theairlock | Week 2

Entry tags:

!round 4,
!week 2

Week 2

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! ))

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[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'...?

[ 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.

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?

[ ...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. ]

[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?

[ 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. ]

[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?

[ 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.

[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.

[ 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. ]

[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.

[ ...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.

[He shakes his head, miserable but insistent.]

...That's what heroes do.

[Lunafreya. Gladio. Ignis. Noct.]

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

[ Dammit. ]

I...

[ The picture of Max, staring at her... Why'd she have to draw her looking so kind? ]

F-- fuck...!

[ She can't pull her hand from Prompto's, but she can cover her face with her other one, to hide from the looks. She's not a fucking hero. She--

She sobs. Her shoulders shake with them, and the pen falls to the floor. She tries, so hard, not to scream, and it traps itself in her throat, like a horrible groaning yell.

It's for the best. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. ]

[Still sniffling, Prompto scoots closer and switches the hand that's holding Chloe's so he can rub her back, swallowing down his own upset, because Chloe--Chloe is his friend.]

It's okay, we can... if you wanna go some--somewhere else, or hit something, we... anything you need.

[Neither of their rooms are far from the art room. It's not home, none of this can be home, but--it would be less public, at least. She doesn't have to hurt where anyone can see her.]

[ She shakes her head. Really, she doesn't want to move right now. She can't, she can't stand, or... ]

J- just-- I just gotta-- f-for awhile--

Yeah. No problem.

[He gets it, and he's not going anywhere. He stays right there, holding her hand, rubbing her back, while she gets it out, his own tears fading into only the occasional sniffle.]

[ The whole time, the half-finished picture of Max continues to look at her. Consoling, kind. Just like Max. God, what an infuriating girl, really. Even after all these years, she can't help but...

Chloe cries. She doesn't care if someone comes in, she'll tell them to fuck right off. (If she can.) She never wanted to-- she wanted to live, or something. Her sobs won't subside for awhile. Eventually, she'll just lean her forehead against the canvas, so she'll just leave it there.

She's waiting to just feel hollowed out, like how her dad's death made her feel, but...that's not happening. Dealing with the aftermath of this one, it might be a little different. ]

[Prompto doesn't have anywhere else to be. There's nowhere else he would be, anyway. He'd never leave someone--leave Chloe--alone at a time like this. So he stays, sometimes rubbing her back, sometimes just leaving his hand there, a warm and gentle reminder of solidity.]

If you're here, then... then, d-do you think... maybe she found another way?

[ Chloe shakes her head. It jostles the paper, just a little. ]

There wasn't... l-last I remember she was already starting to travel back.

[Damn it.

Prompto closes his eyes and bows his head, then puts his arm around Chloe's shoulders once more.]

I... I'm glad... you got that week.

[Shnrrf.]

...Me too. I- [ She swallows. ] I can't wait...to remember more of it.

[It's a sad, small smile, but it's there.]

Tell me about it when you do?

[Selfishly, childishly, he doesn't want these things to be memories. But he can't take that away from Chloe.]

[ She sniffs and roughly wipes away tears. ]

...Yeah. I could talk about Max any time.

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Week 2

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...does this qualify as suicide content warning

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