Week 2

[airlockedmods]

Week 2

[The Champions have now been here for one week, and while the dud of a first incentive didn't tempt anybody, the fact remains obvious: a lack of murder isn't going to be the thing that gets you out of here.

Blaze Dudely and Rox have not made a reappearance since Tuesday, leaving you to your own devices for the moment. That door they entered and exited through remains locked, and there is no new area to access this week. Are you sure they're even still back there? Despite their absence, you all wake up on Sunday morning from strange dreams. What to make of it?

You can only hope it's not a bad omen for the rest of the week.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Don't forget to turn in your AC for Week 1, submit your memory regain, and turn in your Benefactor threads! ))

Comments

[photoshooter]

Oh, man. Instants, huh? She probably is better than me, I wouldn't trust myself with something I could only get right once. Or couldn't delete if it came out bad.

[Takes fifty selfies, deletes forty-nine, stares at the last one until it turns ugly, deletes that one, too.]

Though I guess it would be nice to have prints instantaneously, sometimes. Something about the feel of a hard copy in your hand, you know? Digital just doesn't do it, no matter how convenient it is otherwise.

[hellahighwater]

Sand here we go, photo-nerd talk. [ She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. ] If I could get you two in a room together my eyes would just glaze over like- I'd have to be hella stoned just to tolerate it all.

She is, in fact, better than any of those wannabes lurking around town, though, so she's probably give you a challenge. [ And win. ]

[photoshooter]

Well, I definitely don't think I can compete with someone who goes to fancy school for photography. I only went to plebe school for plebes.

[There we go, a shadow of his usual smile.]

Never even joined the photography club. She'd trounce me in a flash.

[Ayyyyyyy.]

[hellahighwater]

[ HA. ]

It'd be a snap to whoop your ass. [ See, she can do it too, se-- ] 'Cause, snap.

[ YOU DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT YOU IDIOT. ]

It's not a school for photography only, by the way. It's...it used to be a normal-ass private school for everything, but they hiked the tuition so it's mostly a rich-people and super smart people school. Most of those rich kids just happen to be art kids too. Max, she's...well, the second type.

[ Positively glowing. ]

[photoshooter]

[Goodness gracious, he does indeed see the trend here.]

She must really be something for you to talk about her like that.

[Granted, it's not so different from how Prompto talks about Noct. Then again, that's, ah. Pretty telling in itself, isn't it?]

[hellahighwater]

[ Champion Useless Lesbian here to brighten your day. ]

She's the greatest. She's...so special. [ ... ] Prompto, I think she's safe.

[photoshooter]

[And that, really, makes a genuine smile spread over Prompto's face, the first one he's managed all day--and he's not managing it, it just comes unbidden, like the edge of a cloud curling back from the sun.]

Really? Oh, man, Chloe, that's great! I'm so happy for you!

[Girl Prompto's okay! Hooray!]

What made you change your mind?

[hellahighwater]

I-- I had a dream, and it was so real, I could feel her-- not important I- in it, she did it, she saved everyone. She had to-- [ And for a horrible moment Chloe's voice and smile both waver, even though she's talking about something wonderful, right? ] B-but she did it. She went off to turn back time and I just-- I know it was real.

[photoshooter]

[Prompto's own smile freezes in place, and then suddenly it's a titanic struggle to keep it on.]

That's... I, wow, that's. That's so cool.

[It's just a dream it's just a dream it's just a dream it's just--]

You--you know, you never explained the whole... p-partners in time thing. What's that about?

[hellahighwater]

[ Her heart's beating a little fast. Little palpitations. Just focus on the picture. On Max. Her mom. It's alright, they'll be alright. ]

Explained...'cause it's kinda hard to. Apparently- I...don't think we ever figure- figured? - it out. One day, she just... ...she was in the bathroom, and I...was trying to get this pussy asshole to give me some cash, in exchange for not telling everyone about the- about him being a drugger jerk. But, he...

[ She's turned her attention back to her drawing. ]

He had a gun. And, well...he shot me. Max, she was hiding out there and heard, and saw, and just...held out her hand...and turned back time, without even meaning to.

[photoshooter]

[Focus. Listen. He drags his attention into place, holds it there, away from the gnawing, sickening knot in his gut.

It helps that Chloe's story is fascinating. Helps, but the churning feeling doesn't go away.]

Whoa, that's... that's unbelievable. So you weren't kidding, she really is a superhero. She... saved you from being shot?

[hellahighwater]

And shooting myself in the stomach, and getting run over by a train, and...probably others I'm forgetting. I'm pretty shitty at self-preservation.

[ Have to get Max's eyes right. Have to get the detail right. Have to... ]

We're figuring out her powers together. At least...we were.

[photoshooter]

[Sweet Shiva, he's a twitchy mess, and when Chloe mentions getting run over by a train his whole brain stutters and jerks. He misses some of what she's saying, has to play it back in his head to keep the conversation going, so he doesn't give away how badly he's doing.]

'Were'...?

[hellahighwater]

[ Pay attention, Chloe. Stop being so self-centered, Chloe. She can't. No matter how much she's sacrificed, it's just in her nature. ]

...I told you. Max, she...she fixed it. She never has to use her powers again. They...were what made the storm in the first place, so...

[ She pulls the pen away. Her hand's...shaking. ]

S-so all she had to do...was let things play out how they were supposed to.

[photoshooter]

Supposed to...

[He doesn't understand. Even if he weren't a mess, he wouldn't get it right away, because time travel is so far beyond Prompto Argentum, the prince's commoner bestie, he wouldn't even know where to start. But he blinks, he sees Chloe's hand, and he looks up, concerned.]

Chloe? Are... are you okay?

...does this qualify as suicide content warning

[hellahighwater]

[ ...All she's doing is looking at Max's face. Just Max. In the end, she'd been the one to see so much. It made sense to tell her, it was her choice. She couldn't do that, make the choice and make Max stand by-

Her jaw sets tight. That serene expression's faded. ]

The first time sh- she [ her voice breaks ] used them was to save me. I- I told her- she could go back, and it'd be the only way. If sh-she only let me...

[ No. Chloe Price is not okay. She is really, really not okay. ]

[photoshooter]

[One beat. Two. And then realization dawns cold and terrible on Prompto: If she only let me die.]

What... no, that's--that's not...

[His own bad dream flies out of his head entirely, because this--this is worse. Chloe, angry, punk Chloe, telling her best friend to let her get killed?

He leans towards her over the table, reaching out to hang onto her hand.]

That's not fair. That's--how can that be the only way? H-how can that be what really happened?

[hellahighwater]

[ This close, he should be able to see, it's not just her hand that's shaking. It's everything.

"Now get out of here, please! Do it before I freak."

Now, she has time to sit with this. And she has, all day. Chloe Price is definitely freaking, her eyes rimmed red. ]

It- sh-she did so much...to try and save me. Some- ungrateful punk. It was- it tripped up space and time o-or something. Chaos Theory. [ What she can't do is look up. She can't...look, at all, away from the picture of Max. ] But- I couldn't...let everyone die. I couldn't let my mom a-and all those people with so much more than me... I h-had to tell her to take it.

[ It was Max's choice in the end. But it was Chloe who suggested. Chloe who told her to try. Walking right to her own death. ]

[photoshooter]

[She's shaking and he's filling up with tears, hot like his eyes are swimming in them, unspilled yet but with the lump in his throat and the squeeze in his chest and the way his mouth trembles, it's not even a matter of time, but a matter of seconds.]

No, that's...

[She's shaking and so is his hand over hers, but he swallows and holds on, because she has to know he's there. That whatever she doesn't have, she has that.]

Who cares... if they had more than you. You, you still--you had Max.

[The way Chloe talks about her, the love in that careful drawing. What could be more precious than that?]

Right?

[hellahighwater]

[ And...finally, she turns to him, and the tears fall. ]

But she had so much more. [ The forced smile on her face. ] If I could do one...just one non-selfish thing in my life...it was t-tell her...that she should have one life on her conscience, instead of so, so many others.

[photoshooter]

[Yeah, no. Prompto shuts his eyes and his own tears roll down his cheeks. He makes a soft hiccuping sound and rubs his face with his free hand. He doesn't let go of her with the other.]

That's not fair.

[He's known this girl all of a week, and his everything aches like--like it's him rolling in the dust, betrayed, abandoned.]

It's not.

[hellahighwater]

[ Shit. well, here we are then. Out of the corner of her eye, the Max drawing is looking at her. With her free hand, she wipes some of her own tears away. She takes a breath like she usually would to swallow everything down, to go get high or get angry, but Chloe finds...that's a little hard to do right now. ]

I know. Everything's- the universe is an asshole. But- it's all been a downward spiral for years, so- ...at least I got...one week where she- she showed me how much she loved me.

[ After feeling abandoned for years, Chloe will take it. That's her victory. ]

[photoshooter]

[That just makes him cry harder for a second. He presses his hand over his face, overcome and ashamed, because this is her tragedy and not his, but he still can't stop.]

Sorry... Sorry, I...

[He sniffles loudly and tries to get a hold of himself.]

You d-deserve so much more than a week. I'm so--so sorry... [Gulping, he tries to remember to breathe.] T-t-to make a decision like that, that's so... that's so brave, how can you think you're not...

[Snrff. He scrubs at his eyes and holds her hand tightly in both of his.]

C-Chloe. That makes you a superhero, too.

[hellahighwater]

[ ...What? She blinks up at him. She's...? Chloe can't stop staring at him, eyes wide. She can...barely even... ]

N-no, I'm... Max is the one wh-who had to do it in the end, I'm just- I didn't do anything.

[photoshooter]

[He shakes his head, miserable but insistent.]

...That's what heroes do.

[Lunafreya. Gladio. Ignis. Noct.]

Take it from me. I... I know.