]

Yeah, Magpie doesn't even try to keep his face from crumpling. "Do you have any idea how much happier I was, not kn..."

For some reason, though, it's the thought of Crow's newfound sex life that pings something far deeper; something that drives him straight into action. He sits up, looking about. "Where's my phone?"

[fogboundcrow]

"Try the desk." It's not far from the futon. Raven's phone is there, too, flipped shut. "Is everything all right?"

[pancakeboy]

"Yeah. Fine." But he's up—in a perfectly upscaled version of younger-Magpie's pyjamas—and dwarfing the tween-sized desk, he picks up his own old phone, which has been out of commission the whole time he was gone.

He sits on the bed, swiping in a blur of a lock pattern and going to his contacts, to the As. He scrolls down a surprisingly long distance, stopping immaculately on Amamiya Ren.

... but that's all. Two contacts. One is Crow's Ren, presumably asleep, or fucking, somewhere between dimensions. The other contact, the one he was looking for, has no world code and is greyed out.

He bites his lip looking at it, before realising he doesn't do that any more and unpicking it. Greyed out. Of course it is. Shit.

[fogboundcrow]

"Oh." Right... his Ren was here during Halloween. That's what started all of this, isn't it?

Raven scoots a little closer. "He could come back. I know Crow talked to him after you... changed. He may be able to tell you more about that."

[pancakeboy]

He scrolls the list up and down, as if another contact might magically pop into being.

"Mm. I thought he might have stayed. I guess—I mean, I suppose I need to talk to my own Ren anyway, not some Hallowe'en ghost."

But still. They were fighting. And the two of them have never really even exchanged harsh words.

[fogboundcrow]

"I'm sure you'll get your chance." But he's still sitting close. He contemplates if he should do something affirming. A light touch? A hand on his? Would that be overstepping?

Raven looks down briefly, torn on what to do. "And if you have any lingering doubts, Crow may be able to help where I can't. I didn't speak to him, but he did. Twice, I believe."

[pancakeboy]

"I'll ask him." Biting his lip again, and unpicking it again, he turns to glance at Raven, again almost shyly. Then he offers his hand.

[fogboundcrow]

...Oh, okay. He'll take the offered hand, smiling again. "He's probably going to spoil you, you know. I can already imagine him concocting some needlessly elaborate breakfast plan."

[pancakeboy]

And he squeezes Raven's hand, more firmly than was his younger self's wont, but not painfully. "D'you think I can slip out the back way? Maybe he won't notice."

Or he might be distracted, of course, but it seems weird to banter about Crow and Ren's thing now.

[fogboundcrow]

"I think he'd be disappointed if you did." The hand squeeze is nice. Raven looks at their hands for a second. "This is the same Crow who made you soup at an incredibly late hour and then spent the night with you. ...and who got you your own gifts he's been holding onto. We both did."

[pancakeboy]

He looks down at Raven's small hand in his own. Just yesterday they were the same size. "You didn't have to do that."

[fogboundcrow]

"But we wanted to." Huge emphasis on that, Magpie. Personal agency! "It was important that we got presents for you as you are. Neither one of us wanted you to feel as though you were inferior or a replacement."

[pancakeboy]

Oh, it's infuriating. Everything just... all the walls he spent so long building, all his life in fact, knocked flat by a snot-nosed child. A child who also happened to be him.

He stares down at his lap, rotating the child he was in his mind like some people rotate puzzle boxes in the tips of their fingers. So defensive, so prepared, so clever, damn it, and all of it destroyed the moment someone....

Again, he bites his lip. This time, he doesn't unpick it. "You know that isn't how it works," he says quietly, cold rather than cruel; Raven can probably tell he's going through the motions. "The differences between your friend and I should have been moderately obvious, and I don't mean that I'm past puberty and he's not."

[fogboundcrow]

"I'm allowed to care about both of you. You don't get to decide that for me." He doesn't sound particularly cross, at least, but certainly firm. "I understand that you often try to put up barriers as a way to protect yourself. Rather hard not to when I'm still unlearning that particular habit, but I should think that after everything we've endured together that we're past the need for that."

[pancakeboy]

He doesn't quite deflate. Rather, it's like some deep framework under his skin restructures itself, so his attitude visibly shifts without it being clear how.

"We have been through a lot, haven't we? That fucking shadow in the TV world, my first time." The Ren shadow. It feels like that first time he stepped into Mementos, even to mention it.

[fogboundcrow]

"Not only that. I still remember how I stupidly tried to protect you from Crow's attack during that spar." Not his brightest moment, and he ducks his head a little, definitely sheepish. "You came over when Hawk was still new, and that was after you were so kind to him. You let me stay the night with you multiple times, and you were there for me after I tried to face that Shadow..."

There's just so much. Those memories matter, too. "I made good memories with your younger self, but he didn't remember all of that. I know I'll miss him, but I still missed you."

[pancakeboy]

He glances back behind him, to where Hawk's still buried under his Featherman quilt; his face shadows. "I didn't have a choice, did I? Not with one of us so young. Anyway, I had business with Crow."

But his hand's still on Raven's. He long ago stopped wondering what it would have been like to have siblings—around middle school age, in fact. But would it have been like this?

... ridiculous thought that that is. Again, he glances down at his lap.

[fogboundcrow]

"You're doing it again." But again, no ire. No anger. There's a hint of exasperation, but nothing more. "I don't need to be under Call of Chaos to point it out this time. Sometimes... I suppose it's important to point out when the people you care about are being ridiculous." But even 'ridiculous' carries a slightly teasing edge. "If you're uneasy, I understand. But it's just us. You don't have anything to prove."

[pancakeboy]

Carefully, he turns Raven's hand over in his own. Not even callouses on his fingers, after all he's done; he owes the Metaverse for that.

"Jumping in front of that Eigaon really was the most ridiculous thing I've seen, you know. Maybe the second most ridiculous. But—I'd be lying if I said it meant nothing to me."

How about that, Raven? Any better? He glances to check.

[fogboundcrow]

Hey, look. A little smile. That's a good sign. "Good. I know it can seem like people only act kind for their own benefit. To be honest, I'm still surprised Morgana was able to talk me into accepting my Shadow when he did. And it's not as though I have no doubts. I left a lot unresolved with the people back home..."

Yu and the others chief among them.

"Hm. But I think I've known you longer now. Funny how that happens."