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 Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 7:36 pm
Lysithea nodded and nestled her chin atop Evan’s head, while she rested slightly against Malcolm, wondering how these two managed to feel so much like...well. Like how she wished things would always feel with Eion.
Maybe she just…
“Yeah, I think you’re right. It’s delicious as always, Evan! I..am a fan of your food truck I must admit. You spoil your loyal customers! It’s so nice.”
She hoped that his friend would come back soon. Hoped that they would both get a new reason to smile. They deserved it. “You can always talk to me too, both of you. I’m a great listener and…I don’t judge much. I mean. Sometimes I do but, not much! Promise!”
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 9:13 pm
“I’ll cry if I talk too much,” Evan warned, but he didn’t even seem embarrassed anymore. It was just a fact, he was tired of pretending like he had more strength than he did. If the worst thing he did these days was cry then he was still better off than he’d been before he met her. So what if he cried often? ******** anyone who judged him for it, he just had a lot of emotions.
“But thank you for the offer. I don’t spoil everyone, just the nice people. So if you’ve visited me, you must be one of the good ones.”
Malcolm watched, and smiled softly as he picked at his food.
“You seem like a really nice person, Lysithea. I think this picnic was a really good idea. Do you, um, ever get tired of fighting? Or trying to gather energy? Like,” he took a bite and tried not to seem too anxious. “Do you feel like it’s what you’re supposed to be doing, or do you think there’s more out there for you?”
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 2:16 pm
“Aw! Don’t cry!” She snuggled closer to him and sighed heavily, though glanced to Malcolm, frowning slightly as she worked through his questions, trying to find the right kind of answer.
“Well um. I mean…I’m not much of a fighter, and I…don’t mind gathering energy, look at what it’s brought me! I have two amazing new friends and a new picnic tradition and…it’s really nice but.”
She looked thoughtful and finally shrugged, taking a small bite of her dwindling sandwich. “I don’t…agree with my brother’s methods. But I know that…this is where I belong. He worked so hard to find me after I was stolen from him…I…I’m home now…”
Even though Lysithea tried to emphasize the word…it did still fall flat, especially with how warm she felt with these two. How much more at home–
No…that wasn’t.
It didn’t matter.
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 3:37 pm
Malcolm was quiet for a few seconds; he nodded, but he still felt sick at the idea of someone lying to her like that. The Negaverse must have had a good plan to have developed that lie, or maybe she’d just been so desperate to belong that she’d accepted anything they said.
Evan was not quite as reserved with his words, if only because he was maybe a little more comfortable with the snark and speculation that came with such a claim.
“Does it feel like home or did he just tell you it was?”
He wasn’t eating anything, but he held his bowl and let it ground him. Let himself focus on it. He had to stay calm(ish) and collected(ish). He wasn’t going to lose her.
And, if telling her didn’t work, he’d let her figure it out for herself.
They had time. Maybe. Hopefully.
Maybe she’d trust them if they were actually friends. Maybe she’d see that they actually cared about her.
Maybe she’d see through the Negaverse’s illusion if she only knew to look.
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 4:46 pm
Lysithea stiffened a bit at Evan’s words but forced a small laugh, putting the sandwich back down and sighing. “...It felt like home at first. But. Now I don’t think he needs me at all and…I don’t know. He got angry at me for…an incident that happened and then pushed me away…we…made up but. I don’t know. I’m still trying to figure out where I place in his…life…you know…?”
She wasn’t going to cry, not again, not going to just lose it in front of her friends…she wasn’t going to get kicked out of this wonderful little group when she just got into it.
“Sometimes…I wish I could just remember things. People expect so much of me…and I don’t. Know them at all. I lost all of my memories of my life…the only things I did know was my brother’s name and that of my girlfriend…so. It…I don’t know. I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like home but. Sometimes it feels…not so much, I guess.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:12 pm
Girlfriend, what? Zac wasn’t going to like that; Evan looked briefly alarmed and Malcolm just looked worried, but she had the concerned attention of both of them.
“That sounds like it’s really rough,” Malcolm said, with an obviously real sympathy. His brows were knitted together and he looked like that hurt him just to hear. “Settling back in…it can be really hard. When it feels like everyone’s moved on without you.”
He was picking at the blanket and hoped Evan didn’t scrutinize his words too much.
Instead, Evan nodded too. “Just don’t spend so much time trying to figure out where you place in his life. Figure out how he places into yours. You’re not an accessory to someone else. You’re you. So do what makes you happy. Come eat all the cheese with us, or play all the board games, or whatever else makes you happy. If you don’t have old memories, make new ones. Good ones. With us, for example.”
“You’re our friend,” Malcolm said, because she was, and had been, for longer than she could know. “We want you to be happy.”
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:26 pm
“That’s what I think I’m trying to do, at least a little bit…but I’m..glad to hear it from someone else. And I’m so glad to be your friend! This…” She smiled at the both of them, swiftly wiping at her eyes and laughing softly. “This has been a lot of fun. I…like meeting people who don’t hold expectations for who I was…but who like me for who I am…even if that sounds stupid and backwards…but.”
Lysithea finally reached down and finished her sandwich in one large bite before looking between the two of them.
“You two are going to lose at the game, I’ll tell you that! I’m going to be the queen of the board games!”
It was a blatant change of subject but…tonight was supposed to be happy. Not…heavy.
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Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 5:53 pm
Malcolm smiled warmly, because even when she looked like this, even when she didn't remember who she was or who they were, there was still so much of her in everything she did or said.
She was still in there.
She didn't know it, but they did. The Negaverse hadn’t broken her.
“I brought three bags of food,” Evan said instead, in that sour little voice he got sometimes. “If you think you’re done eating after one sandwich, you are sorely mistaken. I can’t go home with all of this so if we’re playing now, you better be taking leftovers.”
He didn’t sit up, he didn't want to move.
He liked this too much.
But, they were going to have a good evening. They had to.
They needed an excuse to do this again.
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