Endless Dancing In Some Tango

Chapter 3 - Cite Your Sources, Mate

It was a terrible night for the emotional and the logical.

Everything seemed so..lost. So broken. Nothing was perfect anymore.

Nobody was the ruler. Nobody was the leader. Nobody was meant to have control. Nobody.

“Why..why did it - have to be this way?-..ghh..” The Moon choked out, struggling to speak in-between sobs of agony.

The Sun listened to his sobs, wishing he could help. He knew he couldn't now. It had to keep going. For the sake of the Whole.

“Fuck you, Soul..” Mind grumbled, wiping his face. For some reason, he expected there to be a tear on his face. A sense of emotion. Something different in this useless hell-hole.

He kept an irritated expression, feeling stupid for never realizing any of this.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Mind perked up, hearing a thudding sound. It sounded muffled from inside his room but slowly got closer.

Knock knock.

“..Can I come in..?” A voice spoke, almost pleading.

A moment of silence passed as the footsteps of the person began to falter, as they began to step away, a small sigh escaped Mind's lips as he reluctantly accepted.

“Come inside.” Mind responded, waiting for a motion.

The feet stepped back, turning to face the front of his door.

Heart stepped inside, the ends of his hoodie sleeves covered in dark patches of what seemed to be tear stains. His blindfold was removed, a sudden surprise to the known routine of covering his eyes. It revealed his dull, gray eyes. His expression was one of sadness, a frown resting on his face.

“..Thanks.” He mumbled, sitting next to Mind.

“..It's only logical.” Mind commented, looking over at the Moon.

“..You don't need to say that.” Heart sighed, moving a bit closer.

Heart was resting against Mind's side, his hoodie grazing against Mind's robotic arm.

“You’re colder than before.” Heart commented, glancing at him.

Mind met Heart’s gaze, staring into his dead, leaden eyes. The dullness of them, the lack of color, the scars running down his eyes from..the incident.

He didn’t want to think about that.

“..Should we tell Soul?” Heart interjected, taking the sudden tension away from their moment.

“Yes. We should. It’s the only logical thing at this moment. He can help us.”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

And so, Heart lifted himself off of the floor, reaching out a hand to Mind once he was towering over him. Mind accepted the hand, taking it and also lifting himself up.

Mind brushed off the non-existent germs on his outfit and hands, grimacing.

“Getting all fancy now, are we?” Heart smirked, nudging Mind.

“Shut up.” Mind joked back, a small smile curling on his lips.

Mind and Heart walked out of Mind’s bedroom, meeting face-to-face with Soul. Soul was busy in the bathroom, doing some sort of morning routine.

Soul yawned, turning over to look at them.

“Yo.” He nonchalantly said, pointing a finger gun and grinning. His red lipstick was obvious as he smiled, its messy and smudged edges tantalizing Mind’s hopes of perfection.

Heart’s lips quivered as he tried to speak up, his fear almost taking over his speech.

“I-” Heart began, an afraid tone in his voice.

“We need to talk, Atlas.” Mind announced, stepping closer.

A feeling of discomfort was shared throughout the group, all of them feeling some sort of anxiousness.

“..What did you two do this time?” Soul groaned, his hand lifting up to rub his temples.

“No- It’s- We didn’t do anything this time-” Heart began, trying to get to the point.

“You always say this, Heart! It’s always ‘Oh, I didn’t do anything! It was Mind’s fault! Pity me!’” Soul stopped him, beginning to feel frustrated.

“But, I-” He started once again, before stopping.

“He isn’t listening, Heart.” Mind whispered. “I believe this wasn’t a good idea.”

Heart felt a shock of pain. This can’t be the outcome, it just can’t!-

“Just let me try, alright!” Heart spat back, turning back to Soul.

Heart was face-to-face with Soul, a desperate expression on his face. He tried to play some sort of act to make Soul believe him.

“Soul, we..we found something.” Heart mumbled, stepping closer once again, trying to direct Soul to the discovery.

“I-I’d say it’s pretty important..”

Soul had a puzzled look on his face.

He took Soul’s hand, quickly dragging him over to the window.

Tick, tock..
Tick, tock..

“Do you see that outside the window? That..glowing thing?” Heart questioned, pointing to the clock.

“..That’s the sun, you idiot.” Soul retorted, looking at him with an “are you serious?” expression.

“No. That.”

Heart moved closer to it, trying to get the perfect angle.

“..I’d suggest you cite your sources, mate. That’s just the sun. That’s normal.” He scoffed, pushing Heart away.

As Mind watched Soul walk away, he began to think of an explanation to the situation.

Soul pushed Heart away.. Because he didn’t see the clock– wait, what?

Mind rushed over to Heart, a state of confusion overwhelming him.

“I wasn’t imagining that, was I?” Mind asked, waiting for reassurance from his other half.

“..No. I don’t think so. You can still see it, right?” Heart gestured, looking back at the illuminating clock.

Mind looked back, still noticing its menacing aura surrounding the sky.

“Yes.”
“Wha..”
Heart and Mind stood there for a moment, their gaze fixated on the clock, watching as the hands slowly ticked by. It was like hypnosis.

They couldn't take their eyes off of the dreadful ticking hands.