MPC 38 :: All The Me I Could Be

    "Doesn't this seem weird?" Piper inquired, watching her brother adjust a button-up shirt in the hotel's mirror. He always had such a hard time tolerating that top button! "I don't see why you were invited to a movie premier." There was a pause, before looking to the orange fluffball on the bed. "Or why you brought the cat."

    Still fussing with the shirt, the ex-actor shrugged. "I think a lot of things are weird." Like Digimon! "Doesn't mean it's ever stopped me from enjoying it." Or tolerating it, at least. After all, not everything weird was good, but it was all some sort of experience that he might not have had otherwise! And, wasn't that just as valuable? With a flail of his hands, Asher dropped his arms to his sides, clearly giving up on the collar of his shirt. Why were the necks of these things so tight? Even when they weren't, they felt suffocating! "Better question: Why wouldn't I bring Mr. Whiskers?"

    This warranted a content, "meow," from the feline, who had made herself a nest out of plush blankets. Hotels were nice! Meicoomon could get used to this kind of thing! If only Pip had realized how much effort it actually was, finding a way to bring a Digimon from Japan to America without being noticed! How it had been done was really a mystery! Even to the rookie!

    Finally taking over her brother's wardrobe, the girl fixed the top few, to make it look more proper. This was short lived, of course, as Asher stared at her defiantly and used one finger to pop the top one again. Ugh. Boys were hassles. "Did you call your old agent? What if this is just your mom being," Pip paused, trying to think of a less insensitive phrasing, "herself?" Okay, there wasn't much in the way of skirting around the subject!

    "Of course I called her. She acted like I was being stupid."

    "Well, you kind of-"

    "Hey, remember who paid for your ticket."

    This seemed like a valid point, as the girl ceased her planned insult. It wasn't like it was anything beyond regular, sibling bickering, anyway! And, surely, Asher was well aware of that. "We're going to be late, you know."

    Looking at the time, the older teen cringed slightly. "Oh, I thought I was waiting on you." Typical mistake, right? Of course, this wouldn't boost his sibling's ego at all, if he didn't think she was finished getting dressed! Trying to refrain from saying anything to rile him up before a public event, Piper bit down on her lip, grabbing her brother's hand, and began dragging him to the door with Meicoomon following close behind.

    Once at the 'red carpet', the siblings began to wander along the barricade. After all, it didn't make sense for them to mesh with the stars, right? For one, Piper wasn't an actress at all, and Asher hadn't even attempted an audition in three years! Whiskers didn't even need a reason why she wouldn't belong! She still wasn't entirely sure if pets were allowed here!

    But, before too long, a dark haired woman swept up alongside the group, grabbing onto Asher's shoulder irritantly. "What're you doing over here?" She hissed, as she began pulling on his shoulder. "And what are you wearing? This isn't what we agreed on!"

    "Uh," the teen hummed, raising an eyebrow. "What're you talking about?" Was this lady crazy, or what?

    Considering she was still pulling at him, the young man finally gave in and followed her, while Piper and Whiskers trailed behind. "Oh, don't you even start that shit again," the woman huffed, wagging a finger from her free hand. Again? "You can't just pretend you don't remember anything, any time it's inconvenient! Stop acting like a ten year old!"

    "I'm pretty sure, if I was ten, we would have a lot more issues," Asher was quick to point out, though mostly in jest. Less joking, though, who was this person? And, why did they seem like they knew him? This was still really strange, and Asher didn't want to offend someone that seriously thought they knew who he was!

    "Well, you're late," the stranger continued on, ignoring the ex-actor's comment. "You were supposed to be here for pictures, you know. What gives?"

    Finally fed up with all of this, Piper's pace increased, slapping the woman's hand away from her brother, who stopped the second that he was no longer attached. "You tell us. You're the one treating my brother like a dog."

    There was an awkward pause, while the stranger looked her up and down, then turned to Asher and repeated the motion. "I didn't know you had a sister," she finally responded, again ignoring providing a proper answer to the situation at hand. "Why didn't you tell me, Ashy?"

    Oh, ugh, what? What kind of nickname was that? Asher couldn't even contain the shudder. Cringing from his toes to his throat, he gurgled, "bl-whu-no," while his face twisted to a gag. Who would even think to call him that? Why couldn't anyone just call Asher by his actual name?

    "Did you seriously just call him that?" Pip vocalized, trying to translate her brother's series of choking sounds. Even she wouldn't give him a nickname like that!

    Tossing her hair over her shoulder, the stranger rolled her eyes. Drama obviously fit the Callum family. "Well, yeah. What else would I call him?" Oh no, was this a posessive little sister? She'd read about that type. Maybe this was why Asher hadn't introduced them before!

    "Maybe by his na-"

    "Look. We're late. The movie's going to start soon. Can this wait until afterward?" Without even giving a chance for anyone to respond, the woman spun on her heel and waltzed off. So much for getting answers from her! What the heck was going on?

    "She was nice," Piper finally commented sarcastically, after a moment of staring at her brother's contorted face. "Are you ever going to stop doing that?" Probably not. Asher hated most nicknames, after all. After giving him a moment to recover, the girl laced her arm around one of his, and led him to the showing room. He must have been pretty distressed by all of this! Asher usually wasn't one to be left speechless for this long! But, here he was, completely silent! Even once they had found their seats, and Meicoomon had crawled into his lap to watch the movie, the teen remained utterly mute.

    And even when, only moments in, an alarmingly familiar face took up the screen. Leaning forward in her seat, eyebrows furrowed, as Piper tried to match up Asher and the character on the screen. What in the world was happening? "I didn't know you were still acting," she murmured, trying not to be heard by too many other watchers. No response. Asher was simply staring forward in awe -- no, that was terror -- while trying to establish what was on the screen. "Asher?"

    The world was spinning. Why was it spinning? Safe place. This wasn't safe. What was happening? Breathe! Fingers lifted up to cover his mouth, while eyes uneasily managed a blink. Finally, a soft wheeze escaped his throat, before a nervous, "I'm going to throw up." Lowering his head, the teen buried his face into his cat's fur, while she grew more concerned about the prior comment being involved with her fur. Oh, vomit wouldn't come out from fur very well, would it? "What-" he huffed, trying not to choke on orange fluff, "what the fuck is this?" And where was the oxygen?

    Okay, so it probably wasn't helping any that he was inhaling cat fur.

    Patting her brother's shoulder, Piper continued to watch the movie in an attempt to figure out what was going on. Clearly, her brother hadn't a clue on this movie even existing! But, the acting was amazing! Which, led to the next thought that it wasn't some sort of prank on him. No, this person legitimately knew what they were doing! There was no way that Asher could act as well as this! Let alone get the main part in some big movie! Right?

    But, even with Asher having a panic attack extending across multiple hours, he managed to stay for the credits. Lo and behold, the main cast's name displayed Asher Callum as it's lead male. Of course, this didn't help the situation any further, and left the teen frozen in his seat well beyond any visitors remaining.

    He really needed to go home. Is this some sort of sick revenge for something? What had he done wrong? Or, er, right? What was happening? Was there another person that looked exactly like him? That- that was impossible, right? It would be hard to imagine a second person exactly like Asher.

    No. Not exactly. Better. This person could steal a role and run circles around him with it. Someone who had Asher's face and name had outdone him. What was the point in any of this? What was the point in existing if he wasn't even the best at being himself?

    "Oh, hey, he's still here," an alarmingly familiar voice hummed from alongside the row of seats.

    Piper was first to address the sound, as her brother still refused to unbury his face from a very uncomfortable Digimon. "What's going on wi-" But, it seemed that even the younger sibling couldn't bring herself to finish her statement. Fingers began tapping at Asher's shoulder, before it quickly escalated into thumps with her open palm. "Asher. You need to look at this. Now."

    With another heave of his chest, the teen finally lifted his head. Rigidly, it turned to look over the new guest. Except, the person staring back wasn't 'new' at all. In fact, Asher stared at the image in a mirror on a near-daily basis! Dizziness swept over his mind, as the ex-actor was suddenly glad to be sitting. Body swayed, even while seated, before managing to gain some form of composure. "Robots are taking over the acting business," he rasped, clearly dazed. "I knew this day would come." But who would have thought it was in his lifetime?!

    The Not-Asher scrunched his nose, looking to Piper for some sort of logic behind his lesser's reaction. "Wow, you're a nutjob. I suddenly get why you 'quit' acting! It all makes sense!"

    This mockery, of course, snapped Asher back into the reality that he had been grasping for since the movie's beginning. "I'm not crazy. You're the weird one, taking my identity and using it for your career. Like, who does that? I don't get it!" Fingers pressed on the arms of the chair, trying to rise, but he quickly stopped himself. Vertigo wouldn't permit him to properly convey his sanity, after all. It would just make him look worse! Arms released, allowing him to fall back into his seat. "What kind of messed up person wants to be me?" In the most literal sense, at that!

    Leaning across Piper to take a better look at the shell of a human, Not-Asher gave a small laugh. "Are you serious? You really don't get it! I'm not pretending to be you! I am you!" There was a pause, and a click of the tongue, before adding, "just, you know, better." Smarter. Maybe better looking? Definitely a better actor. "At everything."

    Tensing, the younger sister provided one of her usual warnings. "I'm going to throat-punch you if you don't get out of my personal space."

    This snapped the 'stranger' into reality as well, as he rapidly leaned away from the girl in the chair. A "tch" escaped tight lips, looking over her. "You know, if he didn't pick you, he wouldn't be like this."

    Silence bit into the girl, green eyes widening as she began to process what was going on. Wait. Was she being blamed for this? Instinctively, fingers reached out to wrap around her brother's hand. Though they only remained there for a matter of seconds, as he staggered from his seat, untangling his hand from his sibling's, while Meicoomon quickly hopped from his lap.

    "What? You don't know how much you messed up his career? I mean, you practically single-handedly destroyed it!" Was there truth to this? Was this an Asher that had picked his acting over his sibling? A branch in roads created a second person, entirely? "And, who brings a cat to a movie? It's deformed. Like your entire fami-"

    It was a really weird concept to grab onto your own shoulder when it wasn't actually attached to your body. And, really, never was. Was this kind of what identical twins felt like? Probably not. Still odd. But, grip tightened enough to silence the 'better' version of himself, thumb digging itself under his collarbone. "You're really sad," the teen finally cracked, lowly, while applying further pressure. "Do you just insult people to feel better about your own bad choices?"

    Finally, eyes lifted to meet his reflection. Where Asher had assumed these once held confidence, it was clear that the actor was feeling a lot less safe now. Pressing down on his doppelganger, the teen forced him to sit in one of the empty seats, while placing his free hand on the other shoulder, and leaning close. Yellow orbs shifted, trying to find some sort of answer in the now-wide ones that mirrored his. "Why," he started, throat finally giving way to a softer tone, "would I ever want to be this?" It just didn't make sense! Who would give up the best sister in the world, just for some dumb job? "But, hey," he hummed, forcing more weight into the thespian, hearing a small wheeze of a meltdown beginning. "At least one of us turned out exactly like we were supposed to."

    Piper's fingers gripped around one arm, finally snapped the young man back into a proper state of mind. Don't break. Don't let anything overtake rational sense! Take a breath! Restrain yourself, Asher! Don't let her see any of this! Pip was the exact reason that Asher managed to maintain any sanity some days! Where would that leave them, if he cracked under the pressure now?

    Both hands removed themselves from the mirror image, who remained traumatized in his seat, before shifting to wrap around his sister. Trying to avoid placing too much weight on her, the brother held his breath and forced himself to stay upright, despite the desire to allow gravity full reign. "You're more important, okay?"

    "You're hugging too tight."

    Oh. Well! That seemed like a good enough response! "You always know the right thing to say," the teen teased, leaning away to mess her hair with one hand. The other hand moved to drag her close to his side while she worked to fix what Asher had ruined, as he began to lead her from the aisle. Of course, there was one last pause, while throwing a glance back to the actor that he could have been. "You know, you're lucky I don't want to know what I look like with a broken nose," he taunted, dully. A smirk bit at the redhead's lips, placing his free hand in his pocket and grazing across the digivice within it. Maybe, these spirits were truly going to make him go insane. "But, maybe next time?" Hopefully, there never would be a next time!

    Feeling a thud on his chest, the redhead looked down to see that Pip had slammed an open palm against him. Jerking forward, smirk dissolved to pained smile. This was the only act that really mattered. "Ow!" He whimpered, pulling his hand from his pocket to tangle itself around his sister's. "After all of that, you assault me? I'm hurt! Literally!" Ah, big-brother logic! Pretend that a fifteen year old girl's hits actually caused pain!

    "Yeah. You're the loser that brought us to America to watch an awful movie. And then you tried to start a fight with another idiot! What, do you think I'm going to reward you for this?"

    With a small hum, the teen checked to make sure Meicoomon was still following. It was weird to think. His career-oriented self didn't recognize Whiskers. Did that mean that he could have avoided a life that involved digimon, entirely? But, he also didn't seem to care even an ounce about his little sister. Who would be so twisted that they would trade family for a job, entirely willingly? It just wasn't worth it! "Hey! I didn't try to start anything," Asher defended, trying to pay attention to the important things in life. "I'm just not going to let anyone make my sister cry!"

    Of course, this only warranted a huff from said sister, as she pulled out her phone and began typing away. "I wasn't going to cry." Or, at least, she'd never admit to it! "But," hesitance rang, as Piper wasn't nearly the actor that her brother – regardless of the version – was. "I didn't really ruin your life, did I?"

    "No way," Asher was quick to defend, debating on the best way of patching everything up. "Do I have to buy you another giant stuffed animal to make up for what that-guy-pretending-to-be-me said?"

"Please no," Piper shook her head, eyes widening at the thought. "I don't need another hollowed out teddy bear for you to chase me around the house in."

"Oh, come on. That was only once, and I offered to buy you another that still had all the stuffing in it!"

    At the very least, Whiskers had certainly learned plenty about her family today, regardless of if it was actually useful knowledge. For instance, she was now aware of the fact that the 'life size' stuffed bear in Piper's room was apparently large enough to fit a human male inside of. And, she supposed, the feline had learned that there were far worse choices out there than the human that she had accepted as some sort of family. That had to make some sort of bright side to an otherwise questionable day. Now, if only it could end in someone buying her a can of fish! Then, it might make this adventure worthwhile!

(...This is longer than I anticipated. Oops. Bits for reward, please.)