Song; Bruno is Orange by Hop Along, Queen Ansleis, and Frances Quinlan
(With some adjustments to the lyrics to better fit characters and avoid as much repeating)
Characters; Akemi, Eris, Gelid, and Moema. 'Master' mentioned.
Notes; Sooo, time for some lore hints for Akemi's past group, yippee! Lots of angst, mostly hinted at, and some general information on how the group functioned with/around each other and some outside of each other. This does all take place at various points after the group is already established. Enjoy! :)
Oh! I feel as though I should mention that Moema is considered clinically insane. They've got Bipolar 1 with hallucinations, and are a pyro and kleptomaniac, oh, and also Erotomania with stalking behaviors present, haha
Also, since this song has a few-
TWs; Physical abuse, implied sexual abuse, and implied character death
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(Starting with Eris and Akemi. Early on, Akemi was still very deep into the selective mutism, but, after they did start talking, if it wasn't basic interaction where they were expected to speak, he pretty much only talked about Gelid and/or 'Master,' and it was pretty much all to Eris. It should be noted Eris never knew who 'Master' was, only that Akemi saw him as a parental figure and teacher.)
Eris, gently prompting Akemi to talk to her during one of their hair dying sessions, knowing Akemi would be most willing to talk about Gelid: "Emi, what did you tell that man?"
Akemi, looking at Eris in the mirror of Gelid's mirror, immediatly going to hype up Gelid, as was expected of a "good partner": "He's a clever man, did you know? He said he works for the government!"
(Slight jump further into Eris and Akemi's friendship. Eris is around for a paranoia breakdown and quickly jumps in to try to help, slowly starting to recognize signs of abuse in the way Akemi's partially conscious brain lets him discuss things. After this, the two become closer and eventually Eris talks more about her own struggles in her line of work with Akemi, the two develope a silent agreement of confidentiality and trust, Eris becomes the only person Akemi has ever, and, at least for a very long time, ever will openly confide in. They become the same for her.)
Akemi, amidst a paranoid breakdown, panicking over thoughts they can't control and things he believes they need: "And I know you know I know I can't control thoughts of things I needed!"
Eris, trying to help calm Akemi, gently offering a listening ear and quiet confirmation of Akemi's paranoid beliefs that Gelid will "hurt him", claiming it's unfair that Akemi should hold him so high up when he's clearly a bad person: "I believe everybody needs some encouragement! And I think it's real unfair that you should put him there..."
Akemi, shaking their head in panic after accidentally letting slip in his paranoid state that Gelid may have pressured them into something, immediatly backpedalling to protect their boyfriend: "All we did is kiss, on my grave, I swear!"
Akemi, panicking more on a different occassion when Eris approaches with things that look a lot like evidence of abuse, trying to shake off the worry, immediatly jumping into a state of further paranoia: "Where did you find his shoes? A lock of my hair? All we did is kiss, on my grave, I swear!"
(Eris' portion)
Akemi, quietly approaching Eris after she leaves a clients house bruised and bleeding, becoming scarily angry at the thought of her getting hurt, and quickly stating that she shouldn't get hurt during work, and she certainly shouldn't defend whoever did that to her: "I think it's real unfair that you should put him there."
Eris, panicking slightly and trying to clean herself up, forcing a smile: "All we did was fuck, on my grave, I swear!"
Akemi, gently taking hold of the ripped sleeve of her dress and nodding to the blood in her hair: "What happened to your dress? And what of your hair?"
Eris, lightly pushing Akemi away and averting eye contact: "All we did is fuck, on my grave, I swear."
(Jump back to Akemi's part)
Akemi, half-dissociating, speaking without thinking, telling Eris about the night before with Gelid while amidst a breakdown, fully believing Gelid was in the right and feeling guilty for fighting back: "Some dull morning we were wearing sheets, and I whispered, "I know that you know better than me...""
(Now to Moema and Gelid's friendship! The two are rather agents of chaos together, and they have a great time, because, of course they get to be happy :))
Moema, reminiscing with Gelid over a glass of wine, grinning wildly while Gelid watches and smiles slightly: "See this hand that pushed you into the creek?!"
Gelid, leaning back and watch, encouraging Moema to continue casually: "I'm sorry, was just fun, and you were laughing..."
Moema, excited by Gelid's participation, practically bouncing up and down while reliving the experience: "We were running towards the street, and I wrote my name into the fresh painted yellow line, and you wrote your name right there next to mine!"
Gelid, sipping his drink and smiling: "We had to dodge a truck."
Moema, giggling: "He almost hit a buck! I think we had some luck, and for two bucks we bought some bread, and fed the grey geese and the ducks!"
(Shifting to Akemi and Gelid. Gelid very much weaponized Akemi's paranoia, basically feeding into the delusions whenever he wasn't fully taking advantage of them in the moment)
Akemi, in the middle of a breakdown, hyperventilating and clawing at his hair while Gelid watches, begging Gelid not to "report them to 'Master,'" and freaking out at the consequences if he did: "Everyone will come, everyone will yell! I'd thank you just the same if you didn't tell!"
Akemi, starting to sob while Gelid leans back and watches: "My master says that I will surely go to hell! Please be a good man, please say you won't tell!"
Gelid, snickering and emphasizing the consequences for whatever Akemi's mind is making up: "Everyone will come, everyone will yell!"
Akemi, fully collapsing: "I'd thank you just the same if you didn't tell! My master says that I will surely go to hell! Please be a good man, please say you won't tell!"
(Back to Eris and Akemi's talks, this time touching very slightly ((very, very slightly)) on their one real fight)
Akemi, talking up Gelid to Eris, ignoring the blatant warning signs even when speaking fondly of him: "Did you know that that boy is an armed man? Bearing flowers into hands. Very able to hold me down, and love me more than anyone!"
Eris, growing slightly frustrated in Akemi's blindness to the abuse, half-begging, half-angry as she tries to make him see: "Akemi, what happened to your good sense?!"
Akemi, flinching and trying to insist on Gelid's innocents: "I broke down, that man's good! He said he works for the government!"
(Kind of Gelid and Akemi, kind of Gelid and Moema)
Gelid, snickering and talking to Moema about Akemi, who's on the other side of the room, about how Akemi had come home injured: "Did you hear about that, master? Broke his subject's legs in two and said, "It's too dangerous out there to walk, so I had to save you!""
Akemi, staying silent, but mentally shuddering at the laughter of the two of them, only slightly acknowledging the unfairness of it all: "I think it's real unfair that you should put me there..."
(Now the back and forth of Eris and Akemi dealing with their shit poorly, yippee! Lol)
Eris, defending her work, or, rather, the abuse that came from it: "All we did is fuck, on my grave, I swear! Where did you find her shoes? A lock of my hair?"
Akemi, defending Gelid despite everything, never seeing an issue with how they're treated and even getting offended when Gelid is criticized: "All we did is kiss, on my grave, I swear! I think it's real unfair that you should put him there!"
Akemi, going through another paranoid breakdown: "Everyone will come, everyone will yell! I'd thank you just the same if you didn't tell-"
Eris, in tears as she talks about her past homelife with Akemi, begging them to keep it all quiet: "My mother says that I will surely go to hell, please be a good man, please say you won't tell..."
(Finally, a jump to after Eris' death. Akemi sits at her grave, talking to the only person who would've listened, basically just ignoring and deflecting everything with thoughts of what could have been)
Akemi, dissociating, leaning heavily on Eris' grave and talking about cures for her as though she were still alive, promising everything will be okay in their own way: "Eris, did you know that the Greeks in the morning would eat oranges? They were firm believers in fruit-curing fevers, and I agree! See, they believe that an orange warms the stomach..."