Work Text:
November 16th, 2077
14:30
Kraneshaftwick, Etinilia
At the Kraneshaftwick Mental Health Center:
It's a rainy afternoon in Kraneshaftwick. Ethan Casey Donovan is in therapy. They're sitting on a blue sofa, right in front of their therapist, Alex Riley Walker. Ethan is fidgeting with their fingers as they speak.
“It was awful, all of it. One moment we were happy walking around the city, and the next we found out that there was a witch hunt for atheists.” they say in a sad and terrified voice. “We were all so scared and worried. We went home, packed our things as fast as we could and left the house.” they add.
Alex writes all of that in their notebook.
“And what happened next?” they ask.
Ethan takes a deep breath before continuing.
“We found an apartment to stay in. It was hidden, so we thought that we were safe, and we were for two months.” they say. “But one day, soldiers barged through our door and yelled at us, saying that we had to go with them.” they add.
Tears start to fall off their face.
“Do you want to stop?” Alex kindly asks.
“No, I'm fine.” Ethan says.
They wipe off some of their tears.
“My parents didn't want to, but the soldiers decided to do one thing to convince them, and it was…” they start. “It was to put guns in my head and Stefan's, that way, if we didn't comply, they would blow our brains out.” they add as more tears fall down their face.
They cover their face and stay quiet.
“Do you want to keep going?” Alex softly asks once again.
Ethan shakes their head.
“It's okay, I understand that talking about such things is difficult and painful, so don't worry about it.” Alex says in a reassuring tone.
They offer Ethan some tissues, and the latter takes them to wipe off their tears.
“There's still twenty minutes left until the end of the session, so maybe we could talk about something else.” Alex suggests.
Ethan doesn't answer and puts themselves in a curved ball position.
“Or maybe I could dim the lights a little and let you stay like that.” Alex suggests.
Ethan nods.
Alex does exactly what they said and puts on relaxing music.
“This feels nice and relaxing.” Ethan thinks. “I want to rest, but even if it's safe here, I'd rather nap somewhere else, like Ciel’s place. Hopefully they're not too busy.” they add in their head.
They close their eyes but don't fall asleep. They stay like that for twenty minutes.
“Ethan, the session is over now.” Alex softly says.
Ethan opens their eyes and raises their head, looking tired.
“Remember to write in your diary and tell me about it in our next session, alright?” Alex says.
Ethan nods and grabs their stuff to head out.
“See you next week Ethan.” Alex says.
“See you.” Ethan replies as they head out.
Ethan heads to the reception to text their sweetheart, Jae-Shin Ciel, if they can go to their place. J-C replies and says yes. Ethan smiles a little, and they text their roommates that they'll be going to their sweetheart’s apartment.
…
After taking the metro to J-C’s, Ethan arrives. They knock on the door and J-C opens it.
“Casey! How are you” the latter starts.
They notice that Ethan was crying and how tired they look.
“Hey, come inside and let me make you some tea, alright?” J-C softly says.
Ethan enters and closes the door behind them.
“I have a pair of pajamas that you can wear, if you want to, of course.” J-C suggests.
Ethan nods and heads to J-C’s room to change.
Meanwhile, J-C prepares the tea. After five minutes, it's done, and they head to their room with it. They knock on the door.
“Come in.” Ethan replies.
J-C enters the room and sees Ethan sitting on the bed with light violet pajamas, and without their prostatic leg.
“Hey, here's your tea.” J-C says as they give the tea to Ethan.
J-C then sits down next to their sweetheart.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” the former asks.
Ethan shakes their head.
“It's fine, we could talk about something else.” J-C suggests.
“I don't feel like talking now.” Ethan says in a low voice.
“In that case, do you want to watch something? Like a stupid Vihuacoian telenovela?”
“Maybe we could watch ‘Miraculous: New Rose Heroes’ instead?”
“Sure! That show’s fun, though I can't believe the original first aired in 2015.”
Ethan smiles a little.
“Let me just grab my computer and its table so we can watch it.” J-C says as they get up.
They go look for those things, and find them.
Once they do, they set it on the bed and put on the show. They watch four episodes, and after the third, Ethan finishes their tea.
“Man, I love this saga.” J-C says.
“Me too.”
“Are you feeling better now Casey?”
“A little, yes.”
“Do you want to talk about what happened?”
Ethan stays quiet for a few seconds before answering.
“It was the same thing as always; my family getting caught, and Stefan and I almost dying.”
A few tears start to fall off their face, and J-C wipes them off.
“I'm sorry that you went through that naui salang, and I'm sorry that I can't be much help.” the latter sadly says.
“Don't say that, you already help me a lot, always. I don't know what I would do without you.”
J-C smiles a little.
“Do you want a hug?” they suggest.
“I’d rather nap, but could you stay here with me? Please?”
“Of course, anything to make you feel safe.”
J-C removes the computer and the table and puts them next to the drawers. They then sit down next to Ethan, and the latter lays down.
“Sweet dreams Casey, salanghaeyo.” J-C says.
They give a forehead kiss to their sweetheart.
“I love you too.” Ethan softly replies.
They close their eyes to sleep while J-C is looking at their phone.
…
Then, Ethan finds themselves in a dream.
“Where am I?” they say.
They see a mirror, and see that they have the appearance of when they were thirteen.
The white room then turns into the apartment that they were at when their family was hiding.
“Why am I here?” they ask themselves in a panicked tone.
The door suddenly opens, and a soldier comes in.
“Put your hands up in the air!” the faceless soldier says.
Ethan does exactly that.
“You have one hour to pack your bags, otherwise I will blow your brains out!” the soldier yells.
All of a sudden, a school bag appears in front of Ethan.
“Ah, so they're already done.” the soldier says.
He grabs Ethan's hand and drags them out. The bag then appears on Ethan's back.
“Let me go! I don't want to go to the transit camp!” Ethan thinks.
Ethan is suddenly alone in the Reception.
“Mama, Papa, Stef, where are you?!” they yell in a panicked voice.
They then appear in the first ghost town that they arrived at, Kristallfeld.
“No, I need to get out.”
They try to run away, only to arrive in another ghost town. They keep running, but they keep arriving at ghost towns until they arrive at Landgotten.
“Why am I here?” they ask themselves in a panicked tone.
They then find themselves in a dark forest and fall to the ground.
“Where's my leg? Where is it?!” they yell.
A soldier then arrives and puts his gun into Ethan's head.
“Farewell, you devil.” the soldier says.
He shoots the gun, and the nightmare is over.
…
Ethan wakes up in a cold sweat and heavily breathing.
“Casey! Is everything alright?” J-C asks in a worried tone.
Ethan doesn't answer, instead trying to catch their breath.
“Hey, you're safe here, whatever nightmare you had was just that, a nightmare.” J-C softly says.
Ethan manages to catch their breath.
“I know.” they quietly say. “Hug?” they ask.
J-C immediately hugs them.
“Do you want to talk about it?” J-C asks.
“No.”
“That's fine, would you like something?”
“I want to stay like this, just for a bit.”
J-C kisses Ethan's forehead, and the two hug each other for a couple of minutes.
“Is there anything that you want to do?” J-C softly asks.
“I just want to stay with you, that's all.”
They both stay in comfortable silence for a bit before Ethan breaks it.
“Why are you with me? I'm just someone who survived death God knows how many times, and can't really get over their past trauma.” they say. “I know it's not easy, but it's been eleven years since the start of the war, and I'm still like this. So what do I have that made you fall in love with me?” they ask.
J-C kisses Ethan's forehead before speaking.
“Because you're a lovely person, someone that you can trust no matter what, and overall, I feel seen wherever I'm around you.” the former starts. “We're both insecure about our voice and appearance for one reason or another, and I feel like someone can finally understand me.” they add.
“And you don't care about my trauma?”
“It's not that I don't care about it, it's just that I don't mind the nightmares and the panic attacks that you have, because I have them as well. Maybe it's for different reasons, but still.” J-C replies. “And I see you for more than just a traumatized survivor of the Freethinker Hunt, I see you as someone who's brave and strong, despite everything that you've been through.” they add.
Ethan slightly smiles a little.
“Thank you Ciel, I needed to hear that.”
“You're welcome nae nabi.”
They both softly kiss each other and let go.
They hug and stay like that.
The End