things that are perhaps not entirely-- oh, k...[OPEN] [BACKDATED]

[kontingency]

Who| K and you.
What| K is exploring the Capitol, out of curiousity about what it's like - he's fascinated. And, perhaps, not looking where he's going.
Where| Pretty much everywhere; he's just spending his day walking around and looking at everything.
When| Backdated to K's return to the Capitol after his death. (February 12th)
Warnings/Notes| Unnaturally calm K? Also spoilers, of course. Also talk about death. And talk about neglect?

K had died before. It wasn't a new experience to him to be snuffed out - as much as it was, perhaps, expected. That freezing chill of death was something he'd experienced more then once, and it hadn't hurt as much as the first time.

This, perhaps, his mind theorized quietly, was because he didn't feel wounded on the inside as much as out, this time. He pushed the thought away slightly violently, in his mind - it was an uncomfortable thought. His contemplation hadn't shown on his calm face, and nor had his rejection - but it still got, perhaps, a sad swallow out of him.

He'd thought he'd stopped expecting things from his father. Perhaps he should have done his best to live up to that.

In any case, K had taken to merely dressing up in warm clothing - a dark blue sweater with no decor and jeans that were in no way thin enough to let him get cold. He could still feel the mild chill of dying there, on that glacier, and it disrupted his train of thought if he didn't properly attend to feeling warm. Regardless of that, however, he had decided to go out from the large rooms of the Tribute Suites that reminded him vaguely of home, and take his day and use it to explore everything in the Capitol. The world for him had always been closed off, always a metallic sheen of walls, somewhat low ceilings, and the glow of artificial lighting. Today was a day to get that curiosity out of his system - his curiosity with the snow had cost him, during the Arena.

He didn't particularly like that death chill. Or the idea of dying at all.

K could be found anywhere, his calm - perpetually, perhaps creepily so - face continuously surveying his surroundings as he looked about. He was recognizable as that one tribute who had chosen to spend some time toying with snow rather then looking for shelter and food - and died for it. And, given the calm fascination he seems to be taking with the city, it's not quite different here.

Although, K was not about to let himself be caught unprepared again simply because he was curious.

Comments

[futilecycle]

Sigma face fell with bitterness, and he considered giving up on this endeavor, doubting that Kyle would even accept his help. He knew the window for them to salvage their relationship had passed and would not come again. But something prevented him from turning around - perhaps Kyle had not noticed him, he frantically reasoned. And if he had, the boy was going to know just how angry his father was. Kyle was completely oblivious to how much he had made him worry.

Exiting the alleyway, he sprints towards the young man and falls in step at his side. As usual Sigma avoids physical contact, but speaks to him in a whisper, a grave expression on his face. His stomach twisted: this close, there was no mistake... this was his only child, Kyle Klim.

"Kyle... I have found you."

[kontingency]

Kyle wasn't aware how much he'd made Sigma worry, sure. But he wasn't going to let on that he'd recognized Sigma from before.

However, that whisper identified who he was talking to.

"Father." He responded quietly, calmly. He remembered. You remembered. Perhaps the worst thing that could have happened, he supposed, was him arriving without his memory. Especially since this was a thing. That happened.

He looked over at the other, face still calm, mechanical, blank - it was a face without emotion. Wearing a mask did that to you, especially if you were neglected. An unfortunate side effect.

[futilecycle]

Sigma met his eyes with a near imperceptible chill. He had not had many opportunities in his life to compare himself to his son without the mask and armor... this face that was so much like himself, and yet not at all. If it weren't for his emotionless expression, Kyle would have been a dead ringer for Sigma in his younger years. As Sigma had aged, he'd become an inch shorter than Kyle, his sunken face and cybernetic eye concealed their facial similarities, and his longer grey hair contrasted sharply with Kyle's jet black. Though Kyle was his clone, now the two of them only looked as vaguely like father and son as any elderly parent and their child would. Sigma could not know if the Capitol was already aware of their identities, but as for the other tributes, it would be relatively easy to keep their relationship a secret...

Sigma looks into Kyle's eyes for as long as he can stand. Perhaps Sigma had subconsciously designed Kyle's armor the way he did as a method of dehumanizing him, justifying how Sigma had to treat him. But the deep regret he carried for his abuse of Kyle grew. Now staring straight ahead, Dr. Klim was silent a moment. He says simply: "They took you as Tribute as well. What is the last thing you remember?"

He had a suspicion of which timeline Kyle hailed from. But he wanted to be absolutely certain...

[kontingency]

Kyle watched his father's reaction: that chill went unnoticed. Kyle probably wasn't even aware he'd been abused by his father - he just knew the other had always been busy. So he'd tried to learn, to impress his father. His entire life until he was 18 had been based around his father - and his neglect from thereof.

So he'd attached to someone else, instead.

Kyle didn't break the gaze, but let Sigma break it instead. It didn't matter quite that much, to him. He looked over at the other, at the question. He hadn't realized they might be from alternate timelines, but now that he thought about it it was, perhaps, obvious. "Telling Sigma what I promised Akane I would tell him, and then falling asleep."

It was perhaps an obvious divide - this Sigma was Father, and the 22 year old Sigma was Sigma. This would never get complicated. Never ever.

In any case - would his father remember that? He wasn't sure...

[futilecycle]

Falling asleep, as though he hadn't been poisoned and killed with a deadly muscle relaxant. And it had been his own father who had done it - not directly or with the intention of harming him, but in the end, he was the one responsible.

This was a Kyle who had been sacrificed for his dreams, one of the many whose death Sigma could remember. But this was not the one he had seen last, and perhaps for the best. He no longer wished to think on his terrible failure at the test site.

At last he raised his voice. "...I see." Though, to Sigma, it had happened 45 years ago, he recalled the incident with perfect clarity. The two of them had died together, and through the lens of Kyle's parent, their ends seemed crueler now. "Well, K, I noticed you are assigned to District 7," Sigma watched Kyle again, with an intense look as though to suggest they keep to his pseudonym. Little did he know Kyle was way ahead of him. "You may call me Dr. Klim. They placed me in 10." Tenth floor.

A beat. "By the time you arrived, I was already dead. I am sorry you suffered the same fate so quickly."

The connotation is thick. I am sorry I killed you. I am sorry I was not there.

[kontingency]

Sigma had sacrificed Kyle so many times for his dreams - and the one time he hadn't, Kyle had died anyway. K had no idea, but if he'd been aware he'd be slightly uncomfortable with his being fated to die.

In any case, he blinked at the other raising his voice - so this was now their public conversation. K was, indeed, far ahead of him in being called K - although he was only made more sure that choosing to be called that was the right thing, now. He was glad the other gave him an alternative to calling him Sigma - that would, perhaps, have gotten confusing.

In any case, the connotation there? It soars over K's head easily. "It's quite alright. To tell the truth, it wasn't quite as bad as the first time." That was the truth - although, it'd hurt more the first time because of when he'd heard that injection gun go off. Nothing more, nothing less.

Also yeah Sigma you sort of desensitized your son to dying - his face doesn't fall once. Perhaps that's disturbing, but whatever. He's just... used to expressing even less around you, Sigma. Coldness begets coldness.

[futilecycle]

"The first time..?" The Doctor feigned ignorance. Before Kyle could reply, Sigma growled in response: "You must remember they are always watching us." He had seen how attentive the Capitol was over their Tributes. The gossip magazine had shown him that they would use any rumor or suspicion as an edge for their entertainment, from a publicly overheard conversation to mere hunches. The public's opinion of you could mean life or death.

"From now on, the two of us are strangers." He meant that, when in public, they were nothing more than two Tributes who formed an alliance, two men using eachother's strengths for personal benefit. It was to keep Kyle out of danger, as Sigma had spent the first Arena hiding and watching over other Tributes; the Capitol would use any incentive they could to force a competitor to fight. The one link they had left, and Sigma had revoked it. They would no longer be father and son.

"Was there anything in particular you wanted to see?" The topic was quickly changed. Knowing this was Kyle's first time out in civilization, he wondered if there was a destination Kyle had in mind, or if he was just wandering.

[kontingency]

Oh. So Sigma wanted him to be even more paranoid. Got it. He nodded at the other's command.

Really, he hadn't been very secretive about dying the first time, either. It was sort of an easy secret to spill, in that it explained an absolute nothing. Having died just before he arrived was something, he assumed, that the Capitol knew, too. And their bracelets had no doubt identified them as from the same universe, if not the names (for he had no idea about if they had his). At least knowing each other made sense.

Whatever. Father does what father wants - he'd bring it up in as private of a place as he can, later.

But really, Sigma, at least think about how suspicious you are with him. If they make off of rumors and overheard conversations, make rumors and conversations that are irrelevant seem important. It was a basic thing he'd found in novels.

Maybe Father just wasn't cut out for lying.

"Not particularly. The city does not disappoint, even so." Kyle really hadn't had a destination in mind - the area was much too big to ever find any one specific thing, in his opinion. So he'd decided to just walk around and explore all of it today, instead.

[futilecycle]

He found himself wanting to come with Kyle, to show him the sights he'd never had a chance to see. But Sigma restrained himself, knowing better than to give them away as a partnership. He looked around contemplatively, wondering what Kyle would enjoy the most. "I would recommend any museum or library, though I imagine they may be slanted towards the Capitol's dictatorship. You may enjoy the observatory. Avoid the malls, if you can," most of the Capitol malls were caught up in the Hunger Games fervor.

"As for me... I should be on my way." The truth was, Sigma planned to fall back and keep a distant eye on Kyle. His own isolation made him react to crowds and large cities with extreme discomfort rather than curiosity. It would not set a good example, nor would it be in Kyle's best interests to stay.