Chrism

[Intro] A dot Teller "Get on. We're late." "Computer four — pay up front." "Push over — I got next." "One more match. Just one." [Verse 1] Cinder-block room, gate open till midnight Owner kept ledgers — noodles, two thousand still meant much Eight monitors burned through cigarette fumes Keys lost their letters — we played by touch Screen lit our faces like a prism through smoke Võ Lâm mysticism — clan wars had us immersed Bones took the pedals, Bear took the back I rode the middle of our princedom — where you get left first Same hill every day — pilgrim's chain that slipped Same princedom of three — same script we flipped Bones the rogue, Bear the tank — holding the line The medic was me — kept us alive, barely equipped He clicked the same dead corner when nervous That mannerism would tell on him An aphorism in our chests, never said out loud If one fell — the other two would catch him "Healer's online." [Chorus] One more match — just one Hide from the homework undone No crown, no walls — our princedom dim If one falls — the other two catch him Same hill, same fan, same screen-light blue Same chain, same clan, same three-man crew No crown, no walls — our princedom dim If one falls — the other two catch him [Verse 2] Yahoo blinks at midnight — purple and gold First Rose's healer logs in — I'm sixteen years old Mom asks from the kitchen, "What you doing?" "Homework," I mumble — my first truth to withhold She typed slow, used the laughing face too much I mistook her typos for careful diction No manual, no wisdom, no priest, no chrism Twelve sentences in, I made it a religion Behind the cafe Tuesday — no light, no script Swore that Tuesday cafe-light caught a spark Held her hand four seconds in the alley dark My whole life bent around a four-second mark Bones in the doorway giving me the look Bear pretending Yu-Gi-Oh was a comic book Saturday clan war — we'd queue up at nine No border, no fall written in the rulebook "Are you still up?" [Chorus 2] Healer's online — her name glows green Yellow smiley blinking on the screen If one falls, the other two catch him Four seconds holding her hand remade him Healer's online — don't run First Rose got me coming undone No border, no walls — the oath became our hymn If one falls — the other two catch him [Verse 3] "I don't love you." Thursday morning, flat as a doctor's chart Four words, all true — lined up A cataclysm can sound calm when said flat "I don't love you" — same four beats as "are you still up" She played healer for The First Rose How am I bleeding — and biting back the scream? Clan war Saturday — I logged in alone Their names loaded on the enemy team Aphorism never spoken — schism never named Saturday loaded both into the program That ain't betrayal — that's the matchmaker Telling me who I actually am Wrote my homeroom teacher thanks, then sealed it Left before finals — my sealed note stayed neglected She doesn't even know it exists Can't apologize for a gift no one expected "We're rolling out without you." "...we'll catch up later, yeah?" [Bridge] I told myself I walked out — dressed it as survival Twenty years, grown man — I still read the footnote Fifteen-year-olds are master tailors of denial I ran — fatalism wearing stoicism's coat Dial-up modem tone, ice-cold and the room starts fading out I'm thirty-five years old, trying to look controlled a sound effect still takes my legs out [Final Chorus] No more matches, no healer — not one "Where are you, healer?" — no one Princedom of three came down If one fell — the other two let him down No more matches, no healer — not one Same name, daydreamer — different gravity, no one Same kingdom, just a shell — no king inside When one fell — the other two stepped aside [Outro] He had no manual, no chrism, no priest Held a girl's hand in the dark — called it religion He was right. It was And I forgive that kid The cafe's still there. Same yellow ceiling I'm the one who got painted over I was a king once — two brothers and a healer Four words ended it. I still owe rent "Eat first. The rice is cold."