[55] we're here to play a game of who loves more than whom

[buildstherobots]

[Okay, this is weird. He's not due a regain, so at first Dist is wary of the neat little box on his doorstep. He leaves it there for almost an hour but his curiosity finally gets the better of him; how bad could it be, really? Carefully he peels back the paper, peeking into the box...

The memories hit him like a train in the back of the head, and he doesn't even take the time to get his chair before he's off in the direction of Jade's house. Could it be a trick? Maybe. But that doesn't occur to him just then; he's always placed possibly too much trust and value in his memories, and now is no exception. When he gets there, he's pounding on the door with his fist.]

Jade! JADE!

Comments

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

[Dammit Jade why do you have to be so infuriating. Dist's reaction is a little weird, though; instead of stomping his feet and screeching louder, his tone takes on a kind of desperate edge.]

No, Jade, I know what's in there and you have to open it! Please!

[fomicrying.livejournal.com]

[Usually he would press the issue further to annoy him, but he was sincerely insistent wasn't he? It almost caught Jade off guard. ...Almost. So with an exaggerated sigh he's opening the box carefully. Ah, here we go.

...

And then it him.

And then it hit him.

He very nearly dropped the box and that's when he finally looked back at the other man.]

...

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

[Dist risks a little smile. He remembers now - the way they both had to dodge borders to see one another, how Jade himself had put his career and reputation on the line to visit a criminal who had fled the country rather than simply tracking him down and bringing him to justice. They'd stopped after one too many close calls, not long before the Fon Master "disappeared" and the whole mess with the replica got started.

Whether Dist doesn't think to question the memories or of he simply doesn't want to, he can't say, because for him it's just justification for feelings that were there to begin with. Jade really does love him. All that talk of abandoning him, killing him... maybe it had just been a show. Maybe there's still a chance.]

...You see?

[OH GOD THE HOPE. WAT DO, JADE? WAT. DO.]

[fomicrying.livejournal.com]

[Yes, he was remembering all of that and the sheer suddenness of it nearly made him step back in order to steady himself further. An onslaught of memories, especially of the romantic and sexual nature, that were presented to him... Something struck him as false, and sorry Dist... he wasn't as keen as to brush these off as real.

Brows furrowing a touch as he looked to the man and back to the box.]

Can memories be fabricated and sent to us?

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

[The question makes him falter a little bit; he's not sure how to respond to it for a while, and when he does, it's hesitant.]

...Does it matter? I remember... and you remember. That's what's important.

[fomicrying.livejournal.com]

[No, what's important is the fact something was terribly wrong with this memory. How could he forget this in the first place? He wasn't one to risk the integrity of his country, job or himself for something so frivolous as an affair. Reaching out, fingers curling under the other man's chin, tilting his face upwards just a little bit.]

Do you honestly believe, in your heart and mind, that all of that transpired?

[buildstherobots.livejournal.com]

Yes!

[It's a bad lie. It's bad because his expression doesn't say it the same way his tone does; what he's doing instead is searching for some kind of crack in Jade's demeanor, eyes darting up and down the man's face as though that will actually reveal anything.

As always, it's not until after he speaks that it sinks in that he knows better. He's been here a year. They've taken memories away; it follows that they'd be able to put in false ones. If you can remove a component, you can replace one, he's done it himself countless times. This is exactly as cruel as Mayfield has always been.

After all, it's a far more precise strike against him than it is against the colonel. For Jade it's a puzzling, if specific, example of what the place is capable of; for Dist it's a full-on slap in the face. Hey, this is what it might have been like if someone actually loved you.

He can't bring himself to pull away from the man's hand, but he's clearly having to restrain himself from some kind of emotional outburst. He actually whispers, something he doesn't do often.]

...This isn't fair.