Identity V Comic Dump

Ethics of Nightmares

Written: February 5th, 2022

[This one is by far the longest and unnecessarily stretched out part I have written. I criticize this one the most mainly because I never went back to finish it. So yes, this part is unfinished. You'll read a mention of a 'Carlos,' as well; that is Ganji. Ganji and Kurt know each other from boy scouts yet have not seen each other since their childhood days.]

pov: Resident of F402 - Jose Baden
The cold breeze passing through the window awakened nothing more but a shiver which found its way crawling down my spine. Even if my mind stated no, my body would always find a way to awake at the crack of dawn. Perhaps it was a curse of the seas, desperately wishing for my body to remain perfect. Yet my health could never remain in one piece, as my love of toxins coursed through every inch of my body. Running down my inebriated figure down to my sore toes, springing right back up to my hungover brain.
The pounding feeling that rang through my head was all I wanted to feel in the moment, yet I knew better. A day of errands meant a day closer to reaching my family. And so, I decided to open my eyes once again.
I gently peeked out from underneath the covers, ticking in distress as the sun began to stare back at me from beneath the clouds. The birds chirped their happy sounding songs away as an alarm for the residents of the Oletus Manor. I, for one, found this as a measly form of torment as little by little, their chirps grew louder and rang deep within my head intensifying my hangover.
In a desperate attempt, I shut my eyes and dove my head straight back into my pillow beneath the covers. Covering my ears with the sides of my pillow, I felt the need to let out a wholehearted scream. Yet when I unhinged my jaw, it felt as if my body ceased functioning. In my near state of paralysis, my body instantly relaxed itself and my arms fell to the sides of my head. I tried to relax myself further, breathing slightly heavier as a sign I had regained my bodily functions.
The room was still, save for the sounds of my breathing and the hollow cries of the crisp morning air. There were never any singing birds outside to begin with.
"That's right..." I huffed out with little relief, "... all we have are crows." Cackling crows which laid awake at night to create torment alongside my illusions of beautiful blue birds. 'Was it only me who could recall the song of the blue birds?'
I twisted my body to face the windowsill and pondered, staring out towards the large tree branches creeping their way up and towards my wall.
There was nothing but silence in response, 'I never liked their song anyway.'
Despite the protests coming from my aching brain, I found myself staring at my own reflection in the bathroom of my room. Fixed eyebrows, eye bags larger than usual, and my scar still resting rightfully where it found it's home. My fingertips found their way gently stroking the newly developed skin on my face, hardened and cold. It ruined my perfectly symmetrical face just as the bristles of my growing mustache and beard ruined its cleanliness. 'This isn't me.'
The cluttering of the drawers echoes through the bathroom walls as I searched endlessly for that small blade. Slam after slam, it was nowhere to be found. It irked me to even think I'd be stuck with this beard forever if I did not find it. After failing a search in another drawer, I let out a needed sigh and stood up from the ground. 'If I don't have one, perhaps Kurt does. He has a beard too after all.' Just thinking about him made me forget about my pounding headache, even for a second of white bliss.
I reached over to turn the water faucet on, immediately hearing the sound of rushing water as I waited for it to turn warm. After pondering for a bit, I bent over slightly and splashed water on my face, instantly sending warm sparks down the rest of my body. I opened my eyes slightly in search of the bar of soap sitting still on the side of the sink. I reached over for it and began cleansing my face, closing my eyes beforehand as to not cause more irritation to myself.
After what felt like hours, I closed the faucet and dried my face with a nearby towel. The cloth was extremely soft on my features and surprisingly warm. I felt my face lean into the texture as the water droplets soaked within the towel, returning the cold and distant feeling back into my body. It was my wake up call to pull away from the cloth and face my reflection once again.
My pride had long faded away with the smile that was once stitched across my face. The longer I reminded myself of that unfortunate date, the stronger my headache grew. Back were my fingertips rubbing soothing circles on my temples as I continued listening to the waves crashing along the sides of my brain. 'Why won't they go away? What had I done to disturb you, god of the sea?'
Having completed my morning routine, I waltzed my body out of the restroom, my head pounding louder with each step. Getting myself dressed was my second task to complete. Even swinging open the doors to the closet made me regret waking up. It's not thinking about what I was going to wear that was difficult, it was putting on what I was going to wear the real hassle.
And so, out flew the black button up shirt and my white overcoat dawned with red accents. Sleeves sliding over my shoulders and buttons buckled just shying under my still developed chest. 'How was my body still... almost perfect? Perhaps my customs still apply here without me even realizing it.'
I walked over to my vanity and opened the top drawer, multiple papers laid scattered throughout the compartment. Mixed within the mountain of sheets was my gleaming ray of regret: my Poseidon Watch. Still as beautifully empty as it was every morning. Polished to perfection, yet, ever since I came here, I still haven't set myself on that path to perfection.
My thumb rested on the clasp of the watch and with the smallest amount of pressure, it popped open. 'Exactly nine in the morning.' Despite running this routine for almost an entire year now, I still felt relief from reading the numbers '9-0-0' on my watch.
The soft smile I wore was quickly replaced with the slightest amount of shock when I heard knocking on my door. I closed the watch again and tried shoving it in my front pocket, only for the watch to clash with my foot and clink on the floor. My head snapped in the direction of my foot and instantly, my foot shot up from the floor and was suspended by the palms of my hands. The pain receptors of my brain took a little longer to process, but once I felt the pain course through my foot, I bit down on my tongue to prevent myself from even letting out the quietest squeak. 'Why had I not put on my pants before?'
After squeezing my foot with excruciating force and breathing heavily for a few seconds, I took one big breath before setting my foot back down on the ground and bent down to retrieve my pocket watch from the floor. I placed it on the counter and closed the drawer before trying to walk towards the door confidently. Each step on my right foot shot pain straight up my leg, but that wasn't going to stop me from greeting my visitor with Baden Pride.
I unlocked the door and swung it open to be greeted by the most beautifully eccentric face I didn't even know I had been waiting for. Instantly, I felt my face light up with just as much joy as he held in his features.
"Jose!" his arms enveloped my body in warmth, welcoming the chills brought upon my room as I returned his hug. I felt my morning worries seep away as I buried my face into his soft pajama shirt, my smile etching itself back on my face as I brought him closer to me. I muffled my daily 'good morning, my darling' into his shoulder causing him to chuckle softly at my laziness to properly speak to him.
His cozy demeanor made me want to just climb back into bed and rest blissfully by his side without a care in the world.
His head shifted slightly before his entire body erupted into a fizzing mess of giggles and I felt his body turn to face me directly. "Good morning, my beloved! Why aren't you wearing any pants?" he continued giggling out of curiosity.
My eyes shot open and I peeled away from him only to stare down at my bare legs, my reddened right foot catching my attention more than anything. I couldn't think of an answer straight away and cleared my throat out of embarrassment. "I simply lacked the time to properly dress myself before you arrived just now." My prized smile of self-doubt was clear as day written all over my face as I tried explaining myself. Yet, his reddened face and half-lidded eyes full of drowsiness made me feel like I had succeeded. That was before he began to laugh again and held me close again, "Mr. Jose Baden? Late? That's a story worth telling!"
Kurt's laughter made me feel only a little better, but I could tell he bubbled with the best intentions. "Well, that's why I told you, no?" I raised a brow in his direction and suddenly my smile felt genuine as I continued to listen to him laugh.
"Well, Mr. Kurt Frank," I caught his attention slightly as he still giggled, "... either you can wait out here for me to dress myself or you could come inside and-" I mind ceased functioning as I tried to come up with a way to say he could enter my quarters. Of course, I did not want to sound pushy but the more I thought about it, the more my mind went in the complete opposite direction.
"I think it's best that you, uh," after a long while, I hesitated to speak up to him again. "I'll be out as swiftly as possible, okay darling?" I tried cooling my reddened face more than smiling, but he seemed to buy it. He nodded lazily and pulled me in for a quick kiss on the cheek and took his leave to change himself as well.
Right as he began walking down the stairs at the end of the hallway, I shut the door extremely fast but slow enough to not slam it. My back rested on the doorframe as I covered my reddened face with my palms. I was more embarrassed than anything, but I tried to brush it off as I walked over to my vanity again. This time, opening the lowest drawer revealing my dress pants. I found a dark grey wash of pants and decided to roll with it, remembering to slow down as to not injure my foot further when sliding on my pants.
After tucking in my button up and buckling my pants, I made my way to the edge of my bedside making sure to close the drawer beforehand. There were my prized long boots, shining with pride as I lifted them into the morning sun. I smiled to myself as I took out the socks from inside of them and slipped them on. Then came putting on the boots, how swiftly I still managed to put them on was what made me gleam with joy. The mirror before myself only added to that as I popped out my collar with utmost confidence. It made me feel proud of myself, I even flashed myself a smile before I heard the most ear-piercing shriek of the millennium.
"Carlos!"
It made my heart jump as I heard it bounce off the walls of my room. That pitch could only belong to one person, and that was "Kurt?!"
I peeled my eyes away from the mirror and ran towards my vanity to retrieve my Poseidon Watch and headed towards the door just as swiftly. I made sure to lock it before rushing through the hallway and down the endless flight of stairs.
Since Kurt's room was on the bottom floor, I had to run through three flights before even coming close to his room. Yet there was no one in sight in his hallway. Save for Emma, who had just walked out of her room and began to lock the door. Once she turned back to see my hunched over state, she gasped with worry and rushed over towards my side. She offered her arm and lifted me up to help me catch my breath. "What on Earth has you in such a hurry, Mr. Baden?!" Worry spilled from her lips as she looked towards me and wiped the hair out of my face.
"Have you seen Kurt? I-I heard him-"
"Shh, take your time, Mr. Baden. It's okay." Emma flashed me a reassuring grin and encouraged me to slow down. She steadied her breathing, mumbling 'in' and 'out' so I could follow and match her breathing.
As my breath steadied, I sighed and nodded in her direction, mouthing a 'thank you' before relaxing my arm off of her side. She gave me a thumbs up followed by a "No worries!" before I began questioning her again.
"I heard Kurt scream from down here, have you seen him?" My fingertips fiddled with the breaks of my coat as concern began to weigh down my stomach. Her pondering only sunk the feeling deeper as she placed her index finger on her chin to further press on her thinking state.
Emma began swaying back in forth for a bit before pointing her finger in the air, shock replacing her previous

[Yes, that's exactly where it ended. It pains me too as I reread this part. Just imagine:
Jose witnessing Kurt embracing a strange new man whose eyes continue to dart around the room, full of confusion and fear being surrounded by unknown faces. He doesn't shift in Kurt's arms, a sign to Jose that the two have unspoken history. Jealousy makes Jose anxious and question: 'Who is this man? What does he have to do with Kurt?'
That's what I had in mind though. But i never got around to finishing this part. I hope you enjoyed it regardless of it being unfinished.]