the avatar state / implies emotional pain / or perfect control

[roc_on]

Jun did a show last night, so maybe he's holding it together well enough to do a lesson today. It'd sure help take Beila's mind off things; maybe it'd do the same for him. She can always fly away again if he's not feeling it.

Knock knock?

Comments

[thinklikethis]

Dao makes a frustrated sound and hugs Spider, who has been remaining small and scared and miserable this whole time.

[fiery_delights]

"The coping mechanisms thing sounds pretty reasonable to me. 'Nothing else is helping my emotional state, why not try murder?' is the kind of thought process being raised by that man will tend to give you. I was lucky enough to find out how much I liked performance art long before I was pushed that far, but I did my share of stupid, destructive things as a teenager."

[thinklikethis]

"The picture I'm getting of your dad from the things you guys say about him is really unpleasant," says Dao.

[fiery_delights]

"He was a really unpleasant person."

[roc_on]

Beila can't think of anything helpful to say.

[thinklikethis]

"Beila, you look - I have no idea but it's worrying me," says Dao.

[roc_on]

"What, exactly, are you worried will happen?"

[thinklikethis]

"I'm worried you're going to not believe me about stuff, or believe me and not care, and you'll end up wanting to do something that hurts my friend, and - nobody needs to do anything that hurts him, okay, the problem is solved, we have solved the problem. No more murder."

[roc_on]

"You have solved the problem? How'd you do that?"

[thinklikethis]

"Better coping mechanisms!"

[fiery_delights]

"Seems like this might go better if you'd tell us what those were."

[thinklikethis]

...Dao hugs Spider some more.

"I - can I tell them," he says. "Please."

[in_silk]

"I'm scared," murmurs Spider in a tiny tiny voice.

[roc_on]

When one has nothing constructive to say, one should be a quiet Avatar.

[thinklikethis]

"I know," says Dao. "I'm sorry. But look, you wouldn't be here if you weren't really good at being scared and still doing stuff, right? And pretty much the only way I see out of this where everybody gets to be happy is if we convince Beila that you actually aren't going to murder any more people."

He looks up from hug to address his girlfriend.

"Beila. If you're convinced he's actually not going to murder any more people, will you like, not get him arrested or fight him or anything, and just let him go not murder people in peace?"

[roc_on]

Sigh.

"My dad knows where we are."

[thinklikethis]

"Fuuuuuck," says Dao. "Like. Knows you're here and knows you think there's a bone-stealing serial killer around?"

[roc_on]

"Yes. And I don't think he will be very impressed with your psychological assessment. But you'll probably be allowed to serve as a character testimony if you want."

[in_silk]

This news does not seem to be reassuring!

[thinklikethis]

"I don't suppose you could, like. Happen to have been mistaken about whether there was a bone-stealing serial killer around," sighs Dao.

[roc_on]

"That would require me to be really, spectacularly impressed with your psychological assessment."

[thinklikethis]

"Okay," says Dao. "Like. I am impressed enough with my psychological assessment that I am sitting here trying to argue you out of doing anything bad to him? Instead of being like 'great, rescue, please arrest the kidnapper'? And I swear it is not capture-bonding, seriously, it's - it's just not. It's just really not."

[fiery_delights]

"For whatever my psychological assessment is worth, I can give it if you tell me what your deal is," says Jun, addressing the shivering lump in Dao's arms.

[roc_on]

"We are not talking, amateurs with what are objectively personal stakes in the matter and brief exposure to the subject think he's fine, level of psychological analysis quality," says Beila.

[fiery_delights]

"I came prepared to kill him if I had to, I'm not going to give him a pass just because he's family," says Jun. "But I do have personal knowledge that the kind of problems he might plausibly have can be very much solvable, and it can be as sudden and simple as finding out one thing you can do that just works perfectly. If you won't take my word for it and you won't take Dao's, though, what will you take?"