◎uno◎ | Video

[spaghettiokay]

[He's stares into the feed, shaken, obviously shaken. And quiet. Quiet for the longest time because...well, what really is there to say? One minute he was at home and -

[...was he at home? He can't remember. Maybe it was school, Gwen's house, maybe even...maybe even the store or something, but-

[But not here. Definitely not here, he would have remembered this, this...ticking. He winces at the sound, so grating, his grip tightening on the communicator until you can almost hear the plastic squeaking beneath the pressure.]

This is not real, it's not real.

[He keeps his eyes closed, whispering through gritted teeth, determined to make the dream dissipate, to wake up safe in his bed.

[But eventually his eyes have to flutter back open, back to the carousel, back to the ticking...]

No...

No, this can't...this can't be real, it can't--

[Suddenly, he seems to focus on the communicator. There was a reason he switched it on...]

H-hey! Hey, if there's anybody out there, I--...I-I need to get home, I don't...belong here. I need to go home!

[He sucks in a sharp breath - hadn't taken one in a while.

[It comes back out shaking.]

Please...Whatever I did, I'm sorry. I'll...I-I'll fix it, just...

Please. Let me go home. Tell me how to go home...

Comments

[spaghettiokay]

[He simply shakes his head, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans and staring off into the opposite direction.]

I don't know, then...

[What else can he say? His voice already sounds hollow and rough, catching in his throat like sandpaper across carpet.]

[anunluckypenny]

You'll be okay, Xavier. You'll get to go home eventually.

[She puts a hand on his shoulder in what's meant to be a comforting gesture.]

[spaghettiokay]

[He flinches a bit when she does, normally not all that fond of people touching him...but it is comforting, all things considered. So he doesn't resist.]

I just don't get...why...

[anunluckypenny]

[Oops, sorry!]

Why what? Why you're here?

[spaghettiokay]

Why...anything, why--

[Goddammit, it sounds so...pathetic, but he just can't shake the feeling--]

...why me? Not like "woe is me" why me, but just...why?

[anunluckypenny]

I don't know. It's not so bad, though.

[spaghettiokay]

[Snort.]

How do you figure?

[anunluckypenny]

Well! You're not missing out on anything while you're here, right? When you go home, it'll be exactly the same as it was when you left, right down to the second. So this is kind of like a vacation, if you're alive.

[spaghettiokay]

Wait...

What? What are you talking about. That's--

[Impossible? Look around, kid.]

[anunluckypenny]

I don't know how to explain it any better than that. It'll sink in... just give it time. You've had a really day.

[spaghettiokay]

No, wait, I--

[I...actually feel a teensy little bit better looking at it that way?]

Just...I mean--

You're serious? Like I'm not missing anything back there, and once I do go back it'll all be just like it was?

[anunluckypenny]

Completely, totally serious. It's like life is a movie, and you're just pausing it to go get something to eat. When it's time to get back to life, you just pick up where you left off. It'll be like you weren't even gone.

[spaghettiokay]

You're serious?

I mean-- I mean you promise?

[They'll never know he was gone? She'll never know he was gone...?]

[anunluckypenny]

I promise, Xavier. That's the way everyone who gets to go back says it goes.

[This is the face of someone who takes promises very seriously.]

[spaghettiokay]

[People unlucky enough to get dragged back here afterward, he can't help but think. He really doesn't have the energy to question that right now, though. So he simply nods, swallows...]

Fine...