IC Contact (post return to game)

[pale_blue_arrow]

You've reached Brendan Frye. 'm out right now, but leave a message and I'll get back to you soon as I can manage. Send a text if you wanna have words 'nd it's urgent. Thanks.

Comments

[h2no]

Yeah, I know. Sorry. I can leave it longer, if you want.

[he sighs, knowing the answer will probably be no and dumps the box of donut holes on the coffee table. mightyena whines a little sympathetically and hops up on the couch, giving brendan a look that just screams come and sit next to me.]

Well, whatever. Uh-- how're you doin'?

[pale_blue_arrow]

It'd be nice to have some time to take it all in. Was I this fast on the uptake before? 'Cause I dunno if I can pull that off twice.

[D'aw, doggo. Brendan smiles, a small, shaky expression, and sits down next to the dog, giving the floof head scritches.] Drama queen. Were we not giving you our undivided attention? [He sighs, rubbing behind Mightyena's ears.]

I'm - I don't know. I'm holding it together. Resisting the urge to do anythin' drastic and fillin' in my time with trying to figure out who knows what about me. Status quo, I guess.

[h2no]

Yeah, I get ya. I just wanted to see how you were doin', really, we don't gotta talk the heavy shit.

[mightyena whines again at the scritches and what he says, pawing at brendan lightly with his front paw. no, there was not enough attention towards him!! he also knows he is a calming presence.]

As long as ya keep resistin'. Get through the first week and you can probably take on any bullshit, honestly. No-one's given you any trouble?

[pale_blue_arrow]

If I ever figure out how I'm doing, I'll let you know.

[Oh, pupper. Why you so cute? Brendan fiddles with the dog's fluff, smiling weakly for a moment. It's kind of nice, getting to borrow someone's pet.]

No one's been anything but nice to me. It's crazy. 'm starting to wonder if there's anybody here I didn't know before.

[h2no]

You don't have to. You don't owe me anything.

[he curls his hand under his chin, watching mightyena lap up all the attention that's given to him.]

I wouldn't know, but imPorts tend to try and support each other. Especially with the recent political climate.

[and yet... it's possibly still better than what he knows brendan is going back to.]

[pale_blue_arrow]

You say that, but... the way you're checking in on me, I get this sense we used to be close. Not sure how, admittedly, 'cause I'm nobody's first choice for a friend, but - we were friends, right?

[The thought is odd, still, something that's taking a while to set in. For Archie to be this worried about him, they had to have gotten to know each other, but what Brendan can't figure is who'd get to know him and not back away immediately from that giant pile of issues, pain and moodswings. His hands still on Mightyena's fur as he looks over at Archie.]

Recent political climate? [Ah, there it is. He'd been waiting for that other shoe to drop.]

[h2no]

Well, like I said. We knew each other for quite a long time. [he shrugs.] But if you want me to go away and leave you alone, I will. If it's too much.

[he might be projecting a bit-- starting again after what he feels like was something he'd messed up really badly doesn't sit right. like he's just been forgiven for failing brendan so badly before. at the same time, he doesn't want to add to the poor guy's mental burden by confessing his failures to him. how could he tell him? hey, you lost your boyfriend to the porter and ended up in hospital because i couldn't do anything for you?

fuck.]

imPorts ain't been very popular, recently. I don't think it's anything you'll need to worry about as a new guy, though... [he rubs the back of his head.] So, uh, there's like two extremes? People either love us and treat us like celebrities or hate us and want us gone. The former-- they're like.

[how to put this delicately...]

They sorta see imPorts as objects for fanfiction and fanart. Like people would for their favourite characters in a TV show? So, uh, be careful. On the internet.

[his expression crimps.]

This is the weirdest fucking thing I've had to warn anyone about, I'm gonna be honest.

[pale_blue_arrow]

Dial it back on the barely-concealed self-contempt and we'll be fine. That's my shtick, Arch.

[Brendan doesn't have delusions that he's not a wreck. He still has delusions about how if Emily hadn't died he'd have pulled himself together and everything would've been fine - he has to think that, needs to believe that just to deal with the current level of pain that's whipped itself up from whispers into a dull roar in his head - but he can figure he probably played a hand in fucking something or other up around here. That's usually how it works, with him.]

...that is the weirdest thing I've heard so far. But if I keep my head down and ignore it, I can probably manage fine. Probably better to let people have their skewed perceptions than it is to try to correct them; anything I say might just add fuel to the fire.

[h2no]

[his nose wrinkles. fuck. didn't mean to make it that obvious. or clear at all, actually. fuck!!!! he forgot how good at reading people this asshole is!!]

Yeah, well, it's sound advice. Shit gets really weird and it's widely accepted as well. It's easy to ignore if you don't go looking for it, but if you're here for another few months people are likely to recognise you on the streets. Like true celebrities, we end up with no privacy.

[...]

Unleeeess you see about moving to the government housing that's a little further into the suburbs. But-- that's up to you, of course. It's just the advice I've learnt from bein' here myself.

[pale_blue_arrow]

[Reading people is vital for the survival of any detective. Even an amateur one like Brendan needs the basics down, and over the years he's honed that to a blunted edge.]

Guess I'll have to keep a low profile. I dunno if I want to move, though. The quiet here is peaceful and I need that right now, Arch. It's space to breathe, finally try to lay my head down and get some rest. Maybe later I'll consider it.

[h2no]

You don't gotta do anythin', there's no harm in stayin' here. It's a solid place and the government gives you more than enough to cover the rent and food. It's pretty good for a break from home.

You don't even gotta do your job, if you don't want to. What did you get assigned?

[pale_blue_arrow]

Yeah... assuming I play nice and get Registered, then I'm in solid with the government. But I'm not seeing a lot of reasons to want to get under their thumb. The last time I was part of an organization I got dead. Would rather not do a repeat an' I haven't heard good things about the government here outta even one person's mouth.

'm flipping burgers. Decent pay, can't complain. It's not so bad. If it were bad I'd've already ditched the idea without telling anyone.

[h2no]

You'll be fine. You'd be amazed what you could get away with while remaining Registered. Most people only do it for the benefits, anyway. S'not like we'll be called on.

[he... thinks.]

That's fair. Just remember you can if you need to.

[pale_blue_arrow]

I dunno, I'm not sold on the idea yet an' I haven't had the time to dig through it properly. I wanna know all the details before I get myself in too deep to get back out.

Fine, but without school occupying me at the moment it's not as if I've got a lot else to do. A little routine can be really grounding. Especially when a guy's just been dropkicked into another world.

[h2no]

Don't overwhelm yourself. Tell the people who know you to back off, if you gotta.

[he's aware he's probably one of them.]

Do what helps.

[pale_blue_arrow]

[He sighs, slightly annoyed.] Stop takin' shots at yourself, it's making me feel all paternal and you're what, thirty?

What'd've helped is if the government agent who dropped me had warned me. About the fucked up gang-esque politics here or the being here before thing or - any of it.

[h2no]

I'm not taking shots at myself-- I'm stating a simple fact.

[he cocks his head, tone and expression completely neutral; he means it.]

They're no good at that. There's some notes complied by imPorts that've been here for a while about it all. Do you want that file? It's pretty good.

[pale_blue_arrow]

Said ever guy devoid of a spine, ever. [He yawns, involuntarily. After the beating he took back home, he still feels like shit.]

That'd be great. Notes, information, anything that gives me some clarity. I may not know why I'm here but I'd appreciate not feeling in the dark about everything.

[h2no]

[he ignores the poke, instead just pulls out his comm with a sniff and pings brendan the notes and faq.]

Kaneki upkeeps them both more than anyone. Have you spoken with him at all?

[pale_blue_arrow]

Nah, not yet, but somebody else recommended I get ahold of him. He somebody else I knew that I don't know now?

[h2no]

Not that I know of, no. I didn't know everyone you knew, only the ones that you spoke of to me.

[manabu, again, comes to the forefront of his mind, but archie doesn't mention him.]

Kaneki's just... the guy everyone knows. He's been here a long time-- not the longest, but a long time.

[pale_blue_arrow]

This is gonna be a chore, figuring out who I did and didn't know and how close we were and all that. At least it's summer, so I've got the free time to do it without cutting class.

'm almost afraid to ask, but who's been here the longest and how long've they been here?

[h2no]

Ah...

[he frowns.]

Tony Stark, at about a decade. He's an outlier, though. Lotta people I know at a few years, I'm almost at two. Along with intermittently being Ported in and out.

[pale_blue_arrow]

...ten years. Well, damn. Never thought I'd be sayin' this, but considering what'll happen if I go back home, another ten years to live sounds like a Godsend. Probably not gonna happen, though. I know how my luck runs.

Does everybody lose their memory when they glitch in an' out, or is that a one-off?

[h2no]

He seems to be an outlier. Most people range from a month to a year to more. There's no pattern to it unfortunately.

[he closes his eyes briefly. there's a lot in that statement that's upsetting, for a bunch of reasons.]

Any amount of time you get to be here, away from there, is... [he trails off.] It happens fairly often. I don't know whether to say that's fortunate or unfortunate...