Logs:People Who Haven't Hurt You

From From Dusk till Jawn
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Content Warning

Bigtime sadness.

Cast

Glitch and Teagan

Setting

The Direct Action Motley House

Log

It's late, and quiet, at an hour where the rest of the house is either gone or asleep. The sound of faint music comes from one single corner of the place, a not quite fully closed door that leads to a modest bedroom. Glitch dwells here, and he sits up on his bed with a muddled expression, staring off into space a bit. A nearby stereo, several decades old, warbles out some faint new wave chart toppers. The room is barely lit by a single lamp, just enough to indicate to anyone outside that he's still up at this hour.

The problem is that he's up at this hour. Glitch can't sleep.

And then there's Teagan, just inside the door, leaning back against it. The thing about Darklings is that they can become intangible, so getting through people's closed doors is easy peasy. They fold their arms across their chest and lean back, tipping their chin up at him. "Y'alright, Player One?"

Glitch blinks, looking caught off guard. Teagan appearing out of thin air usually isn't enough to make him bat an eye anymore, so he must've been somewhere else in his head. "Hey Teag," he murmurs, turning towards them and rubbing at his face tiredly. "I dunno. Don't feel bad. Just...don't feel good. Fuzzy. Happpens sometimes." There's a pause before he adds, "...glad to see you though. You still up too?"

They shuck off their jacket, unlace their boots. Wrap Baby up in the thick briarwolf greatcoat that Sigrun made for them, and set her aside, and then they crawl into bed with him without being asked. Oh no, now Glitch is going to be on Teagan's lap! That's just how it's going to be in the world now. Once they've settled and yanked him onto their lap, they kiss the corner of his mouth, as is their rite and custom. "Static in your brain?" Arms wrap tight around him, hug the Elemental close. "No, I'm asleep. This is a Fig Newton of your imagination. Very tasty, imaginary Fig Newtons."

Glitch actually huffs a bit moodily when he's wrestled into position, but makes no move to resist. After the kiss, he ducks his head and closes his eyes, resting against them for a bit and breathing slowly. "You know what I mean," he beeps back. "And...yeah. Not like loud crackly shit. Just...nn." He closes his eyes. There's something left unsaid, and he fidgets slightly before opening his eyes. "...I missed you."

"I do know what you mean, but it made you laugh inside your head, even if you're being moody on the outside. I know you," Teagan answers, lazily wrapping their arms around Glitch and burying their nose in his hair. "Yeah. Just static. I know." They've been through this with him many times, after all. "What is it, Player One?" They can always pick up on the things left unsaid; it's nothing but skill gained over time. "I missed you, too."

He looks embarassed a bit. "I just feel bad asking you to make me feel better," he mutters. "You've...you do that for a lot of people. I don't want to just lean on you." He's literally leaning on them, but he goes tense a bit after he finally admits that. "No, I...I know what's...going on. It's just...embarassing." He pulls back, forehead bumping against theirs, eyes meeting in the dark. "...you remember what happened when...when Zima came to us?"

Soft laughter, then. "You should know by now that it makes me feel better to make you feel better," the Mirrorskin murmurs, kissing the top of his head again. They pet his arms and kind of rock back and forth comfortably. Comforting themself, perhaps, as much as comforting him. "I... which thing, P1? Lots of things happened when Zima came to us."

Glitch sucks in a breath and centers himself. Teagan can actually see his pixels slow, the shifting and scrambling that ripples through his mien decelerating. He's happy to be comforted and comforting, and tucks against them. "I got jealous. I'm getting jealous. It's...ridiculous. I mean. I should just be glad everyone isn't having to deal with my bullshit anymore, it's other people's turn, but..." He makes a warbling little beep of frustration. "This kind of shit is why I just fucking pushed all this shit down before. Fucking feelings."

They frown a little bit, there. "You're jealous because everyone has to take care of Sigrun now, instead of you?" They continue to pet his hair, rocking slowly, content to take care of him, apparently, even as they puzzle their way through the things that Glitch says. "Is it jealous because everyone has to take care of Sigrun, or are you feeling like you're not getting enough attention from the motley? Or from me, specifically?"

Glitch thinks. "It's you. It's not even Sigrun, it's...Sturm?" He pauses, focusing intensely, trying to sort the random pangs of feelings in his head into concrete words. "That doesn't make sense either. Maybe it's just...everyone. Lots of new faces. Wonderful people." He sighs and relaxes back down against Teagan. "Maybe I'm too used to just moving on before I get attached. Or afraid I'll get too tied down and not...I don't know."

He's quiet for a while. "I don't know. I can't figure it out. I only know it doesn't make sense. Maybe it's all just nonsense, and it'll go away once I stop picking at it."

"So are you... upset that you aren't getting enough attention from me?" Teagan asks gently, pressing reassuring kisses into his hair, along his cheekbones. "Because, y'know, if that's what you want, that can surely be arranged. You are Player One. No one else is that, to me. No one else ever will be." Long-muscled arms with new hash-mark tattoos counting up new kills squeeze around him as they listen. "Maybe. We did move a lot. It might be hard, you know, to feel like... maybe there will be other people who we count on and who count on us, and it's not just us."

Glitch just nods when they ask that. As if admitting verbally that he needs attention and care is something highly shameful. But admit he does, and he buries his face into Teagan, eyes squeezing shut. "Thank you," he murmurs. "I just figured out what it is. Why I was thinking of last time. I...I wasn't jealous of anyone then, either. I just...didn't feel like I deserved you." He clings tight, then lifts his head to look them in the glittering facets of their eyes. "All...all those new faces are people who haven't hurt you."

They nod thoughtfully, rocking Glitch and holding on to him, as if this is all very normal and good, things that people ought to think about and feel. Nothing unusual about that at all. Yep, it's very normal that sometimes people are jealous, yes, it's very normal to have a hard time asking for the care that you need. Yep, yep ye--

-- and then he gets to that last sentence, and Teagan just hugs him so fucking tight. "Oh, Glitch," and those two words are so thin and tight, their throat closing around them. "You stupid fuck. I love you so much."

A little sob chokes out of him at the tight hug and those words. Being called a stupid fuck actually makes him snort, gasping in a bit, before he lifts his head to push his forehead against Teagan's. "I know. I know," he beeps, repeating it, shuddering as he hauls in a breath and tries to calm himself. He opens his mouth a few times, but barely knows what to say anymore. He lifts his head with a sniffle and determinedly wipes his face off. "I want to talk tomorrow. About us, about Summer and Anger and what happened to us. What happened to me. And I don't want to just fall apart." He slowly pulls himself back together, a hand clenching on the sheets. "You can stay here tonight, right?" he asks quietly.

Their arms squeeze tight around him, and they do not for half a second let go. "I know that you know, but apparently you need to hear it," Teagan replies, holding the little Sprite real fucking tight. "I fucking forgave you, and I meant it. That is behind us. Seriously." They take a long, slow breath in, and kiss his nose. "Yes. We can talk tomorrow. About Summer and Anger and what happened with us. With you."

"I can," Teagan assures quietly, letting him pull back. "You want me to?"

Glitch nods, and nods, and listens. He does need to hear it. He nods against their chest as he nestles in as close as he can, looking like he's already ready to drift off to sleep, after what might have been hours of restlessness. "Yes," he beeps. "I want you here. My Player Two. My Teagan."