October Catch-All

[dendarii]

WHO: Miles, various
WHERE: Various as well!
WHEN: October
WHAT: Catch-all plus open prompts as time/inclination arises
WARNINGS: The usual VKS ones. Probably some discussion of suicide.

Comments

EARLY OCTOBER

[dendarii]

[ Welp, Miles sure fucked that one up. It's taken him way too long to realize he needs to make an apology to begin with (likely after some yelling sessions in fact), and longer after that to find the right words. In the end he decides to throw caution to the wind and just kind of go for it.

It helps that he has other things to ask, so he may as well do both at once. He knocks on Mark's door a little after noon, holding a plate of pastries as a peace offering. ]

Mark? It's me, Miles.

[jacksonian]

[ Mark can't deny being home. It's too obvious that he is. And also, frankly, he's still pissed enough that he doesn't care to use methods that spare Miles' feelings. So he calls back through the door: ]

Go away.

[dendarii]

[ That's pretty fair reaction, all things considered. He sighs softly and leans up against his side of the door. ]

You have every right to be angry with me. Would you let me in so that I can apologize to you?

[jacksonian]

[ Tightly: ]

I don't have any use for an apology.

EARLY OCTOBER, Tex

[dendarii]

[ This has been a week. Happily, the part he'd been most concerned about has been resolved, leaving him feeling quite light in response. Gregor knows what he's after and why he's after it. And there are no qualms about the plan thus far even if neither of them are quite ready for the commitment side of it. Perfectly fine for now. Miles is just energized having a direction.

The next step, then, is reaching out to the people he needs to get things done. Mark is high on that list, as is Baelish. But before anything else is Tex. She needs to know before he makes any significant progress on this one. As such, he sends her a quick text on Sunday afternoon: ]

I've got a bottle of your favorite. Meet me in the dining room?

[dendarii]

Then I'll take it as another favor if you took it anyway. [ More softly: ] Please, Mark.

[jacksonian]

[ A pause, and then finally the sound of footsteps. Then there's a rattle as Mark unlocks his door - though he doesn't open it. ]

[dendarii]

[ Good enough. Miles nudges it open, then, careful not to upend his peace offering. ]

... Thank you.

[jacksonian]

[ Mark is already back sitting at his computer, his back to Miles, making a grand show of not looking at him as he comes in. He just grunts in acknowledgment - waiting, clearly, for Miles to speak. ]

[dendarii]

[ He slides the plate down next to him, then. And stands there for a moment, quiet. ]

I'm sorry for how I behaved at that festival.

[jacksonian]

[ Mark's interest is piqued less by the apology and more by the plate of pastries. He actually looks away from his computer to look at them instead; he reaches out and grabs one, a little bit of the tension going out of him as he does. And he gets a little more communicative. ]

It doesn't matter. How you behaved.

[dendarii]

[ Miles is just glad he's got one thing pinned down about his brother. Given the way some of their conversations go, he feels incredibly inept at doing anything Mark actually likes. Pastries, though. Pastries are easy. ]

Sure it does. I had no right to bring up the subject in the first place. And once it was obvious I was mistaken, I should have stopped.

[jacksonian]

[ A shrug. ]

You were drunk.

[dendarii]

And stupid. Both are preventable.

[jacksonian]

Stupid isn't.

[dendarii]

Stupid absolutely is. I'm just not very good at it.

[jacksonian]

Huh.

[ That's a short, humorless laugh. Then he gives a quick, tense shrug. ]

It's fine. I guess.

[dendarii]

[ Miles falls silent again for a moment. Steals a stray scrap of pastry and stuffs it into his own mouth. ]

Is it? You were ... extremely upset. As I remember.

[jacksonian]

[ He shrugs again. ]

I'm surprised you remember anything.

[dendarii]

Not ... much. Admittedly. But enough.

[jacksonian]

[ Yet another shrug. ]

Yeah. Well. Like I told you. I don't like you trying to control my life. Especially not if you're trying to make it like your own.

[dendarii]

[ Miles looks down at his hands. ]

I didn't mean to do that. I just get ... excited, I guess. The last thing I want is for the two of us to end up imitating each other.

[jacksonian]

[ He looks back to the computer screen. He's quiet for several moments, like he's checked out of the conversation and has gone back to working - except that he's not typing, just compulsively and nervously pressing the semicolon key again and again. A long line of punctuation marks has stretched across the selected cell of the spreadsheet until, finally, he says: ]

And it's good for you. I guess. Or whatever. That you've just thrown off all your programming. But not all of us have.

[dendarii]

[ He's glad Mark spoke up again, because he had no idea what to say. He's still speechless for a moment, though, because - really, him throwing of his own programming? ]

What? I haven't, though.

[jacksonian]

[ He hunches down defensively, staring at his computer screen. ]

You're having sex with a man. And going around talking about how great it is. Encouraging other people to do it. Not exactly Barrayaran.