the kids aren't alright

remarkably predictable

May 2122

"I hate you," Heidi said aloud, sitting in front of the wooden cell the adults had made custom for Tom and Shima.

"You've said," Shima responded.

"You're dead, so why can't you just hurry up and get out of Tom's head?" she complained. Tom had been shut in here for over a day now. She knew it upset him when Shima actually got to talk to people, and maybe this made her a bad friend, but she needed to feel like she was doing something. Maybe Shima would slip up and tell her something important. Maybe she'd just annoy him enough that he'd leave Tom alone.

"I feel pretty alive at the moment."

Heidi clenched her fist, gritting her teeth. It was Tom's heart beating in that chest, Tom's blood, Tom's body. For not the first or last time, she wished she could rip Shima out of Tom's head herself. "You're a leech."

Shima hummed, shifting the wooden shackles around Tom's wrists. "I suppose you know a thing or two about that," he said, like he was conceding a point.

"I've never stuck a piece of my consciousness in someone else's head and stolen their body away from them," Heidi said, rolling her eyes. Standard villain shit, the "we're not so different, you and I" speech, real fucking original. She'd never thought highly of Shima, but he was constantly coming up with new and creative ways to lower her opinion of him. It was almost impressive, how dedicated he was to being extremely unlikable.

"Of course not, no," he said. "There are other ways to use people."

Oh, that was a new one. Did he think she was some sort of manipulative mastermind? "It's just interesting," he continued. "Most of the contestants stuck to their teams, the people they knew they could trust." Yeah, 'cuz that had worked out great for Luke and Kira. "You, on the other hand, just happened to make friends with two of the three most powerful contestants. If Nathan wasn't so against the idea of friends, I wouldn't be surprised if you went three-for-three."

"Uh huh," Heidi said dryly, rolling her eyes. The scar dragging from the right corner of her mouth up toward her ear itched. "I don't think this stand-up comedy thing is gonna work out for you."

"You disagree?" He lifted his head, turning to face her through the bars, even though he couldn't see her.

"Not really a grand plan kinda gal," she pointed out. "Tom's my friend because I like being around him. End of story."

Shima was quiet for a little bit, Tom's face scrunched up like he was thinking about something. Heidi allowed herself to feel a little self-satisfied for making Shima run out of bullshit to spout; the man had been very consistent about never shutting the fuck up with his holier-than-thou attitude.

"My apologies. Maybe my understanding of the situation was flawed," he started slowly, sounding horrifyingly genuine. "I'm only able to see people through Tom's eyes– figure of speech– so occasionally, his judgment clouds mine."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, your memory of events is an amalgamation of every previous time you've remembered an event, plus the initial experience, right?" He paused, evidently waiting to make sure she was following along.

"...Sure." She didn't really get what he was saying or what it had to do with anything, but he was only talking to hear his own voice anyway. She didn't exactly want to take a psychology lesson from a fucking whackjob.

"So every time Tom remembers something, it affects my memory of events as well. Events that we both experienced, people we both knew, it can all get a little…mixed up. Tom's opinions cloud mine, occasionally," he explained, surprisingly patient.

Heidi frowned, trying to parse his words. She hated the way he talked around the point he actually wanted to make. "So this is your backhanded way of telling me that Tom what, thinks I'm using him somehow?" she eventually asked.

Shima raised Tom's hands, not able to get them up too high with the shackles, his palms facing out. "I've said nothing of the sort. If you say it's just a coincidence that you left Tom at his weakest and then only showed up again after he proved himself against Eithne and Nathan, well, I'll believe you."

He was trying to get her riled up, trying to get her to do something stupid. She knew this. "Don't pretend you know shit about me and Tom," she hissed. She wanted to hit something, hit someone, but Tom was the only one she could hit and none of this was his fault. She settled for clenching her fists, her fingernails digging into the meat of her palms.

"I don't. I only know what's in Tom's head, after all. I can't see what's in your head." He paused for a moment before belatedly adding, "Well, psychically anyway. You are remarkably predictable."

"Oh, fuck off."

"My point exactly."