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[epitaffio]

Comments

[pennyloafer]

The... Huh? No, not-- The thing where people were the wrong ages.

[epitaffio]

[... Huh. Nope.]

I must have missed that one somehow, because it doesn't ring a bell.

[pennyloafer]

You must have... Missed it? Doppio, I called you while it was happening. We were both little kids, and we had the weirdest talk...

[epitaffio]

... Are you sure about that?

[Doppio doesn't sound like he's being evasive. He sounds genuinely clueless.]

[pennyloafer]

Yeah! You don't remember? That's so--

I was a little kid and I called you because you're in my contacts. You were younger too, and you got all excited to hear I lived on a boat. Then we ended up talking about lying and secrets... It was weird, but I didn't think it'd be, I don't know, block it from your memory weird.

[epitaffio]

[A pause.]

... Nope. I don't remember that at all.

[And another.]

You know... My memory's pretty shoddy.

[He doesn't think Louie is lying. He wouldn't have a reason to, would he?]

[pennyloafer]

Yeah, I've noticed.

I just thought, you know, this was such a weird thing it might stand out.

[Louie, on the other hand, is not convinced Doppio isn't lying. That conversation had been just suspicious enough that this feels a tad convenient. Not to mention lying and having plenty of reasons to do so was what Doppio had been saying during it!]

[epitaffio]

I guess it would if I remembered it, but I don't, so...

[The fact that this is a video call probably isn't helping. It's kind of hard to discern exactly how Doppio is feeling just from his voice; he seems, if nothing else, to be deep in thought.

Because he is. He's thinking, and he's still not entirely sure he should mention this, but... Well, it's the first thing that comes to mind, and maybe Louie will understand.]

To be honest, I don't remember anything from when I was a kid at all... So that might be why I don't remember this either.

[It makes sense to him.]

[pennyloafer]

[Oh. Well, that's-- Heavy. At least, it is the way Louie takes that. His suspicions are fading, but now he just isn't sure what to say.]

So you repressed stuff? I mean, you don't have to explain that, it doesn't matter, uh... Sorry.

[epitaffio]

... Huh? [Doppio, for one, seems more confused by Louie's sudden withdrawal than anything else. He expected more questions, not... concern, or regret.] N-No, I just... don't remember! I don't know about repressing stuff or anything.

[pennyloafer]

Oh!

[There's relief, at first, but wait. What?]

So you just can't remember stuff from being a kid? For no reason?

omg you edited this JUST in time

[epitaffio]

Pretty much, at least as far as I can tell.

[Normal Doppio things!!!!]

[pennyloafer]

Man, you just get harder and harder for me to wrap my mind around.

I mean--! Okay, it sounds super creepy like that, but it's just that... I don't know, I'm usually pretty good at getting an idea of what a person's like. I've known you for years now and I'm still not sure.

[epitaffio]

[Good.]

Maybe that's just because there's nothing all that special about me, you know?

[pennyloafer]

Well, yeah. But being just a guy with really bad luck doesn't make someone impossible to figure out. If anything, it'd be easier.

I don't know. I guess I'm kind of rambling about it, sorry.

[epitaffio]

I mean... Why does there have to be anything to figure out? [A soft laugh.] Sometimes, people are just... plain people.