Out of Phase

“…I dont think you did anything wrong.” Lewis said softly. “Youre trying to help. Thats…thats better then what I was doing…”

“Is it bad that im sort of relieved that he got riled up? He had been so….so passive since I found him. But hes…hes still got a fire in him.” A ghost with no drive would eventually fade out. If arthur faded out…..he’d be alone again.

Arthur shrugged. “At least you kept him from wandering too much. Not ideal, but… there are things out there that’d probably love to chomp on a spirit. Here might be under shitty circumstances, but at least he can be around someone who cares.” He continued his finger’s journey, up to brush at his hair, tugging on a few strands once or twice.

“Not really, no…I think its happened once or twice while I was still in the woods, but…it hadnt happened in a while.” He said with a shrug. “It doesnt seem to really do anything though.” Arthur frowned, hesitating as he bit his lip for a moment. “I dont really have anything on my mind….thats kinda the problem.”

“Ah... I see... well so long as it’s not doing any harm.”

“Hes…fine. Hes just….really quiet most of the time.” Lewis said as waved his hand a formed a purple towel out of a puff of fire and handed it to the other. “Im not…sure how much hes told you about things. About how he is.” Or possibly about his previous attack on Arthur. Maybe arthur trusted this odd lookalike more then him.

Fine. That doesn’t sound promising, not in the least. Mono takes the towel and starts patting down and won’t up the excess. Lewis sounded oddly… stressed. If something did happen, then Arthur could tell him, until then.-

“Not much, I’ve only spoken to him once. He seemed a bit depressed the last time we talked. Quiet makes sense for the most part, ”

He bites his lip and straightens up. Resisting the urge to peer in and see what arthur was doing.

“…I think thats a good idea.” Lewis agreed. He didnt think they were getting any further with arthur right now. He was shutting down and seemed to have a hair trigger to being angered. He knew the feeling well. He sighed and move to follow him to the door. He rubbed at his eyes lightly. He wasnt going to cry. Even though he knew this was all his fault. Arthur was so angry because he had tried to hurt him. He had every right to be, but now he was pretty much refusing help because he didnt trust anyone.

Arthur moved out quickly, and continued down the stairs. Distance seemed to help as he took the stairs back down, unsure what he even wanted to do now. His shoulders sagged with each step he took.

“Hes…fine. Hes just….really quiet most of the time.” Lewis said as waved his hand a formed a purple towel out of a puff of fire and handed it to the other. “Im not…sure how much hes told you about things. About how he is.” Or possibly about his previous attack on Arthur. Maybe arthur trusted this odd lookalike more then him.

Fine. That doesn’t sound promising, not in the least. Mono takes the towel and starts patting down and won’t up the excess. Lewis sounded oddly… stressed. If something did happen, then Arthur could tell him, until then.-

“Not much, I’ve only spoken to him once. He seemed a bit depressed the last time we talked. Quiet makes sense for the most part, ”

Arthur was starting to bristle again before Lewis interrupted. “Stop, we dont need anyone comparing who has things better or worse. It doesnt matter.” Things had just calmed down, he wasnt going to let Arthur get all riled up again. “What are you, my mom?” Arthur huffed, but didnt press the matter. He was metally exhausted and at this point wanted to just be left alone to go back to staring out the window. He was tempted to just leave. Lewis didnt seem like he was going to try and destroy him now, so he could probably just leave.

Arthur didn’t answer. So this Arthur didn’t like getting called out. He could feel the agitation rise when he pointed out their shit sucked different with sarcasm. As if the guy hadn’t been agitated and sarcastic a few times this whole talk. Maybe it was yet another sore spot. Just like the first response, when he pointed out he was moving goals and sounded scared.

He wondered if that was the memory, the trauma, or just this Arthur in particular, since all their personalities seemed to vary pretty often between place. Probably a mix of all three.

Instead of answering he stood up and moved towards the door to the room. A few comments cycled through his mind, but he kept them from leaving. He was just irritated and he knew it. And Arthur had decided his afterlife was shitty, and didn’t want to do anything about it for now. He didn’t want to be pushed, he wanted to sulk because why should he care when he was sure nothing could change, or didn’t want it to.

“Youre alive, so…isnt that better? You could be like me. Dead. With nothing and no one.” Arthur shrugged. “I said I dont care about anything, not that im happy being dead.” The living could at least try and change things. He felt stuck and he knew there was no point to trying to change things anymore.

“Yeah, because knowing just what you lost and still being alone is so much better.” He can’t keep the bitterness out of his voice. His arms cross and he looks at the wall. “Our issues are different, but they’re both shitty, Arthur.”