Opinions without 3.1415 are just Onions (Week1 post trial)

[ghostricked]

After everything, the house seems almost too still and too mundane. At least as long as the doors to that room remain closed. One by one those covered in what was once their teammate are lead to the showers or change in silence. There is no warm meal waiting for them. No words of encouragement.

Life goes on, regardless.

Comments

[soupervillain]

This Jade guy, he's your best friend, right? And... only friend? What's so great about him if he doesn't even like naming stuff? Sounds like a buzzkill.

[reanimania]

J-Jade has a brilliant mind and comes up with theories other people could never even imagine! He doesn't care what people say about him and doesn't waste any time on frivolities [ so yes, he is, actually, kind of a buzzkill ], and he keeps his cool in the most dire of circumstances. Even when we were children, he could calmly take charge of nearly any situation while others would be frozen with fear.

Some call his thinking "abnormal" in a derogatory way, but those fools just can't understand someone whose mind operates on a level so much higher than their own! Not like me, the only other genius who can come close to matching him!

[ His shoulders tense a bit as he looks down into his coffee cup. ]

We were always meant to be together [ as, you know, best friends ], it just took him a while to realize it. But he won't leave me behind anymore now, when he needs me.

[soupervillain]

Yeesh, okay, okay, I get it. He's perfect, he's a genius, sun shines out the dude's butt. Does he actually, like... like things, though?

...does he like you?

[ He's not trying to be an ass with that last question, and his tone is gentle. Maybe he's reading too much into this. But Saphir had only said he needed him, and that strikes Giovanni as a pretty significant gulf of meaning. ]

[reanimania]

[ Look, you asked what was great about him and it's a long list! (And don't you dare talk about Jade's butt!!!)

There's a fairly long silence before he manages an answer that probably says all you really need to know. ]

...O-of course he does! I mean-- as much as he likes anything now.

[ Which, to answer the first question, is not much. ]

[soupervillain]

[ Hey, why not? His butt's gotta be as perfect as the rest of him, right?

That pause, though. That's concerning. Giovanni's forehead creases, and he glances at Saphir worriedly. ]

Look, Replicator, I don't want to judge your guys's relationship. I mean, obviously I've never met the guy. But it seems to me like one of you is putting a lot more friendship into this... friendship.

[ The way he'd said "now"... ]

Did something happen?

[reanimania]

[ how did this thread turn from your dead friend grief to his relationship problems

...Well, he won't deny that much, at least; he has always been the one making all the effort to close the distance between them. ]

He's been different since our teacher... passed away, years ago. I doubt most of the people we knew back then can even tell, but I can. He never shows any honest reactions to anything anymore.

[soupervillain]

[ because going therapist mode is a good distraction! ]

...Oh. Hey, I'm sorry. I can see how that would change a guy. But just because he's in a bad place, that doesn't mean he's allowed to treat you bad because of it. If he's only hanging around because he "needs" you... look, I just want you to know you're allowed to stand up for yourself, okay?

[reanimania]

He doesn't--

[ This Jade actually treats him a lot less badly than he used to when he was happier, but he's not going to say that out loud. ]

There's nothing I need to stand up against. I'm happy being his friend, and it's fine if I'm more invested in it than he is.

[soupervillain]

...Okay.

[ Giovanni definitely isn't completely sure it's okay, but if Saphir doesn't have a problem, he's not gonna press the issue. Maybe he really is just reading too much into it. ]

If you're happy, then I'm happy. And if you ever do want to talk about anything, hey, you know where I live.

[reanimania]

[ Even if he'd just said that, of course he isn't actually happy when Jade isn't even here.

...That absence also means that he doesn't have to assume that any offers of kindness are just veiled attempts to steal Jade away from him like he usually does, though. He's never really had anything bordering on a positive relationship before with someone who hadn't already been Jade's acquaintance first, so... he's not sure how to process this.

He takes a sip of his coffee, and finds there's a lump in his throat that makes it difficult to swallow. ]

I shall keep that in mind, thank you.