Daybreak | IC Inbox.

[awooligan]

CLIFFORD NORMAN
UN: REDRIDINGHOODIE

STATUS: grade 11

ACCOLADES: n/a.

BIO: name's cliff. let me know if you'll buy cigarettes and shit for me, we can work something out.

© TESSISAMESS

Comments

[awooligan]

[Murdered. She's murdering him, and despite himself he can't stop the frustrated frown that comes from his pouty baby feelings. Why can't he just keep his shit together? He's embarrassing himself! He deserves to have her laughing at him!]

Uh. Yeah.

[AHEM. Just...taking that, thank you. Finding a mug, just a regular-ass mug because getting one of those clay mugs or whatever was best for serving this stuff was a little too much, and trying to not make a mess or anything as he pours. The cinnamon is added a bit awkwardly. God, he's such an awkward loser. He needs to shove a cupcake in his mouth or something to keep him from saying something stupid, like telling her that it's hot. Just barely bites that comment back, before opting for a mumble.]

...Whatever I could do to help, that's good. I'd do it again, too.

[kept_his_letters]

[Don't worry, Cliff. Atole doesn't need to come in an jarrito. A regular mug is just fine.

She tries not to hover, even if she wants to watch him. He's being extremely silly right now.]

Well, I hope you don't have to. But I'm glad you did. Thank you. Again.

[awooligan]

[Small mercies... It's good that she lets him try to gather up some shred of dignity. He tries to literally shrug off the thanks, but he's well aware that isn't something that can happen. It's good to have hope, though.]

Well, duh. It'd be way better to not have to, yeah.

[Maybe he'll just...pull out a chair and sit. Less likely to do something stupid if he's got two fewer limbs in play, right? Right. He's got to get to work on all these sweets, anyway.]

[kept_his_letters]

[Even she, with her love of dancing, can't stay on her feet while someone else sits. That's too awkward. And so, she soon she soon finds a seat of her own.]

You could put it on your hero resume though. That's totally a thing. I've decided just now that it is.

[awooligan]

[He should have started the atole earlier so that would be closer to being cooled off and would distract her from saying weird things like this.]

A hero resume? Even if I was heroic, I wouldn't have something like that. That's so nerdy.

[kept_his_letters]

[Shoulda woulda coulda, now it's too late.]

No way! It's a hero resume! That means it's heroic! Not nerdy! Unless you mean nerdy heroic like superman.

[awooligan]

Nah. Super nerdy.

[Another reason he doesn't fit the image!! Ha.]

I don't think this is something I'd do longterm, anyway, even if I was a hero. I'd rather brag about the cool friend I got than the fact that we ruined some jerk's evil plan.

[kept_his_letters]

Or maybe you just think hero things are nerdy! I hope to meet that cool friend of yours.

[Her smile softens and she lets her teasing pass.]

Do you have any plans? We talk about me so much and what I'm doing, but what about you? Since you're not being a hero and I guess you're not going to settle down at home like I am.

[awooligan]

[Maybe heroes are nerdy!!! All noble and shit. Unthinkable and embarrassing.]

Yeah, I bet you would.

[She’s ridiculous. He likes her a lot.

The subject change gets him to hum and lean back in his chair, balancing on the back two legs. Casual cookie dismantling...]

I don’t know. Figure out how to control...my stuff better. So I can go home. [Werewolf shit.] If you mean long term, I definitely don’t know. You know, half the time I was hearing I’d just grow up to be trouble and end up in jail, or whatever.

[No points for guessing who that opinion came from.]

Sort of felt like...if I thought about it too much, he’d find some way to ruin that, too.

[kept_his_letters]

[She wants to move her chair closer. She wants to reach out to him, maybe take his hand. She can't. He probably would appreciate that much anyway.

She listens to him speak and she feels the weight of it, all the old scars he carries now. Healing, but it would be a while. At the end, she nods.]

I think, if I were in your place, I'd probably want to covet it too.

[She still feels butterflies to think she can have music in the open now, that she can dance with her mother around. And Mamá actually loved her.]

You know... I did say I'd help with that. I promised to look and help with stuff. And now I can actually talk to my family about it and ask for their help too. Only if you say it's okay of course but it is an option and you know, we'd understand.

But, in any case, you know anyone who said that doesn't know what they're talking about. Whatever you do, you're going to be amazing. I know it.

[With that, she drops her gaze, head ducking because now she's embarrassed for once.]

[awooligan]

[A-ah. That’s...a good feeling, even if a stupid part of him is uncomfortably awkward hearing it. Like maybe he shouldn’t care? Best to shove those feelings to the back of his mind so he can keep having a conversation, and all. There’s something else he needs to address, anyway.]

Don’t worry about it.

[Whether the offer’s about the werewolf stuff she’d wanted to take on for herself or her stubborn proposition of getting him something that would keep people from hurting him, he didn’t want her to make it into a big deal. He’d figure it out or wait it out, same as he’d done before.]

Uh, thanks, by the way. Your dad didn’t seem like he knew about what I am, when I talked to him. He did say you’d been telling him a lot about me.

[He raises an eyebrow in something almost like a challenge.]

[kept_his_letters]

[She huffs a little at that. It's one of her least favorite things to hear from him, but, at least in this case, she can consider it fair and let it go. It also lets her push down her embarrassment for a little while.]

Of course I told him about you. You're my best friend. And you did help save his life. Er. Well... close enough.

But you're the one person who came along he didn't know about. Who you are isn't really what you are. I've only see that a few times.

[awooligan]

[It's still a pleased fluttering inside when he hears or thinks about being her best friend. It's absurdly nice to feel important to her, and to be able to trust her.]

I don't know, something like that might have come up. I figure you guys have been catching up nonstop.

[Hm... Part of him wants to be comfortable enough to play around as a wolf now, so it wouldn't be "a few times" anymore, but it's just... It's weird, and they're in the open, and he already felt exposed somehow by making the atole.]

[kept_his_letters]

We have! But it's still your secret to tell.

Besides, He and Mamá kept the skeleton thing a secret for months. I can keep a few secrets from them.

[It's only fair!!]

And, there are things he doesn't like to talk about too. The hard stuff. I think he's going to get to it, we promised, just not right away.

[awooligan]

[Yeah... His memory was fuzzy on a lot of things from that day, but "no more secrets" had certainly been something said. He pops the smaller, broken cookie pieces into his mouth.]

Yeah. You guys have time, now.

[kept_his_letters]

Lots of time and lots to catch up on. It's a lot better than phone calls.

And, it's strange maybe, but I feel like... like I'm finally allowed to be me. Really. Maybe that doesn't make sense.

[awooligan]

[He looks down at the table with a soft, private smile.]

No, I think I get it.

[Even with his discomfort with his wolf side, it was nice to know Coco knew, and she'd known about Carl and been furious for him, and they could be delighted in one another's victories, even the small ones. He can say stupid things that would make him want to shrivel and die if said to his other friends, and feel excited to learn new things he didn't have an interest in before. It was different from anything he'd known before, even with his close relationships with his mom and brother. Everything was just more possible, including being him.

He can't imagine how freeing it must be when the support keeping you on your feet -- and dancing, even, haha -- was someone like a father that loves you, finally coming home after being lost, and filling the crater left behind in the family with the promise of staying together.]

Kind of noticed, with that dancing around you were doing.

[kept_his_letters]

[She laughs.]

I can't help it. It's hard to stop.

[It always has been. And so, she's done a lot of tip-toeing for most of her life.]

Papá said I was dancing before I could walk. I think that's impossible, but I would have wanted to. There are so many dances I want to go to. Things with friends or at school or just in the plaza.

[awooligan]

I'd believe it.

[It's the sort of thing that her wonderful self would be capable of, as unlikely as it would be for anyone else. He's seen her move with the ease of breathing, the closer she was to dancing.

Going to dances with friends, though, huh. Cliff inhales, slower than before but trying to be subtle about it, to fight the urge to awkwardly clear his throat or pick at his shoes. That sure was a thought, wasn't it!]

[kept_his_letters]

[She catches his nervous look. Immediately, she scolds herself for not thinking.]

Sorry. It's no pressure or anything. I know you're not into that stuff. I just meant at home. Don't worry. I'm not gonna drag you into a dance or anything. Promise.

[awooligan]

Oh, uh.

[Heck. He wishes he could keep his cool for, like, five minutes around this girl. Apparently having a world of possibilities open to him means that there's a world of things to be nervous about.]

I wasn't... I was just thinking.

[He wants her to be happy... It's just an idea he's still not used to at all, despite giving it some thought before.]

I don't know a lot about any of that.

[kept_his_letters]

[She brightens a little, but the quick brightening of a light flicking on but a slow and tentative dawn.]

Oh. Well, I can't say I know everything either. Haven't really been allowed and all, but I know a few things and... I find sometimes it's not really something you have to know about. Sometimes you just... move. You feel it and you let yourself go.

[awooligan]

[The way she describes it, it sounds nice. It also sounds extremely at odds with his own personal assumptions when it comes to picturing himself dancing.]

I think the only time I've ever let myself go was running into the wild to yell and calm down when Carl was an even bigger asshole than usual. Now it feels like... [How to put it...] What if that other part of me comes out because I'm not being careful?

[kept_his_letters]

[She looks sympathetic. She has no fears remotely similar, except wondering if she'd ever let her bitterness get so big she'd turn her back on Mamá, but even that was tempered by love.

Still...]

I think... I think you shouldn't be afraid of that. Taking precautions, checking the time, that's fine. But... you're still you. You shouldn't be afraid to be you. Not every day.

[She pauses a moment, thinking.]

What if we went out to the woods. After this. What if you went out, like that, and we just... ran? Or danced or whatever?

[awooligan]

[On instinct, he wants to resist. Pull away, grit his teeth, shut down any chance she'd bring it up again. His jaw does tighten, but it's more to bite down on that reaction. Coco wasn't...wrong. Not wrong at all, even if it feels that way, the same way Tobias wasn't wrong when he said something similar. Tobias also didn't feel comfortable in the skin he was born with, though. He avoided that sort of thing, too.]

...Is "Dances with Wolves" actually about dancing with wolves? I've literally only ever heard the title. Like, twice, maybe.

[But he doesn't actually want to deflect entirely, this time. He won't have many more chances to do things with her for a while.]

If it was running, you couldn't keep up with me, you know.