citylogs | [OPEN]

[ heine has been lingering for the better part of half an hour, probably. first, outside the greenhouse to make sure that it's not a one-way trip the way the mall had been, and then inside the greenhouse at the fork in the path to see whether one was more likely than the other to cause trauma.

by the time he turns at alhaitham's voice, heine thinks he more or less has his mind made up. ]

The left. [ he points. ] Somebody screamed down that way earlier, sounded like pain. The right side has had some yelling but it sounded angry.

[Alhaitham puts a hand on his hip as he looks down the left path. And then, back to Heine.] And which one would you prefer?

The one less likely to make either of us scream in pain.

[ so right path it is, eh? ]

[Alhaitham huffs out almost a laugh, because the worst things about this city have always been the stuff that hurts in every way except physical. But he doesn't have a preference himself because he's going to go down either path at some point or another, so he tilts his head to the right.] Lead the way.

[ that is. very true, and also heine recovers much faster from physical injury than emotional, but that is truly neither here nor there because he's already starting them down the right-hand path.

plus, in his defense, heine can walk it off; alhaitham is decidedly more squishy, and heine would rather not send him home with any marks that won't fade in minutes. ]

You really like sticking your nose in new places, huh?

[Heine has experienced the Kaveh lecture now, it's fair if he doesn't want a repeat.

Alhaitham tails along, shrugging in response.] I do what's interesting to me. Our captors have finally thrown us a bone, and if the university can have some information I see no reason this greenhouse can't as well.

[ it's honestly self-preservation on both of their ends: heine doesn't want a lecture from kaveh about alhaitham's well-being, and surely alhaitham isn't interested in one from badou about heine's. best of both worlds, the emotional trauma.

the path grows a little darker as they proceed further into the greenhouse. from ahead heine can hear a vague whispering, but he chalks it up to other citydwellers in front of them on the path. ]

This is probably why Kaveh calls you a lunatic. [ that, and the whole overthrowing-the-government thing. ] But that's also what I'm hoping. We're probably going to look at the university soon, too.

[Kaveh has a lot to say about the government thing for someone who would have done the same thing.

Alhaitham, to that, shrugs.] Is he taking credit for it, now?

[Calling Alhaitham a lunatic, that is.] The files can't be removed from the room they're in so I took pictures, but that means they'll still be there when you look.

I don't know about credit. He just says it a lot.

[ probably like twice before heine had even really gotten to know alhaitham, plus at least once after that. he's honestly not really sure that alhaitham is any more of a lunatic than heine himself is, but it's a little funny nonetheless. ]

I'm gonna make Badou do the heavy lifting on the research. [ he's the info broker after all! heine is just here to be strong!! ] Anything good in there?

Depends what you consider good. It's no epiphany, but I'm more certain this is all some sort of experiment. There's a review of one centered around positive group interaction that seems to originate from this city or the real city this one is based on.

Unfortunately, most of the details have been blacked out.

[Because of course it couldn't be too easy.]

Edited 2023-10-03 18:39 (UTC)

That's something, at least. One point for team experiment.

[ it's not much, sure. but it's better than what they'd had before, which was nothing, not even a confirmation as to whether this place is an experiment or a simulation or hell or what. ]

I guess they're not planning on making it easy for us. Not that I expected them to. [ there are things this place makes easy, like accessing food and housing, but the things that matter? the things they actually need to know? those things, they've always had to claw for.

some of the plants shift above them as heine and alhaitham enter deeper into the tunnel, and the whispering grows deeper. it no longer sounds like other residents, and heine's attention turns to it instead, tuning in to the strangeness. ]

Do you hear that?

[A neutral hum in response. No, they won't make it too easy for their lab rats to stage a mutiny with the right tools and information.

Alhaitham tilts his head. It had started harder to hear past his headphones, but this one is strange in its odd sense of not quite coming from a direction and sounding far too close at the same time. He looks around.] It sounds like something nearby.

[ well, heine doesn't love the feeling of that. it doesn't register as dangerous, not yet, but it does make the back of his neck prickle slightly and his steps slow as they continue walking.

the whispering picks up, sounding both right next to them and at a distance. among it heine thinks he hears words he recognizes: his own name, alhaitham's name. badou's name. ]

What the fuck... [ he looks around, then up at the flowers arching above them. heine doesn't know much about plants, but these seem big. ] Is it the flowers?

The flowers? [Alhaitham's expression is a bit incredulous until he looks around again. In fact, the flowers do seem to be drooping closer, almost like they're surrounding them now. And the whispers--it does travel between them. It reverberates like an echo.

"He won't say how he really feels. Isn't that sad?"

Alhaitham looks aside to Heine. He?]

[ it's surprising to heine, too. he's not as used to plants overall—who's he to say that they can't grow mouths and start talking?—but based on the way alhaitham responds heine can assume this isn't usual behavior.

when one of the whispers coalesces into something heine can understand, he also glances sidelong at alhaitham in return. both of them seem to be thinking the same thing: which he is this thing talking about?

(heine, for his part, is assuming alhaitham. too deep in denial, still.) ]

What the fuck. [ not that heine really has that many secrets from alhaitham at this point, given all the shit he saw in the mall. ] I don't know, I'm pretty—

[ another whisper cuts in: "So scared of losing something that he won't even try to ask for it, isn't that sad?" ]

[Admittedly Teyvat is full of weird shit, but even talking plants aren't the norm.

He pushes away one bowing too close to his face. That line doesn't actually clear anything up, but since Heine tried responding he's willing to believe it's Heine.] So, are they talking about--

[They don't let him get a word in edgewise though.

"Taking the safe route because he's lost it before. Isn't that cowardly?"]

--Let's keep moving.

[ oh, heine doesn't like this. it doesn't really matter who they're talking about, because it seems to be true for both of them.

heine and alhaitham who can't admit to what they feel; who won't reach for what they want for fear of losing it. two kindred spirits, aren't they? heine speeds up a little, but the path is so long and feels like it's getting longer. maybe it is. maybe it just feels that way because heine doesn't want to hear more. ]

I don't like this. [ a plant caresses his cheek and heine slaps it away. it hisses and whispers, "He pushes people away and says it's for their own sake, but it's for his own. So selfish."

without looking at alhaitham, heine adds, ] I think the side with the screaming might have been better.

Who would? [See? See? This place's true horrors is pulling apart their minds, not their bodies. They should have gone down the path with the screaming.

Alhaitham looks because that one was definitely about Heine. But he doesn't comment on it right now because the flowers just keep talking.

"He acts like he doesn't need anyone but he actually misses it, being loved."

"He had it. He ruined it."]

[ oh, that one's definitely not him. heine glances sharply at alhaitham, but before he even has a chance to say anything—

(although, what would he say? heine had studiously not listened to the conversation between badou and alhaitham at dinner, too busy trying to be a buffer to kaveh's drunken ramblings about combustion engines, but he would have to be more than a fool not to know that something's going on between them that neither of them seem ready to confront. so what do the flowers mean, he had it and he ruined it?)

—another flower chimes in with, "he's ruined every beautiful thing he's ever touched, and now he's too afraid to admit even to himself that he's in l—"

loudly, heine says, ] Fuck this, we're getting out of here.

[ he reaches out on instinct and grabs alhaitham's wrist to haul him back the way they came, toward the exit of the greenhouse. ]

[Alhaitham narrows his eyes on response, judging of Heine's reaction is that of expectation or wariness. The flowers don't stop talking. The follow up causes every muscle in Alhaitham's body to stiffen at once as the implication cuts too close.

(In the minutes later, when he thinks about it, he'll realize it couldn't have been him. Because he knows he is in love. Because he knows Kaveh is inevitable, and denying this truth will not unmake it.)

Heine grabs his wrist and pulls. Alhaitham twists on his feet, fingers curling around in the response interlock.

The flowers hush. The silence is not lost on him.] ... Wait. It's stopped.

[ the rabbit-quick thud of heine's heart in his chest is momentarily loud enough to drown out the whispering, which is why he doesn't immediately notice when the whispers fade away. it's only the curl of alhaitham's fingers into his and the words that take a second to parse that clue him in, and then heine pauses too, focusing with some effort on the sound (or lack thereof) of the greenhouse around them. ]

... [ heine looks up at he flowers, then down at their joined hands. it's literally the only thing that changed, so...

carefully, he withdraws his hand from alhaitham's, and almost immediately one of the flowers whispers, "he could—" before heine grips alhaitham's hand again, more tightly this time. ]

What the fuck.

[Alhaitham allows the release. The whisper starts as if eager. Alhaitham allows the rejoin, staring at Heine with the expression of this may as well happen.

What the fuck, indeed.]

... So we have a greenhouse of giant gossiping flowers that shut up if you're holding hands with somebody.

[ for his part, heine carefully does not make eye contact with alhaitham. listening to each other's secrets being whispered by fucking plants is embarrassing enough, but having to hold hands to get it to stop?

heine's never held hands with anyone but nill. ]

Great. [ that final consonant is bitten off, the way heine's voice gets when he's speaking through gritted teeth. ] Let's walk.

[ he will not ask which secrets were alhaitham's, because doing so would make it obvious which secrets were heine's, and he is not ready to face up to that. ]

I'm guessing the papers in the university didn't say anything about this.

[Heine looks away. Alhaitham, with no reason to linger, follows at the same pace by his side to walk out.] No, most were related to our own worlds and the one that wasn't as about a different experiment that occurred at the university itself.

[And, because he doesn't want to talk about what the plants said, and Heine doesn't want to talk about what the plants said, but he also can't help the question from springing up with Heine's strangely demure reaction:] ... Are you shy?

[Bro can't hold hands with his bro.]

That's disappointing. [ ...but also much more interesting than heine originally knew. documents from their own worlds? he's going to have to pay a visit of his own, see if there's any documentation of the experiments that made him.

he flinches a little at the question, then finally looks over at alhaitham, although it's to shoot him a dirty look. you can't just ask your bro if he's shy, come on. ]

No. [ ...maybe a little. ] Just never done this before.

[ YES, he means hand-holding. especially not with another dude. holding hands with a fourteen-year-old to help her keep her balance as she walks tighrope along the church pews doesn't count. ]

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