sixteen [action] | Saturday

[imatreenow]

[On Saturday afternoon, villagers may notice a peculiar sight while out and about in their daily routines. Or maybe they've learned not to question anything that happens here, so they won't pay any mind to Freyjadour as he carries a damp and shivering Mithos through town in what is generally described as 'bridal style'.

...There's an explanation for this. Really.

It has something to do with being unceremoniously dumped into the fountain upon return from a death penalty removal, a minor inconvenience known as pain-killers, and a major inconvenience known as muscular atrophy.

Feel free to awkwardly run into them at any point during the trek to House 11. Tread close enough and snippets of arguments are likely to be heard:]

Put me down...! I am fine.

You can't even stand. Stop struggling, please.

[Or maybe something like:]

I don't need your help.

Yes, you do...just calm down.

[They stop to rest a few times along the way, because while Mithos isn't exactly heavy, he still isn't exactly light either. And he refuses to make this easy on Frey, putting up a constant sruggle against his hold. Good thing there are benches to sit on. And awkward, sullen silence to enjoy, in which Mithos pointedly looks the other way and Freyjadour just has a patient if long suffering look on his face.]

[LATER ACTION - House 11]

Throughout the rest of the day, Mithos has taken up temporary residence on the living room sofa of House 11. The side effects of the drugs have worn off, but he's still in no condition to go off on his own. According to Frey, anyway. Regardless of his condition, a house full of humans is one of the last places he wants to be. House members, come gawk at the grumpy kid in the living room all you want. He defnitely looks like he could use a little company, right? ...Right?]

[OOC NOTE: As you probably expected, responses in the earlier part will come from both Mithos and Freyjadour. Surprise on who will tag first, decided on a thread by thread basis. Later action portion may or may not include threadjacking from Frey or Kaori. You have been warned, friends.]

Comments

[tsuntrader]

No. I don't want to hear "I'm weak." Or "I'm not strong enough." I want to hear "So what? I'll get stronger." Or "I'll prove you wrong."

[imatreenow]

[He can't shut the journal on this conversation. He can't get up and walk away. He can't push the other. He's trapped here, exhausted and left to slowly crumble underneath Silver's words. His spine curls. His head bends down. His shoulders hunch.] Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up.

[Part of him wonders if Silver honestly believes he could change if he tried. Then he has to wonder why and that throws the door open to a long string of questions he's too afraid to ask seriously. It's stupid. He knows it's stupid, to think for even a fleeting moment that he can be anything but what he is. Always pretending to be strong. Always weak.

There's safety in the immutable - something he desperately needs in all the chaos his heart has been thrown into here. He's still right. He was always right. It's everyone else who's wrong, everyone else who doesn't understand. He doesn't need to change, because you don't fix what isn't broken. He needs to keep telling himself that for as long as possible.]

[tsuntrader]

Don't tell me to shut up. [He refuses to shut up. For all that he enjoys the comfort of his silence, he can't fall back on it now.]

[imatreenow]

Don't tell me what I should do. [He clutches at the sides of his head with both hands, like waiting for a bomb to drop, like he can block Silver out, and he hates it for being so translucently weak.] Who do you think you are? Do you think you know everything?

[tsuntrader]

Of course I don't know everything. No one does.

Do you even know why I'm bothering to try telling you anything? Would you even listen if I told you the answer?

[imatreenow]

Is it because you want to feel high and mighty? You look down at me and condemn me for hating, so you can feel good about yourself? Don't make me laugh... Why else would you be talking to me?

[tsuntrader]

I'm not looking down or condemning you for hating... Or condemning or looking down at you at all. I'm not doing any of this to feel high and mighty.

I've gotta say something. I've gotta at least try to get through to you. It's frustrating to see you like this. I wanna see you keep moving forward.

[imatreenow]

You're lying. You think you're better than me... This is all a stupid joke to you, isn't it? [Why do you care? Why do you care why do you care you shouldn't care at all so why are you saying this and why does some small corner of his heart ache at those words?]

[tsuntrader]

I don't lie, I don't joke about stuff like this, and I don't think I'm- no, I know I'm not superior to anyone.

[imatreenow]

Why?

[The frantic anger that had been building up in his voice this whole time falls apart, and suddenly he just sounds lost.] Why would you care?

[tsuntrader]

...People need a reason to hate. People don't need a reason to care.

[imatreenow]

[Then why is it that he can count on one hand the number of people who have truly cared about him? Why is it that even his once-trusted companions left him behind? How is he supposed to believe that this human cares? Even if Silver knows more about him than he would like to admit... And even if somewhere inside him he wants to believe Silver could understand if he let him...]

...I don't believe that. People have never needed a reason to hate, and they've never found a reason to care.

[tsuntrader]

You've said it before, haven't you? People hated you because they fear what they don't understand. You've rationalized plenty of reasons for them to "hate". That doesn't mean everyone thinks that way, but they're still "reasons".

Can you look me in the eye and sincerely tell me that you think I'm afraid of you? That I would go out of my way to hurt you?

[imatreenow]

[Another bitter question blooms poisonously in his mind - would you go out of your way to help me? - but as soon as he asks it, he remembers Silver bringing him food, Silver offering to clean up the broken window, Silver offering to help him up off the ground. he's silent, still, hovering close to just curling up in a fetal position on the couch.]

...You wouldn't need to go out of your way. [It takes remarkably little effort to just turn your back and go.]

[tsuntrader]

[What's that supposed to mean?] ...The point is that I'm not. And I wouldn't. If I really wanted to hurt you, I would have gotten on that when you started swinging a sword and hurling lightning at me and my Pokémon.

[imatreenow]

[And how long until you change you mind? How long until you stop caring, if you ever even really cared in the first place?]

That's not the point. [But he can be happy with that, in a stupid twisted miserable way, if Silver can't even understand that much. Let the misunderstanding insulate him.]

[tsuntrader]

Then there's the other point. I'm not asking to be your best buddy or for you to even trust me all that much. I just want to get along.

What do you think the point is?

[imatreenow]

[Why? His heart creaks and his stomach lurches and he slowly draws his leg - his good one - toward his chest.He tries to fill his voice with anger again, but he's tired, so damn tired.]

The point is [I'm scared] I don't want to.

[tsuntrader]

...Alright. I can't exactly make you.

[imatreenow]

[The point is he gets attached too easily, and he knows he does. Even the smallest step closer is heavy with the risk of turning into another step, and another step, letting his defenses come down lower and lower. He doesn't want to risk regretting anything.]

...Then leave me alone. [He stays where he is, a tightening coil. The bowl of melting ice cream remains untouched on the coffee table.]

[tsuntrader]

I'll think about it. [It's something that's been bothering Sneasel for a while, so he finally heads over to the ice cream and picks up the bowl and chills it rather quickly. It quickly goes from melting mess to delicious soft serve. He keeps his eyes on both Mithos and Silver in the process, though.]

[imatreenow]

[He tilts his head to the side when he senses Sneasel approaching, and he watches tensely, but he doesn't straightening himself up.]

What more do you want from me? [He's already this small pathetic vulnerable thing huddled up tight on the couch. What can you even take from him?]

[tsuntrader]

Not being such a drama queen would be pretty cool. [Wow, sympathy at its finest.]

[imatreenow]

[He glares at Silver, but he still doesn't lift his head any.]

Nobody's asking you to be around me. [He refuses to apologize for being the way he is, for doing the things he does, so if you don't like it then you can go the hell away.]

[tsuntrader]

No, but somebody's calling you a drama queen. [Pecha and Chesto berries, dude.]