Obscura ~ Age 18
"I think I'm going crazy."
"You're only figuring out now? I've known for years." Bro shut the door of the fridge and leaned against it, unscrewing his bottle of water.
"What the hell. No. Fuck you. I'm serious."
"So am I. When you were five, you used to do this thing where you would take off your pants and run around shouting, what was it, 'sp—"
"Okay, fine. I won't talk to you, you fucking douchebaggy prick." Dave spun on his heel and started for the living room.
"Wait, wait." Bro reached out and snatched up the collar of his brother's shirt, hauling him back. "Go ahead. I'll listen."
"Shit, man. It was stupid. I'm going."
"Fuck you, no, I said I'm going to listen."
"No, asshole. You fucked it up. Piss off."
"It's too late, bro. You've started this. It's happening right fucking now as I'm speaking. You made this happen."
"I warned you, man. I warned you about your dickery."
"Seriously, fucking tell me or you will just get this sexyfine bottle of ice-cold water all down your back and that won't be pleasant. Not even a little bit."
"Fuck, lay off." Dave swatted at Bro, unable to reach him due to the awkward angle.
"Only if you tell me what's bothering you."
Dave's mouth tightened into a straight line. "I…I think I'm going…crazy."
"What kind of crazy?" Bro released his grip and Dave turned.
"I keep…hearing things. It's been happening for years now, man. At first I thought I was just imagining it, but…"
"You think we're in a doomed timeline, right?" Bro gulped down some water.
Dave froze. "How did you know that."
"Don't give me that look, you said it that time you got really stupidly drunk at that party. It was kind of hard to forget. That was before you started taking your pants off, of course, and running around the apartment."
Dave promptly ignored him. "Well, it's not that I think that. Not all the time. Sometimes, yeah. It's kind of hard not to. You see the signs everywhere if you look, you know."
"So stop looking."
"I can't. That was my job, man. The fucking Knight of Time. Not that I did much good."
"You did fine. We're here now, aren't we?" Bro replied.
"It's just… I keep seeing the trolls everywhere. I keep hearing them."
"Trolls? Yeah, man, you really are out of it. What, are they little and knobbly with huge colourful hair and—"
"Shut up, no. You were already dead before we met them. They're from some shitty planet and they said they made Earth."
"Dude, I think you got trolled."
"Yes, but that's—no, shut up. Fuck. You don't get it. I knew you wouldn't. This is fucking stupid, why did I ever think you'd be helpful." Dave turned to go.
"Stop, stop." Bro sighed and grabbed his arm. "Jegus, you're a whiny little bitch. Finish your fucking story."
"We met a shitload of these aliens, right. They all had these weirdass quirks, I don't know, it made them sort of easy to tell apart I guess. But…I mean…I keep meeting people with the same stupid quirks."
"It's probably just a coincidence."
"No, that's the thing. It made them really stupidly easy to recognize. I'm not kidding, normal people don't really do that kind of shit. And…"
"And what?"
"It's not just now. When I think back, even, in my memories… They're there, too."
"You've finally realized it."
"Realized what."
"You're in the Matrix. You can take either the red pill or the blue—"
"Fuck you. Fuck you. Just fuck. You. I wasn't fucking joking, you pricknippled douchebag asshole. Fuck you." And he stormed out.
Once out of sight, however, Bro frowned, worried. Dave didn't need him right now. Not really, not in the way he seemed to think. What Dave needed right now was one of the kids. Only then could he compare experiences.
He screwed the cap back on the bottle.
Talking about the game was probably something that would—could—never happen properly.
It was just too difficult.
