eighteen [action]

[imatreenow]

[Friday afternoon finds Mithos dragging a granite statue through the streets of Luceti. It will look familiar to those who can claim Aselia as their home world, carved adoringly in the likeness of a young man wielding dual swords. The figure is planted atop a base that bears a plaque engraved with the simple honor, "The Hero Lloyd Irving." All together, it stands at about three and a half feet, scaled down from the original model.

For Mithos, it's a bitter reminder of things that could never have been. Its sudden appearance in his house had been an elbow nudging him sharply in the ribs, an obnoxious stage whisper prompting, "Hey, remember that time all your hopes and dreams were crushed?"

Yes, yes he remembers.

Which is why he had to get rid of it. The first day, he dragged the statue behind the house, let it topple into the river, and watched the determined stony face sink below the surface. The next morning, it found its way back to his living room. Each day, he drags it farther away, and each morning it proudly comes back.

His route today takes him up from the south end of the village through the north end and into the woods. The farther away, the better.]

Comments

[theboywiththebook]

[Well, fine.]

You're going to hurt yourself with that.

[imatreenow]

What I do is none of your business. [What he wants to ask is why do you care? but that always seems to lead to circular arguments.]

[theboywiththebook]

It is. But, what would happen if you hurt yourself? Your friends would be worried.

[imatreenow]

[That actually stops him for a moment, in the same way a knife in the chest would. If he's pained by the remark, he hides the fragile glass behind a steel front.] ...There are none here who would worry.

[theboywiththebook]

[There was no one here to worry? Was he alone here like he was?

There's a small frown there as he looks back to the boy.]

I'm sure there is. But, even if you don't think so I know I'd worry if you got yourself hurt.

[imatreenow]

Why? [He pins him with a glare as he pauses to allow his aching arms to rest for a beat.]

[theboywiththebook]

[Not sure how to take that exactly.]

Because, you seem lonely.

[He can tell, Mithos. He knows how it is to feel alone.]

[imatreenow]

[This is a very bitter scoff.] What would you know?

[theboywiththebook]

Because, I've been alone too and I know what it looks and feels like.

[imatreenow]

[Do you know what it's like? Suddenly, he's pulled back to a time two years ago, when someone else had quietly guessed how lonely he was, and he had been startled to uncover all the things they shared. His chest feels hollow. He eyes the boy cautiously.]

...You do? [His voice is cautious too, but it's softer than before.]

edited for more feels

[theboywiththebook]

[Henry just offers a small smile to the teenager. He doesn't like remembering that feeling of loneliness. Before Emma came he always felt alone. Sometimes he'd talk to Emma to himself, even before he met or knew her, so he'd get rid of that feeling.

He's even felt that feeling of not being loved. At a time he thought his adopted mother didn't love him and she just pretended...while he knows it might not be that now it still didn't change how he felt before.

But, when she came and finally stayed he found himself becoming less lonely. He's remembering the feeling now in Luceti. While he's met knew people and made some friends...it's not the same as someone you love being here.]

I do. It feels like you're cut off from people and that there might not be anyone who loves you.

one more time, with feeling!

[imatreenow]

[He doesn't have a smile to give back.] ...It feels like nobody will listen to you...like nobody cares what happens to you.

[It's how he feels every day. Gutted of everything and his heart is left to dry outside his body. He talks to Martel. He talks to Kaori and he talks to Sayo. But none of them can hear them, and none of them ever talk back, because they are long gone. Every day he feels smaller, and the empty rooms of the house grow more vast.]

[theboywiththebook]

Yeah, it can really feel like that. But, sometimes you have to take the chance to let people in if you don't want to feel lonely anymore.

[He'll look up to Mithos tilting his head a bit.]

So, if you need someone to listen to you, I can. That is if you want to talk about it.

[imatreenow]

[This is the part that scares him. The part where it stops being just about him and someone else is pulled into his little world. If you need someone to listen. Another achingly familiar offer that he once seized.

He sees this boy in a different light than he did five minutes ago, and he doesn't know what to think. Isn't he a human? Would he hold his hand out if he knew that Mithos isn't? He shouldn't even be thinking so hard about this. He had struggled to learn how to trust before, with Kaori and with Sayo, but his heart balks and withers at the idea of another attempt. Nothing could possibly come from it, right?]

I... [don't know] ...just want to get rid of this in peace. [His hands are on the statue again.]

[theboywiththebook]

[Henry awaits for the other boy's answer. He may be older than him by a lot, but he's never not tried to help someone who was older than him.

However, hearing the boy's response, Henry can just tell...this boy is more or less reluctant to take it. For whatever reason that is.]

Okay...but, when you do, you can talk to me on the journals. I also live in Community building 1 on the second floor.

[imatreenow]

[He doesn't answer, because he doesn't want to encourage the boy with anything he says. He doesn't know what to say. He just pulls at the statue and hopes he'll be left alone. The lack of control is uncomfortable - he can't just snap a journal shut and end this. He can't hide.]

[theboywiththebook]

[Henry will leave him alone now. If only because he's guessing why he's so hostile is because he's uncomfortable.

He'll just say one thing.]

I'll see you later.

[And he leaves.]