IC Contact Post

[pale_blue_arrow]

This is Brendan Frye. If it's urgent, you might have a better chance o' tracking me down on foot. If I'm not answering, chances are I've gotten in over my head with something, not that I'm refusin' to give you the time of day. So leave me some words and I'll get back to you as soon as I don't have a fire to put out.

Comments

[backdate to 5/12]

[siriusly]

--h, ah, hi, Brendan. Sorry, guess I missed you. [beat. that thing about being in over his head...?

er, anyway:] About that job thing. It's-- it's actually not a huge deal, like I thought. Honestly, you can just tell them you aren't interested and it was kind of just tossed at you and it should be okay... I mean, I think so. Nobody tossed any papers at me when I did so.

So. There's that. I kept my promise! And...I'll talk to you soon, I guess.

[... ... ...] Let me know if you need any help with anything else, alright?


'Bye!

[pale_blue_arrow]

[Brendan manages to find the phone, which he continually leaves different places and forgets, just too late to answer it. It was buried under his pillow and his pillow, under his jacket. He listens to the message and breathes a sigh of relief. Money was a necessary evil of the world, so an actual job? Very welcome news.

Given Manabu seems flighty as ever, he decides a quick text back is probably the best thing, here. And given Manabu has been helpful, Brendan really will attempt not to tease him again. Poor guy needed to learn to set boundaries.]

sorry about that. was asleep. healing factor is boosted by it + i'm not a morning person, my bad.

thanks. i appreciate you helping a newbie out. ♥

you wanna hang out sometime? my housemate has informed me i'm unhealthily antisocial + i have some other less pressing questions about stuff around here

it's cool if not, no pressure.

[voice]

[couldbebeautiful]

Hey, Brendan! I got an invite from a friend for a party on Friday. Wanna come with me? There'll be free booze.

[text]

[pale_blue_arrow]

sure thing. where's it at and when and is this a party where i oughta actually attempt to dress marginally less badly?

text

[siriusly]

And just like that...the test is done. All I can do now is wait for a good score.
You're off the teaching hook for a little bit looks like!

text

[pale_blue_arrow]

teaching you wasn't a chore or anything. you're a good student when you stop underestimating yourself.

and if you ever decide you wanna do college i'll help you study for the ACT and SAT tests too. dunno what you'd major in but it's a thought to distract you while we wait for the good news.

text;

[lempereur]

I am not sure if you wish to speak with me again.

I should have handled that better, not just the other night, but from the start.

Sorry isn't enough, I know that, but if you will allow it, I would like to make it up to you.

text; about twenty minutes later, just assume all replies are slow in-universe

[pale_blue_arrow]

it was my bad. it's alright. i'm no good for you. or anyone. i bring out the worst in people. this is my fault, not yours.

i'm not mad. it's not okay, but i'm not angry. you don't have to do anything you don't want to, doll. just take care of yourself and that spun-glass heart of yours, okay?

i need somebody i know to be okay. please.

text;

[beastboi]

hey im sorry this took me so long but i think i rmber u helping me get home from that big party???? so thanks dude you kinda saved my butt

[He remembers other parts of that night as well, but in bits and pieces. Blurry and faded out. Holding onto a girl with an alarmingly similar face to Terra's, feeling like she was a life raft. Raiding a fridge alongside a blonde with a thick accent. Brendan's face, flushed and close while they danced.

Cool. That happened.]

text;

[pale_blue_arrow]

no problem. are you better now? you were all kinds of not okay and tbh i'm sort of concerned.

text;

[codeoracle]

[It doesn't take long to look Brendan up following this conversation with Yusuke. She needs to know what she's working against here.]

Brendan, right? We need to talk.

text;

[pale_blue_arrow]

not interested. if yusuke thinks he can send in his friends to fix his fuck ups, he's in for a rude awakening.

7/10; voicemail

[siriusly]

-ey, hi, Brendan! Ah...sorry I missed you, I was checking in, and uh. I wanted to let you know to...uh, if. If anyone approaches you about blood tests or research? Or asks you to participate in something like that...please don't! There's--well, some suspicious things happening related to that, and I wouldn't want you to get mixed up.

So...So, just keep your ears peeled for that kind of thing. Especially if you wind up at one of those big ImPort gatherings, like the swear-ins. I have kind of a bad feeling about the next one...

[beat.

hastily:] But, but it should be alright! Anyway. I'll talk to you later. 'Bye!

[pale_blue_arrow]

can't talk right now but wtf, sunset? i've been keeping my ear to the ground for gossip and haven't heard a word about this.

what's going on? what's happening? are you safe?

failure to answer within thirty minutes will make me storm your house like a castle, for the record.

text

[h2no]

GOING ON THAT TRIP TO ENGLAND.
FRIDGE AIN'T STOCKED IN CASE YOU'RE NOT BACK YET BUT THERE'S $200 UNDER THE MICROWAVE IF YOU NEED ANYTHING.

[pale_blue_arrow]

you're supposed to leave a note not a text

have fun, use protection, liquor before beer never fear, and don't worry, i can stock the fridge forever and a day with that kind of cash

7/30

[siriusly]

Are you still here? Are you OK?

[pale_blue_arrow]

i'm here. i'm as okay as I ever am. are you alright?

text;

[aberranthubris]

Would next Monday be good for a meeting with a psychologist? Perhaps at five PM. How would that sound for you?

-Charles

text;

[pale_blue_arrow]

works for me. also don't sign your texts with your name it makes you seem ancient, chuck.

text;

[lempereur]

It was a clone.

As I am sure you am already aware. And still, no apology.

I thought we were working towards okay, before all that.

text;

[pale_blue_arrow]

i'm aware. my therapist said it was better if i didn't contact you. at least not until i've got my medication sorted out and i'm more stable.

i'm not sure if this is breaking the no contact rule but at least now you know.

[codeoracle]

[She debates doing this for hours. Honestly, she should leave well enough alone and not do anything, but she needs more people in her corner and with how their last talk went--with the way Brendan talked--she's at least convinced he might be willing to lend some kind of help.]

Clones are a thing and Yusuke's sucked and...

I really shouldn't be bothering you with this but I'm pretty sure we're all in over our heads anyway and it's not good so...Reaching out I guess. You wanted to get Yusuke help once...would you still be wanting to lend a hand if it meant getting him out of a shit situation?

[She's been hanging around and talking to Yuri too much, given her adoption of some of his vernacular, but that's literally the only way to describe this mess--a shit situation.]

[pale_blue_arrow]

the shit situation involving configurations of stars in the sky, moll? or is he in another one i should know about?

Invitation

[aberranthubris]

[ One day, this shows up in Brendan's mailbox. See you there? ]

text; backdated to late August

[andtherevolution]

pipe bombs??? what the HELL brendan

Re: text; backdated to late August

[pale_blue_arrow]

1. they are safely stored

2. i built them pre-therapy, pre-medication

3. i have a right to want to protect my friends from the dangers this place has

4. given i'm the only one who knows how to detonate them, the only person likely to get killed by them are potential intruders/clones/supervillains or me.

5. nice of you to remember i exist, angel-hair.

[text]

[couldbebeautiful]

1: Did you ever find your rabbits? Are they okay?

2: There's a pool party this Friday, want to come hang out there?

[It's possible Veronica did not think that second question through.]

[text]

[pale_blue_arrow]

found 'em. one needed some vet care but his paw will be back to normal in a month or so. i found a guy here who literally has the power to speak to animals, he helped track them down since the cops just had zero leads on it.

i'm aquaphobic so thanks for the thought, god knows i need to be more social, but i'll pass. i can't swim anyway, i'd be the awkward guy standing in the corner and nobody likes that guy.

audio

[h2no]

I'd like to talk whenever you're free.

...That sounds really ominous. It's not bad, honest. I just gotta ask ya some stuff.

text

[pale_blue_arrow]

out buying food for bunnies + quoll right now + quoll vitamins. if it's important i can be back in half an hour, though. twenty if i really book it.

9/13, a.m.

[siriusly]

Hey Brendan,
I'm sorry but I need to cancel plans this week. I had some trouble out in Maurtia Falls...

Re: 9/13, a.m.

[pale_blue_arrow]

trouble? shit, are you okay? tell me where you are and i'll be there fast as white lightning.

text;

[lempereur]

I saw the news about Manabu.

Are you okay?

text;

[pale_blue_arrow]

i'm trying to be. i'm worried about him. he doesn't deal with this sort of thing well and i can already tell he's blaming himself. but he really didn't have any other choice...

am i a shitty boyfriend if i don't know how to be comforting in this situation? 'cause i have no clue what to do, here.

10/6, afternoon

[siriusly]

Hi Brenden!
Got a sec? I need an opinion on something

[pale_blue_arrow]

i always have a sec for you. what's going on, sunset?

[aberranthubris]

[ An invitation will arrive in snailmail. Backdated a few days. My bad! ]

text;

[lempereur]

How much experience do you have with homosexual sex?

text;

[pale_blue_arrow]

about two years intermittently of it

four if we're gonna count blowjobs

none with steady boyfriends though. i have commitment issues + i always ended up back with my girlfriend.

...why do you ask?

text

[h2no]

still among the land of the living?
keysmash answer is acceptable

text

[pale_blue_arrow]

scout made friends.

[Attached are pictures of Scout at various places he'd tracked Manabu's scent to, befriending humans of all kinds, getting belly rubs, and licking many a face happily.]

dated around the 5th?

[h2no]

did this weird power shit get to you?
scarlet and scout are safe.
are you okay?

[pale_blue_arrow]

yes

good

i've been out of intensive care for a day and a half now

THIS IS HOW IT ENDS.

[siriusly]

"Mm. Yeah, I did. Thanks."

Manabu gnaws on a snack stick while his mother's voice continues listing off all of the things he confirmed with her on his way out the door twenty minutes prior from his earpiece phone. He makes a few grunts and affirmative sounds in-between as he paces the small arrival deck of his hometown's train station, waiting for his ride back to HQ. He's in his SDF blues, which is all the ticket he'll need for the trip; now it's just a matter of waiting.

"Eh-?" he crunches the stick in half out of surprise. "M-Mom, come on...you already sent so much food last month...I can get half that stuff at HQ!"

But it's not the same, of course. Of course. He sighs, his eyes swiveling to the clock on the wall opposite the tracks. And, as if on queue, he hears the distant whistle of the incoming train.

"Look, I--train's here, so I gotta go, alright?" He scratches the back of his head sheepishly, shrugging at the shoulder strap of his laundry bag hoisted on his back. "Ye-yeah, love you, too. I'll see you later. 'Bye."

He sighs, turning off the call and giving a little glance about him, not keen on being eavesdropped on when he's talking to his mom. Childish, sure, but hey. Some things are grown out more slowly than others.



The Express train 999 is a particularly old model, and more than that, just plain...peculiar. Perhaps not in ways many people realize, either -- and definitely not in ways Manabu notices upon boarding. For one thing, it's the very same one that carried his brother away: it was through one of these windows Mamoru tossed Manabu their baseball for safe keeping. The character of this train is rather unknown, save to its passengers, for unlike other trains, this one seems to ferry its riders to bigger destinies than the ones they walked on with.

Most just don't know it yet.

[pale_blue_arrow]

Brendan doesn’t know exactly how he got here. He’s exhausted, as if he just woke up, groggy and slightly dazed, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses with his fingers and blinking. The train car is unfamiliar to his Californian self, but at the same time, something familiar is in the air, a pleasant feeling he can’t quite place.

Then it comes to a stop and he gets off, moving on automatic, and sees-

“Sunset?”

Oh, that’s what that feeling is. I’m home, he thinks, and then he’s walking up to him, so relieved to see that familiar blue uniform, that soft fluffy hair, those kind eyes he’d spent so much time looking into. Only when he wraps his arms around Manabu does he realize just how badly he’s been missing him this whole time. He shuts his eyes, willing tears not to come.

Brendan knows he should be dead. He should be dead on a California house floor in the rotten-to-the-core town of San Clemente, should have bled out, shouldn’t be here under any circumstances, but somehow he’s here. Somehow he’s here, and there’s nowhere else in the universe he’d rather be.

“Hey,” he says softly, suddenly shy, stepping back to wipe at his eyes. “I missed you.”