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 Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:19 pm
That killed his smile, left his head pounding again; Ever blinked down at the spill and made a noise, letting go of Zac to go for his water instead. A long gulp, and it really did help -- and on top of that, it gave him time to process, to think, and to figure out exactly what Zac meant by that...
"...um. You're not...running away or anything, are you?" It came out just as hesitant, Ever wishing he could dance around. Sadly, he was about as delicate as an elephant. "I mean. You should stay in school..."
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:23 pm
"What?...What...NO!" He said jerking at the very idea of dropping out of school before clapping a hand over his mouth in apology for that burst of volume. "godno!" He hissed after a moments silence to let the 'echos' subside.
"I'm trying to get a -scholarship- why the hell would I drop out!" He flustered red faced. "s**t if I could get -you- back in school I would..." He added vehemently.
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Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:45 pm
Ever was left squinting, eyes pressed closed and a hand curled up against his forehead as if that would stop the throbbing of heartbeat through his skull. Shouting, right now, was just about the cruelest thing Zac could do. Left Ever looking absolutely miserable, small and shaky.
"...Jesus, Zac." It was whimpery, pitiful, without opening his eyes. He drew in a couple careful breaths. "You're looking for a place to stay. I don't know...why else would you be looking for a place to stay?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:02 am
"Sorry...Sorry...." He said and crouched beside the bed with a long sigh and pressed his head against the mattress rather than sit on it again. The expression on Ever's face after his last outburst turned him from 'insecure' to well, someone huddled by the edge of of the bed trying to sort out what he was going to say next. He'd lost his planned words in his last surprised and over defensive outburst.
"Sorry..." He mustered again before he managed to continue. "I... um... I need somewhere for my half sister to stay." He let that hang in the air and was honestly expecting an outburst in return...
Hell he was expecting to be shown the door.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:18 am
Instead he got silence, baffled, Ever trying to figure out if he'd made that right. After a moment, he looked around the place, mess that it was: clothing on the floor, tousled blankets, one bed. It looked like a bachelor pad, and certainly wasn't a girl's ideal place to stay.
He bought himself a little time by chugging the rest of the water, in the hopes that it'd settle down his stomach just a little bit. "Um."
And he was still at a loss for words, until he dragged his attention back to the pitiful Zac -- or rather, the top of pitiful Zac's head, hair tousled, the curved end of that braid. He licked his lips, nervously. "Why? I mean. No, that's what I mean."
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:25 am
Another long pause and a deep breath and he at least sat down on the floor which turned him more into 'kilroy' than a chiapet at the Bed's edge.
"Um... After the ..big fight we took her back to the Dark Kingdom, the Nega...subspace we go to for meetings and things... um... You know she told me who she was."
He shifted back and forth slightly glancing from one intersection of walls and celling to the floor and back. "Well it's either...Kill her or bring her to our side... so I asked that we still... and now she IS but she can't go back to living AS my sister because she doesn't remember -any- of that. We have to give her a new name and a new life and you are...the only person with their own place right now. I mean Scheelite is living with Paragonite but that's her place and..." He waved a hand, almost lifeless.
He paused and crinkled his nose before trying to diffuse the situation with "More water?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:28 am
More water sounded absolutely amazing, right now, and Ever held out his glass almost mechanically toward Zac. At least he was awake now, trying to process exactly what was going on. Pick out the key points from that string of not-quite-gibberish: memory loss, new life, switching sides, dark kingdom...
He cleared his throat, rubbing at his forehead again and regretting that he'd had quite so much to drink at the club, however much fun it had been in the moment.
"Well, I mean, you got me the place." Which was a little like saying 'so how could I refuse?' but Ever didn't quite dip down into that cliche.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:32 am
"You COULD say no..." Zac said getting up again with a few pops that were far too old sounding, but they did lead a hard life. He refilled the glass and returned it carefully, rather full.
"You could... I could... find somewhere...maybe I could get somewhere rented." He paused and looked worried. "It's just...she was blood moon Court..." He shook his head. "I don't even... how could she justify that."
He closed his eyes and sighed, wrapping his arms around himself again.
"You could say No... I'd understand that, but at least with you I know you aren't going to...hit on her while she has all the memory of... of an amnesiac."
His lips tightened into a thin like and he rolled his shoulders.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:38 am
"No, I'm definitely not likely to hit on your sister." He flicked a look up at Zac as he said that, just a little flustered, and then his eyes flitted away. He didn't want to think too deeply on his own choice of words, there, and he -- well, he didn't want Zac to think about it either, so he fidgeted to get up and fetch more water, still swaying a little when he moved. Urgh.
"I'd need a sleeping bag, I guess, since I don't really want to share a bed with her either." He could sleep on the floor. He'd definitely had worse. Ever stumbled into the bathroom.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:02 am
"I'll look into um... I'll look into a bed for her... I'll do what I can to help... if you will I mean." He said and started to rub at his own arm again to realize...he was still holding the water and that was why Ever had gotten up.
"s**t....s**t sorry..." He said blinking at it and offering it to Ever to 'two fist' his water intake.
"I'm not going to boot you out of your own bed... I'll get her a cot as a temporary if I have to." He said edgily.
Fortunately for Ever, Zac wasn't of a state of mind that the particulars of the sentence that Ever was trying to avoid could really sink in... yet.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:08 am
"I don't care, Zac, I really don't..." He half-turned to blink down at Zac, face still wet from a quick pass of water across it. Ever was still pale, wan, his eyes touched with reds, and with that faint mottling bruise across his jaw. Not exactly at his finest, and probably not the best to evoke confidence, and he was aware of it. He huffed out a sigh and stood up straight, at least, as he chugged more water.
It did help. He didn't want it, but it helped. He licked dry lips again. "I can be good, too, if you need me to keep an eye on her. Cross my heart."
That last said with a quick flick of fingers over his heart.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:20 am
Not the best perhaps, but certainly honest... honest and open was what he needed now, but without judgement.
He let out a long last sigh and looked utterly relieved. "Thank you..." he said and shook his head. "I... I ..." He struggled with the words but they were well deserved. 'I owe you one... and I'm... sorry I got you shitty booze... next time I'll... do they do gift cards at liquor stores?"
A flicker of a frown that darted over his face as he glanced over the mottled bruise, he started to raise a hand towards it to inspect it better but stopped, and pulled it back like it was a sin to have even started such a gesture.
He glanced at his shoes like they held the answers before he looked up again and asked... "As... someone who didn't know her... was it... did I do the right thing?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:30 am
"Oh s**t, Zac, seriously don't ask me that." It was joking, came with an edge of lopsided smile, but -- there was also a distant edge of panic behind it. Ever definitely wasn't the right person to be asking for life decisions, obviously. He was living on charity, only-kind-of working at the library; no goals, very little future, and only one person in the area who knew it was his birthday...
He cleared his throat, flicking a somewhat-nervous look around the bathroom, still clutching at his second glass of water. "I mean, I think you're a pretty smart guy, and pretty on top of your things, so...I'd guess you thought it over and..."
A shrug, and the rest of it smothered into his water. Let Zac fill it in.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:34 am
"... Sorry... I just don't... It was that or kill her, it should be an obvious choice right?" He waved his hand like he could dismiss the doubts by fanning them away like flies.
"You keep getting punched in the damned face..." he changed the topic like taking a left without a turn signal. Still it was safer and saner than staying on the topic at hand... with Beth...sorry, Sabine, time alone would tell how foolish he had been.
"...Maybe you'll be lucky and get a helmet when you earn Captain." A flicker of a nervous smile.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:48 am
Ever made a noise, fingers going up to his jaw, self-conscious -- and he turned almost immediately to look in the mirror, head tipped up just a little to admire the bruising, his eyes narrowed. Unattractive. Fundamentally so. He huffed out a sigh.
"Yeah, or maybe I'll just get a bigger target." He cleared his throat, looking at Zac sideways to gauge his reaction, the corner of his mouth pulled up in a smile. "Does it make me look tough, or like a victim of domestic abuse?"
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