[Video]

[bakegarasu]

[It's late at night (or early in the morning, depending on your view). Otoha blinks at the camera, a softer expression than usual on his face. Still, he looks... concerned.]

Mm. Things aren't right here. Other people have been noticing it, too.

Is everyone safe, at least?

[... He frowns slightly. He's not normally this worried about other people. He winces in remembered pain at something, and turns off the video.]

Comments

[not_heavens_adam]

He blinked at the demand but didn't move from his spot.

"You've got someone else's memories too, don't you?"

[tyrantball]

"Of course Tachikoma does! You think I'd talk like this on purpose?! Tachikoma doesn't know if she's coming or going, and she can barely even walk properly because she keeps remembering having different numbers of legs! Everything has been going wrong since I got these stupid memories, but Desco won't let this go wrong! Even if Desco makes you mad at her, Tachikoma doesn't care!"

Staring at both of you simultaneously, each of her eyes going in different directions.

"Desco wants you to be happy, and Tachikoma is an idiot that doesn't think of herself! So you have to talk!"

[bakegarasu]

"Desco. There's... it's... complicated. Forcing it isn't really going to fix it right now."

Not to mention that the idea of trying to go through this again is making him start going red again.

[not_heavens_adam]

Johnny finally moved from his spot but, instead of going to Otoha, he knelt next to Desco and kissed the top of her head.

"We're not mad at you and we certainly don't want you to get upset...it's just...well, sometimes we can't have what we want, no matter how much we want it. That's just how it is."

He glanced at Otoha but quickly turned his eyes back to the demon girl. "Besides...things are rarely as easy as all that. Especially things like this."

[tyrantball]

At that, Desco smacks Johnny on the shoulder with her open hand - a light blow that won't do damage, tears falling from the eyes that dangle from her ears.

"That's not how it is! Stop talking like a human!"

As she straightens herself up, the golden eye over her heart starts crying as well.

"You aren't human! Tachikoma isn't human! Nobody in this room is a human! So don't...so don't smile at me and say those lying human words!"

[bakegarasu]

"... He's more human than I am."

Otoha just turns and goes to head out the door. He's going to go out and get some air.

[tyrantball]

Guess what? Desco still has her tentacles out. She lashes out with one of them, curling it around Otoha's midsection and holding him in place before howling angrily.

"IF YOU'RE A DEMON, THEN ACT LIKE IT!"

She pauses for breath, panting angrily, before lowering her voice to something more normal and speaking very precisely.

"If Tachikoma has to break your legs and shove you both in a closet to get the two of you to talk, then she will do it. Don't make the mistake of thinking Tachikoma is anywhere near as human in her thinking as the two of you."

The concentric circles of her pupils have expanded, turning her red eyes into something resembling bottomless whirlpools of black shot through with faint streaks of crimson.

[bakegarasu]

Otoha grabs onto the tentacle and reaches towards his sword. He doesn't turn around, but he doesn't pull his sword out, either.

"I'm not a demon either. I'm a guardian of a city who hasn't been able to protect his city in a very long time. And I don't want to talk right now. There's nothing to say. Besides, he doesn't deserve to be with someone like me. Let me go, Desco. Or I'll make you let me go, and I don't want to hurt you."

His voice is calm, but firm.

[not_heavens_adam]

In a flash Johnny was by Otoha, a hand on the tentacle and a hand on the wrist that was going for the sword. "Stop. Both of you. None of us are ourselves right now, this isn't the time to be talking about anything."

Golden eyes look to Desco- "Nothing's going to change one way or another, because when they do and something goes wrong there's no fixing it." -and then move to lock with gold-green eyes, his voice quieter. "And you're right, I don't deserve someone like you. Monsters deserve monsters and humans can do better than monsters."

[bakegarasu]

"If anyone's the monster here, it's me. You know that now better than anyone."

He pulled his wrist away from Johnny, and attempted to pry Desco off of him.

"Let me go, Desco."

[tyrantball]

Desco's actually snarling now.

"Why? So you can leave? Go ahead! Attack Tachikoma! IT WON'T BE THE FIRST TIME MY FAMILY'S TRIED TO KILL ME!"

[not_heavens_adam]

Johnny almost looked panicked as a burst of his own emotions broke through the borrowed memories.

"No! No one's attacking or killing anyone. Calm down...please." This was his family and it wasn't supposed to fall apart like this.

He put both hands on Otoha's arm, one at his wrist and one at his shoulder. It was to get his attention, but in the back of his mind he kept the possibility he'd have to pop the arm out of it's socket just to prevent anyone from doing anything they'd regret.

"Despite what you may believe, my...your memories have not and will not change my opinion of you."

[bakegarasu]

"Stop it, Johnny. Desco, I'm not going to kill you. Just leave me alone. I just want to leave for a bit."

He had to. He needed to get some air, get some perspective, get some kind of break from this. Everyone he cared about left him. Reiji, - wait. ... Oh.

His face paled slightly as the realization hit him.

"I'm not leaving either of you. I just want to get some air."

He moved to try to shove Johnny away with his free hand.

"Both of you, let me go."

Even despite his usual calm, he was starting to panic slightly at being immobile.

[tyrantball]

Desco eyes Otoha suspiciously.

"Even if Tachikoma lets you go, I won't leave you alone. Both of you are acting too much like humans to be trusted on your own! You'd do something really stupid if Tachikoma isn't there to straighten you out!"

[not_heavens_adam]

With Otoha putting into words what Johnny was feeling, he suddenly felt incredibly tired and he mellowed out. He stepped away from Otoha and just went to sit on the nearest piece of furniture he could find.]

It doesn't matter. You should let him go, Desco...he's not the sitting still type.

[He put his chin in his hands and stared at nothing, completely done with the conversation. What if Desco was mad at him? What if Otoha left and didn't come back? He couldn't change it if that was what they wanted.]

Besides, what Tachikoma wants isn't necessarily what you want, right? You should keep that in mind.

[bakegarasu]

"Desco, don't follow me. For one, I want to be alone for a bit. For another, I'm probably going to be places that you shouldn't be."

Stop A: the bar. Stop B: beating up monsters.

"Just let me go."