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xp_logsShatterstar visits Arthur as he continues to recover in his suite. They have things to discuss.
The world was a fortress.
It was one room, one bed, and only filtered light.
Although fortresses likely had less flowers. Collections of bouquets and punny bears had slowly collected across the room, but to Arthur it felt like they had simply grown overnight. A variable jungle or seasonable arrangements. They all had cards, but reading them felt like homework. So they scattered the room — red, yellow, green, and a particularly odd looking white arrangement that he hadn't ever seen before.
The flowers were too perfect. Manufactured. Almost like living wires, their flowers like little apertures. Odd.
Elsewhere, the white board on the wall continued to reassure. Smiles. Friday. It was still okay.
Arthur was tired of being confined in bed, and beginning to suspect that message on the wall was a lie.
There was a sound. He blinked, refocusing, only to discover that he had a guest. He smiled a familiar smile, and it felt good to smile automatically again. Like a defense coming back.
"I'm sorry," he offered with the habit of a showman's flourish. "I lost myself."
"No you aren't," Shatterstar snapped at him. He and Benjamin had been prepared to not be angry, but had pushed it back once they had finally got to see the shape Arthur was in. He barely looked like Arthur at all with the power inhibitor, and cast and how plain tired he looked. Worry came flooding back and with worry was Benji's anger that Arthur had gotten into a situation that had done this to him.
Then Arthur lied to them. "You aren't sorry cause that means if it happened again you wouldn't make the same choices which you would." Shatterstar slammed the stack of short comfort movies he had brought for once Arthur's concussion was better on one of the tables.
He crossed his arms over his chest, more like hugging himself than an act of disapproval.
It was all Benji who said under his breath, "And you lost yourself, just like Haller. You could have been gone forever." Maybe it was residual hero worship, or the fact that Arthur's face has been familiar in the mind's eye as it slowly morphed into the face Shatterstar had now, that made Benji glare at the flowers and not Arthur. He started to skim the notes attached to them, not looking at any long enough to actually read them. Just so he didn't have to look at Arthur.
Arthur sighed. "You know? That's smart, Benjamin. Telling me off when I'm trapped. When I have no choice but to listen. But instead of all of this yelling," and it was yelling, even if the boy was whispering, "I've got another idea. Something better. Do you remember the plot to Starlight Citadel?"
Benji nodded, not noting to argue that he wasn't telling Arthur off. And of course he knew the plot to Starlight Citadel. He knew it better than members of his own family.
He hesitated before moving to sit at the very end of Arthur's bed. "Yeah, duh."
The older man leaned in like he was sharing insider secrets. "I didn't even get a named character in that movie. Just some messiah, a symbol, someone whose only job was to die for no reason. Well, that and the power of magic baseball. It was just a low budget filler before the awards season."
"Those are the best movies, though," Benjamin defended. "And he didn't die for no reason, he was trying to save the Farrishers from becoming Freemen with no will of their own except to be power sources for the Dorot. It wasn't his fault he didn't succeed." He could see where Arthur was going with this. He looked away from him. He knew he was in the wrong for being angry at Arthur for not being selfish. "I know I shouldn't be mad at you, okay!" he snapped.
"So what I had to realize," Arthur continued. He had patiently let Benji finish his worldbuilding. "Every character, even the background roles, is the hero of their own story. They aren't driven by a plot, writers, or a director. They decide what they do and, for them, that has meaning."
He broke up that thought with a laugh. "Not that I'm some noble exile leader, but have you thought about why I did what I did instead of what?"
"That's how I know you aren't sorry."
He looked away from Arthur and tried to put himself back inside, but couldn't, which made him pull at his hair. "Because you would do it again because it's the sort of thing you all do because you think it's the right thing to do, I get it. Just don't lie about it, okay? I already said I know I shouldn't be angry. You said you would be honest."
"I get to be sorry for lots of things, Benji. That's the upside to being old. You're right, though? I'm not sorry about that part."
Benji nodded at him and looked for a second like he might say more instead he faded from being in control of the body, the emotions running too high and his stamina for feelings that weren't anger and fear too low. It wasn't that he wasn't still listening — it was just something he couldn't carry. The body shifted as Shatterstar switched back in, just as uncomfortable with Arthur's sincerity. He stood from the edge of the bed and went back to looking at the notes on the flowers.
"I am glad you aren't sorry. You shouldn't be. Even if we are angry you were hurt."
"Benjamin, I wasn't finished," Arthur corrected softly.
Shatterstar paused, the note from the strange white bloom forgotten in his hand. They couldn't switch voluntarily, but a difference between OSDD and DID was that Benji was still aware of being said, even if he wasn't the one in front. Shatterstar looked over his shoulder at Arthur. "Go on?"
The man in the bed pulled himself as tall as he could. "I am sorry that I hurt you, but I would do it again. I will do it again, probably. There's nothing wrong with being upset at me, but that's why I did it. I stretched my powers out there, and I saw a way to save everyone. I took it."
Arthur sighed and rolled his neck.
"You'll feel better if you work that anger out in the gym. I still want you to practice."
Shatterstar nodded, turning to face Arthur. "Little Hope told me you saved her too," he said. Then, biting his lower lip. "When I was fighting the Friends of Humanity, or whatever they were called, I didn't even think because I knew it was what you or Haller would do. I know you would do it again." He left a lot of implication there, not sure what he even wanted to say, let alone how to say it. He was more self-aware, he knew, then when he had come to Xavier's but not nearly that self-aware.
He paused near the only bouquet of seemingly manufactured white flowers (too perfect to be real but nothing to suggest they weren't) and idly picked up the notecard, thinking. Shatterstar juggled the little business card from the flowers over his fingers like Arthur would a knife. "And it worked, because it's you. Everyone survived. I'll keep practicing."
This got the young man a relieved smile. "I bet you were spectacular. You'll have to tell me about it in detail later, but I'm so tired. I haven't been cast in a role like this in a long time. I'm getting too old for it."
"You deserve an award for it," Shatterstar said seriously, hand hovering by Arthur's arm before nodding his goodbye. "Sleep well, unless the doctor told you not to," he settled instead of saying, moving out the door. He realized he still had the little card in his hand once he was in the hallway. It was a shiny white paper that seemed to have a yellow in the soft light.
The front side read, in a tasteful serif font:
Your audition has been received. One of our agents will be in contact soon.
Major Domo
Mojoworld
Handwritten in blue ink on the back was:
Be seeing you soon, Longshot - S
Major Domo... Like Major Domo Industries. Arthur didn't need to be bothered by this. Shatterstar would find some way to keep those dogs away from him. He crumpled the card into his pocket.
The world was a fortress.
It was one room, one bed, and only filtered light.
Although fortresses likely had less flowers. Collections of bouquets and punny bears had slowly collected across the room, but to Arthur it felt like they had simply grown overnight. A variable jungle or seasonable arrangements. They all had cards, but reading them felt like homework. So they scattered the room — red, yellow, green, and a particularly odd looking white arrangement that he hadn't ever seen before.
The flowers were too perfect. Manufactured. Almost like living wires, their flowers like little apertures. Odd.
Elsewhere, the white board on the wall continued to reassure. Smiles. Friday. It was still okay.
Arthur was tired of being confined in bed, and beginning to suspect that message on the wall was a lie.
There was a sound. He blinked, refocusing, only to discover that he had a guest. He smiled a familiar smile, and it felt good to smile automatically again. Like a defense coming back.
"I'm sorry," he offered with the habit of a showman's flourish. "I lost myself."
"No you aren't," Shatterstar snapped at him. He and Benjamin had been prepared to not be angry, but had pushed it back once they had finally got to see the shape Arthur was in. He barely looked like Arthur at all with the power inhibitor, and cast and how plain tired he looked. Worry came flooding back and with worry was Benji's anger that Arthur had gotten into a situation that had done this to him.
Then Arthur lied to them. "You aren't sorry cause that means if it happened again you wouldn't make the same choices which you would." Shatterstar slammed the stack of short comfort movies he had brought for once Arthur's concussion was better on one of the tables.
He crossed his arms over his chest, more like hugging himself than an act of disapproval.
It was all Benji who said under his breath, "And you lost yourself, just like Haller. You could have been gone forever." Maybe it was residual hero worship, or the fact that Arthur's face has been familiar in the mind's eye as it slowly morphed into the face Shatterstar had now, that made Benji glare at the flowers and not Arthur. He started to skim the notes attached to them, not looking at any long enough to actually read them. Just so he didn't have to look at Arthur.
Arthur sighed. "You know? That's smart, Benjamin. Telling me off when I'm trapped. When I have no choice but to listen. But instead of all of this yelling," and it was yelling, even if the boy was whispering, "I've got another idea. Something better. Do you remember the plot to Starlight Citadel?"
Benji nodded, not noting to argue that he wasn't telling Arthur off. And of course he knew the plot to Starlight Citadel. He knew it better than members of his own family.
He hesitated before moving to sit at the very end of Arthur's bed. "Yeah, duh."
The older man leaned in like he was sharing insider secrets. "I didn't even get a named character in that movie. Just some messiah, a symbol, someone whose only job was to die for no reason. Well, that and the power of magic baseball. It was just a low budget filler before the awards season."
"Those are the best movies, though," Benjamin defended. "And he didn't die for no reason, he was trying to save the Farrishers from becoming Freemen with no will of their own except to be power sources for the Dorot. It wasn't his fault he didn't succeed." He could see where Arthur was going with this. He looked away from him. He knew he was in the wrong for being angry at Arthur for not being selfish. "I know I shouldn't be mad at you, okay!" he snapped.
"So what I had to realize," Arthur continued. He had patiently let Benji finish his worldbuilding. "Every character, even the background roles, is the hero of their own story. They aren't driven by a plot, writers, or a director. They decide what they do and, for them, that has meaning."
He broke up that thought with a laugh. "Not that I'm some noble exile leader, but have you thought about why I did what I did instead of what?"
"That's how I know you aren't sorry."
He looked away from Arthur and tried to put himself back inside, but couldn't, which made him pull at his hair. "Because you would do it again because it's the sort of thing you all do because you think it's the right thing to do, I get it. Just don't lie about it, okay? I already said I know I shouldn't be angry. You said you would be honest."
"I get to be sorry for lots of things, Benji. That's the upside to being old. You're right, though? I'm not sorry about that part."
Benji nodded at him and looked for a second like he might say more instead he faded from being in control of the body, the emotions running too high and his stamina for feelings that weren't anger and fear too low. It wasn't that he wasn't still listening — it was just something he couldn't carry. The body shifted as Shatterstar switched back in, just as uncomfortable with Arthur's sincerity. He stood from the edge of the bed and went back to looking at the notes on the flowers.
"I am glad you aren't sorry. You shouldn't be. Even if we are angry you were hurt."
"Benjamin, I wasn't finished," Arthur corrected softly.
Shatterstar paused, the note from the strange white bloom forgotten in his hand. They couldn't switch voluntarily, but a difference between OSDD and DID was that Benji was still aware of being said, even if he wasn't the one in front. Shatterstar looked over his shoulder at Arthur. "Go on?"
The man in the bed pulled himself as tall as he could. "I am sorry that I hurt you, but I would do it again. I will do it again, probably. There's nothing wrong with being upset at me, but that's why I did it. I stretched my powers out there, and I saw a way to save everyone. I took it."
Arthur sighed and rolled his neck.
"You'll feel better if you work that anger out in the gym. I still want you to practice."
Shatterstar nodded, turning to face Arthur. "Little Hope told me you saved her too," he said. Then, biting his lower lip. "When I was fighting the Friends of Humanity, or whatever they were called, I didn't even think because I knew it was what you or Haller would do. I know you would do it again." He left a lot of implication there, not sure what he even wanted to say, let alone how to say it. He was more self-aware, he knew, then when he had come to Xavier's but not nearly that self-aware.
He paused near the only bouquet of seemingly manufactured white flowers (too perfect to be real but nothing to suggest they weren't) and idly picked up the notecard, thinking. Shatterstar juggled the little business card from the flowers over his fingers like Arthur would a knife. "And it worked, because it's you. Everyone survived. I'll keep practicing."
This got the young man a relieved smile. "I bet you were spectacular. You'll have to tell me about it in detail later, but I'm so tired. I haven't been cast in a role like this in a long time. I'm getting too old for it."
"You deserve an award for it," Shatterstar said seriously, hand hovering by Arthur's arm before nodding his goodbye. "Sleep well, unless the doctor told you not to," he settled instead of saying, moving out the door. He realized he still had the little card in his hand once he was in the hallway. It was a shiny white paper that seemed to have a yellow in the soft light.
The front side read, in a tasteful serif font:
Your audition has been received. One of our agents will be in contact soon.
Major Domo
Mojoworld
Handwritten in blue ink on the back was:
Be seeing you soon, Longshot - S
Major Domo... Like Major Domo Industries. Arthur didn't need to be bothered by this. Shatterstar would find some way to keep those dogs away from him. He crumpled the card into his pocket.
