Photographic Memory

Harsh Threats and Soft Warnings

Neither of them had a good night of sleep that day. Aesop needed answers and Joseph needed time to think.

It had been a while since his feelings for that specific survivor started to change, maybe a few weeks. He found him intriguing, more than any survivor should be. He wanted to play more matches with him but also didn't want him to notice his presence. He wasn't ashamed, just scared.

Joseph was a Hunter. His job was to make the survivors' lives an inferno. But things were getting the other way around. Aesop was unintentionally getting under his skin because of his damned desire of knowing too much. Why couldn't he stop seeking their little chitchats and just play the game? He was scared because he knew if he let him get too far into his heart, it would interfere with his objective. Winning the game and bringing his brother back was more important than his stupid crushes.

"Come on, Joker! Don't you have something else to talk about? It's like you're in love with him! How can you talk about the Forward so much?!" Black was rising his voice at the clown. It was just what Joseph needed, lots of noise combined with a headache.

"Gross! He's a man, Black!" Joker protested.

"So what?" The marking on the guard's face switched its colors. It was White talking now.

"He's a survivor," Bane intervened. "No matter the gender, that's still what he is."

Joseph got up abruptly.

"Hey! Where are you going?!" White's voice was way too loud for Joseph. That headache was definitely killing him bit by bit.

"Preparing for the next match. I'll get the cameras." He just needed an excuse to get out of there."It's for the 2vs8, right? I'll go too." Michiko offered.

There were two places where both of the manors connected. They looked like dining rooms: one had a normal-sized table for four people, and the other had a bigger one, for eight of them. There was an armchair in the smaller room and two of them in the bigger one. Washed-out red curtains separated the armchairs and the dining tables. They were placed right next to the chairs so only Hunters could peek through. The survivors didn't dare to get off their seats and see what was awaiting them.

Joseph and Michiko made their way to their chairs, but Joseph didn't sit down right away. He tilted his head trying to see who he was going to play against. And what a surprise, Aesop was there, arranging his make up kit.

"Are you ok?"

He turned to face the Geisha. "No. My head hurts. Didn't sleep last night." He said.

"Joseph, I know you are not feeling that good, but they are winning a 2vs8!" The alarm went off just after her sentence.

"Watch this gate. I'll go to the other one."

She agreed with a movement of her head and floated away. The way to the exit gate was weirdly quiet. Not a bad weird, Joseph felt like spending the rest of the day like this. Just walking around Lakeside Village. No distractions or interruptions. And no Embalmers trying to make him talk.

When he arrived, all the survivors ran, except for one.

"Aesop, what are you doing?!" The Priestess pulled him by the arm, but even though he was being forced to walk forward, he was looking back.

They disappeared seconds later. The Photographer was standing at the entrance, looking into the distance. Then, he felt someone hugging him from behind.

"Joseph... we need to talk."

His head went down. He knew what was coming.

Michiko turned him around so she could be face-to-face with him and held his face with her hands. "I'm so sorry, but you need to hear this. Being in love in a situation like that is not going to do you any good."

"How did you know?"

"Joseph..." She removed her hands from his face. "You stormed off at breakfast today right when Bane said those things about Joker being in love with William. You were staring at him before the match began and the way he looked at you just now..."

She had never seen Joseph wear such a sad expression.

"You're a Hunter. You're going to have to hurt him over and over until it breaks the rest of your heart. You have to kill those feelings as soon as possible before it gets worse. It's not healthy." She finished her speech with a friendly hug. They stood there until Michiko felt like it was safe to let go.