these zombies in the park, they're looking for my heart, oh oh oh

[psychofailed]

WHO: Kogami, Aerith, Tetsuo
WHERE: Nonah #6
WHEN: Idk now?
WHAT: Kogami and Aerith's date has an unintended guest
WARNINGS: Nothing I can think of. Will update if any come up.


[It's not exactly a "traditional" date, gardening with your girlfriend, but really nothing about their relationship so far has been traditional.

He still doesn't really know anything about flowers, but she's good at giving him instructions, and he's--if not a natural green thumb, at least a fairly quick study. At the moment, he's helping pull weeds, which requires, uh, less of a gentle touch. But it's not unenjoyable, honestly, and the weather is pretty nice. He stops briefly to wipe the seat from his forehead, when he notices something out of the corner of his eye--

A flash of color, a Hue. Someone else is here.

...Someone he recognizes, actually.]

Tetsuo, right? Aerith went inside to refill the watering can. She'll be right back.

Comments

[23wishes]

Yeah?

[She blinks, bewildered. Honestly, even with all her prodding and reading and snooping, she wouldn't have predicted a reaction like that.]

It's not a big deal or anything.

[Why should Tetsuo even care?]

Is everything okay?

[iamtetsuo]

[He doesn't exactly care that SHE's dating. It's more complicated than that.]

Fine. Of course you're dating someone. Everyone else is.

[23wishes]

--Oh.

[And again for good measure.]

Oh.

[He IS a teenage boy after all. Of course he'd be jealous. Kaneda and Maya, Dorian and Toby being so loud on the network lately...]

Mm. Sorry. We won't be gross and kiss outside or anything like that.

[A pause.]

... Is there someone you like?

[iamtetsuo]

No.

[He says, with just a touch or two of trademark defensiveness. And just a touch too fast.

He's full of it, there's totally someone he likes.]

[23wishes]

That... sounds like a lie. A really bad lie.

[There's really no way to explain this sort of thing to a kid. Their frame of reference for life experiences is so small. Ultimately it doesn't matter who it is and there's no reason to keep crushes secret. That's a good way to end up stuck single and never learning that it's okay to confess these kinds of things.]

A girl?

[iamtetsuo]

[... he looks down, mumbling a 'shut up'. That would be a yes.]

[23wishes]

Here? Or back home?

[Let's crank this can of worms WIDE OPEN.]

[iamtetsuo]

[He shrugs.]

[23wishes]

[Um.]

Both?

[iamtetsuo]

Yeah.

[23wishes]

So... you like a girl back home... but you like another girl here too?

[Since, as far as she knows, the only one from the same world as him is Kaneda. It's not hard to narrow down the problem here. Bratty Tetsuo, as terrible as he is, is a serial monogamist.]

[iamtetsuo]

[He shrugs. The fence obscures the gesture.]

Not like it matters.

[23wishes]

It does matter... It's obviously bothering you. So, you don't want to pursue anything with the girl here because it'd be dishonest, right? And you probably still like her and miss her a lot.

[iamtetsuo]

[Tetsuo fixes her with a sharp glare. How did she know?? Clearly, this is a very non-obvious dilemma and yet she worked the whole thing out with just a few questions.

Stupid people who can read other people. THIS is why they suck when they're not him.

But then he looks away, at the fence in front of him, tracing the wood grain and wishing it was slightly more interesting to stare at. He doesn't admit it, but... yes. That is all correct.]

[23wishes]

[His silence condemns him more than anything he could have said.]

What do you think the imPort girl would say if you told her all of this?

[iamtetsuo]

How'd you know she's an ImPort?

[He asks, as if his weird prejudice against anyone from this world isn't painfully obvious after spending just a few minutes with him. Tetsuo has a bad habit of just... not treating them as real people. They don't matter at all. It also conveniently allows him to duck the question.]

[23wishes]

You wouldn't like anyone average.

[She laughs.]

[iamtetsuo]

[He has to admit it, but he'll do so by mumbling.]

...Not really.

[Even Kaori wasn't average... not really.]

[23wishes]

You didn't answer my question...

[She's doing her best to be patient. This is probably the nicest conversation she's had with this kid ever, and it really does seem like they're getting somewhere.]

[iamtetsuo]

What question?

[And now he's being obstinate.]

[23wishes]

[She should probably stop having ideas.]

What do you think would happen if you told the girl here that you liked her, but you liked a girl back home too? Do you think she'd understand?

[iamtetsuo]

She's not gonna know, so it's a pointless question.

["I have no idea and I didn't even invade her mind to find out."]

[23wishes]

You're content like this?

[iamtetsuo]

Shut the hell up.

[23wishes]

Mm.

[That actually works. Momentarily.]

Think about it, okay?