[How long has it been? How long, since he has stepped out from the background, since he has been perceived as himself?
The man's bright blue eyes look teary, wide with wonder. He reaches out a shaking hand, taking another step, then another -
He stumbles, nearly falls into the bloody snow at the bottom of the steps as he's made to stop short. A chain glistens in the fire-light, thick, tumbling links ending in a shackle bolted around his right ankle. The bindings aren't iron, but water, pure and clean, holding form on its own. Tethering him to the shack behind him.
He straightens back up, holding his hands over his own heart. It's alive, racing.
His chance.
His hope.]
I - I'm Mi-
[The name is swallowed by a sound, discordant, distorted, clawed fingers gouging across the surface of an old record. The figure whimpers, clutching at his head, his ears. The dominant mind trying to hide him, stifle him.
He has to cut through this, has to be heard. He NEEDS to be heard.
He tries again, as the world burns around him, the images curling at the edges like film over a candle.]
I'm...someone who needs your help. I've been watching you. You can - you get through to him. I don't know how, but you get through.
He's let you in enough that you're here, that you can hear me, that you're seeing this.
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The man's bright blue eyes look teary, wide with wonder. He reaches out a shaking hand, taking another step, then another -
He stumbles, nearly falls into the bloody snow at the bottom of the steps as he's made to stop short. A chain glistens in the fire-light, thick, tumbling links ending in a shackle bolted around his right ankle. The bindings aren't iron, but water, pure and clean, holding form on its own. Tethering him to the shack behind him.
He straightens back up, holding his hands over his own heart. It's alive, racing.
His chance.
His hope.]
I - I'm Mi-
[The name is swallowed by a sound, discordant, distorted, clawed fingers gouging across the surface of an old record. The figure whimpers, clutching at his head, his ears. The dominant mind trying to hide him, stifle him.
He has to cut through this, has to be heard. He NEEDS to be heard.
He tries again, as the world burns around him, the images curling at the edges like film over a candle.]
I'm...someone who needs your help. I've been watching you. You can - you get through to him. I don't know how, but you get through.
He's let you in enough that you're here, that you can hear me, that you're seeing this.
You MEAN SOMETHING to him-
[His voice breaks.]
...And to me.