LL cont’

[markofkaine]

[Bad ideas. That’s what Rafael was famous for. Sometimes those bad ideas would pan out into groundbreaking technologies. Other times it would blow up spectacularly in his face - and by extension, all faces adjacent. Not that it ever stopped him from coming up with more.

This one, though. A bridge too far.

Aracha - if that really could be called his name anymore - sat, hunched over, cycling a trinket between his fingers as though in a trance. It felt like the slow, tactile motion was the only thing still keeping him grounded to reality (again, questionable). His mind was… far, far away, in a place that might not even exist anymore, lost. But more than that, alone, in a vast, empty field of deaf, silent rage. And that cold silence seeped into every crack in his brain, filling the folds of his thoughts, the hollow space in his bones, the pockets in his lungs.

He wasn’t real. He wasn’t real. None of this was real. He knew that now.

At some point, his fiance was going to walk through the door and find him sitting at the foot of their his bed. And one way or another, this lie would be shattered.]

Comments

[markofkaine]

[Miguel is not beating the 'wish fulfillment man' allegations like this.]

You sound still hung up on me.

[Accusatory. He has no reason to be. UNLESS IT'S MAGIC!]

[otherspiderman]

[ NOW I'M OFFENDED. ]

Am I not supposed to be?! Are you over me already?!

[ how dare you move on so easily!! ]

[markofkaine]

[Feathers ruffled, he just spits out the first mean thing that comes to mind on impulse]

Maybe I am!

[otherspiderman]

[ His hands grip the arms of his chair, his fingers dragging back and leaving knifelike cuts in the upholstery. ]

Screw you too, man.

[ But in his mind, he's very sharply thinking: I needed you too. ]

[markofkaine]

[The thought of being needed sends a knife into his heart. Kaine recoils back, instinctively shielding his face (horrible. hideous.) There's a slightly hysterical edge to his voice as he snaps back, no longer differentiating between speech and thought,]

I didn't ask you t'need me!

[otherspiderman]

[ Miguel's response comes like a bullet, rapid, as if the faster he gets the poison out, the faster he can get whatever this is over with. Deflecting pain with pain. ]

And I didn't say I needed you!

[ But the moment the words are out of his mouth, he realizes there's something a little weird about it. He didn't say it; he thought it. He remembers thinking it. It was a little embarrassing, like he couldn't handle being broken up with out of a fake relationship, but he did think it. And he did need him.

...so how did this asshole know that? ]

[markofkaine]

[DON'T GASLIGHT ME

Kaine points an accusatory finger at him!]

Yes you did! I heard you!

[otherspiderman]

[ Now I'm the one moving closer to the bed, eyes narrowing. ]

No, I said screw you. And I stand by that.

But I was thinking it.

[markofkaine]

[no approach! Kaine bristles defensively]

Well that's not one of my powers.

[...like, it's not even spider themed. how would that make sense.

but there's a lot of new weird powers rolling around inside him right now, and he doesn't seem sure. CAN he read minds for some reason?]

[otherspiderman]

[ BACK ON THE OFFENSIVE. ]

Oh yeah? When I left earlier, I heard you. You needed me, too.

[markofkaine]

[His very eloquent response is

throwing a pillow at Miguel's face in mortification.]

SHUT UP!

[otherspiderman]

[ OOF

Miguel whips it back at him, maturely. ]

You wanted me to come back AND you can read my mind!

[markofkaine]

[Punches pillow out of the air]

Don't make it sound like we're CONNECTED!

[otherspiderman]

[ the abuse this pillow has gone through.

Thinks: but we obviously are. Jerk. ]

[markofkaine]

[Clutches his head as the thoughts enter his brain. No! NO DON'T PROVE THIS STUPID THEORY RIGHT

SHUT UP! STOP THINKING AT ME!]

[otherspiderman]

[ Now Miguel is the one pointing, accusatory. ]

I knew it. I knew it. How shocking long have you been able to do that?

[markofkaine]

[We are both Spider-man pointing, as is our ancestral right]

Hold the @#$& up, how do I know this isn't some bullshit power you got?!

[otherspiderman]

[ SO GLAD I GET TO PLAY THIS OUT FOR REAL

]

You think I have the power of "my ex can read my mind"? That wouldn't be a superpower. That'd be torture.

[markofkaine]

[We're really out here living our best worst lives 🤬👉]

You're hearing my thoughts too, you @#$&!

[otherspiderman]

[ 👈😎 ]

And you know what? You're acting like it's torture!

[markofkaine]

WELL IT IS!! WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT THIS!!!

[otherspiderman]

That's how you should know I'm not doing this on purpose! I was leaving, and then I heard you calling me back!

[ And I wanted to come back! ]

[markofkaine]

[Fuck! He heard that, too! The rage bleeds out of him, leaving Kaine with the countenance of a wet kitten as he finds himself unable to ignore Miguel's thoughts, but too fragile to accept them.]

Well you weren't supposed to hear it! And you're not supposed to want to come back!

[otherspiderman]

[ Inching closer now. ]

Yeah? What the shock am I supposed to want, then?

[markofkaine]

[As great as the urge to throw the entire bed at Miguel is, if Kaine couldn't even so much as hide his thoughts from him, what point was there? So he just spits it out, with the force of a shove:]

You're supposed to think I'm repulsive!!