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 Posted: Mon May 16, 2022 9:18 pm
Toráin chuckled, and their food arrived, so he was momentarily distracted by immediately dipping a chicken strip in the honey mustard tub and taking a large bite with a groan that definitely didn't sound like it belonged in a diner while eating. "I've been cooking since I was a kid, or trying to," he said after he swallowed, grinning, "And wow, this is so good, wow. I love the flavoring spices they use here, how have I never known this place was....here..." Except, he wondered, if he had, before. If he'd sat down in this booth before and had this meal before and then he was forced to completely disappear from his old life. Did the people who worked here worry about the old redheaded regular? He doubted he would ever know. And he was supposed to stop worrying about this stuff, anyway. He sighed a bit, rubbing his temple. "Sorry, sorry. The, uh, skippy brain also has amnesia so sometimes I get lost, wondering if I was here and I never would know, y'know?"
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2022 1:07 am
Reiki hoped it wasn’t rude to giggle at Toráin’s groaning, that it wouldn’t make him feel weird or awkward or anything—but sue him, Toráin was being cute. All things considered, he probably hadn’t even meant to be. Who knew how long it had been since he’d been able to eat something, after losing his dinner money like he had.
“The kitchen staff definitely knows what they’re doing,” Reiki started to say, trailing off almost immediately as Toráin zoned out. Frowning concernedly, he almost wished that he’d washed his face off before leaving the bar—only almost, because he did know how to paint a cute little mug and he was proud of that. He just hoped that it didn’t have the side-effect you sometimes saw, where expressing genuine emotion without crying and smudging your makeup could still make it end up looking fake.
“Do you—I’m sorry if I’m overstepping? I know we just met and I don’t really know your situation, but……” Reiki nudged some hair back off his face as he pondered how he wanted to phrase this. “You…do you have someone? Like, a doctor or a sibling or a neighbor? Who, like, knows what you go through and can help you? Because that amnesia sounds……so miserable. Not knowing where you’ve been before, or anything…… I can’t even imagine struggling through something like that on your own……”
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2022 1:21 am
Toráin took another bite of chicken to consider how to answer Reiki's question. He technically had Arsenolite, who was his brother, before everything, but, uh.... no, that made things worse, really. And Ashanite... the General had tried to help him, but it wasn't sticking very well, whatever it was. He generally felt better, sure, but he still had his moments, like now. How was he to explain any of this? "I have this guy.... Ugh, it sounds like a movie plot, but he claims to be my brother and sometimes tells me stories that almost make sense? But I can't... hold on to any of it, and he's a huge ******** d**k anyway, so I can't help but wonder if, like, when I did know who he was, if I hated him, because some stuff goes unexplained... And then his, like, boss? That he sleeps with on the reg? Gave me.... some advice, that's generally helped, but.... There's been no doctors or neighbors, and Emmett ******** sucks, so." He sighed. "Sometimes it's better to be alone. Nobody can hurt you. That's about how I feel about this whole thing. I just wish... I had the presence of mind to get away, and like, he doesn't legally have custody over me or anything, but... With how my brain is, it just feels that way? Like, how am I meant to navigate the world in any meaningful way that sustains my life totally alone with this ******** up brain?"
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2022 2:08 am
Nothing Toráin had to say about his situation made Reiki feel any better about it. A brother who didn’t sound like he was really pulling his weight, despite his brother developing retrograde amnesia? Of course, if they couldn’t afford to get Toráin any help from a doctor, then maybe his brother’s hands were somewhat tied about all of this? Especially if his boss was doing some Christian Gray s**t to him—ugh. Jesus. Gross. But this Emmett guy still could’ve not behaved in ways that would lead Toráin to call him a ******** d**k.
“I know it’s not worth much in a practical sense,” Reiki said, nudging his crepes with his fork but feeling too ill-at-ease about what kind of Hell Toráin was living in to eat any more of them right this second, “but…I’m so sorry. All of that is just……so much more than anybody should have to deal with, and…” A soft sigh, one that wished, so very badly, that Toráin’s situation were not like this. “I……have absolutely no idea where to begin answering any of those questions. It’s nothing I’ve ever dealt with, and the cases that I’ve ever helped people with? They haven’t had to deal with amnesia on top of things like, getting away from their family so they could transition, or getting out of their parents’ house before they could get sent to a conversion therapy clinic.”
……Still, though, a thought did occur. First, Reiki needed to get out the little notepad and pen he kept in his wig case. “I usually use this for jotting down ideas on the fly,” he explained while trying to scribble in a way that was mostly legible, “but these names and numbers I’m getting for you? The first one—she’s one of the counselors at the LGBTQ community center over on Cherry Street. I don’t remember how many sessions she’ll give you for free, so you’d have to ask her, if that’s ever something you’re interested in? But she’s a good person for a chat, and she might have more resources that she can point you to for this.
“The second one is, uh…my priest. But it’s his home phone—he’s kind of a boomer about still having a landline but not like, a bad kind of boomer? Still, his husband might pick up—I, uh. Please, if you’re not religious or just not Christian—or even if you’re Christian but not Catholic—don’t feel obligated to reach out to Fr. Charles and Fr. Harry? They’re just……they’ve helped me a lot before, and they don’t judge. I mean, they…left Catholic seminary to be together, so they know how much judgment can hurt.… For them and for Shayna, if you tell them I gave you their numbers, it’ll answer a lot of potential questions. Might help make things less awkward? And this third one down here…”
Reiki tapped the pen by the third one, then ripped the page out for Toráin. “That one’s my number.” Although the situation still objectively sucked, Reiki tried to give Toráin a small, hopeful smile. “I may not have the same kinds of resources that could help, but…a b***h is still good for hanging out, or getting chicken fingers at two in the morning, or…whatever?”
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2022 2:20 am
Toráin gently took the paper from Reiki and folded it up, sticking it in his jacket pocket. "Thank you," he said, shoving the last bit of chicken in his mouth, "I'll, um. Text you later. And this.... my night turned out way better than I could've expected. getting chicken fingers at 2am on the reg sounds awesome." He smiled softly, shyly, but let himself be open instead of hunching and hiding. He'd forgotten what it was like to make real friends. (Well, he'd forgotten everything, but it was nice to meet someone with no agenda). "You're a sweet guy, Reiki. And hey, maybe another day, when you're not so fresh off your breakup..." He trailed off and winked, internally screaming at himself and wondering where the confidence to flirt had come from. "We could meet up at a place with a bed." No, seriously, where did that confidence come from, and how did one keep a hold of it? Or was it just his really bad impulses getting to him again because he finally felt mostly comfortable around someone again instead of constantly on alert?
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