[ Mark looks down for a second. I really wish that were true sounds defeated. And he— he doesn't want Josuke to be defeated, doesn't want his friend to be dead, but it just... it sounds...
so familiar.
He looks back up at Josuke, offers a wan smile. They have the same guiding principle, then. They're... really, really alike, actually. It's just it's so... everything is so...
His smile turns a little more real at their hands linked together. ]
The point's good. [ It is; it also just feels so small in comparison. Not just to the additional three points he could be earning, but to this entire conversation. One that he's going to continue, because, ] And you're a really, really good person. But it wouldn't feel right for you to share something like that with me, and for me to not really say anything in return.
[ I've always tried to protect people, and Mark takes a deep breath, shutting his eyes. He's silent for a moment, trying to think about how to word this. There was so much death and destruction in Chicago... around the world... that he can probably get away with not being too cagey. It's— it's not like any camera came in close enough for that moment, the one that's on his mind right now. It could have been anywhere. Any time.
He opens his eyes. Stares at his shoes for a moment. Back to Josuke. Does not let go. ]
I was— there was this apartment building that was collapsing. I was there. I ended up in a position where, um... there was a mom and her kid, right? And I was with them, and this whole thing was slanted. I was... able to find a hold, but the mom fell out the window, and I grabbed her. Just in time. But the building was still collapsing, and she's freaked out, and I'm freaked out, and her kid's freaked out... and I'm just trying to reassure them, pull her up, get everyone safe again...
[ He exhales, defeated. ]
And then it collapsed anyway.
[ And Mark shuts his eyes, his voice going flat. ]
When I came to I was still holding her hand. I thought we might be okay, until I saw that I was just holding her arm. It got ripped off from her body. I never saw the rest of her. Or her kid. Her kid was crying for her mom, and I told her not be scared, and then everyone was just... dead. And I feel like— I know I could have done more. And I didn't. And people died because of me.
[ Two people, by his verbal count. Multiply it by a couple of powers of ten and that's closer to what happened in Chicago alone. For a second he forgets where he is — the screams, the groan of a dying building, the dead silence after; the scent of iron permeating the air from all of the blood, the smell of debris; the silence—
He might be gripping Josuke's hand a little too hard now. Not enough to do any damage — he. he never hurt that woman's hand — but. Maybe a little too hard. ]
no subject
so familiar.
He looks back up at Josuke, offers a wan smile. They have the same guiding principle, then. They're... really, really alike, actually. It's just it's so... everything is so...
His smile turns a little more real at their hands linked together. ]
The point's good. [ It is; it also just feels so small in comparison. Not just to the additional three points he could be earning, but to this entire conversation. One that he's going to continue, because, ] And you're a really, really good person. But it wouldn't feel right for you to share something like that with me, and for me to not really say anything in return.
[ I've always tried to protect people, and Mark takes a deep breath, shutting his eyes. He's silent for a moment, trying to think about how to word this. There was so much death and destruction in Chicago... around the world... that he can probably get away with not being too cagey. It's— it's not like any camera came in close enough for that moment, the one that's on his mind right now. It could have been anywhere. Any time.
He opens his eyes. Stares at his shoes for a moment. Back to Josuke. Does not let go. ]
I was— there was this apartment building that was collapsing. I was there. I ended up in a position where, um... there was a mom and her kid, right? And I was with them, and this whole thing was slanted. I was... able to find a hold, but the mom fell out the window, and I grabbed her. Just in time. But the building was still collapsing, and she's freaked out, and I'm freaked out, and her kid's freaked out... and I'm just trying to reassure them, pull her up, get everyone safe again...
[ He exhales, defeated. ]
And then it collapsed anyway.
[ And Mark shuts his eyes, his voice going flat. ]
When I came to I was still holding her hand. I thought we might be okay, until I saw that I was just holding her arm. It got ripped off from her body. I never saw the rest of her. Or her kid. Her kid was crying for her mom, and I told her not be scared, and then everyone was just... dead. And I feel like— I know I could have done more. And I didn't. And people died because of me.
[ Two people, by his verbal count. Multiply it by a couple of powers of ten and that's closer to what happened in Chicago alone. For a second he forgets where he is — the screams, the groan of a dying building, the dead silence after; the scent of iron permeating the air from all of the blood, the smell of debris; the silence—
He might be gripping Josuke's hand a little too hard now. Not enough to do any damage — he. he never hurt that woman's hand — but. Maybe a little too hard. ]