Work Text:
It had been a few days since Boothill had been rescued from those idiots at the IPC, freeing himself from those cables that had made him relive his past and what his future could have been. But in the process of getting rid of them, his synesthesia system had been damaged. Later, Dan Heng said that he might have distorted visions because of the time he’d spent in contact with those wires. He just hadn’t imagined it would be so… bothersome, and distinguishing the real from the fake made everything even more irritating.
Boothill walked through the streets of Penacony with his targeting system activated to recognize any IPC employee. There weren’t many people on the street, which was strange, since Penacony was the land of dreams, so there would certainly have more people on the streets.
As he noticed this, Boothill stopped in front of a store that caught his eye. The store sold some works of art, and one in particular caught the cowboy’s attention. The painting in question showed a sunset viewed from the top of a hill, with clouds perfectly adorning the horizon. Boothill remembered his homeland; the sunset there was so peaceful, just as the painting depicted. But it is a beauty that could no longer be seen—his homeland lay buried in ashes, scarred by the greed inflicted by the IPC.
But how could such a tragedy have happened? The scenery offered a view of the beautiful colors of the sunset. ■■■ was sitting on a hill next to a tree, admiring the view and feeling the cool breeze blow past him. From where he stood, he could see a few houses a little further ahead, along with the families who lived there.
As he admired the view, a man was walking up the hill, holding his hat against the wind. “■■■! It’s time to go home and finish helping out on the farm.” Nick had a smile on his face, with no apparent worries.
“Oh, I forgot! I was… distracted by the view, i ended up losing track of time.” The child replied briefly even as he looked at Nick, his attention was drawn to the sunset behind the man. Nick just smiled and ruffled the child’s hair, “No worries, kid. Besides, we still have plenty of time to admire the view.”
After playing with the child’s hair for a little while longer, they sat down together to gaze at the sky. As it grew darker, the stars became increasingly visible, some with a flickering glow. “Sometimes, I think it looks like a damn dream—how such a thing can be this beautiful?” ■■■ whispered, but his words couldn’t be heard, lost in the peaceful breeze of the moment.
It didn’t take long for night to fall, but it didn’t bring the familiar darkness with it, there was only a sky stained with a deep red. Stars that had previously flickered seemed to be getting closer and closer, forming glowing trails across the sky, like countless meteors. “But in fact, you have to remember that this sky doesn’t exist anymore, kid.” Nick’s tone seemed to have changed, taking on a strange distortion in his voice. ■■■ reluctantly looked at the man beside him, but he was no longer there, leaving only a glimpse of a sky stained with an impure shade of red in the background.
As the “meteors” crashed down, a thick cloud of dust rose up, causing ■■■ to cough violently. Catching his breath, he could see that only the ruins of houses remained, entirely consumed by the flames. Thick smoke spread out, blocking the hellish scene unfolding before him.
Snapping out of his daze, ■■■ ran as fast as he could while he could still see, guided by his familiarity with the path to his home. Screams of despair mixed with the thunderous sound of the impact, disorienting him and preventing him from thinking clearly. After running for a long time, ■■■ saw his house in the distance, but only ruins remained scattered across the ground. Too late.
■■■ ran even faster, despair filling his mind, guttural screams could be heard, voices calling his name, and others cursing a so-called IPC. ■■■ gasped shakily when he could face the fire consuming his home, crying as his face was illuminated by the flames, intermittent cries filling his mind.
Gradually, the voices faded away, leaving only the sound of crackling wood coming from inside the house. ■■■ was stunned, he could only smell the smoke and feel a terrifying rage growing inside him.
Indeed, how could this be possible? Everything had been reduced to ashes, none of it was anything more than a distorted and messy vision from his chaotic mind, mixing together disturbing events.
How could he ever glimpse that clear sky again? He must hunt down the one who caused all, this they must—
“Hello, did something catch your attention?” Boothill heard someone call out to him, startled by the sudden comment, he looked to the side and saw the employee from the store, who was now staring at him waiting for a response. Even after being snapped out of his daze, the scene still resembled the shattered horizon of his homeland. The cowboy sighed and rubbed his eyes to shake off the remnants of the hallucination. “No, I was just looking around.”
Walking away from the store, Boothill could still feel the suffocating sensation caused by the illusion. With a tired sigh, he headed back to the One and Only, knowing they would have to leave Penacony that night to avoid an unwanted encounter with the IPC.
As he walked, Boothill tried to at least recall the few good memories he had left. He had been noticing that his childhood memories ended up having a somewhat contradictory aspect, always appearing dark. Perhaps due to the passage of time or something within his system, they had faded.
When he tried to force the good memories, Boothill was sent back to that red sky, but now there was only a red-haired child in front of him, looking at him with a certain worry. That failed attempt of illusion didn't work, Boothill knows that he didn't have the chance to see his daughter grow up, having died when she was still such a tiny baby.
“This forking shirt,” Boothill muttered under his breath and continued walking in the direction where the One and Only was docked.
𓂃˖˳˖ ִֶָ ⋆🌹⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ
It didn’t take long for Boothill to spot the characteristic One and Only, painted a beautiful shade of red with gold details shaped like the tips of Argenti’s own spear.
When Boothill enters, he sees no sign of Argenti, there wasn’t even the usual mess on the round table with the redhead’s armor cleaning supplies. The cowboy then plops down in the chair next to the table, closing his eyes as he waits for Argenti.
But it’s strange, he feels something warm brush against his arm. In a quick movement, he pulls his gun from its holster and immediately points it at the person’s face.
The person quickly took a few steps back, shielding themselves with their arms, still peering through the gap they’d created.
“You! Shirt, how come I didn’t hear ya?!” Boothill quickly lowered the gun and holstered it, seeing that it was just Argenti standing in front of him. The redhead just laughed softly as he lowered his arms, “You walked right past me—I even tried to get your attention, but you seemed distracted.”
“Distracted?” Boothill repeated under his breath, then remembered the red-haired child he’d seen on the way. “Ah! It was probably… just another one of those shirt illusions.” Boothill threw himself back into his chair, a little bothered that he’d confused Argenti at this point.
Argenti quickly understood, looking more concerned as he sat down on the other side of the table. “No worries, I was just worried something might happen to you, y’know, the recent thing with the IPC.” The redhead had his hands on the table, fidgeting nervously with them.
The other man looked away as his face took on a slight bluish tint. “No need for that, Rosey, those cowards just caught me off guard.” Boothill then looked at Argenti, who was gazing at him with those damn tender eyes. Feeling his thoughts drift to another place he was trying to avoid, the cowboy seized the opportunity to ask. “Perhaps, that little dragon said something about fixing my synesthesia?” he said, his anxiety evident in his tone.
“No… He said he needs a few more days, just to make sure he doesn’t mess anything up with you in the process, my silver cowboy,” Argenti sighed, thinking about how those illusions seemed to be bothering the other more as the days pass by.
Boothill was visibly bothered by this, the visions were disrupting his routine, causing him to constantly lose himself in his thoughts and his system to malfunction more frequently.
“Is there something on your mind that you might want to… share?” Argenti asked, somewhat hesitant with the question. Boothill tensed at the suggestion, hesitating as he looked at the redhead. Feeling he had overstepped his bounds, Argenti shook his head nervously, “It’s just… you know! Don’t get me wrong, sharing might ease the situation, but only if you feel comfortable.”
Seeing the person in front of him nervous, Boothill couldn’t help but let out a brief laugh, “Relax, Rosey, I appreciate your help and patience with everything that’s happening now.” He paused briefly, carefully considering his next words as he closed his eyes and leaned back further in his chair. “I just wanted the chance to see her grow up, to see what life would be like if she were still alive, and this whole synesthesia problem just make everything worse.”
He then forced himself to recall the memories again, but they had only the same dark appearance as before. A look of disappointment crossed the cowboy’s face. “But everything changed after that event.” He let out a heavy sigh, opening his eyes, he could see that Argenti was paying close attention to his words, as he always did.
“And it doesn’t forking help that some of my most cherished memories have taken on a dark appearance, maybe those shirts have messed with my system, or it´s just time passing by.” He then rested an arm on the table, just toying with the towel as he pondered further. “I guess it must be embarrassing that I’m afraid of losing the last remnants of memory I still have of her, and it’s all thanks to those muddle-fudgers,” the cowboy muttered under his breath, but the redhead could still hear him clearly.
Argenti gave him space to talk about it, and he couldn’t help but feel frustrated with the cowboy. He then reached out a little further and touched Boothill’s fingers. Warnings soon appeared on the screen, indicating that there was heat in the area of the fingers, when he looked at the other man, he saw that Argenti was giving him a welcoming smile. “I think you won’t forget her so easily, since you seem to really love her.”
Argenti paused, giving even more thought to the words that followed. “Those memories will always be with you, no matter how long it’s been, my dear.” Those words struck a chord with Boothill, if he were still capable of it, he would have been crying right then, but his eyes merely glistened faintly. “You really know how to speak beautifully in moments like this, Rosey,” Boothill laughed ironically, trying to change the subject.
Realizing that Boothill was trying to change the subject, Argenti said briefly as he squeezed Boothill’s fingers a little tighter, “But it’s true! Who knows, maybe when Dan Heng fixes your synesthesia, he’ll be able to fix that part of your memories?” The cowboy considered that possibility, smiling at the thought, “If he manages it, I’ll throw him a forking huge party and give him some extra credit.”
The two then laughed together, the atmosphere became more comfortable after the conversation. Even if everything has been reduced to ashes, the memories will live on within him. Learning to appreciate more and more the memories of his homeland, and those he shares with the one he loves now.