IC Inbox II

[rattlingthestars]

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'S Jim. Leave a message.

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he's gonna bite yer ankles off

[rattlingthestars]

[ Despite efforts over the past year to teach Jim about important things like form and stance, he still fights like an angry, drunk pirate when he's pissed.

Today, he's pissed.

He abandons his tablet where it sat and doesn't even fully come out of his crouch or square up against Zack; instead he just dives for his knees. ]

WELL AT LEAST HE'S NOT DEAD (AGAIN) YET

[heroproceeding]

[ Angry, drunk pirate about sums it up.

Zack sees a mess when it's coming.

That sure doesn't stop him from jumping back from the dive, using the hop to dive down to a crouch before he's diving at him instead. ]

NOT DEAD AGAIN YET: title of Zack's autobiography

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim sees it coming, but maybe a fraction of a second too late. He's trying to roll out of the way before Zack catches him, but as fast as he is he can't make up for being so much smaller. ]

I MEAN THAT'S TRUE TOO. And then rocks fell and everyone died.

[heroproceeding]

[ The moment he catches him is the moment he's already trying to scramble ahead. Try to pin him as well as he can. His hands shake more than they should though. His grip feels a bit on the slippery side. He's usually more precise than this and Jim's quick witted. Still, he grunts and tries. ]

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim's caught, for a moment, but he's slippery and determined. He sheds his jacket and escapes Zack's grasp, only taking the time to turn himself around before making another attack at Zack's back.

He can't win this way.

He knows he can't win this way.

He's not strong enough.

Throwing himself at something he can't beat is just what he does now, apparently. ]

[heroproceeding]

[ The impact of the attack hits him harder than he expects. Has him letting out a gasp, even as he staggers forward. He rights himself just enough though to pivot. To kick out stubbornly in return.

Even if he feels even weaker now.

What does it matter now?

What if nothing matters- ]

[rattlingthestars]

[ The kick catches Jim just right, sends him staggering back into a wall. He slides down, not moving for a moment, his ragged breathing loud in the room. ]

Argh!

[ The outburst is followed by his fist slamming into the wall, hard. ]

[heroproceeding]

[ There's no sense of anything when Jim hits the wall. No teasing job. No reminder about this form or how sloppy he was. Zack just... slumps to a kneel, chest feeling hollow and achy. His gaze rests on the floor, his own breath short. ]

You saw.. the thing from Miller, too.

[rattlingthestars]

Screw Miller.

[ Safe to say Jim saw it alright, and now he's so angry he can barely breathe. ]

[heroproceeding]

[ Zack doesn't say anything to that but maybe it's just as well with his voice still raw and hoarse from all the screaming the night before. He probably shouldn't be doing this, but there's a lot of things he's done that he shouldn't be doing at this point. This is just something to add to the list. Doesn't raise his head either. Just continues to sit on the floor, his breathing gradually evening out. But even when it starts to, he doesn't stand or look at him. Just... slowly shakes his head. ]

[rattlingthestars]

Screw all of this.

[ Jim's voice is low and almost guttural, seething with the kind of defeated anger he hasn't felt in a long time. ]

What's the freaking point?

[heroproceeding]

I- [ A false start. It's a false one and a bad one at that as he starts coughing. He shouldn't have even said as much as he'd whispered before. Not with the touch of copper taste in his mouth. He covers it, grimacing. Thinks of his tablet, but it's already almost dead.

No point in using it. But then what all can he really say? He shrugs weakly instead, making his hand into a fist to hide the blood in his palm before he starts to push off the floor. He can't say much of anything at all if he doesn't ask, so he points instead now to Jim's pocket. ]

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim watches the coughing, grudging at first but softening a little as it gets worse. So much for talking to Zack. Probably wouldn't have helped anyway. He shoves his hands in his pockets and grimaces before handing over the tablet. ]

-here. Use mine.

[heroproceeding]

[ There's nothing more than a nod of acknowledgment that might as well have been a 'Thank you' when he takes Jim's tablet. Quickly flips through it until he opens up a text and writes from there, showing it to him afterward. ]

I don't know. I thought I did

what do you think he means?

[rattlingthestars]

That we're just... copies.

[ Fakes. Bad fakes, judging by how often they keep breaking. ]

There's someone back home, that got -

[ His voice breaks and he cuts off, unwilling to put it into words because it's too frustrating to even voice. ]

[heroproceeding]

[ Zack winces. Winces... but he doesn't shake his head. Doesn't wave him off. Just pauses before... very hesitatingly typing. He erases it a few times. Types another thing. Erases it again. And then just settles with whatever he wrote, turning it towards Jim again. ]

that's really us back there? the REAL us?

[rattlingthestars]

We're real!

[ It comes out as a shout as Jim pushes the tablet away from him angrily.

Whatever else they are - copies or replacements or ... some kind of computer program, they're real. ]

As real as whoever's back there - living our lives or - whatever.

[heroproceeding]

[ He doesn't expect the shove- though maybe he should have, really. Not that he's focused on that when he's too busy scrambling to catch it so he doesn't end up breaking it. Butterfingers it until he finally has it somehow awkwardly between his elbows, but it doesn't fall down and that's the important part.

Carefully, he lets it down onto the floor, so he can pick it up properly again. He ends up staring down at it anyway. At the blank text box he should be filling in with something. Some touch of encouragement. Some means of something better than what's in his head.

But as he types in what he next wants to say... he almost erases it instead. Ends up standing there just holding it and looking down. ]

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim feels a twinge of guilt, watching Zack fumble with the tablet, but his anger's too big to let in much of any other emotion right now. He watches Zack type in frustration, waiting for whatever he's going to say, and then it doesn't come.

He huffs. ]

What?

[heroproceeding]

[ Withholding things has never been for the best. If anything, it's what's always divided them. Shielding Jim from anything's caused more problems than helped it all.

It still takes Zack maybe way too long before he holds up his tablet again. ]

how are those our lives if we're copies?

[rattlingthestars]

Because -

[ He doesn't really have an answer for that, but he's also not really thinking logically at the moment. ]

Because they just are. Our lives. My mom, my house -

[heroproceeding]

[ Zack watches as Jim lists it all off. All the things that should be. All the things that just might not anymore. He sinks back against the wall as he listens, holding up the tablet again to work at. To erase what he wrote- to attempt to start typing something else. His hand freezes above it after the first word and he just stands there, staring down at it. ]

[rattlingthestars]

Maybe they're the copy.

[ Apparently Jim's just going to keep talking, at least until Zack types something and shoves it in their face. ]

Maybe they're the ones that didn't earn it -

[heroproceeding]

[ The more Jim talks, the more Zack's hand just hovers over letters seconds before he tries to talk instead. Automatically. Instinctively. And quickly regrets it when his voice comes out as no more than a ghastly wheeze and he coughs instead, covering his mouth with the back of his hand once more. Glances down at it and almost snorts softly before he now gets back to the tablet. Types out a few things in frustration. Forgets to erase his first line before he shows it. Maybe he should have. ]

their

we don't know but we might really be copies. or we might not be. we don't have any way of knowing but it would sure explain why there's more than one Cloud who ended up here.

[rattlingthestars]

[ Jim watches him, Zack's obvious distress enough to drag him out of his own angry fit for at least a moment. Maybe they can find some salt water...?

The text distracts him. ]

Different universes, remember?

[ It's what Jim's clinging to. ]

Different Clouds. But not copies.