[Both... because she's pretty sure everything he said didn't entirely make sense, with how cut off half the sentences were, but also the fact that apparently he's just, what, a distraction?]
Donny.
[She's frowning a fair bit by now.]
It sounds like she's just using you, and you deserve a hell of a lot better than that. Don't let someone do that to you.
[Not when it's clear how much he cares about this woman.]
[It doesn't matter how much shit someone's bene through, or what Donny might be responsible for (and she's learning to take the things he says about that with a grain of salt), using people like that isn't okay.
This isn't a conversation she wants to have lingering near the doorway, even if it is closed, so if Donny will let her, she's going to gently curl her fingers around his wrist.]
C'mon.
[She's just going to lead him to the couch and sit him down, and wrap him up in another hug, because he looks so sad. There's more she wants to say, but it can wait for a bit.]
( Painful, dry, words being forced out when his throat can make no space for them. This is the best thig he has in his life, even if it makes him feel like the worst. )
better having this with her than n-not.
( Because there's nothing else. She's the most important thing in his life. ) It's okay.
Donny. [She pulls back from the hug, putting her hands on his shoulders as if that might make him actually hear what she's saying.] It matters. You matter. Don't let people treat you like you don't.
[Because if she's never said it, then likely it's something Donny thinks about himself, and he seems to think a lot of things about himself that aren't true.]
It's not an excuse. You aren't responsible for what Asteria does, so it's not you that makes her life worse, unless you're hurting her in other ways, but from what you've told me it seems like she's the one hurting you.
[God, that's so alarming, but she's not even sure how to address that. She wants to tell him that he has friends here, but it feels meaningless when they both know eventually he'll have to go back to his own world.
Her frown deepens.]
Worrying's my job, and it goes double for friends.
( The corner of his mouth twinges painfully, and he looks away.
But I mean it, like she doesn't think he's stupid, as if all the things that he thought were so important were the things she looks down on. Family, even this thing with Max. He feels so tired of the knowledge that people like Atlas and not him hitting him in waves, and he's just bringing his hands to rest on the back of his head as he presses his face to his knees. )
( This is where it went wrong, when he let Stephanie hug him, and she felt everything that was roaring through him burn up through his skin. Those same waves of heat and cold are sweeping over him, more heat now, because fire is comforting and it's so hard to control when he feels like this. It's not hot enough to burn her, just to make him noticeably above human temperature, but he's nodding slowly. It can't get much worse than this, can it? He's already a write off. )
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controlledvariable) wrote2014-02-02 07:59 pm
that doesn't even make sense
[Both... because she's pretty sure everything he said didn't entirely make sense, with how cut off half the sentences were, but also the fact that apparently he's just, what, a distraction?]
Donny.
[She's frowning a fair bit by now.]
It sounds like she's just using you, and you deserve a hell of a lot better than that. Don't let someone do that to you.
[Not when it's clear how much he cares about this woman.]
i am here to bamboozle you
( He looks so sad and so pained and so lost. ) And some of it's m-my fault.
( His gaze drops, hands twisting into his t-shirt. ) And it'd b-be so much w-worse without her.
( Here, everything, life back home. )
and to break my heart
[It doesn't matter how much shit someone's bene through, or what Donny might be responsible for (and she's learning to take the things he says about that with a grain of salt), using people like that isn't okay.
This isn't a conversation she wants to have lingering near the doorway, even if it is closed, so if Donny will let her, she's going to gently curl her fingers around his wrist.]
C'mon.
[She's just going to lead him to the couch and sit him down, and wrap him up in another hug, because he looks so sad. There's more she wants to say, but it can wait for a bit.]
WHAT HEART
( Hoarse, quiet, as she leads him to the sofa, content to be pulled into a hug and resting his head against her shoulder. )
I knew it w-was impossible.
( He's the jerk, the naive idiot, the destructive fool )
the one I keep in a box under my bed
It doesn't matter what she made it out to be, you don't screw around with someone if you know they love you and you don't feel the same way.
[She feels like that sort of thing should be obvious, but apparently it isn't to Donny or the girl who's been kissing him.]
is it bedazzeled though
( Painful, dry, words being forced out when his throat can make no space for them. This is the best thig he has in his life, even if it makes him feel like the worst. )
better having this with her than n-not.
( Because there's nothing else. She's the most important thing in his life. ) It's okay.
yes of course
[A broken arm is better than dead, but neither option are pleasant.]
Someone using you isn't okay, no matter how much they care about you.
[It's worrying, that he stays in a situation like that, because she knows how easily it is for those situations to be abused.]
good approved
( Stephanie doesn't know him, or Max, or how important Max is to him, or the things he's done for Max. )
She's not using m-me.
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Sounds like she is. [But it's gentle, rather than an accusation.] Does she know how you feel?
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( No, she's wrong. Max doesn't. Max is the only good person in his life. At home, she's the only good thing. )
That d-doesn't matter.
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I m-make-- I make her life w-worse. And that's nothing she's ever said, so d-don't--
( Don't suggest it. )
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[Because if she's never said it, then likely it's something Donny thinks about himself, and he seems to think a lot of things about himself that aren't true.]
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( Those both seem logical, to him, though he's not looking at Steph. )
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Did you tell Asteria to go after her?
[She's going somewhere with this.]
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D-don't-- don't make excuses. It doesn't stop her being hurt b-because of me.
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[She frowns, but it's sad more than anything.]
Don't lose yourself to guilt.
[It hurts too much.]
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( Very quiet, resting his cheek on his knee and hugging them closer to his chest. )
Don't w-worry.
( it's not guilt if he deserves it, right? )
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Her frown deepens.]
Worrying's my job, and it goes double for friends.
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You d-don't have t-to uh, to say that.
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But I mean it, like she doesn't think he's stupid, as if all the things that he thought were so important were the things she looks down on. Family, even this thing with Max. He feels so tired of the knowledge that people like Atlas and not him hitting him in waves, and he's just bringing his hands to rest on the back of his head as he presses his face to his knees. )
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Is it okay if I hug you?
[Because he seems really upset but he's also really drawn into himself, and she doesn't want to invade his personal space if he'd rather she didn't.
She just doesn't know what else to do.]
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You're a good guy, Donny. You deserve to be happy as much as anyone else does.
[And he really needs to stop beating himself up over things out of his control.]
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