Last Names Who: Tayne and Erin Where: Erin's room When: Morning
After breakfast and another shower and a check on the eggs, Tayne trudged up to Erin's room, a couple books in hand from Dhaval's collection, to knock on the door and alert the fellow to his presence. He hadn't forgotten the promise, even if... everything was weird now. He had the vague sense that without the real Erin, the fake-Erin was useless now, but he couldn't know that for sure.
And he was pretty sure this one was the fake-Erin. If he was even still here, and hadn't somehow unraveled when his real self died.
Rising from a light sleep, Erin looked to the door with a bit of trepidation. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk to anybody right now, but he couldn't very well just ignore it either. It wasn't like they didn't know he was in here, after all. "What?" he called out, feeling sour, stressed, and in no mood for pleasant chit-chat. The last several days had really been pure hell on him, though he had no idea what it had been like for the others. He rose up from the bed anyway, though, his powerful tail lifting his body in an almost effortless motion. While monstrous, Erin's lower half still held an inherent and animalistic sort of beauty.
This already sounded like a bad idea. That "what" didn't bode well for Erin's mood. "Book delivery," Tayne said through the door, trying not to sound as wary and unhappy as he felt. Maybe coming with the promised books, even if it was a few days late, might make the guy a little less irritable. It wasn't that early, was it? Or was there some other reason Erin might be pissy? ... aside from being locked up, that was.
Erin's temper, and his expression, changed as he heard Tayne's response. "Oh," he said, shifting to hurry across the room, just outside the door before he said anything else. "I wasn't expecting a book delivery... especially not right now. You guys got back okay then?" He wished he could be let out of this room already. It was starting to make him feel like a crazy person, pacing the room all day every day. It wasn't like there was much else for him to do.
"Well, I did kinda promise." At least the guy'd heard about his being gone, so he didn't think he'd just forgotten or anything. That was something. He'd been half-sure Erin'd be pissed at him. "I'm comin' in, okay?" He unlocked the door from the outside and headed in, books in hand. "We got back okay. Well, mostly okay. Terry got his back busted up, but supposedly there's a healer comin' to check him out...."
Erin nodded about the promise, but when it was announced that the door was coming open he blinked, quickly shifting to try and get out of the way of the door in time. He did, but just barely, his large body difficult to maneuver in such a tight space. He gave Tayne the room he needed, blinking a few times at him as the other man entered the room. It was bizarre, having someone other than Jasmine or Terry in the room with him. Instinctively, he tasted the air to catch Tayne's scent. "Wow," he answered, remembering the last time he'd seen Terry. "That really sucks... are we sure this healer person is coming?"
"No," Tayne sighed. "But I can hope he is. At least if he isn't... Terry can fly?" It was a very small hope, and honestly, given the kind of care they could give Terry, he wouldn't be surprised if Terry didn't make it at all, but he had to hope a little. He held up the books, while looking Erin over. He hadn't actually seen him since the day he'd arrived, and wasn't sure whether he was glad or not to see he'd survived the death of his magical twin. "Dhaval finished with these, I hope they're somethin' you'd wanna read."
Erin frowned, the idea that Terry wouldn't be able to walk anymore an upsetting proposition. Even with the ability to fly, wouldn't there be a lot of pain involved? It didn't sound pleasant, at any rate... Erin's concerns were somewhat pushed aside at the sight of the books being offered to him, just enough that he could focus on this instead. "Oh cool, thanks." Erin took them looking, turning the pile so that he could glance over the titles quickly. "Whether or not they're something I'd read normally isn't important, I guess. At least it's something to do." He moved to set them down on the nearby dresser, and turned back to Tayne. "Maybe I'll get them memorized by the time a decision is made about what to do with me, huh?" He laughed, but it was a little dry.
"Once Terry comes around or gets fixed up--" Provided he did. "--I imagine we'll be able to at least c-consider that decision sooner rather'n later...." Since they had a bit more info now than they had before. Tayne ran a hand over his hair uncomfortably. How best to tell the poor guy what had happened? It probably wouldn't be an easy thing to hear. "Your last name's Murray. In case you were, y'know, wonderin'."
"Awesome," Erin answered, though it was a bit subdued. The idea that Terry was injured was a really weird one for him. He'd been one of the only people Erin had been able to talk to since his appearance at the hotel. "What?" he asked, when told what his last name was. "What do you mean? How do you know that?" Erin considered for a moment the possibility that maybe he'd been carrying a wallet when he'd shown up at the hotel, that maybe they were holding information from him. That was unsettling.
"Because--" Tayne looked away, uncomfortable. "I dunno how much you know 'bout what happened to me and Jas' and the others. We went out lookin' for somebody, managed to get ourselves kidnapped an' locked up. And. Well, we met you. A you who... remembered who he was, an' shit, who was locked up same's we were." And who was dead. He couldn't quite bring himself to say that part, yet, letting Erin digest this much first.
"Actually, I... don't know anything at this point," Erin answered, eyes narrowed slightly at Tayne. He still had yet to see Jasmine, and worrying about her came to him too easily. "What?" he prompted, his expression shifting slowly. "What do you mean... you met me?" He ran a hand over one arm, scratching absently, anxiously. This didn't bode well. "Someone who looked like me and knew who I was...?"
"Someone who had the tail and the t-tongue and face just like yours, and who introduced himself as Erin Murray," Tayne elaborated reluctantly. "I'd say he smelled like you, too, 'cept I couldn't smell as good then, so I can only guess from what little I could smell. Acted a lot like you, too. He r'membered who he was, but none of us, said he'd b-been locked up for days, down there."
Erin stared at Tayne as this information was revealed, definitely confused by it to say the least. It sounded like fantasy, like it was being made up... but then, stranger things had happened. He had a snake tail, and Tayne could turn into a tiger... but why was there another version of himself somewhere? He went totally silent for a long time, not sure what to say. He didn't know how to react. It didn't sound good for this other version of himself, though, considering there was no mention of him being at the hotel. Erin ran a hand through his hair and swallowed, trying to make sense of it.
Tayne wasn't sure what to say, either. He stood there awkwardly, no longer even having the books to hold to occupy his hands, before finally clasping them behind him and breaking the long pause. "Um. They killed him... when we all tried to escape. I'm sorry, man. I d-don't even know which of you came first-- but you're still here, no matter what happened."
Erin blinked, widened eyes staring back at Tayne as he was told the other version of himself was dead. Not only dead, but killed. "I... oh man, that's fucked up." He sighed, not sure what to do with himself. He felt awkward, didn't know what to say to any of that. "Did he... tell you anything else? I mean like... about me? Us?" Erin couldn't help but wonder how this worked out. How could there be two of them?
"We were kinda more focused on gettin' out and gettin' him here," Tayne said apologetically. "I was only in th'same room as him for a few minutes 'fore we t-tried a break-out--" And failed, and Erin-the-other was killed. "--so didn't get a lot of chance.... I am sorry, man." What else could you say? It wasn't very often that you had to tell someone their other self was dead. "Wish I'd had a chance t'ask more, but just plain didn't. He seemed awfully shocked to hear 'bout you, though." If that was any kind of consolation.
It wasn't really any consolation. Erin wondered how much he had missed out by this sour turn of events, how much this other Erin might have known about them... about what had happened to them, or about his past. A sense of frustration washed over him. He would never know shit about himself, he realized. That had probably been it. He rubbed his hands over his face and then dropped them to his sides. "It's... okay," he finally answered, shrugging. He was clearly unsettled though. "It's... not your fault." He'd almost said 'I guess' at the end of the sentence, but had caught himself in time. It wasn't Tayne's fault that the other Erin had been killed, and he knew it. He was feeling off kilter, though, the news that there had been another of him hard enough to stomach without needing to be told that he wasn't alive anymore. What if this "other" Erin was the original? What if that was really him? What if... oh man. What did that make him then?
"No, it weren't, but it's still a shitty sort of thing to hafta tell somebody," Tayne countered, watching Erin and holding his own wrist tightly behind his back. As if anyone would take this sort of news well. He just wished he didn't have to give it. "I dunno which of you was th'first one. But I don't think it matters, either. You're here and you're you, and that's what we've gotta deal with. I'm gonna be tryin' to figure out what to do soon's I can, though, promise you that."
"Okay," Erin said, nodding as Tayne spoke his bit. He didn't really know how to digest this information. It was a lot to take in for anyone, finding out that you had a counterpart, and that they were now dead. "He's the first one," he said, shaking his head as he turned away from Tayne. "He knows his name. I don't. I only know it because it's been told to me. He would... he would have said something if he didn't know who he was." It made sense to him. "I would say something about it, you know?"
"No, he knew who he was, an' knew how he'd gotten there," Tayne sighed. "Dunno if that makes him first, nobody knows 'xactly what the power that did this is or how much mental power's involved, but he did know more'n you." And there wasn't much else to say, there. Could anyone possibly even process the idea that they were clone or a copy? Tayne didn't even want to think about it, and it wasn't him who had to.
Erin nodded, really still thinking that this sounded like a shitty deal. "It seems like he's gotta be the first... the original. There's no way he'd know that but I wouldn't, if it were the other way around." Therefore... Erin's life... meant nothing? He turned away from Tayne, dwelling on the idea that he was nothing more than the copy of a person who no longer existed, a man that looked and sounded and acted the same, but who had grown up with parents and an education and a life outside of this bedroom. It wasn't easy to stomach it, and Erin found himself starting to feel physically ill.
Even though that was what Tayne had originally thought, himself-- and still thought was the likelier option-- seeing Erin turn away like that and look so downcast made him wish it were some other way. And it was possible, as Dhaval had suggested. He put a hand on Erin's shoulder. "You don' know that. For all we know, your memories were dumped out into the other one. We don't know enough t'even guess." Though what the lady had said when he'd been killed at least suggested that this Erin wouldn't be "useful" anymore. He hoped.
"Yeah," Erin said, folding his arms over his chest as Tayne's hand settled on his shoulder. He didn't know what to do with this information, not really. "Regardless of who was the first or whatever, those memories are gone. And... that fucking sucks. I have no idea what... what I was, who I was... who my parents were... if I had one or two, siblings, pets..." Erin threw his head back in frustration for a moment, trying not to let it get him down too far, but... what the fuck else did he have to lose?
There wasn't much to say to that. Tayne wanted to say, he could make new ones. Get a new pet. But he didn't even know if he could do that. It all depended on what Terry and Joyce said, knowing what they knew... if Landon got better and gave his mind a better hunt-through, looking for any kind of mental "hooks" someone could use to control him again, maybe.... But until he knew those answers, all Erin could look forward to was this room, and occasional visits. "I'm sorry, man," he said, and at least he meant it.
"Yeah," Erin answered, not sure what else he could really say. He was grateful for Tayne having told him the information, even if it wasn't anything he particularly wanted to know. Would it have been better to have never known at all? "Thanks," he added on, "for telling me about all of that. It must not have been easy for you guys, either... seeing the other guy... the other me being killed." Erin moved to the mattress nearby and sighed, lowering himself down onto it to get comfortable. He felt exhausted, mentally and physically.
Letting his hand fall when Erin moved out from under it, Tayne answered, "No, wasn't, really... poor Jas, happened right in front of her, she still ain't over it, I don't think...." Since Tayne hadn't seen it up close, it was mostly the implications that bothered him-- even if he had, though, he was more used to seeing friends die than anyone else who'd been trapped there, he supposed. Which wasn't saying much, really, either.
Of course. Erin sighed, hating that Jasmine had been forced to go through something like that. It fucking figures, he'd be locked up here while someone like her was tortured by these creeps that seemed to be running the streets. Whoever these assholes were, Erin wished he could have had his chance to prove himself. He wasn't the murderer they'd made him into. "I can't say I really blame her," he muttered in response. "I wouldn't want to watch someone die in front of me either." He gave Tayne a very pointed look, as though to imply just how much he didn't recall about the murder he'd been responsible for so many days ago.
The look Tayne gave him back was a little blank, not making the connection at all to the point Erin was trying to make. The issue wasn't that Erin had killed someone, anymore; it was that he could be used to kill someone again, if the connection wasn't severed, so he didn't even think about it. Erin wasn't a bad person, in his mind, but a potential weapon for someone who was a bad person. "It isn't a very nice exp-- exp-- nice thing to go through, no," he answered. "I'd rather nobody did. But you can't help it, sometimes, I guess... world ain't what it used to be."
"Yeah," Erin said, "though I guess I wouldn't know, not really. For me? This is reality." He gestured around them, knowing that despite some of the knowledges he'd maintained, it was never going to be the same as having actual memories to back it up. "I think... I want to get some rest," he said, stretching his back out, arms reaching upward toward the ceiling. He didn't have much else to say, and he was hoping that since the survivors were home, Jasmine would be by soon.
Feeling very much like the bad guy here, and not liking it much, Tayne backed up towards the door. "A'ight," he said, a bit awkwardly. "I'll talk to Terry 'bout your shit, soon's he's feelin' well enough.... And see 'bout new books, once Dhav's finished with 'em, an' stuff, a'ight?" At least Erin had those two. That might help get his mind off of... everything else. It wasn't much, but it was all Tayne could really do.
"Thanks, for bringing this by." Erin offered a small smile, but it was hard to hold onto it for long. He didn't have much to smile about, as much as he wished the reverse were true. "I'll see you soon... when i'm feeling more social, I guess. Sorry." He shrugged, really not sure what else to say that would make this any easier on either of them.
"Hey, no problem," Tayne said, with an equally small smile, back. "Wish I could go more, man... I'll talk to ya soon." And with that, knowing he was just making things worse by lingering, he grabbed the handle to let himself out, and lock it behind him. This whole thing was just shitty, all the way around.