[Week 2, Thursday: Setz]

[purrtagonist]

[sooooo knife rain!!]

[Akira is waiting it out at McDonald's, trying his best not to meet the eyes of the weird guy behind the counter who recognizes him from yesterday's shenanigans. it's almost a relief when he spots Setz, a) because it gives him a reason to not pay attention to the employees, and b) he's been looking for Setz, anyway]

Yo.

[and he drops a fresh, M&M McFlurry in front of Setz, wherever he may be sitting]

This one's on me. How are you feeling. . .?

Comments

[subordinacy]

[...?]

Since when did they have ice cream here?

[purrtagonist]

Since we fixed the McFlurry machine yesterday.

[do you really want to hear that story?? though to be fair, Akira only knows part of it]

[subordinacy]

... I'm going to assume that was part of the mission.

[That he missed because, you know. He was having a great time elsewhere.]

[purrtagonist]

Yep.

[popping that p for emphasis. Akira's smile is small, but genuine]

Still. . . you look like a guy who could use a bit of ice cream.

[especially after he was busy having a great time elsewhere]

[subordinacy]

... Is it that obvious?

[His time in the live house was shitty. Everything that happened after was shitty. Today is a mild improvement, but only because he's blissfully unaware of what Jacopo's up to.]

[purrtagonist]

Just a little.

. . . are you sure you're okay?

[they didn't have a chance to really talk about that yesterday, what with Akira needing to tend to his extremely high partner. but things are quiet now, knife rain aside]

[subordinacy]

[...]

Just some things I have to think over. Or things I can't do anything about anyway, so there's no choice but to let time deal with them.

[purrtagonist]

[there's the temptation to pry, but Akira had always allowed people to come to him at their own pace. Setz is no different]

Okay. But if you need a listening ear, you know where to find me.

[nudges the ice cream towards him]

In the meantime, take a bite.

[subordinacy]

... Thank you. [While Setz internally hopes that if it comes to that, Akira will be a listening ear that won't feel the need to run off to punch Shinssin...] I appreciate it.

[But okay, taking a bite of the McFlurry!!]

[purrtagonist]

[fortunately for Setz, Akira is not the violent type! Shadows excluded, and there are no Shadows here]

[watches him take a bit of that McFlurry, one chin propped in his palm]

Well?

[subordinacy]

[Simply,]

It's good.

[purrtagonist]

It's cheap, but I guess no one really complains about cheap ice cream.

[because ice cream is still ice cream, right?]

[subordinacy]

Well, this kind of thing is meant to be enjoyed frequently, I think... which makes it even weirder that their machine was broken for so long.

[purrtagonist]

I'm beginning to suspect the Composer broke it on purpose.

[:/ for the sake of making them fix it in an overly complicated fetch quest]

[subordinacy]

Sounds like the sort of whimsical thing they'd do to complicate people's lives, based on their current pattern.

[His tone is a shade more bitter than usual.]

[purrtagonist]

[yeah, based on how Setz stumbled out of the live house yesterday, Akira isn't surprised to hear that tone]

What happened at the live house, and Ikea. . . do you think they're a part of that?

[subordinacy]

Well, they let the Noise live in the live house. As for the rest [there's, uh, a lot besides the injuries]... according to our host, it was the Noise's doing.

[purrtagonist]

[TELL HIM ABOUT THAT, SETZ]

[actually, there's a pause, because Akira sees an opening here. but he isn't sure how honest of a response he'll get, so. . .]

What is "the rest," exactly?

[subordinacy]

[Passively, as if he's reciting from a textbook (spoilers, he's reciting Max),]

Apparently, Noise thrive off negative emotions and have a wide variety of ways to defend themselves. This includes auditory hallucinations, where some sort of mechanism involving frequency causes our UG selves to associate the Noise with certain memories. [a beat] I assume the purpose is to amplify, as mentioned, negative emotions.

[Can you guess as to how much of a fantastic time they had in the live house?]

[purrtagonist]

[oh]

[shit]

Ah. . .

[damn. he can slot the pieces of this puzzle together pretty easily. at the mention of "thriving off negative emotions?" his brows shoot up in shock and surprise. but then Setz mentions the auditory hallucinations, and his expression softens, something more akin to empathy]

That's. . . [hesitates] That's shitty.

[subordinacy]

[He continues in the same passive tone—namely because he knows that if he doesn't, he might end up crying instead.]

It is. So, if you ever choose to look into a place where Noise might've made its nest, keep that in mind.

[purrtagonist]

[. . .]

[a deep breath in and out]

I will.

[and, because he can't forget that Setz was the one of them to actually experience this]

. . . I'm sorry you had to go through that.

[subordinacy]

... I managed.

[Words he's said before.]

The past is important, but... so are the people in the present, if more so. I— [and he falters, here] —didn't want to fail Clarke and Eleanor.

[... But he did, in the end. Shinssin had said as much as well.]

[purrtagonist]

[yeah. Akira remembers them]

It didn't look like you failed them.

[SHINSSIN IS WRONG]

You were all hurt, but alive. [as "alive" as anyone gets in this place] And that's saying something, isn't it?

[subordinacy]

[... He wants to believe in what Akira's saying, but it's hard ("getting blamed for everything" is written on his profile for a reason, really). All the more so, when he remembers a hand gripping his shirt and a cold smile—though what stings more than the guilt is the realization that... Shinssin never really cared, did he?

Sometimes, Setz hates being right.

Wednesday was a really shitty day, emotionally speaking.]

... I suppose so. It would've been better if they hadn't ended up in those conditions, though...

[purrtagonist]

[I liked maybe Akira WOULD punch Shinssin even though he likes him :(]

It would've been better if all three of you hadn't wound up in that condition.

[Akira corrects, because like hell is he letting Setz leave himself out of this?? take care of yourself buddy?? if he's learning anything about this guy it's that he's definitely, perhaps, a little too selfless]

Whatever you do, don't try to shoulder the responsibility alone.

I'm just glad all of you are okay.

[subordinacy]

[Shouldering the responsibility alone is kind of inevitable when every single support system he's ever had either died, became unusable in some way, or was just plain unreliable.]

Tell that to Eleanor. She's trying to blame herself for it all.

[purrtagonist]

[Akira doesn't know Eleanor well, but he has seen her around. she had always seemed so outspoken and kind, so her trying to blame herself doesn't come as a surprise at all]

. . . good people always do that when someone they know is suffering.

[heh]

I would tell her that, though. It isn't any one person's fault. And in the end, who cares about the blame, when you guys didn't die?

[subordinacy]

Other people might care.

[And by that he means more likely than not... ha... ha...]

[purrtagonist]

[makes a sort of. . . confused noise?]

Like who?

[subordinacy]

[Oh.

Um, he shouldn't have said that.

Awkwardly,]

... Other people?

[purrtagonist]

[stares at him]

Other. . . specific people? You don't mean Hume-san or Griffin-san, do you?

[subordinacy]

[Cringing just a tad...]

Other... hypothetical people?

[Setz, master liar.]

[purrtagonist]

[uuuuh huh]

That's a bad lie, Setz.

[just. pointing that out]

You don't have to name names. But if they're blaming you for this, then they're wrong.

[subordinacy]

... You're rather certain for someone who wasn't there.

[purrtagonist]

I'm a people reader.

[or so he likes to think he is]

And usually when people are actually at fault for something. . . they don't try to take all of the blame onto themselves.

[subordinacy]

... Is that so?

[purrtagonist]

It's what I've found in my experiences.

I could be wrong, but. . . well. I guess that's neither here nor there. What's done is done, and you're all alive. That's enough.

[until Eleanor and Clarke suddenly weren't god]