[ Madness is putting it lightly. Add is spiraling in the worst way. But it's not like when Ezell spirals - when his thoughts are heavy and he starts to question things like mortality and his life. This is... volatile. If Add weren't currently threatening to end the life of a chair earlier, he might even try to reach out and give him some physical reassurance. ]
Do you really think they're "just distractions"? Because that isn't fair either, Add. Especially not, when those you care about will lift you up and stick by your side. And it's... I'm not going to say it's not complicated, but if you say you don't need it, I'll gladly call you a liar to your face.
Let me ask you this, then. And you do not have to tell me, you can just think about it yourself, what if Ain were not here? What if something happened to him? Would you still not "give a shit what he does anymore"?
[Dynamo is here for the physical support, at least. His heart is still a mess, but he is listening... of course he would care if something happened to Ain. Something did happen to Ain and he's still pissed about it, as little as anything he could do would matter. He's not so blinded to believe his own bullshit anymore.
But that's the problem, isn't it? He knows how much he cares, but he still has no idea how to express any of that. And now Ain wants to skip straight to dating.
It's kind of a lot. From his perspective, it's only been a couple months since he accepted that he even wanted to stay... and now he's been torn away to some other fucked up place full of strangers. And Ain is both hitting on him and making other friends way faster and better than he was with the Search Party. And he doesn't really want to talk or think about any of this, but here he is.
After a long pause, he just sighsβdrawn out and exaggerated, in case the empath couldn't tell how fed up he is with all this damn stupid feelings. He straightens himself up, running a hand through his hair. Even if he's still a total mess, he can at least try to pretend he's pulled himself together.]
You really are nosy, aren't you? What's your endgame here? Stop wasting my time and just tell me what you want already.
Sorry, it's hard not to be, when you're someone so important to Ain. You just... [ How to say this nicely... ] seem to be the self-destructive sort of person, and it's worrying.
I want... you to consider the things you want, and the things that are important to you. I want to be your friend and for you to not totally hate my guts, but I know that's going to take a lot more work. But more than anything else, I want Ain to be happy. His smile means the world and more to me, and even if you decide to let him down still at the end of this, I think he'll be able to get through it if he knows you're not as conflicted about things as you are now.
[he's gonna let u finish but as soon as he calls Add self-destructive and worrying he gets a big ol' blip of embarrassment/surprise/???confused suspicion???? like it is truly unthinkable to him that Ezell could worry about him when all their interactions have been like this... no way Ain gives head THAT good
but he stamps the feeling down with more stubborn irritation, looking away with a huff. Don't you dare read into that.]
... tch, if that's all you came here to say then this was a total waste of time.
It's not like I was going to ignore him indefinitely. [he was probably gonna half-ass the apology by not actually reflecting on his stupid feelings tho so yeah. not that he will admit this either.]
[ Oh, Add. He would read you like a book even without the empathy. ]
I don't think it was a waste. More than to come and talk to you about Ain's feelings... I did want to check on you, too. After all, I wouldn't want you to stay mad or anything. If there's something I can do to help, I want to try.
Ugh... you'd fit right in with those soft-hearted idiots. [no wonder Ain is into this guy]
I'm not mad at him, just amazed at his stupidity. If he was going to get so upset over rejection he should've asked before trying to come on to me.
[in his mind this makes sense and is definitely how this is supposed to work, yeah. you ask about interest and THEN you start flirting and asking them out.]
...I mean, I feel like the "coming onto someone" part usually comes before the asking someone out part, generally? I didn't ask Ain to go out with me before I kissed him for the first time.
But you at least knew he was interested, right? You wouldn't just do something like that without checking that it would be reciprocated first. That's just common sense! It's research!
[what do you mean normal people don't do research before asking someone out]
Why wouldn't he know?! I don't use words like cute, I'd never say that shit on purpose! He should know that about me already and make the connection himself!
[............... did he accidentally hit on Ain and that's what started all of this?
He brings a hand to his mouth, thinking on this very intensely for several seconds. God, what else did he say that night??? Dynamo only had a partial recording, and what little he can remember is... embarrassing. He woke up with his hand in Ain's hair for El's sake. Why did he not consider this??]
... it's all just a misunderstanding. I'll... I'll talk to him. Later.
Alright. I think it would do him some good. Next time, though, I do recommend doing so privately, as reading it on a public device of any kind isn't good for either of you, I feel...
Oh, yes, of course! Sorry. I'll leave you to the rest of your work, Add. Thank you for listening to me, though. I really appreciate it.
[ There's... probably more he should say, for Ain's sake, but it's not his place to really be speaking for Ain. He just wants him to be happy, but it's up to Add how he wants to go from here. At least the conversation went a lot better than he thought. There was definitely a point where Ezell wanted to deck Add in the face.
He stands up from the chair and gives a little bow before heading for the door. ]
Oh, and please, you can talk to me if you ever feel like you need to, by the way. I know you're still not on the best of terms with me, but I'm a good listener.
[He's still scowling as hard as ever, arms folded as he waits for Ezell to let his damn self out of Add's office... but is there, perhaps, slightly less animosity than before?
Or maybe it's just because his mind is still elsewhere, thinking about all this embarrassing feelings-shit with Ain and how he's supposed to fix that. Ughhh.
He slams the door shut as soon as Ezell is back outside. He needs some time to think, definitely.]
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Do you really think they're "just distractions"? Because that isn't fair either, Add. Especially not, when those you care about will lift you up and stick by your side. And it's... I'm not going to say it's not complicated, but if you say you don't need it, I'll gladly call you a liar to your face.
Let me ask you this, then. And you do not have to tell me, you can just think about it yourself, what if Ain were not here? What if something happened to him? Would you still not "give a shit what he does anymore"?
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But that's the problem, isn't it? He knows how much he cares, but he still has no idea how to express any of that. And now Ain wants to skip straight to dating.
It's kind of a lot. From his perspective, it's only been a couple months since he accepted that he even wanted to stay... and now he's been torn away to some other fucked up place full of strangers. And Ain is both hitting on him and making other friends way faster and better than he was with the Search Party. And he doesn't really want to talk or think about any of this, but here he is.
After a long pause, he just sighsβdrawn out and exaggerated, in case the empath couldn't tell how fed up he is with all this damn stupid feelings. He straightens himself up, running a hand through his hair. Even if he's still a total mess, he can at least try to pretend he's pulled himself together.]
You really are nosy, aren't you? What's your endgame here? Stop wasting my time and just tell me what you want already.
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I want... you to consider the things you want, and the things that are important to you. I want to be your friend and for you to not totally hate my guts, but I know that's going to take a lot more work. But more than anything else, I want Ain to be happy. His smile means the world and more to me, and even if you decide to let him down still at the end of this, I think he'll be able to get through it if he knows you're not as conflicted about things as you are now.
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but he stamps the feeling down with more stubborn irritation, looking away with a huff. Don't you dare read into that.]
... tch, if that's all you came here to say then this was a total waste of time.
It's not like I was going to ignore him indefinitely. [he was probably gonna half-ass the apology by not actually reflecting on his stupid feelings tho so yeah. not that he will admit this either.]
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I don't think it was a waste. More than to come and talk to you about Ain's feelings... I did want to check on you, too. After all, I wouldn't want you to stay mad or anything. If there's something I can do to help, I want to try.
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I'm not mad at him, just amazed at his stupidity. If he was going to get so upset over rejection he should've asked before trying to come on to me.
[in his mind this makes sense and is definitely how this is supposed to work, yeah. you ask about interest and THEN you start flirting and asking them out.]
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[what do you mean normal people don't do research before asking someone out]
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[............... did he accidentally hit on Ain and that's what started all of this?
He brings a hand to his mouth, thinking on this very intensely for several seconds. God, what else did he say that night??? Dynamo only had a partial recording, and what little he can remember is... embarrassing. He woke up with his hand in Ain's hair for El's sake. Why did he not consider this??]
... it's all just a misunderstanding. I'll... I'll talk to him. Later.
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Alright. I think it would do him some good. Next time, though, I do recommend doing so privately, as reading it on a public device of any kind isn't good for either of you, I feel...
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he hates this]
I wasn't planning on it. Are you done telling me shit I already know about?
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[ There's... probably more he should say, for Ain's sake, but it's not his place to really be speaking for Ain. He just wants him to be happy, but it's up to Add how he wants to go from here. At least the conversation went a lot better than he thought. There was definitely a point where Ezell wanted to deck Add in the face.
He stands up from the chair and gives a little bow before heading for the door. ]
Oh, and please, you can talk to me if you ever feel like you need to, by the way. I know you're still not on the best of terms with me, but I'm a good listener.
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[He's still scowling as hard as ever, arms folded as he waits for Ezell to let his damn self out of Add's office... but is there, perhaps, slightly less animosity than before?
Or maybe it's just because his mind is still elsewhere, thinking about all this embarrassing feelings-shit with Ain and how he's supposed to fix that. Ughhh.
He slams the door shut as soon as Ezell is back outside. He needs some time to think, definitely.]