EVENT LOG - Amnesia again

[lucetimods]

Who: Anyone
What: Wait, I think I remember, it's- it's- nope.
When: Until the end of the event!
Where: Here. I like it here.
Summary: Well, it's complicated.
Rating: I can't remember

As requested, here's a second round of the log to help ease the first one from CAPTCHA land. Use this to set up new threads if you like!

Comments

[redjacketthief]

[That smile punched him in the gut and made his resolve falter--did he really want to spoil that smile, even if it was for the sake of honesty? He was a liar at heart, and he had been called out time and again over his lies over the last several months, whether they had been intentional or not. His friends expected honesty...

...but only a continued lie could preserve that smile.

He could do it. He could lie and lie just to see her happy and keep the gentleness that he and Aria--no, Syre--had shared during those few days. However, even he knew that the Shift wasn't going to last much longer. An explanation would hurt now, but having her find out on her own would hurt a lot more for the both of them. Any potential at a friendship with her would likely be ruined, and he needed a friend who wouldn't judge him at that point.

Lupin returned her smile with a bitter one of his own as he slid into an adjacent chair and accepted the pen and paper.

It was now or never.]

I did learn something interesting today, but that doesn't mean it's good. Are you free for a while?

[removeimpurity]

Of course I am. I've got all of my things taken care of.

[Some of the words on the pad don't exactly ease her heart, however.]

[Particularly the aspect of anything 'not good'.]

...how bad is it? What you found out, I mean.

[redjacketthief]

[Her eyes...

This all ready hurt.]

This is a Shift, and it will end in a few days.

1/2

[removeimpurity]

A Shift...?

[Right, the Malnosso had a habit of experimenting.]

2/2

[removeimpurity]

[...wait.]

[Did that mean what she thought...?]

...so, this means that... something about this -- about us -- isn't real...?

[redjacketthief]

[He looked away, but his hand kept furiously writing on the pad.]

somethings are true, some are false. we have met. only once.

your name is Syre Atreis, and you are someone i was planning to speak to again. the Malnosso have played a cruel trick on us.

[removeimpurity]

["Only once".]

[That was enough to send whatever hope she had sinking like a wrecked ship. The other part of it -- her real name -- didn't seem as bad.]

[But the fact that she and Lupin weren't even close outside of this one Shift...]

...a cruel trick, indeed. [Her voice is soft, yet heavy with emotion.]

[After a moment, she spares a glance upward, a small, forced smile on her face.]

...better to have learned it now than when the Shift ended, I suppose.

[redjacketthief]

[He could almost feel the pain that he heard in her voice and saw in those eyes when she looked up with that broken smile. Inwardly he cursed the Malnosso once more, again unsure whether he should thank them for the possibilities they have allowed or shoot them for all of the psychological damage they were so intent on causing. The few they had spoken to offered possibilities and promises...

But that didn't make up for the near sadism that was exhibited by other parts of their corporation.

Lupin pushed the notepad and pen aside, knowing full well that no amount of words would bring that smile back to Syre's face. Instead, he broke the distance and pulled her into a close hug.

They may not have had anything, but nothing was needed for a hug.]

[removeimpurity]

[She was dimly aware that tears were welling in her eyes, streaming down her cheeks; aware that there was a tiny, faint memory, breaking through the pain and the heartache and the anger.]

[But she couldn't be bothered to recall it, couldn't be bothered to do anymore than stifle the sobs that threatened to break her composure.]

[Even Lupin's arms around her do little to comfort her. The embrace serves as a painful tease of what she had -- no, of what she could have had, if things were even a little different.]

[redjacketthief]

[He kept his arms firmly around her shoulders, not certain where to begin with a heartbroken woman. Her choked back tears stung--and strengthened his resolve. No matter how nice the Malnosso were, they had made a strong and frighteningly intense woman cry. It was almost as terrible as witnessing Fujiko during her amnesiac period those many months ago. The desperation in her tone and eyes as she begged for answers still haunted his memory.

Lupin wanted to know Syre for who she was, not as she was during this Shift. He wasn't going to leave until he was certain that she would be okay.]

[removeimpurity]

[She sat in his arms for what felt like eternity.]

[Why? The question repeated itself countless times, unanswered. Why give me a false happiness, only to tear it away from me? Does fate truly hate me this much...?]

[But, after a while, the tears had dried, and the sobbing had stopped; the pain, while still very much present, had for now settled into a a dull ache in her chest.]

[Silently, she pulls away from Lupin, and stands; her movements are almost mechanical, a forced composure to her motions as she head to the sink and washes her face.]

[When she finally returns to her seat, her eyes are cold and her expression almost blank; a flicker of her old, not-Shifted self -- an emotionless, chilling professionalism -- comes through in her voice when she finally speaks again.]

...Now that this matter has been settled, I should leave you to your more pressing objectives.

[redjacketthief]

[It was a wall of stoicism that she hid behind, he realized. It was hastily built by blocks that were too heavy, but it was the only way that she could withhold the tears that she had cried in his arms.

Syre had closed herself off entirely, and there was no way he could slip behind that veil of cool professionalism now.

He stood easily and scratched off one last note for her to read before he took his leave.]

there are still things we need to discuss and information that I feel you should know, but we can do that when you're ready.

you know how to find me.

[removeimpurity]

Of course.

[She grabs the book she had been reading and tucks it under her arm, slips her white lab coat on over her shoulders as she rises from her seat once more to accompany him to the door. By the looks of things, she'll be heading out to do some things of her own.]

Until next we meet, then.