I'm still not sure I wasn't hallucinating it, but I think I communicated with Matthews a couple weeks ago. He had the app. And then today, he had no idea what I was talking about. The fuck is up with that? Or maybe I did just hallucinate it.
I wasn't gonna mention it, but I ran into him. While the monsters were around and all. And he could see it. Monsters aren't supposed to happen, Togusa why the fuck are you telekinetic now?
And then after everything snapped back, nothing.
Retrospec try to recruit another wave to back us up and it failed?
[Togusa might have said he'd put the badge down for the rest of this conversation, but that doesn't mean any of the other cops on the network would. In spite of his current state, Dante's at least cognizant enough of that fact. (Even if, surprisingly, most of the cops he's spoken to seem to be willing to let it drop? Weird.)]
[Dante will yell at him first if he finds out what he's thinking; you couldn't have kept him away from that battle if you'd tried.]
you might regret that
[But after a moment, it begins to spill out, a flood of texts.]
it was only the last week, the first couple werent that bad we were trapped in these mines with a yeti but freya and i killed it then we wound up in a bayou with a mansion there was an alligator in the water but that s not that weird, they live there mari and toushiro found a maneating palnt but we killed that too but the mansion it was haunted
[There's a pause here; Dante's got to retreat if he's going to talk about this. Luckily with all of his skills back, it's not hard to jump up to the roof of Pen's house to sit and continue texting.]
i dont nkwo everything that hapepned to everybod yelse, we had to split up to cover the whoel place but i fucked up we were checkng ar oom and i dont know how ti happende btu we got trapped, it was like the house came alive and tied us up and i couldnt even sumon my sword to get loose the ghost of the butler wsa there and forced us to play family fieud or he woudlve hung us and we knew only one perso n could win so i tried to throw the game he as so scaredt ogusa he was crying so i couldnt let him die except i fcuked up i fucked it all up the lsat question ghost asked was a riddle and it was what had happened there 50 years go, what had hapeend to the psinnatos and i dindt mean to but i answered it i figured it uot
i won
he died because of me
[That's not even all of it. But it's where he's got to stop for the moment, folding in on himself and staring helplessly at the phone like perhaps the words will become less true if he does.]
[How do you even approach something like this? Togusa just watches as the flood of information comes in and thank goodness they're doing this over text. Dante might not have even shared this much in person. Any extra distance he can give him is a good thing.]
[Survivor's guilt. It is the worst thing, and one of the reasons why so many on the force end up in exactly the place where Dante is at right now.]
Dante. His death isn't your fault. It's the fault of the people who put you in such a shitty game.
It's Retrospec's fault.
I know you won't believe me right now, but I'll keep on saying it until you do.
You would have died for him, I know if you had control over it, you would have picked yourself over him every time.
[There's not going to be a response from Dante for a long moment. What can he say to that? Because Togusa's right, he can't believe him, but at the same time... what he's saying makes sense, too.
"You would have died for him, I know if you had control over it, you would have picked yourself over him every time."
He would have. If there was anything he could have done--for either Toushiro or Ryoji--he would've done it in a heartbeat. It's not right, when he could've died and there are only a few people that might have missed him. Ryoji's left so many people behind grieving over him, and Toushiro... Toushiro was so scared. Even if he's come back to life now, he still died. He's still got to go through the rest of his life remembering what it was like.
Finally, Togusa will get a single question in response.]
[Togusa's answer to this is going to be different than some other people's. Because he can't give Dante the wishful thinking answer on this one, the hope that he never has to deal with this again.]
You learn, and you hang on to it for next time.
A lot of people go through life never knowing what they're capable of, because they never find themselves in a situation with such high stakes. And that's a good thing. But now that you know, you can take comfort in it.
Sitting and getting lost in what you could have done, what you think you should have done, that's where you're going to hurt yourself.
[It's more helpful than some of the other answers he's gotten, honestly. Too many people just want to tell him that it wasn't his fault and leave it at that. And that... that just leaves too many uncertainties, too much doubt.]
why do yuo think uve been drinking so muhc
i dont want to htink about it
or ryuoji or ritsu or freya ir yuri or anything that happend
i wasnt gonna drink todya until the party, i dont want it truning into a habit but i tried to call ari when i ran awya a fwe months go shed been woride even thoguh i told her i as leaving town and it was only a few days this tiem itd been a month sinec id caled her
she doesnt remember anything she ddint even notice we weer all missign
[Does Togusa even know who Ari is (was)? Dante doesn't know, and it's the farthest thought from his mind right now, frankly.]
Re: 08/28
Date: 2017-08-31 11:52 pm (UTC)I'm still not sure I wasn't hallucinating it, but I think I communicated with Matthews a couple weeks ago. He had the app. And then today, he had no idea what I was talking about. The fuck is up with that? Or maybe I did just hallucinate it.
Re: 08/28
Date: 2017-09-01 12:25 am (UTC)I wasn't gonna mention it, but I ran into him. While the monsters were around and all. And he could see it. Monsters aren't supposed to happen, Togusa why the fuck are you telekinetic now?
And then after everything snapped back, nothing.
Retrospec try to recruit another wave to back us up and it failed?
Re: 08/28
Date: 2017-09-01 12:48 am (UTC)So I did talk to him. Huh. Strange. Even if it did fail, it was kind of nice to talk to someone from home.
9/1
Date: 2017-09-03 02:39 am (UTC)im not alone right now, im fine
Re: 9/1
Date: 2017-09-03 02:45 am (UTC)[So it's not as absolutely bad as it could be. But Togusa is definitely still concerned. Let's. Try to think positive.]
So, is this just celebratory 'yay we survived' drinking?
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 02:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 02:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 02:53 am (UTC)im at a party rightno w
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 02:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 03:09 am (UTC)its not that the partys fine
just dont feel like celebrating
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 03:14 am (UTC)This doesn't feel like we won anything, does it?
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 03:20 am (UTC)it was too high a price
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 03:24 am (UTC)[And Dante dodged the question from earlier. No, Togusa doesn't need to ask it again.]
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 03:44 am (UTC)not just him
a lot happened whle we were gone
ryoji was just the thing everybody knows about because ti happend at the end
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 03:49 am (UTC)I knew from the minute you got back you guys went through hell.
[And then you dragged him straight to a giant monster fight anyway, great job, Togusa. He runs a hand over his face. Yell at yourself later.]
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 04:39 am (UTC)you might regret that
[But after a moment, it begins to spill out, a flood of texts.]
it was only the last week, the first couple werent that bad
we were trapped in these mines with a yeti but freya and i killed it then we wound up in a bayou with a mansion
there was an alligator in the water but that s not that weird, they live there
mari and toushiro found a maneating palnt but we killed that too
but the mansion
it was haunted
[There's a pause here; Dante's got to retreat if he's going to talk about this. Luckily with all of his skills back, it's not hard to jump up to the roof of Pen's house to sit and continue texting.]
i dont nkwo everything that hapepned to everybod yelse, we had to split up to cover the whoel place
but i fucked up
we were checkng ar oom and i dont know how ti happende btu we got trapped, it was like the house came alive and tied us up and i couldnt even sumon my sword to get loose
the ghost of the butler wsa there and forced us to play family fieud or he woudlve hung us
and we knew only one perso n could win so i tried to throw the game
he as so scaredt ogusa he was crying so i couldnt let him die
except i fcuked up
i fucked it all up
the lsat question ghost asked was a riddle and it was what had happened there 50 years go, what had hapeend to the psinnatos and i dindt mean to but i answered it i figured it uot
i won
he died because of me
[That's not even all of it. But it's where he's got to stop for the moment, folding in on himself and staring helplessly at the phone like perhaps the words will become less true if he does.]
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 05:25 pm (UTC)[Survivor's guilt. It is the worst thing, and one of the reasons why so many on the force end up in exactly the place where Dante is at right now.]
Dante.
His death isn't your fault.
It's the fault of the people who put you in such a shitty game.
It's Retrospec's fault.
I know you won't believe me right now, but I'll keep on saying it until you do.
You would have died for him, I know if you had control over it, you would have picked yourself over him every time.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 06:05 pm (UTC)"You would have died for him, I know if you had control over it, you would have picked yourself over him every time."
He would have. If there was anything he could have done--for either Toushiro or Ryoji--he would've done it in a heartbeat. It's not right, when he could've died and there are only a few people that might have missed him. Ryoji's left so many people behind grieving over him, and Toushiro... Toushiro was so scared. Even if he's come back to life now, he still died. He's still got to go through the rest of his life remembering what it was like.
Finally, Togusa will get a single question in response.]
how od you handle ti
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 06:18 pm (UTC)You learn, and you hang on to it for next time.
A lot of people go through life never knowing what they're capable of, because they never find themselves in a situation with such high stakes. And that's a good thing. But now that you know, you can take comfort in it.
Sitting and getting lost in what you could have done, what you think you should have done, that's where you're going to hurt yourself.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 06:39 pm (UTC)why do yuo think uve been drinking so muhc
i dont want to htink about it
or ryuoji or ritsu or freya ir yuri or anything that happend
i just want to forget lal of it
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 07:24 pm (UTC)It's going to start to get less effective over time.
For tonight, drink away, hell, you're at a party.
But this is exactly the pattern that burns out good cops later in their careers.
no subject
Date: 2017-09-03 07:33 pm (UTC)[No, that's not right.]
i know
i wasnt gonna drink todya until the party, i dont want it truning into a habit
but i tried to call ari
when i ran awya a fwe months go shed been woride even thoguh i told her i as leaving town and it was only a few days
this tiem itd been a month sinec id caled her
she doesnt remember anything
she ddint even notice we weer all missign
[Does Togusa even know who Ari is (was)? Dante doesn't know, and it's the farthest thought from his mind right now, frankly.]
9/4
Date: 2017-09-04 11:46 pm (UTC)Re: 9/4
Date: 2017-09-04 11:51 pm (UTC)Prompto, are you at the Retrospec building right now?
Re: 9/4
Date: 2017-09-05 12:50 am (UTC)no....no... just at a friend's..