[OPEN]

[justscribing]

WHO: (justscribing) & you!

WHAT: October Catch-All (open + closed)

WHERE: Poison garden, University, Around

WHEN: all through October

WARNINGS: TBA + marked in threads as necessary




OPEN PROMPT LINKS [UPDATED AS ADDED]

Poison Garden

University

Feel free to reach me by PM or plurk (monochromic) if you want to plot for something specific!

Comments

[fanstheflames]

[ What a friendship this is. ]

I wasn't lying, earlier. You guys still seem close, to me.

[justscribing]

Do we? [Okay, that's not going to work after the flowers Blabbed his feelings. He knows.

He pauses, considering his words carefully.] Kaveh often calls it "complicated". We know each other better than anyone else, but for Kaveh this is an unpleasant reality since we're not really friends anymore.

[Kaveh denies that they could be and for the sake of avoiding questions Alhaitham simply doesn't define them at all. This, too, is one of many things they fail to find synthesis in.]

[fanstheflames]

Is that... not something you guys can work through, at this point?

[ You two REALLY SMART GUYS can't find a solution?? ]

[justscribing]

[Wow Alhaitham is totally working on it. He just hasn't consulted Kaveh on the matter.]

Before I answer that, what do you think about who Kaveh is as a person?

[Because some things only make sense when you've seen the core of him. And some things are too delicate to breathe into air.]

[fanstheflames]

Um... hm.

[ Tsuruno is quiet for a minute, thinking back to all their interactions. ]

I feel like... he's sort of fussy. He seems to always understand how people feel and if he doesn't, he does his best to try to understand.

But also it feels like he's carrying something and still trying to take on everyone else's somethings too. I don't know why and maybe it's just my imagination but I've been like that so sometimes the way he acts feels... really familiar to me. Like doing all of that to make up for something.

Like I said, though, I could totally be off.

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham waits patiently through her response, tucking away the thought about why she finds it so familiar. He has his thoughts on it but this is about Kaveh right now.]

"Make up for something"... that's a good way to put it. Kaveh is haunted by his guilt. He doesn't see our fight as anything that can be reconciled because he sees his faults as undeserving of forgiveness.

[And, similarly, he'll never forgive Alhaitham for knowing him. He regretted them, Kaveh said once. It's a bitterness that's never fully alleviated. Maybe never will, because Kaveh never meant to let anyone know him deep enough to pull out the ugly parts and undo the shape of him.]

Still, even if Kaveh denies it our current relationship actually is an improvement to where it was after our fight.

[They didn't talk to each other directly for years and only printed criticisms of each other's academic journals. It was the only way to truly maintain distance after all.]

[fanstheflames]

So actually you're improving! Your relationship, I mean.

[ ... Just how bad was it before, she wonders, but doesn't ask. Just like how she doesn't ask what he feels guilty over. ]

... Which means it doesn't have to stay like this, either.

[justscribing]

[He can never point it out to Kaveh's face, but yes. They've improved.]

It would be simpler if we could just say friends when someone asks. But I'm not unhappy with the way things are now.

[fanstheflames]

... So is that a "don't get yourself involved with it or I'm going to be mad" kind of "not unhappy with it"?

[justscribing]

That's an "I'm not unhappy about it". [He raises a brow.] I don't see how you would get involved.

[fanstheflames]

I think it'd depend on Kaveh. But I could talk up your good points!

He should at least believe I mean it, because I'm pretty sure you'd never ask me to do anything like that.

[justscribing]

You're right, I wouldn't so I'm not asking you to do so now. Besides, Kaveh knows my good points.

[Whether Kaveh agrees they're good points is another matter entirely.] Kaveh has things he needs to accept himself before he'll be willing to actually reconcile. You'll see what I mean as you get to know him.

[Because Tsuruno is smart, and try and Kaveh might to hide himself from prying eyes he fully expects him to fail under Tsuruno's determined friendship.]

[fanstheflames]

[ Alhaitham has such faith in her to fuck up Kaveh's avoidance tactics. Amazing. ]

You're actually surprisingly patient, aren't you?

[ "Surprisingly." ]

[justscribing]

[He recognizes relentless when he sees it. Also Kaveh is actually very bad about oversharing with enough trust or alcohol.]

Surprisingly? More people could do to learn patience.

[fanstheflames]

Yeah. But they don't, so I'm surprised.

[ Good job, buddy. ]

[justscribing]

[Dryly:] Glad I could exceed your expectations.

[Not that he doesn't agree with her assessment of the general population, obviously.] Then would you consider yourself patient?

[fanstheflames]

Me? It's more like...

I'm patient when I need to be and I go for it when I don't need to be patient.

[ This is like a fortune cookie. ]

[justscribing]

What a particular answer. [Most people would say "yes" or "no" (and usually, those who say "yes" are a lot more "no") not "it depends".] How do you quantify need?

[fanstheflames]

[ She's not most people. I apologize for that. ]

It's based on what the goal is! Like if there's a super shy person who just joined the group, I can't be impatient with making her comfortable or she'll feel overwhelmed! Or if we're trying to find out info about someone, I can't just run into a different school and grab the person who knows that info, I have to call the school, pretend to be her relative, get her to come out on her own, and go from there!

But if it's something like a race, then that's entirely different!

[ Help. ]

[justscribing]

[Please, it's exactly why Alhaitham likes her so much.

Incidentally, why do these sounds exactly like the kinds of things Alhaitham has done? And when that doesn't work, you always have violence.] So you really consider every situation. Flexibility in your decision making is also an asset.

[fanstheflames]

[ Tsuruno may have (definitely) done these things exactly, it's fine. ]

I think so, too! I'm glad you get it.

[justscribing]

[They are so normal.

Alhaitham hums in affirmation before his attention shifts, as he realize through a gap in the large plants that there's a reflection of glass up ahead. He really hopes that's the door, because if it's just the wall he'll have to try breaking it.] We're reaching some sort of end up ahead.

[fanstheflames]

We did it! I think!

That wasn't so bad!

[ I mean, he learned about her LORE and she learned he's in love with his friend, what a good day. ]

[justscribing]

[If they had to compare it to other things... yeah, the mall was worse.

He swats another giant petal away and reveals, yes, thank the Archons, the door.]

Come on. [He is hurriedly shuffling them out, kicking the door shut with his heel once they've escaped.

... But there is one more think he has to make sure is resolved, now that no more secrets are being forced out. He clears his throat.] Kaveh doesn't know how I feel about him, so I expect you to keep that a secret.

[It's a bit tense in its warning. He doesn't expect her to never talk about Alhaitham with Kaveh, because now that Kaveh knows they're acquainted that's going to be an inescapable topic. And Kaveh probably wouldn't take Tsuruno's words to heart in a way that he refuses to take Alhaitham's, but still. He'd like to avoid an awkward spiral.]

[fanstheflames]

I'd never tell him something that important. That's all up to you, since it's how you feel.

[ Honestly, she seems a little surprised that he thinks she would, as she finally releases his hand. It was obvious enough from how the flowers voiced it that it was meant to be a secret, not something Alhaitham would just tell anyone. ]