God these are live thoughts about this but Tazercrafts dynamic today. Their undoubted attachment to each other fucking hurt today.
Let's see how long this gets.
So first of all its definitely obvious that both still carry wounds from the prison, there's no doubt about it and while Mike definitely showed that a lot more over the last weeks we all kinda picked up on Pac not being okay, on how he was doing his best to move on for Mike. To stay sane for Mike. to ground him when his intrusive thoughts got bad or when he woke up from nightmares after seeing Walter Bob.
We all could see through his facade even if it was just based on instincts and small actions and words he said during the beginning, we knew he wasn't fully okay but no one else did cause above all else this dude is an incredibly talented liar if he has a reason and goal for it.
Now why do I bring that up?. Because we saw him express not being okay today! Mike saw him not being okay today for the first time since they escaped cause even if their minds are melded together by a bond that goes beyond words they're able to keep secrets from each other, and with his own emotions being a bubbling mess there was no way Mike could've noticed that a lot of those were also Pacs.
We saw it with how he got trapped, how he was panicked beyond believe and I think that's the first time Mike noticed that Pac is still very much not okay, because Mike was calm. He noticed Pac be so close to a panic attack to something that usually wouldn't bother him so his mind realized there that Pac was also still hurting, that Pac also needed help just like he did to calm down. While Pac helped him cool his boiling anger, Mike realized he needed to help Pac with his drowning anxiety. That's why his calm response to calm Pac and tell him he'll be okay hurt so much.
It was Mike first realizing Pac needed him too, especially now that they went back there.
The next was when the code attacked, both were so. Helpless. Obviously in typical Pac behavior he ran towards Richas, the ever selfless Pac throwing himself infront of his son like he does during any threat. Which is honestly a scary trait of him if I think about it too deeply (I swear this dude needs therapy but that's a whole other box I'd have to open) and the code zoned in on him. Teasingly hitting him while again, Pacs anxiety bubbled in his throat as he desperately called out for Mike. And Mike again, was helpless staring at his best friend, his souldbound because he couldn't help. He couldn't hit it no matter how much he tried, so he tried so hard to calm Pac but you could tell that this time even Mike was cracking at the seams. Pacs fear and pain meddling through their connection and filling his brain that when the Pearl teleport hit them he passed out on the spot. While Pac kept standing just through sheer adrenaline and blood loss fueling him alone.
This is also the first time forever got to see Pac panic, his constant repeating of words being the worst show of his anxiety we've had so far.
And when Mike finally came back to, and he and Pac could breathe to explain. But Pac vanished, ripped from the reality that surrounded them while Forever, Richas and Mike could do nothing but watch as his vanishing left the faintest purple particles behind, proving that he didn't do this on his own.
Now...I'd like to think that Mike logging off was a connection of multiple things, his hands reacted faster than his mind could comprehend so while Pac got transported through nothingness only to be dropped in ice cold water Mike teleported home.
And then he broke.
There's no doubt that Pac and Mike's minds are tied together, like I've said before they'll always be 2 hearts and 1 soul for me as they're soulbound since childhood. Destined to find each other and stay together till the end of time. So when Pac got teleported Mike could feel the fuzz of the forced teleportation in his own mind, could feel the ice cold water chill him down to the bone knowing that for Pac that feeling was a thousand times worse. And I think the thing that did it, that hit him the hardest was feeling his soulbound snap.
To feel the connection that was usually constantly flowing go dead silent. To feel part of his soul rip apart. To feel part of himself go dull and fade as he could do nothing but hope that this wasn't the end. That he would be able to call out to his partner in crime again and receive a response rather the static that screamed at him now whenever he tried to tap into their connection.
The silence was deafening for Mike, the echos of Pacs voice shouting through his brain as he could nothing but stand there and watch. Stand there and feel as his other half vanished into nothingness.
So his mind shut off, white noise flooding his mind as he fell unconscious and this time having no one by his side. His body laying safe in the arena they built together.
And I think deep down he knows what he'll wake up to, an empty arena. No one looking after him as much as he looks after them. A voice that usually filled his mind with a constant flow of conversation being gone. All while he has to desperately try and rebuild the part of himself that he lost. Just waiting and hoping that this isn't the last time he saw him, that his mind can take this hit better than when they took Walter Bob cause this time he has to be strong. Just like Pac has been for him since their escape. He has to hope and wait and try to find Pac.
Because in Mike's mind, in their shared soul Tazer was now offline.
