estoria | [closed]

Entry tags:

ankh,
eiji hino

[closed]

Who: Ankh and Eiji
When: 7/21 IC
Where: Their apartment
What: Foxes having too much fun with two people sharing a small apartment
Rating/Warning: Some violent bad memories

[Now that the strange spirit foxes have been there a couple days, both Eiji and Ankh have accidentally run into the other's on more than one occasion. That's something that happens frustratingly easily when two people share a small studio apartment. Having to avoid touching anything warm was bad enough, but avoiding something invisible that doesn't like to stay in sight of the one person who can see it? Nearly impossible.

But they've managed. Luckily, none of the memories they've experienced that way have been a big deal. It's all been things they were both there for the first time, anyway, so maybe the perspective is a little different but there haven't been any surprises.

For the moment, Ankh is sitting in his chair, poking at his cerevice to see if there's anything new on the network, and hoping this spirit animal that's been following him around is going to behave.]

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[There's a side effect, though, to all of this tripping over nigh-invisible foxes. Eiji knows he's forgetting things--little things, mind you. A couple names, here and there, some people he'd known in high school, or the exact reason why he'd picked up a fairly expensive feather necklace for Ankh.

Not that he was going to own up to the missing memories, of course. So with absolutely no decorum whatsoever, he hands the box over to Ankh.]

Here. It was a little expensive, but it was on clearance, so...

[Wow, if he remembered it was a late birthday gift, he would feel really awful mentioning any of this so insensitively right now.]

[Ankh, meanwhile, has certainly forgotten some things, but since none of them involve something like having gotten someone here a present to remind him that there's something he doesn't know, he hasn't even realised it. Aside from feeling generally a little weird, which could be explained by any number of other things over the past few days, like the part where he keeps walking into everyone else's memories over and over.

He looks up when Eiji shoves a package at him, entirely unfazed by the commentary that goes along with it. He can guess well enough what the gift is about, regardless. With a slightly skeptical look at Eiji, he opens the box to reveal a piece of jewelry that is... surprisingly not hideous. He picks it up from the box, examining it with only mild interest.]

[And Eiji really isn't sure how to read that, especially since he was hoping Ankh might give him some clue what he's forgetting. But nope.

And on top of that, his fox is getting too close to Ankh again.]

Ankh, don't move. I'm going to try to keep the fox away from you.

[And he starts walking in its way.]

[Well, that draws his attention away from the present. The last thing he wants to hear is that Eiji's fox spirit is trying to run into him again. He doesn't move, but he does look over just in time to see his own fox put itself on a collision course with Eiji's leg.]

Wait, don't-

[Too late.]

[Eiji doesn't feel it hit him, but he does feel the uncomfortably familiar rush of foreign memories as he freezes mid-step, unable to catch himself before he starts to fall.]

[And of course he hit it in a way where he froze off balance. Good job, Eiji. Ankh moves to make an attempt at catching him before he manages to hit his head on something, but sadly the other fox is still out and about and apparently their souls are determined to trip each other.

He does not succeed in catching Eiji. In fact, he lands on top of him.]

[Well, at least Ankh was going to have a good memory to watch, as an old man walks through a midday bazaar, stopping a moment so a little boy can catch up.

It might take a moment for him to recognize the boy, but the old man laughs and says, "You're going to have to learn to walk faster, if you're going to join me on these trips, Eiji."

And that's a very familiar pout before the boy answers, "But Grandpa, how can I see everything if I'm just supposed to keep walking?"

"All right," his grandfather answers, lifting him up onto his shoulders. "Pick which direction we're going."

Eiji grins and points toward a street. "That one!"]

[Well, that certainly isn't one he's seen before in any way. Ankh catches himself smiling a little, though that quickly shifts to confusion as he comes back to reality and for a second has not the slightest idea why he's suddenly sprawled across Eiji's back.]

[Eiji, on the other hand, isn't waking up so easily. Because he sees OOO, the original, plunging his claws into Ankh's back and removing Medals, before leaving him lying on the floor, reaching out helplessly for him.

He knows it's Ankh's worst memory, and seeing it for himself is worse than anything he could have prepared for.

It doesn't help that there's an elbow in his back right now, making it really hard to tell which part is a memory and which part is reality.]

[The elbow in his back, at least, will be moving shortly as Ankh pushes himself up to a sitting position, looking generally put off by this whole situation. It's only after he gets himself upright that he looks back over at Eiji, who hasn't yet moved and has that look on his face that says he's shaken by whatever he saw.

That in itself isn't enough to tell him exactly what it was that just went through Eiji's mind, but he's very sure he doesn't like this.]

[Okay, the pain in his back is gone. He's still on the floor, but he's looking at...a wispy fox that apparently decides that it needs to scamper off toward his bed.

He knows where he is now, and he breathes a sigh of relief.]

I'm okay.

[So Eiji has reestablished reality, at least. That much is good. And Ankh is tempted to leave it at that, because he probably doesn't want to have to think about whatever that was. But he's torn, because that was also one of his memories and he wants to know what Eiji knows.

So rather than come up with anything to say, he just... sits there. Looking at him.]

[Eiji, right now, is starting to think that his little spirit animal had the right idea in running off to go stick its head into a pillow or something. But he can't very well just avoid Ankh forever, even if he doesn't have any idea how to approach the subject.]

I...

[And along with the horror of just what he saw, there's this nagging curiosity. Why did Ankh join with the first OOO, if he was basically greed incarnate? How didn't he see it coming?

But it's all through the lens of 800 years of consequences, so how could he?]

The original OOO. I, I mean, I knew, but I didn't expect...

[Oh. That was what Eiji saw. 800 years ago, and that's the memory the stupid fox decided to dig up?]

Didn't expect what?

[He can't help snapping, because he was right the first time; it was something he didn't want to think about. And Eiji had known that story already, so what did a few details matter.]

[Eiji just can't look up. He didn't have any control over what he saw or whether he wanted to see it or not, but he feels guilty anyway.]

[The silence doesn't help. It's something he doesn't want to think about but now he is, and he needs to know what it is that's making Eiji react that way. Ankh reaches over and grabs his shoulder trying to get him to stop hiding his face in the floor.]

Oi. Tell me.

[He tries. He looks at him for a minute before glancing down.]

When he...

[He doesn't even know how to put it. "When he betrayed you" doesn't even seem to begin to cover it, but "when he took your Medals" seems too direct.

And with how shaken up he feels from his fox's encounter with Ankh, he just squeezes his eyes tight for a moment.]

I think I'm going to be sick.

[And Ankh isn't feeling any better, really, what with just having had the same mix of seeing someone else's memory and having his seen. There's a reason he hasn't moved from that spot where he's sitting on the floor. So he just ignores the comment about being sick. Eiji hadn't gotten far into that first sentence, but Ankh can fill it in easily enough.]

When he stabbed me in the back, you mean.

[Literally and figuratively.]

[Eiji nods slowly before opening his eyes again. Leave it to Ankh to be completely blunt about it, even when it's his own experience.

But those were his hands that did it--Eiji was OOO now, and it was hard to keep in mind that his predecessor used the same power for very different, very selfish reasons. The same hands that Eiji reached out with to help others, the King had reached out with to seize power.]

[Why shouldn't he be blunt? It's what happened. And Ankh will never forgive him for it, but that has nothing to do with OOO. And Ankh has no way of knowing what Eiji is thinking right now, so he doesn't say anything further, just sits there trying to will himself to not be slightly dizzy.]

[Eiji still can't figure out anything to say, so all he can do is sit there in the extremely awkward silence.

These foxes are going to be a problem, especially in this tiny apartment, but there's no way he can talk about that either.]

[The awkwardness is palpable. And for a moment the silence is appreciated, because it gives Ankh a chance to calm down. And he does relatively quickly because, well, it's not like he ever really forgets that that happened. It doesn't take much to set it back to the usual level of background noise in his thoughts.

Meanwhile, Eiji seems to still be stewing over it. Which just seems a little wrong in context.]

What's up with you?

It was OOO. It was like watching myself doing it. And I'd never...

[He at least has enough memories to stop right there. He remembers the promise they'd made, that they'd turn on each other if they ever had a reason to.

But there's a sizable gap in his memories now, and he can't seem to recall a few months between trying to rescue Ankh and then his broken Medal. Something huge happened, obviously, but the fact that he's not sure what is troubling.]

[That was why, then. Ankh is so used to Eiji being OOO by now that the association doesn't bother him anymore, but he supposes that doesn't apply when Eiji never had any contact with the first one.]

No, you wouldn't.

[There's no barb to it, no subtle implication of and-you-better-not. It's just a statement.]

[There's something wrong, and Eiji knows it. He just can't think of what.

Still, though, he nods.]

We've got to figure out what to do with these things, if they're going to be doing this. It isn't safe in here, but I really don't want to risk bringing them outside either.

[He nods to that, finally getting up from his spot on the floor and moving to sit at the edge of his chair.]

It looks like we can't both stay here too long. [Not unless they want to trade literally all their memories and that sounds like something he'd rather avoid.] It doesn't seem like there's any way to control them, either.

[The annoyance at the situation is clear in his voice as he tries to think about it, but after a pause, it's not like there's any other answer than "be outside." He shrugs slightly.]

I can avoid people more easily than you can.

[Wings are an advantage in this case.]

I'm not asking you to leave.

[But it's frustrating, and he can't think of anything better.]

It would be a lot easier if we could at least see each other's.

[He knows you're not kicking him out, Eiji. It's just the only answer he can come up with. And that would be easier, but it also doesn't seem likely to happen. So that's the answer then. Standing up and heading over to the balcony.]

I wanted to explore more, anyway.

[It's a big place, and there are still parts of it he knows nothing about. But he glances back.]

If you come up with a way to make these things visible, let me know.

[Unfortunately for Eiji, he can't see Ankh's fox following him out and hopping on him in the process.

This memory, at least, is just a flash--a young girl from a long time ago, apparently trusting Ankh as he creates a Yummy from her.

And then it's over, and much as Eiji wants to catch his breath and ask Ankh what he just saw, he decides not to. If only because it's another reason why Ankh had to go.]

Who was she?

[It's not just the amount of trust the girl shows that's odd; the feeling from Ankh isn't the disregard for a victim that Eiji might have come to expect. Instead he's young and stupid and sure he's doing something helpful. Granting a wish.

It's a memory he's already forgotten, so it's just as well that any questions Eiji might have about it don't reach him right now.

As Ankh sprouts wings and takes off from the balcony, the fox returns to Eiji for another brief connection, almost as if it's intentional this time.

It's brief again, and straightforward. This memory is from earlier today, and there's nothing different aside from having access to a few stray thoughts. About how even if Eiji doesn't say it, Ankh knows this is the present he insisted on getting for his birthday. How he thinks the comment about it being on clearance is odd until it's something obviously expensive and he wonders if Eiji guessed that Ankh might yell at him for wasting money on something like that. And how as he looks at it, he likes it despite himself, and he can't help wondering when Eiji developed a sense of taste.

Aside from the feeling of dizziness that could just as easily have been left over from before, Ankh is unaware of any of this. The necklace, for the moment, lies forgotten in the chair.]

[This memory, more than the others, is disorienting--the very same thing he just experienced, but from Ankh's point of view. It's the context he's missing.

Eiji's smarter than he looks, and it doesn't take long for him to realize that if he's suffering random memory loss, then Ankh is too, and the foxes are the cause.

He glares at his for a second before staggering to his feet and running outside. Despite its more cautious nature, the fox follows behind him.

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