And the Town of Snow (snowblindrpg AU)

[cahooted]

[He's young. He feels young, his body feels young. Well, younger, he doesn't think of himself as old because he's not but anyway, that is not the point, the point is that no, no, no, he can't be here, he doesn't have time for this. Not when the end of times is literally upon them, when Apep is about to unleash Pure Evil into the world!

Flynn dusts himself off, taking a look around the morgue and rolls his eyes so hard he's actually tilting his head back. Of all the places to be, of all the past adventures horrors to haunt him, it had to be Norfinbury. He remembers, it had happened before. People returning after having gone home for a while. Only that in his case, 'a while' spans more than a decade.

He remembers a lot of other things, too, and rubs his face erratically against the onslaught of memories that had been lost to him for over ten years. It's all a bit much, not that he'd admit it, and he does the only thing he knows when facing a situation like this.

Absolutely not dealing with it.

Instead he grabs the tablet and opens a feed, pacing impatiently.]

Alright, yes, yes, yes, I'm back, wonderful. Seriously, you people are still on this? Where are we at? How long was I gone? Who's working on what?

Comments

[Video -> Action]

[zunesareawesome]

That's exactly what someone with a death price would say!

Don't worry man, I'm gonna rescue you! And provide your favorite orange beverage! Just hold tight. I'm not far from there at all.

[It takes a couple hours, but Peter treks through the snow at top speed, propelled by both worry and excitement. Gotta save Flynn from...whatever this weirdness was. Lack of emotion, maybe? He was speaking differently, too.

Peter squints as he approaches the door to the morgue.

Cold. That's what it was. He lacked his usual warmth, his...his everything.

Don't worry, bro. He'll get you back.

He yanks on the door to open it.]

Hey! Flynn? You here?

[cahooted]

Over here.

[He's been busy, scouting the network to catch up on the month he's missed. It's so weird to see all these faces - and himself - unchanged. How could it possibly only be a month later?

He's been writing on the morgue walls, too, things that had been tried, different results because they need to solve this once and for all. Ideally by tomorrow.]

Electromagnetic impulse to the... no, no, that wouldn't do a thing. Diverting energy from the power plant? Lacks the resources. Have to get behind the morgue doors. How to stop the killer robot? Corrosive material?

[zunesareawesome]

[...look, he can recognize someone planning a morgue experiment when he sees one. He fights down his horror and all the weirdness and tries to put on a steadier, brave face. This is just temporary. Just a death price. No big deal.]

Bad idea, dude. Why don't you take it easy for a few days, give some time for that death price to wear off?

[He holds out the soda like a treat to a dog.]

I got Fanta. We gotta get to another house before lockdown.

[Don't you want Fanta, dude? Yes you do. Yes you do!]

[cahooted]

[Flynn scowls because wow, do NOT tell him this is a bad idea, he doesn't have bad ideas. Maybe he used to, once, but these days he's a professional with a decade of experience so they will solve this stupid town puzzle in a couple of days and then he'll go back home and find the Eye of Ra which is more important than anything right now and he looks up sharply with a scowl on his face and--

And it's Peter. Peter, his friend (his best friend), loud and obnoxious and kind and naive and enthusiastic and for a moment Flynn's heart stops, unprepared for another wave of emotions, stronger this time, threatening to overwhelm him. It's been so long and he had forgotten all about him.]

Hello, Peter.

[He glances down at the Fanta and his brow furrows in irritation.]

What are you doing?

[zunesareawesome]

Hey, dude.

[...he stands still, like he's expecting something.]

...making sure you leave the morgue by using the Fanta to get you out of here? Because clearly you're under a really weird and admittedly scary death price?

[...still waiting.]

So...yeah.

[Heck, he's just gonna go in for it. He reaches over for the biggest bear hug ever.]

I really missed you!

[cahooted]

[This time Flynn freezes for real.

He's not a stranger to hugs or physical affection, not anymore, not since Eve and the LITs but this here is different. This is from a time before and it is firmly rooted in sentiment and emotion. Flynn's hand comes up to rest on Peter's back and with a quick, surprised smile flashing on his face before he returns the hug. It's stiff and clumsy, like he doesn't quite know what to do.]

I... I missed you, too.

[His voice is still guarded but it has softened, some warmth coming back. He is glad to see Peter. He did miss his friend. He just doesn't know how to deal with it right now.]

I mean, you know. I would have if I had remembered you. How long was I gone?

[zunesareawesome]

[There we go. Peter feels better, like he reached him somehow, and this was getting really weird. Once he lets go, he holds he Fanta out to him for real. But something in his face falls when Flynn says he didn't remember him.]

...you went back.

[He knows exactly what that's like, and that just...explained everything. This had to be more than a death price. His stomach drops. Oh, man.]

You've been gone a month. How long were you...

[cahooted]

Yes, I did. [Flynn turns the bottle in his hands because he doesn't want to look at Peter's pained expression when he says he went home and didn't remember him. But at his friend's words, he glances up.]

A month?

[That's just... He laughs at that, but the sound lacks its usual warmth, it's more biting, nasal, humorless and there's something almost unpleasant about it.

Flynn takes a sip from his Fanta.]

I went home for ten years, Peter. A month... [He shakes his head, raising the bottle, trying to catch a glimpse of his own reflection in the glass and touches his face, the corner of his eyes. No wrinkles.]

This is so weird. Is it the same body, just an upgrade of memories? But if it's the same body, why do we come back in the same body? Can't they update the body information, only the mind information?

[zunesareawesome]

[It hurts, it hurts to think about going back and not remembering. It's happened to him and it devastated him, but considering that wasn't ever going to happen again, it's not something he's thought much about, accepting that Norfinbury was just going to be the rest of his life now.

But Flynn, going back--for ten years--and not remembering him?

Yeah. That hurt a lot.]

Weird, yeah. [His voice trails off.] I think people figured it was just a memory upgraded same body.

[cahooted]

What? Mh. Yes, yes, I remember.

[He takes another sip and the sweetness of the beverage triggers another memory. Peter, heartbroken and blind, and Flynn sharing his soda with him and it's so wonderful to see his face light up and--

And it hurts. Flynn pushes the memory away but it's enough to finally make him stop and acknowledge the situation. To acknowledge Peter.]

I, uh. [He clears his throat again.] It really is good to see you, Peter. I'm not... I mean, I... [The words, they just won't come. For a moment he looks almost helpless in the wake of it all and his mouth opens and closes several times.]

Thank you for the... it's really good.

[He brings his hand up, maybe for a hug? No, he pats Peter's arm, puts his hand down again. Okay, that was pathetic.]

[zunesareawesome]

[Yeah, this is awkward and weird and there's just...that coldness again. An arm pat? Really? Peter glances down at the friendship bracelet on his own wrist and frowns, worry in his eyes.]

You're welcome, bro.

[Ten years. Ten years and...something must have happened. Because he's so different, isn't he?

The thought catches in his throat and his heart skips a beat.

What if none of this is a death price and he really is like this for good?

No, no way, come on, it was--had to be...

But ten years was a really long time. How old was he now even?]

...sorry you had to end up back here.

[Maybe that's what was bothering him. How could you be happy to see your best friend if you were stuck in this place after being home?]

[cahooted]

[There are so many things he wants to say, to explain. God, where would he even start?]

... Yes, well. It's a spectacularly bad time.

[His brow furrows in worry. Rationally he knows that apparently no time passes while he's here but that doesn't make the forced intermission any easier to bear.]

[zunesareawesome]

...bad time? Were you in the middle of something?

[He knows that feel, bro.]

Nothing much's happened here when you were gone.

[Besides himself being crushed under worry, that was.]

[cahooted]

[Now look what you did.]

We're at war. The end of times is upon us, the ultimate battle between Good and Evil has begun.

[He starts pacing again.]

No, no, no, I can't be here, not now, not when I'm so close...

cw Infinity War spoilers throughout rest of thread

[zunesareawesome]

...oh! Oh cool, I've been through one of those.

We lost, though.

[He tries to pat him heartily on the back.]

Don't worry, bro, you'll end up back there soon enough, I'm sure.

[cahooted]

Well, we didn't.

[His voice takes a sharp turn. Look, this young dashing body doesn't reflect it but his actual age hobo self hasn't slept in weeks and Fanta can only do so much.]

And we won't. Because I found the one thing that might help us stop him. Or I would have [walking a few steps into the room, tilting his head back and shouting at noone in particular because it's just a thing he does these days] if someone hadn't brought me back into this stupid icicle town!!

[zunesareawesome]

[...

Peter just stares, slowly lifting up his tablet to film him because maybe this is a death price, maybe it's not, but Flynn's acting like...this and he wants to make sure he has recorded it for posterity.

Also it's kind of scary. He doesn't like him sounding like this. Or spazzing out.]

Dude, are you okay?

[cahooted]

Am I okay? Am I okay? No I am not okay! Pure Evil is leaking into the world, I have a job to do and the universe has nothing better to do than to stick me into a backwater Alaskan town with riddles that make no sense!

[Still randomly shouting at the ceiling. It's cathartic, okay!]

Is that your doing, Apep? Because if you think this is going to stop me, ohohohoh, you better think again. Because I will return and I'm getting the Eye and there is nothing you can do about it! Do you hear me!?

[zunesareawesome]

[Still filming, bro.

What is happening even? He doesn't know. It's terrifying. It's the most entertainment he's had in weeks. He's gonna replay it back later and laugh.]

That sounds like...a real big deal, bro.

We had a little something like that in my universe. Way worse than yours, though.

[cahooted]

[Flynn whirls around at that and there is something genuinely angry at those words.]

Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize the end of my world was a competition.

Put that thing down! You know nothing about the things that happened to me.

[zunesareawesome]

It's not, it's just...you know, one little earth, we had to deal with every planet.

[Why are you angry? What is this? Peter frowns and turns the tablet off, his arms dropping down to his side, holding the tablet with a hand.]

...then maybe you can tell me about 'em.

[A pause. Time to get real.]

You're different. This...this isn't your death price, is it?

[cahooted]

One little Earth? "One little Earth"!? It's my Earth! The planet I've been protecting for over a decade, the place I have sacrificed everything for! You don't get to belittle that!

[Still pacing. It's like he's unable to stand still.]

I told you, I don't have a death price.

[zunesareawesome]

Okay, okay, I'm sorry.

[He tilts his head, studying him.]

You have to have a death price, dude. Everyone does.

...you seem really stressed. We should get outta here, find a nice place to settle for the night. Right?

[cahooted]

Right. Yes. Yes, we should.

[The lockdown. They're in a morgue. Can't stay in a morgue, he remembers.

Still scowling Flynn sets out towards the door...

... and suddenly stops in his tracks, right in front of it. He stares at the door for the longest time, uncomprehending.]

Wh...

oh no

[zunesareawesome]

[Peter sets out behind him, not thinking anything of it. He doesn't even realize Flynn's having a problem until he puts his tablet back inside his pack and realizes he hasn't taken another step.]

Something wrong, dude?