Here. Michael Can Talk To The Mimic - Tumblr Posts
★ — Gregory's eyes sting.
He closes them, rather than letting the growing pressure behind them win — he won't let himself break, won't let himself be weak, even if all he wants to do is hide behind Michael and Freddy just like he had the first night he'd been stuck in this hellhole. The walkie - talkie is clutched in his hands, which rest against his half - bowed head. Shakes his head despite the fact that his guardian can't see him, the action bordering on frantic.
"I didn't listen to you!"
No further explanation is needed. If Gregory had only listened to Michael, he wouldn't have been caught off guard. If he had stayed away, he wouldn't be down here, and Michael and Cassie wouldn't both be in danger because of him.
Frame further tenses, teeth gritted as Michael explains why they can't turn back — he's about to retort, insist that they should at least try before static suddenly cuts into the frequency. Gregory feels his heart drop.
"Michael?" "Michael?" "Are you —— Michael? Can you hear me?" "Are you still there?"
MICHAEL'S CHEST TIGHTENS the more Gregory insists on his own fault, unsure what to do or say to convince him otherwise ( reminds him of himself— the endless efforts to push Gregory away from returning to the Pizzaplex out of fear that he would end up with similar motivations incessantly gnawing at him ). He isn't mad at Gregory for going, not at all, they can deal with all that when they aren't in danger of much worse. Still, he wishes there were more he could do with just their limited communications.
He has never been all that good at words, but he can pick up on the underlying fear— he can't bring himself to turn around, couldn't possibly endanger Gregory even further.
"No— it's not," He repeats. "You didn't want her here, you didn't want any of this. If anything, I should've arrived sooner— soon enough to stop her. But it's too late for that now, I'm getting both of you out."
Slight tense as he questions why they can't simply turn around, glancing behind as if to confirm that even the nearest path is risky, never mind all the rubble and destroyed rooms they managed to pass through. "It's... been a rough path, alright? A lot of the ways we took to get here are already blocked off, or through broken vents... you know how it is. We could find a way out, but it might take even longer than it did to get here."