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Léan's tail moved ever-faster.
"...That much is true..." he admitted quietly opening his eyes to stare at the rock's dark surface. "Part of me died that day...and it will never return..." |
"I can't say that I know how you feel," Glory said softly, "because I probably don't. But think of it this way... I've spent the last three days with you, and I haven't run off." Here, she grinned. "And your dry sarcasm hasn't affected me in the least."
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Léan looked a bit puzzled at her statement, but let it slide. "I suppose so...not all humans are awful. However, 99% of them are."
He rested his cheek on the rock once again. "I'm aware that I have a terrible personality at times, but I can be entertaining..." He didn't know what else to say. |
"You don't have a terrible personality," Glory protested. "You just try to hate the world so you head everyone off at the pass. The way I figure it, you push everyone away on the 'just in case' principle. And don't tell me that you don't."
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Léan grumbled, for he had just been about to deny it. "...So I'm cautious; what of it?" he offered, loftily. "I don't want to get hurt again."
His voice was calm, but the last sentence had a bit of a quiver to it. He didn't comment on it, though. |
"And I don't blame you in the slightest for that," Glory reassured. "Eventually, though... you're going to actually have to start living again. And that means taking a risk or two."
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Léan just laid there for a moment, silent. Then, he shrugged. "I take risks...just not big ones. I'm careful. I always will be somewhat careful..."
He didn't know quite what she was getting at, but he was curious. Why the sudden burst of care? |
"If you say so," Glory replied, dropping the subject. She'd told Archie it wasn't going to work... She wasn't even sure why she cared so much, just that she did. She hated seeing Léan so sad... Not that she was able to help at all...
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Léan's brow furrowed, and he lifted himself up a bit more.
"Now you look like somebody stepped on you," he pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "Something is on your mind. Instead of skirting around it, just tell me. I can handle it." He seemed serious, and quite curious. And quite dense. |
"And if I said that your brother is trying to set us up?" she asked dryly. She really just wanted to see his reaction, although she didn't want him to go after Archie for something that she was pretty sure was done with good intentions. "I told him it wasn't going to work..."
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Léan blinked. Then he blinked again.
"He's trying to...he wants to...oh." Surprisingly, a light pink blush flushed over his cheeks--it looked very unlike him. "Oh. I understand, now. It is true that I feel comfortable around you, but I don't know about that." |
"I said the same thing, but he's being insistant," Glory replied. "I mean, you and I might have a few personality quirks in common, but..." She trailed off. Somehow, she didn't like the fact that he agreed. Some part of her wanted to disagree and say that it might work, even though she knew that it probably wouldn't. Quickly, she silenced that part of her.
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Léan cleared his throat.
"I...I didn't say I don't think it could work," he backpedaled, slowly. "I meant I...I'm not sure about it..." |
Glory raised an eyebrow even as the little voice in the back of her head celebrated. Quickly, she beat the little voice into submission.
"Oh?" she asked. "I thought you would thoroughly disagree with your brother. I mean, I told him that being comfortable around something wasn't the same thing as liking them, but he kept insisting..." |
Léan looked flustered, and his tail was still moving a mile a minute.
"While that is very true...I will admit, it is incredibly rare for me to feel comfortable around anyone or anything, other than sea creatures not of my own kind. I am not social, and I am not friendly. So, when I start feeling comfortable around someone...that means something, whether it is good or bad." |
Glory couldn't help but notice how flustered he looked.
"Are you really all that nervous?" she asked after a moment. "You move your tail any faster and you could out-race a water skimmer." |
"The subject has me running at a fever pitch right now," Léan muttered, attempting to slow his tail down. "It is not something I'm comfortable with, so understandably, I am a little nervous and flustered."
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"We can drop the subject, if you like," Glory suggested. "We don't have to talk about it if you're not comfortable with it." She grinned. "We could have another seaweed fight to take your mind off things."
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Léan chuckled, finally relaxing a bit, and then frowned, stretching. "No, no...it's best to deal with the worst first...let's finish this subject before we do anything else. Do you have any...any thoughts on it? Any questions...?"
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"Aside from the fact that your brother tried explaining the mechanics..." Glory replied dryly, "No, not really. Like Nana said, I gather information by listening rather than asking." Glory shuddered slightly, more for dramatics than anything else. "There are just some things that I didn't need to know about at this point in time."
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Léan rolled his eyes. "He would do that...indeed, he would..."
Then, Léan chewed his lip a bit, staring at the rocks. "What...do you want to do, now? I don't know what to think...or what should happen..." |
Glory shrugged.
"Continue along as if Archie hadn't tried to interfere?" she suggested. "If something happens, then it does. I'm not about to try messing with fate. I've heard that messing with fate is bad juju." |
Léan shrugged, honestly not knowing what he really wanted to do. He seemed highly confused about something, probably inner self stuff.
"...Whatever happens will happen, yes...but Archie will still try to interfere...so we should try to humor him in some way...I'm not sure how. Perhaps we could ask him what would satisfy him, for now?" |
"That," Glory said, "is entirely up to you. You're the one he's trying to 'help', after all." Carefully, she sat up so that the rock would stop digging into her abdomen. "I'm pretty sure he wants you to stop being depressed and be happy again." Looking down, she continued softly, "I bet I could be anyone as far as he's concerned."
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Léan frowned, raising an eyebrow. "Now, don't say that," he chided gently. "Remember. Arcturus is worse with humans than I am, at first. He is terrified of them, deep down. He often hides his fear under...hyper."
He thought, closing his eyes. "Well. I suppose we could humor him by agreeing to a...a..." He paused, forgetting the word humans used for it. He'd gone on quite a few with Selena before she rejected him. "...Date, is it?" |
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