[Action, forward dated to after the shadow event]

[sternefacade]

[He was in trouble. He knew it. There was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't run, he couldn't hide, and he could never disobey.

So he waited for her. He waited for her to call, and he waited for her to punish him.]




((OOC: This is for Grace and Brera only. WARNING. This will be... oh god I don't even know. It's going to be intense, there's going to be physical and psychological torture involved, and it's not going to be pretty.))

Comments

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

[It took a while, longer than she'd admit, to get out of the hospital but. She called him, drawing him to a small section of Frontier that once housed her extra body.]

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[He hesitated outside, but only for a moment. Unlike his shadow, Brera was not plagued by overwhelming emotion, so the fear that made him linger was not enough to keep him outside.

He opened the door and stepped in.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

[She barely notices him as he comes in.]

Brera. I suggest you get ready to beg; I'm not exactly feeling merciful.

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

I was not expecting you to be.

[He's quiet, and back to his usual near-monotone.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

I know.

[Grace sighs, tapping the side of her head irately.]

You made things very difficult. I should have you re-assigned.

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[He just stands there silently. She's going to do whatever she wants to do, and whatever he says will just be used against him. It's always better to just stay silent.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

I didn't want to do this, you know.

[She holds out her hand, she looks like she's going to snap her fingers. Damn Brera, it was too soon. This would have to suffice until she was able to do damage control. Idiot, idiot, idiot boy.]

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[He silently bows his head and waits.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

[She snaps her fingers.]

So, the midnight bell tolls.

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[At the sound, something inside his head shifts. He raises his head again and waits for her order.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

[She smiles, that's...not a good smile.]

You remember what you learned during that time? About your past and such?

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[He sees that smile, and a tiny spark of fear burns in his mind.]

Yes.

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

[She just smiles some more.]

That didn't happen, not the way you remember.

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[He doesn't say anything. If he could, he might have found it in himself to hate the community for forcing this on him, but the thought barely even crosses his mind.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

[She tilts her head to the side slightly, moving around him in slow, easy motions. What she wants him to remember, what he needs to, that'll...be delicate work.]

Forget what you learned about your past.

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[And just like that, it all slips away. His stance relaxes slightly, his face goes oddly blank, as he can no longer remember everything she had done to him in the past, who his family was, or what happened to them.

He remembers what he's done. Or what his shadow's done. Or what they both did. It's hard to say what exactly happened, especially since he's no longer aware of why he did it, only that there was some powerful emotion driving it.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

That's better.

[She's moving on...to the delicate work. Subtle. Minute.]

The reasoning your Shadow did what it did...was around Ranka, wasn't it? You didn't want anyone else to have her.

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[A flash of confusion crosses his blank face as he considers that.

Was it? He didn't... couldn't remember. But... it had something to do with Ranka, yes.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

[Grace smiles, gently. Forgivingly. It wasn't his fault he was an incestuous freak. Ranshe... Ranshe would be rolling in her grave, had she been buried.]

You said you loved her. You remember that. How you told me all about it.

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[He... yes he remembers that. There was... something else in that conversation too though, wasn't there?

But he couldn't remember.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

How could you desire her that badly. She's your charge, Brera.

[Inwardly, she's smiling. Ranshe surely would be rolling over now.]

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[He's not even sure he can understand what that would mean. Desiring somebody. He... remembers something of what his shadow felt, but the emotions were almost entirely foreign to him.

He remembers feeling... something different about Ranka, though.

But he doesn't know what it really was. Or what it meant. And he doesn't understand it.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

Whatever you think you felt, whatever you think you remember, it doesn't matter.

I know how it happened. Do you really want to disobey me again?

[Her eyes close, she rubs at her forehead.]

i'm not sure you'd live through that.

[sternefacade.livejournal.com]

[Her question breaks him out of his confusion. Does he want to disobey her again?]

No.

[There may be the softest trace of bitterness there. It's not like he can disobey her again anyway.]

[implantsgrace.livejournal.com]

Ah, don't be bitter, Brera-kun.

[Her tone is soft, if it not were for the situation it might have been considered comforting.] This is for your own good.