theafflicted | 🎉🎉🎉

[Firmly, deliberately enunciated, and with great feeling in every word:]

I would rather die.

Good to know. I'd definitely rather die than have to see you naked, so that solves that problem right there.

[Aw, did he touch a nerve? Don't mind if he just pokes at it a little more, then.]

Oh dear. Is poor Phil in for another terrible disappointment? I would have thought he would at least make you so this body was to your taste.

[Is it wise to poke right back along their mutual sore spot? Definitely not. But there's a door between them right now, and he has the unquestionable defense of being too naked to attack. It might be genius.]

[The next breath Marcus sucks in comes as a sharp hiss. Okay, so he totally set himself up for that one, he'll admit that much. But at the same time, that's a hell of a large assumption for Phantom to be making, and it gets Marcus' hackles up for more than one reason.]

Please. You know as well as I do that he has eyes for exactly one person, and I sure as hell don't look one bit like her.

[... just going to leave out the other part of that whole situation here.]

"After all, people can have contradictory thoughts and feelings."

[If he's shifted the delivery of his voice just a little to be gentler, more Phil, well. Whether it's the impression or the memory, dredging that up sends a pang of complex pain through him that's entirely distinct from Marcus's anger.]

I forget. You weren't privy to that.

[The brief, hot flash of rage on Marcus' end is unmistakable, and for a moment he actually contemplates breaking down the door and punching Phantom again. Until he feels that pain, and the sense of satisfaction he derives from that is enough to get him to stay his hand... at least for the moment.]

No, I wasn't. Which means he didn't want me to know about it, so no thanks for sharing.

[Even if it does gall him a little... but despite their emotional link, Phil still has a right to his own privacy.]

As much as I don't doubt it would pain you to admit it, I do still own my own memories, Marcus. I can share them if I choose.

[The depth and intensity of that flicker of answering anger is probably redundant, given the edge in Phantom's voice. He closes his eyes for a moment and then ducks his head back under the shower spray. Maybe it will block out Marcus's voice for a moment, or at least distract him.]

Yeah, yeah. They're the only thing you've got that are all yours instead of his too, I got it.

[... that's probably a low blow, but he finds he doesn't really care.]

Funny you chose to bring up one that's also one of his, though.

Edited 2022-06-03 01:32 (UTC)

[Of course Marcus would understand the reason behind Phantom's anger in an instant. After all, he knows Phil on the deepest level anyone beside Phantom could. And the two of them share... enough for him to apply his knowledge like that, apparently.

It hurts. Deeply. All the more so because he knows very well it's true. Phantom's hands curl into fists, but the anger that would buffer him from feeling the sharpest of it fails to respond in time. The silence stretches too long before he can even try to rally sharp words to say back.]

...I work with what I have. However unsatisfied I am with the materials. Do you truly have nothing better to do than sit around talking to a door?

[The responding wave of emotions is entirely expected. Marcus knows Phil well enough by now to know how to hit Phantom exactly where it hurts, and he isn't about to pull his punches on that front, not after everything that Phantom has done to him.

Feeling that anger and resultant pain means he was successful. He should be considering this a victory on his end, yet somehow all he can feel is hollow-- he can't feel any of the satisfaction he was hoping to get out of this, and that bothers him. Maybe it's just a side effect of the shared emotions, but...]

Well, I thought I was talking to the guy behind the door, but my mistake.

[As strange as the new link between them is sometimes, at others it's hard to remember what's different. Phantom can't be sure that Marcus isn't feeling smug. He wouldn't necessarily pick up on an emotion like that, would he? But he doesn't miss that Marcus isn't pressing his advantage to attack again. His own reply comes out a little more tired and wary than sharp.]

It was. [...] But the question still stands. You have nothing better to do than that?

[Phantom definitely can't keep having this... argument? from inside the shower. He turns off the water and wrings his hair out a little irritably. At least it doesn't feel like hairspray anymore.]

Sure I do. Lots of things, in fact.

[It's so much easier to deflect, to take Phantom's words at face value and ignore the underlying question: Why are you even talking to me? It's certainly far more simple than puzzling through their link and trying to piece together what does and doesn't come through it, and perhaps more importantly, what the feelings that do leak over actually mean, or worse yet, trying to decide why he's having this conversation in the first place.

Marcus isn't sure he wants to think too hard about that part, at least not right now.]

You better not have used up all the hot water, by the way. I still need to get this hairspray out of my hair too.

You're a terrible liar. There's nothing to do here.

[Which, if they had been anyone else, might have been enough of an explanation for why Marcus was speaking to him. Phantom considers lying to himself enough to accept it provisionally anyway. Perhaps... it really doesn't matter.

He dries off quickly and tugs on the comfortable clothes from the gift shop, nevermind that he looks absurd in a t-shirt and sweats. It's not like he's leaving the room in them. Reflexively cautious still, he eyes Marcus when he tugs the door open. If Marcus was going to punch him again, he almost certainly would have felt the impulse by now.]

Why would I be coming out if there were still hot water left? I suppose you're stuck like that.

Unlike some people, I actually like to work out.

[Even though he may have pulled back a bit from the poking at Phantom, he still can't resist the urge to make one last jab. It's not mean when it's the truth! Or at least that's what he's going to be telling himself.

Fortunately for Phantom, Marcus makes no move to punch - or indeed do anything else - when Phantom opens the bathroom door. Instead, one eyebrow goes up as he takes in the sight of Phantom in a pair of sweatpants that are definitely a bit too large for someone that slender; rather than laugh, however, an odd look crosses his face. This... is more vulnerability than he'd ever really wanted to see from Phantom, and after a moment of staring he averts his gaze to study the floor, feeling oddly uncomfortable.]

But thanks, I'll make sure to use up all the hot water without telling you next time.

Yes, I'm well aware you were constructed with muscles in lieu of brains.

[Is that even Marcus's attempt at a jab? That's no more barbed than something he could, or has, said to Phil. Phantom shoots him a look that's intended to read as judgmental but probably comes across halfway between dissatisfied and relieved.

At least whatever that look is on Marcus's face says he's not any more at ease with the situation than Phantom is, and Phantom is at least marginally certain that the larger share of the discomfort is coming from Marcus. Which is information he can use, he tells himself.]

Do that. I look forward to waking you up by showering in the middle of the night.

I'll even get all the towels wet just for you.

[The thought of Phantom reaching for a soggy towel is enough to cause the corners of his lips to curve up into a smirk, and just like that, the spell of awkwardness is broken and he settles back into his former ribbing, albeit somewhat less pointed now.

As long as he doesn't have to think too hard about any of this, it's fine. It isn't really fine, of course, but it's not as though either one of them has a choice in the matter, and this much at least is familiar. Mutual hostility is what he knows and expects; he can deal with that far better than he can not only knowing that Phantom has feelings that can be hurt but actually feeling said hurt himself as well.

This entire situation really does suck.]

Then I'll have to hide them while you're showering.

[Would either of them actual resort to such petty pranks? Well... Phantom can't trust that Marcus wouldn't, which may mean he has to strike first. He all but rolls his eyes at that smirk on his way past to haul himself up into his bunk bed.

A week hasn't made it seem either safe or reasonable yet to fall asleep in a room with Marcus. But the evidence of each day that passes with nothing happening does count for something. He isn't sure what. Absentmindedly, he touches the mark on his wrist again. At least the shared pain provides him a reasonable explanation for why Marcus hasn't taken this very convenient opportunity to simply remove him as a problem.

Again.]

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