notrosecolored | Duplicity Contact Post

He shoots Scott a look...which only turns into a disbelieving scoff as he continues talking. "Alright put a pin in that one, I'm sure it's crazy." Because most of Scott's bullshit was, even if Chris was curious, it rarely meant he fully understood.

"How old do you think I am, Scott? I was seventeen. He was twice my age, yes, but that hardly meant anything much at the time. Besides....now he's not twice my age and it still doesn't matter."

He shrugs. "No more crazy than the rest of the story about your previous lover." Then he sips from his glass and admits: "I thought you were twenty one. Seventeen's fine." Almost. Close enough. He can only get so judgey. For lots of reasons. Experiences. Whatever.

Chris shakes his head. "No. Never been here at that age. Didn't even know my team then, didn't meet them till I was twenty-two. Not sure if I appreciate the thought on my youthfulness or resent the idea you seem to think there's something particularly young about me when I'm nearer to twenty-seven at this point than not."

Easier to gripe about that than ask 'fine for what' he could maybe guess.

"Why'd people think you were dead? What'd you do?"

"Nearer 27 is still a decade younger than me; deal with it." The perception of usefulness, he means.

He's a fan of griping rather than hard questions - asking or answering. Definitely more than answering.

"I really like the phrasing there. Disappeared for a while is what I did." Which is short and tense and not really an answer. He wants to leave it alone. It sounds terrible and makes him sound terrible and he kind of likes that. It's just that... it's going to lead to more digging and he's going to have to answer more questions, and - "Got hijacked, and lost my memory for a while."

'Disappeared for a while' is most certainly unkind and causes Chris' brows to raise. Scott didn't seem like the 'abandoning my family' type...the full answer doesn't do much to make him feel better.

"Something else got into your head. Was this the phoenix thing you mentioned, or something else?"

"Something else." He's actually... good with this conversation, which is a little bit of a surprise. Possibly because Scott can't... guess at anything Chris might expect or want from him, yet, and to try to match that or feel bad that he's not. "Phoenix is fundamentally power without moral alignment. The thing that cost me some time and autonomy was just a really old mutant with an unhealthy obsession with survival of the fittest, far too much power. He called himself Apocalypse. It fit."

"Sounds like some evil god bullshit." Except Scott's world didn't opperate on gods and the like, from what he could tell, just a bunch of interesting abilities.

"Or just an evil jackass, I suppose. I'm sorry you went through that." And because he couldn't just leave the question well enough alone: "You remember being possessed? You mentioned lost time, did you not recall what had happened during?"

He takes his hand off his glass to see-saw it back and forth in a 'so-so' motion. Conversation's getting a little more personal and somehow he is still not outright panicking at it.

That, he knows, has to be because it's this specific person.

And alcohol consumption.

"Patchy memories. I was back and forth on level of awareness. The biggest gap then I remember now - meaning when I referenced losing time I mean I forgot who I was or any context for why I kept blacking out."

He makes an 'ah' face like that explained everything. It didn't, not at all, but enough to satisfy a chunk of Chris' curiosity.

"Not remembering who you are's a good reason not to be that person a while, a lot like being dead, if not physically." Which is...a thought. One that has him sipping off his glass, even if not tossing it back just yet. "I'm glad you got found again and...well, seems to me there might be things you don't remember that might be better? Doubt there's a bright side to be had, but that might be the closest kindness."

The one time Chris had gotten possessed, he'd been aware the entire time and it wasn't a pleasant memory, even if it had only lasted a few minutes at most.

Ah, there's that wall. He doesn't get distressed or panicky, just emotionally closes up shop on the subject. Chris provided a nice exit, that he's going to take.

As well as a concerning reaction.

"You've died? Or is this still about your lover?"

He doesn't chase the change in subject. It seemed only fair, Scott had bared...quite a bit, If he was as similar to Chris as they both had commented on, then he had every right to retreat and smooth that over again.

"Ah...sharp of you. Yes, I've died before. Electrocuted to death by a massive iron golem that had me strapped down to it. Weren't more than a few minutes, but it was...enough." Enough for him to know resurrection was exactly as unpleasant and worth questioning as he'd initially thought.

"My best friend and bodyguard, Amnos, had a ring I specifically gave him that held a single resurrection spell in it. It was meant for the others in case he could get to them before me or something similar, but...not so bad a thing to have when the man who can bring others back to life can't do it for himself."

And that's why, along with snark and banter and pushing, Scott talks to Chris. He doesn't already know things, he doesn't have expectations, he won't demand 'emotional output', and he'll let Scott back away.

He's coming to really like the guy, and that's a strange kind of relief.

He'll probably blow things up at some point, but for now- it's nice.

"So which was the harder part - being dead, coming back, or dealing with everyone else's reaction to it?" He doesn't 'soften' a lot in a typical way, but there's no edge there, and it's not a demand. It's just a question, with an undercurrent of concern, running along side the curiosity about Chris.

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