browbeater | Recolle IC Inbox

[ she's angry, he's angry--and then he's slamming his fist on the wall.

she knows there's something going on, and she's going to say something back, but when he hits the entrance wall right where she is, it just.... ]

...

[ she looks at him with wide eyes, pulls into herself. ]

...Mako...?

[he realizes what he did and he quickly, probably the quickest he's responded]

Sorry-- I. [a pause] I shouldn't have done that.

[he pulls away from the entrance, retreating further into the apartment.]

I remembered something and-- [he wants to curse.] It brought up a lot of old wounds.

Give them time, then. Some of these memories are pretty intense. They take some working through.

[which... she should know. He pauses.]

Did you talk to some of your friends about your memory...?

[he feels a little guilty for not being able to help. He'll come to the other part of her problems later],/small>

[ her heart's still racing, but she looks him in the eye, not moving from where she's standing. ]

Mako, listen, I'm--I'm here to help you. I want to....and I'm sorry I yelled at you.

But don't do something like that again. Please. You...you really scared me. I thought...

[ you were going to hurt me, for a second. ]

I...I know.

[ she definitely knows. she should have applied that logic when she was dealing with cleo; she'll apologize later. ]

Only Akira. I...didn't feel comfortable talking to anyone else about it.

[ but that just adds to the loneliness, doesn't it? ]

No. No. [his eyes widen slightly, and if he were in a better state, he would try to more emphatically make that point.

But if he were in a better state, he wouldn't have done that at all.]

I won't, I promise.

Ann, look... I know you want to help, but I think you should go.

[ she's not going to take that for an answer. not when he's so distressed like this? she's still shaken up, but she takes a tiny step closer, testing the waters. ]

No. I can't...not when you're acting like this.

[ she can't help mary, she can't help cleo, she couldn't help makoto.

what kind of superhero is she? ]

Please. Just tell me what's going on?

...

[he exhales.]

A bad memory. [and if it were just that... he'd be okay. He could ignore that, but this was just... like tearing across an old wound that he'd thought he'd closed a long time ago.]

And I nearly killed an important friend yesterday.

[ she takes another step closer, tentatively, unsure if he's going to back away or get angry again. ]

But you didn't mean to, right?

[ this is just like what had happened with cleo... ]

[he shakes his head.]

We'd been practicing all day with my fire powers, and it'd been fine. But then something happened, and it wasn't. I really hit him. I really nearly killed him.

[he should be way more upset about this, and he was mad that that wasn't what he was flashing back to, that wasn't what his mind was fixated on.

He doesn't back away from her, it's like he's frozen.

But the anger is gone, there's just... exhaustion.]

...And that's what brought the memory back, isn't it?

[ she's not trying to bring it up again, just...putting the pieces together. ]

I'm sorry, Mako...

... Yeah. That's why I turned my phone off.

[and he hasn't turned it back on since.]

Anyway, I'm sorry for scaring you. I'm not mad at you, even for yelling at me.

It's...okay.

[ it's not entirely, but she can forgive him.

she takes one more step. ]

Can I...come closer?

[it's... nice that she tried?

There's a part of him that very much, very emphatically wants to say no.

But he's nodding.]

[ he's nodding...okay.

okay... she'll approach him, and then when she's close enough, just. she'll slowly wrap her arms around him and hug him as warmly as she can. slow enough to where he can back off if he needs to.

this works, doesn't it? ]

[it's not triggering, at least, though it wasn't... exactly what he was expecting?

He smiles a little bit, and slowly hugs her back.

It was nice.]

[ oh...okay. this is good. this is definitely good. she's...actually tearing up a little now? just from relief and just...she was afraid that he would've pushed her away. ]

I'm sorry. I just...I just want to make it go away.

I hate Retrospec.

[he wishes she could. He wishes he could. But he knows he's-- pretty erratic? And while the hug was nice, there's still a large part of him that wants to be alone, to get back to some sort of normal before he sees others.]

... Anyway. Look, maybe... as you can see, I'm just not the best company. [he's moodswing-y and. tired. and angry.]

And... I should probably try to sleep soon. I've got work tomorrow.

...Okay.

[ she can respect that. she pulls away, frowning but at least she's not fearful anymore? ]

Are you sure you don't want company?

[he offers a weak smile at that.]

... I'd like it one day, but... maybe not today. I don't want to scare you again.

[ today...really has been a Day. maybe it's best if they both just get some rest. ]

Can I...check on you tomorrow?

[a nod.]

Yeah, that's fine.

Did he help?

[obviously, that's all Mako cares about. Not how many people she talked to. He wants to make sure she's fine.]

I'm coming to visit, okay?

[ ann...does not wait for his answer (???) before coming over and knocking on his door again. this time she has some banana bread from the cafe they visited a few days ago! it's really good. even if mako doesn't like sweets. bolin can eat it or something. ]

[ a nod. ]

He brought over a crepe for me. I don't...I don't think I'll ever get over it. But I'm glad I met up with him.

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the next day (i'm gonna put it here bc why the fuck not)

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