[Crow offers a small smile to Rean, taking comfort in his presence as he feels his hand being taken. He was so used to being the one to lead Rean or Elliot that it feels almost awkward being led like this himself.
Rean's strong resolve and calm voice are enough to calm him down for a few moments as they start to make their way down the sidewalk towards his apartment.
Then he could at least lie down and try and collect himself. Maybe it WAS just the heat after--
"I take no joy in this--"
Crow stops dead in his tracks, the grip on Rean tightening once more as his eyes now bore holes into the sidewalk. It's as if his mind was whisked away somewhere else, lost in his thoughts as he listens to them on repeat, an echo chamber that never ends. Wherever he was looking, it sure wasn't on this Earth.
"So that's the plan if you win, huh? What about if -I- win?"]
Rean?
[His voice utters without even thinking, fingers clutching onto him as if his life depended on it.
But the voices keep coming, bombarding him and overlapping in his head.
"If you win, I'll pay up the interest I owe you on that 50 mira. Hell, we could even trade places. I'll babble on about friendship and dreams, and you can have fun for once in your life."
"You've got yourself a deal. But I hope you know what you just signed up for, because the Bank of Rean has the highest interest rate on the continent. And if we'll be trading places--"
Rean's voice, with a new tone that cut him to his core. It was so hurt, so angry..like he's holding back tears. It cuts off, for just a second, before some other memories take its place--
"You do know I'm not serious about that, right? I'm not actually keeping track of any "debt." I don't actually care. I just like having it as a joke between us. That's all. I didn't mean anything by it."
A phrase Rean hadn't even voiced, and yet he heard as clear as day. From this life...
"Then we're in agreement, huh?"
His own voice this time, despite it not being something he'd ever voiced. The memory was warm and inviting, and for a moment, Crow thinks he's bringing himself out of it--
--"don't forget you'll have a mountain of work waiting for you back at the academy... so one way or another, you'll be coming back with us, Crow!"
By this point, Crow's breath has become ragged, hand reaching up to grip his face. He wants to sit down now, to process this somewhere his legs don't have to move. But that was a luxury that had to wait until they're back at his apartment. The voices die down, thankfully, but only a momentary relief. Because now he knows something went terribly, terribly wrong in his past life. His voice was the same as the one he'd been having nightmares about, the one that time and time again was followed by a bullet that seemed to weigh more than just its mass.
Something was very, very wrong.
A typical, run-of-the-mill sob story.]
Don't worry about me--just get me to my apartment Rean, even if you have to drag me.
[Thankfully, his feet were moving autonomously, so Rean won't have to.]
no subject
Rean's strong resolve and calm voice are enough to calm him down for a few moments as they start to make their way down the sidewalk towards his apartment.
Then he could at least lie down and try and collect himself. Maybe it WAS just the heat after--
"I take no joy in this--"
Crow stops dead in his tracks, the grip on Rean tightening once more as his eyes now bore holes into the sidewalk. It's as if his mind was whisked away somewhere else, lost in his thoughts as he listens to them on repeat, an echo chamber that never ends. Wherever he was looking, it sure wasn't on this Earth.
"So that's the plan if you win, huh? What about if -I- win?"]
Rean?
[His voice utters without even thinking, fingers clutching onto him as if his life depended on it.
But the voices keep coming, bombarding him and overlapping in his head.
"If you win, I'll pay up the interest I owe you on that 50 mira. Hell, we could even trade places. I'll babble on about friendship and dreams, and you can have fun for once in your life."
"You've got yourself a deal. But I hope you know what you just signed up for, because the Bank of Rean has the highest interest rate on the continent. And if we'll be trading places--"
Rean's voice, with a new tone that cut him to his core. It was so hurt, so angry..like he's holding back tears. It cuts off, for just a second, before some other memories take its place--
"You do know I'm not serious about that, right? I'm not actually keeping track of any "debt." I don't actually care. I just like having it as a joke between us. That's all. I didn't mean anything by it."
A phrase Rean hadn't even voiced, and yet he heard as clear as day. From this life...
"Then we're in agreement, huh?"
His own voice this time, despite it not being something he'd ever voiced. The memory was warm and inviting, and for a moment, Crow thinks he's bringing himself out of it--
--"don't forget you'll have a mountain of work waiting for you back at the academy... so one way or another, you'll be coming back with us, Crow!"
By this point, Crow's breath has become ragged, hand reaching up to grip his face. He wants to sit down now, to process this somewhere his legs don't have to move. But that was a luxury that had to wait until they're back at his apartment. The voices die down, thankfully, but only a momentary relief. Because now he knows something went terribly, terribly wrong in his past life. His voice was the same as the one he'd been having nightmares about, the one that time and time again was followed by a bullet that seemed to weigh more than just its mass.
Something was very, very wrong.
A typical, run-of-the-mill sob story.]
Don't worry about me--just get me to my apartment Rean, even if you have to drag me.
[Thankfully, his feet were moving autonomously, so Rean won't have to.]