08. Repent

[beheadofworship]

[That Christmas morning, Justin Law awoke from the most real nightmare he had ever had. A grotesquely insane future self, the slaughter of innocents... being friends with Giriko, of all people, both as a child and as an adult. He could forgive his child self, whom he was sure would have broken it off as soon as he knew what they were really like.

Comments

[bbsatbyrobots]

[Flora was out, trying to clear her head and make the past and future leave her be, when she saw him. She wasn't really paying attention to who he was, and raised her hand politely in greeting.]

Oh, He--

[She freezes in fear the moment she recognizes him.]

[beheadofworship]

[He hasn't noticed Flora yet - though she greeted him, his eyes are closed, his head is down, and he has headphones on. And he's still muttering prayers, asking for guidance and forgiveness]

[bbsatbyrobots]

[She remains rooted to the spot, scared out of her mind. But he hadn't noticed her yet, so maybe she could creep by without being noticed.]

[beheadofworship]

[She manages to creep by! However, not long after, he falls silent... and eventually looks up to see her back. But he'd recognize this person even from behind, after what Mayfield presumably made him do to her.]

Ah! [He jumps to his feet, turning towards Flora]

PLEASE WAIT!!

[He's REALLY LOUD. It's just because he can't really hear himself though.]

[tracing_death]

[Glares at him.]

[beheadofworship]

[That sensation people get, like people's eyes are boring into the back of their neck? Justin's getting that, so he looks up from his prayers and sees her over his shoulder.

Actually, in the Mayfield future's little 'story' he had nailed her to the wall in the basement for a while... but, that was something that had happened in the 'past', so he actually doesn't remember it.]

Ahhh.... Shiki?

[tracing_death]

[Still glaring at him while carrying on conversation.]

You buy any of that?

[beheadofworship]

[He reads her lips, as the beats are still sounding endlessly in his ears, then looks into her eyes. She must have had something happen to her during the event. He was sure he hadn't had anything to do with her then, though.]

No, of course not. [He mutters]

If this town thinks they can shake my faith, they're gravely mistaken.

[legberjack]

[Giriko is merrily walking down Kramden, quite a bit of pep in his step. He passes Justin's house, then dramatically walks backwards to look at the heap of a man, begging for forgiveness. With a smug, shit-eating grin, he leans onto Justin's pristine white-picket fence and

just

smiles.]

[beheadofworship]

[IGNORES FOREVER]

[legberjack]

[With a dark chuckle, Giriko jumps Justin's fence, pulling a small trinket on a chain out of his pocket while walking over to the younger man. Stopping in front of Justin, Giriko pauses, smiling like the supreme bastard he is, wallowing in the delicious, delicious pain of his fellow man. Schadenfreude never tasted better.

Holding his hand several inches above Justin's head, Giriko drops the chain, letting the charm on the end fall in front of the blond man's face.

"BE-
FRI-"]

[beheadofworship]

[Oh... god. The trinket from when they were children... he'd never actually given it to Giriko, since they were abruptly changed, so he had hoped that he wouldn't find it on the roof. It was so small and easy to miss, after all.

Justin's eyes flicker slightly, but his expression stays calm.]

So what?

[weaponsparked]

[Is this a good time, or a bad time for a rather confused and stressed Autobot to be taking a walk? Possibly either one. He is carrying his newly reacquired blade in one hand, and idly stabbing at bushes and such...

Until he sights the muttering human. It may not be the future any longer, but he knows this one. He remembers knowing with complete certainty who'd harmed Flora. And he's right there...

He steps up, moving behind him, the blade swinging loose in his hand.]

So this is what you did before murdering hapless females, is it...?

[beheadofworship]

[He is very absorbed in his prayers, which are quite penitent by the way, but first and foremost - he cannot actually hear Sideswipe, due to the phat beats that are filtering out any outside noise.

No reaction.]

[weaponsparked]

[The lack of reaction doesn't quite help. He swears in Cybertronian, stepping forward, and holding the blade where he assumes the other can see it.]

Answer me.

[beheadofworship]

[Well... he's absorbed, but not THAT absorbed. Still, since Sideswipe approached from behind, he wasn't able to lip-read, so when he sees the blade he slowly gets up and turns around, seemingly nonresistant.]

Ahhh... You've come for revenge?

so late orz

[ciaobastards]

[When Romano passes by, he can hardly believe it: a priest in Mayfield? He blinks and stares for a while, not wanting to interrupt him in the middle of prayer...]

Haha, it's okay.

[beheadofworship]

[He's pretty absorbed in it, but eventually he senses someone's eyes on him, so he looks up. Oh, it's someone he hasn't met before. ...He doesn't remember him, but he hopes he didn't hurt him somehow during the event. He stays quiet for a brief moment, before deciding to greet him]

Hello!

[The voice is unintentionally loud! He can't hear himself over the headphones.]

Re: Haha, it's okay.

[ciaobastards]

[Unfortunately, he interprets the shouting to be anger.]

Ah! I-I'm sorry...Father?

[beheadofworship]

[Hmm, he has to look closely to lipread from this distance, but they're basic words so he can make them out anyway - although he doesn't catch the "Father" part, but he's not actually a priest so he'll probably correct him if this comes up]

Ahhh... Sorry for what?