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[sharktrash]

Who: MANTICORE and possibly you
What: catch-all for all your MANTICORE needs
When: april
Where: various (see toplevels)
Warnings: Squalo, will add as necessary

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[ basic settings in toplevels! feel free to make your own starters, tag each other, threadjack, etc ]

Comments

[sharktrash]

Yeah, well, I don't know who's doing it, but it sure ain't me. [ He scoffs and nods toward the room. ] See anyone else here?

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Okay, you're so smart, what's YOUR explanation for something that nuts? [Assuming it isn't a prank, which Jecht sure isn't really assuming.]

[sharktrash]

[ Yeah just gonna give Jecht a flat look and wiggle his fingers spookily. ]

~*~MAGIC.~*~

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

[Jecht nods, considering his point to have been made.] Aaaaand that's why this whole thing is full of crap.

[sharktrash]

[ He scowls. If only he was one of those people who were gaining Cool Powers, he could just show Jecht what he's talking about. Unfortunately, there's nothing. ]

[ He feels rather left out, actually. ]

Well, what's your explanation? Because this shit did just happen right here.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Sure, why not magic? How the hell should I know? Why's it my job to explain shit?

[Jecht feels like this is a reasonable line of attack.]

[sharktrash]

[ And Squalo just looks him right in the eyes. ]

'Cause it's your shit.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Oh yeah? How do you know? Maybe that's a coincidence!

[Jecht ain't backin' down.]

[sharktrash]

Maybe. Guess we'll have to wait and see, huh?

[ Or rather, he'll let Roy take the second shift. He's got no patience for this. ]

You want anything?

[ Since he's headed for the kitchen and all. ]

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

We got any of that good root beer left?

[Jecht can almost, almost wish he drinks at a time like this. Almost, till he remembers what drink had done to him, in a world that never was.]

[sharktrash]

Uh.

[ He'll have to actually go over to the fridge and check. Root bear, please. ]

Two bottles!

[ And he'll re-emerge from the kitchen with one and toss it at his bandmate because that's the manly way to pass things clearly. ]

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

[It totally is, and Squalo pretty much wins the day when Jecht reaches out a hand for the bottle, only to have it stop in midair, then float to his hand.]

[This happens so casually he almost seems not to notice at first... before his expression cracks.]

FUCK!

[sharktrash]

...

[ ALRIGHT WHAT THE FUCK. Squalo stares at him and the bottle, speechless for a moment. ]



VOOOIII!! I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO!!!

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

[Jecht has no immediate answer that isn't profanity, as he throws himself back down on the couch midway between a tantrum and a sulk. He can't even throw the bottle away, because as soon as he lets go of it, it just floats there.]

[sharktrash]

[ Okay whoa this is not how Squalo would react to learning he controls gravity. He doesn't come closer, just in case, but does sort of tilt his head trying to see the other's face better. ]

Hey. Hey. That's not bad, yeah?

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

You don't get it.

[If anything dominates Jecht's face -- no matter how he tries to suppress it -- it's bleak despair.]

[sharktrash]

Not really, no. And I'm not gonna get it unless you explain it to me. There's a whole bunch of people running around throwing fireballs and they don't seem unhappy about it.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

...You ever wonder if those dreams are all real?

[He sounds a million miles away, his voice hollow as he stares at the wall.]

[sharktrash]

[ He frowns, quiet for a moment, recalling the very first time Jecht had said something weird - back at the South Vista, though he didn't pay it much mind back then. He seems... really distraught. Just what the hell did he remember? ]

Yeah. [ He does his best to maintain a conversational volume out of sheer solidarity, though it's still pretty loud. ] Actually, I know that some of them are. For me, at least.

[ It doesn't have to be for you. ]

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

They ain't real. I don't accept them.

But doing shit like that makes it a lot harder not to accept them.

[A point of pride, a line he refuses to cross against all logic and sense. He knows he's lying to himself, but accepting the truth...]

[He can't accept that.]

[sharktrash]

You not accepting them don't make it less real. That's fine, though. I'm not gonna try to convince you otherwise. [ He frowns. Well, he supposes he's ought to share one of his own secrets now that he knows Jecht's, so he goes for the easiest one and pulls back his left sleeve, revealing the mechanical prosthetic underneath. ] For me it's kinda hard to ignore, though.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

[Jecht narrows his thousand-yard stare enough to glance over at Squalo with a little frown.]

...Stuff like that's going around, isn't it. Least I ain't changin'...

[sharktrash]

[ He tucks it back down, once again hiding the prosthesis under the sleeve and the glove, and eyes Jecht with a frown. ]

Are you different in your dreams, too?

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Is knowing yer a dream different than being a dream? It's... [Jecht sighs.] I ain't anything any more. Just a fake thing that became a real monster.

[sharktrash]

[ Squalo's about to ask if he's trying to wax poetic, but that second part stops him. There's some kind of real emptiness in the man's voice. Clearly whatever's bothering him is bad, real bad, and there's probably nothing he can say that would make it better. ]

...what do you mean?