thoughtformed | (no subject)

He was you.

[Souji pauses, his voice unaccusing.]

Or is.

I guess that might be all we're going to have to go on. It might be a good idea to revisit the scene, it might jog your memory.

Is.

[Tim smiles ruefully.]

I'm more aware of it now, and learning my lesson, but I'm still always going to be a secretive person. That's part of me, too.

[He finishes eating with an almost disturbing speed and efficiency and pushes back his chair.]

Right. One crime-scene investigation, coming right up.

[As he stands, he staggers a little, then straightens. While his bruises have healed, he still looks pale and sleep-deprived.]

Ready when you are.

[Souji brings his soda along for the ride, following Tim to retrace his steps back at the formal.]

I wonder if they knew this would happen.

[Tim's eyes narrow. He has a pretty good idea of what Souji means, but he'd rather not assume, and jump to a false conclusion.]

Who?

The people who run this place.

[He clarifies without hesitation. Souji was never one to really with hold information, even when giving it seemed detrimental to his cause. Shouldn't everyone have access to the truth if he could give it?]

There's still a few things I don't get. You saw us when we saved you, right? The power that we used?

I saw.

[It's been very hard not to ask questions about that. But after the way he pried into their secrets -- both as his shadow and... more quietly, before that... he's been trying to restrain his curiosity. He's not sure, exactly, whether his own secret identity was completely blown or not -- he hasn't been able to bring himself to ask what Steph had to tell them. Reconciling with his Shadow... the parts of him that hate all this lying and skulking and digging... hasn't cured him of his secrecy, exactly. His problems aren't done. But he's learning not to worry so much, and to focus on bigger problems than who knows what about him.]

Persona. I know the idea from Jungian psychology, but... nothing like that.

[Their power wasn't ... really a secret. Actually, in Inaba, those he tried to explain it to just outright didn't believe him. Explaining the whole thing to Dojima was futile, but now that Tim had seen things first hand, he was sure that he would be a little more open to the idea then his Uncle was.]

Those are our Shadows. When you accept and defeat your Shadow, you gain that power. It's a little strange that you didn't.

Maybe... I didn't accept it fully. I still keep secrets. I still... pry.

[Tim sounds a little guilty at his confession... but then, the fact that he's confessing at all is a sign of progress.]

I'm just trying not to let that rule or wreck my life, now.

But you faced it.

[Souji shakes his head, still baffled, but letting the subject rest for now.]

We can really only go by what we know. The Dark Hour doesn't fit the description of what happened in Iwatodai or in Inaba.

Usually a break in the pattern is a good thing for an investigation.

{He pauses a moment, wryly, considering.]

Except when you already had a theory you thought fit all the facts...

The truth here is different. I can't place it, even if the two are linked.

[Souji looks more serious.]

Todd mentioned it. He said that there could be a possibility that they're not just taking us from our world, but the ideas of the things that happened, too. I don't know how much stake I put in what he's saying, but ... he has a point. The Dark Hour and the Midnight Channel are from our world.

[Tim looks startled a moment, then a little grim.]

Let's hope they don't import too much more from my world, then.

Back where you come from... how does this work?

[A faint smile quirks across his lips.]

Yeah, I didn't think I'd have to get into this again.

I don't know if I have a good answer for you. Where I come from we ... well ... we jumped into the TV to save people from their Shadows. They were getting singled out and pushed into the TV by a serial killer. They person didn't want to get their hands dirty, so they let the Shadows do the work for them.

That's... creative.

[Tim's voice makes it pretty clear that his opinion of serial killers is best described using words other than 'creative.']

Doesn't seem like what happened here, though. The only person in town who's ever tried to kill me is Jason, and this... wasn't his style.

He seemed as surprised as we were, actually. If he can seem that way.

[Souji quirks his head a little as they stand outside townhall, searching for the place where Tim had taken his breather.]

I don't know if there's someone causing it, or if it's the island that's doing it. If it's the island doing it ... I'm not sure how we can fix it. I really don't want to know the repercussions of that.

Just let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

[Tim pauses, and glances around at the street, stepping back a moment and turning, setting his feet just so...]

I was right here, last I remember. And the gargoyle...

[He points at the blank ledge of a building across the street.]

There. Early twentieth century, gothic revival, either very streamlined or very eroded. No sign of it now, but maybe during the Dark Hour...