[ He does want to say something about the stressing out point, but for now Tidus will stick with the actual mystery: How to help Inigo not be a dweeb around girls. ]
I was thinking, actually... maybe getting Minako's help? She likes playing the advice column of the train. 'Least about helping people with love. Why not with being platonically...normal around girls too?
[ It's the same! Right? Loving your fellow sapiens equally and we mean equally! No being weird around the women!! ]
I don't know who else to ask out of the blue about it. [ And who might actually enjoy the challenge. ]
[ He's spoken to her a couple of times now. He wonders if she's already succeeded in her task of furnishing the quiet car for couples. How far along is she on that project...? ]
I guess she's a good candidate. Though she'll have to know about Inigo's preferences for it to make sense. Will he be comfortable with that?[ He swivels himself to tuck his legs under the table, so he can face Tidus a bit better. Hands folded against the surface in conversation. ]
He isn't like that because he's gay - I don't think so, anyway? It's just a... an Inigo thing. Something he thinks he has to do. That's how it sounded when he explained it.
[ ...when they were just laying on the dirty gym floor because what's what you do sometimes with your bro. ]
I don't think he'd mind though, anyone knowing he likes guys. He was engaged before with a guy on the train.
[ He absolutely DID NOT know this??? Roland stares at Tidus, mouth slightly agape. To have been engaged in a place like this wasn't completely unusual, but if they were called to the conductor - and certainly that might be the implication here, he can read the cues, the inbetweens - and what follows then...
Roland is at a loss for words for a moment, facing forward with head bent at an angle. ]
Poor Inigo. [ He clicks this tongue against his teeth. Feels that pang, what more him, back then? ] He already feels so much. No wonder...
[ All their conversations making more sense now; apart from Inigo's revelation of his history as the prince who helped save the world but paid the price for it in the end. His fear of loss. The abandonment. ]
[ Ohhhh. Tidus bites the inside of his cheek, wondering if he shouldn't have dropped it. For the time they took in there, he wasn't sure if Inigo brought it up himself. But... ]
I didn't know the guy - he disappeared sometime into my first month, I think. [ Time moves so fast - but he's more sure the longer it's out of his mouth. ] I wouldn't rush to talk to him about it. Just... read the mood if you decide to bring it up, yeah?
[ He isn't sure how Inigo will react. --no, he knows: he'll be sad. But it might end up a good sad, speaking to Roland about it. He might have the right words to say. Better than Tidus did when the loss was fresh. ]
I'm probably not going to bring it up, Tidus. [ He replies right away, not even willing to entertain the idea. Rests a bit more on his elbows on the table as he speaks. ] Not unless it comes from Inigo first. I...don't want to push him. Not with what he's been through. I'll always listen, though.
[ A consideration he'd lend anyone, always trying to be gracious about what others will hide and what they are willing to say. He assumes Tidus knows too; that Inigo has actually experienced more than he has to in his young life, and that will need no further elaboration regardless of how it's taken. ]
[ Makes sense, and truthfully, Tidus doubted it would be a subject to come up easy, or not without good reason. Tidus straightens his back some, though not yet planning to shift himself off from the table edge. ]
Yuki. Never really asked him about the guy. I just know... [ He breathes from his nose, mouth pulled pitifully. ] Inigo planned to go with him to his world. It was the first time I heard about people thinking about stuff like that. Not going back home.
[ Not really a thought he had reason to mull over himself. ]
[ He wants to say that it made sense for Inigo, who has told him there's no halidom for him to return to anymore now that a new version of him has been born in a time of peace...But this is not information that Roland has any right to share, not even with Tidus who is by far the closest companion he's seen around Inigo. For now, he'll focus on the thought of not going back home - which, frankly, is not the most savory thing for Roland either. Alas. ]
Hm. I guess that's a first for me too, at least on this train. It's easy to assume going back home fixes things, huh? Well, not always. Not all the time. [ Roland closes his eyes briefly, letting his own words sink in. Lending some wisdom to it, one he knows intimately. Doesn't have to explain on that note! Tidus gets it. ] Anyway. I'm just glad to know Inigo's found the pep in his step again.
[ Going back home--isn't that a heavy subject for the both of them?
He sees Roland's last remark as a way to swerve the subject, and Tidus is happy to drive it as well, to keep away from those murky waters. ]
Yeah, well, that's Inigo for you. He does his best to keep going. [ But, thinking about it - the Inigo then and the Inigo now. ] …I think he's learned to rely on others more. Slowly- he used to always dodge an issue or laugh off what I said when we first met, but he's more open these days. 'Specially when it comes to hugging, [ he scoffs. ]
I hope he is better. [ He shakes his head. ] But I'm not worried. Not exactly. I know he'll find a good guy someday. The biggest problem is this train.
[ And that good guy being snatched from Inigo a second time. ]
Don't I know it. And he'll grow up, still. He's already a good person. He can light up any room he walks into just like that. Heh.
[ But this is Roland preaching to the choir. Tidus surely already knows these qualities from Inigo well, but regardless, are worth repeating. The smile on Roland's face tells as much, anyhow. ]
But you're right. It runs on its own logic and won't share who gets to stay and who goes out next. Why do names turn gold, and what does it take to get a chat with the conductor? And remembering that you did?
[ Back to problem number one. ]
We'll keep trying, though. And in the meantime, at least Inigo has good friends around him. You'll look out for him, I know that for a fact.
[ And isn't Roland just good at sounding like dad-material? But Tidus won't say it out loud, feelings he still needs to get around. But even so, regardless of what he feels- ]
I know the same for you too. [ ... ] If I ever disappear, or you - we'll look out for him. For the other. Agreed?
[ He knows it didn't need to be said, but- ]
I just want it said.
[ -he'll cut that thought before Roland can be surprised he even asked it, brought it up. But he wants that verbal agreement, just feels it right now. After the people Inigo has lost, how hard it's hit him, how he would be if either him and Roland were to go...
Tidus doesn't want to think about doing that to him. But he knows it's out of their hands. All they can do is be there to support the guy - whoever's left - when it does. ]
[ He won't even say a word to protest it. Just nods to himself at first, before glancing up at Tidus on the table, a seriousness to him natural and befitting of who he is. The extent of how much Inigo has had to endure is not lost on Roland, now more than ever. And though his voice grows quiet and small, it doesn't lack any sort of determination to it. ]
Done. Agreed.
[ Roland offers his open palm in a sideways handshake of sorts, casual enough but a physical affirmation of a promise that matters to him anyway. ]
[ A handshake. Tidus sees the open palm for what it is when he regards it, a foreign sight, more with his life away from stardom. The reminder of what it means, what it signals now.
A small huff leaves Tidus's throat, and he slaps into it, hearty and with a sting, grabbing it into more of a joined fist of solidarity. ]
Good! Haunt ya if you don't.
[ Is that too morbid? He's got a smirk tugged up one side of his mouth anyway, something private for them. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
blitzcheer) wrote2020-04-28 11:07 am
no subject
I was thinking, actually... maybe getting Minako's help? She likes playing the advice column of the train. 'Least about helping people with love. Why not with being platonically...normal around girls too?
[ It's the same! Right? Loving your fellow sapiens equally and we mean equally! No being weird around the women!! ]
I don't know who else to ask out of the blue about it. [ And who might actually enjoy the challenge. ]
no subject
[ He's spoken to her a couple of times now. He wonders if she's already succeeded in her task of furnishing the quiet car for couples. How far along is she on that project...? ]
I guess she's a good candidate. Though she'll have to know about Inigo's preferences for it to make sense. Will he be comfortable with that?[ He swivels himself to tuck his legs under the table, so he can face Tidus a bit better. Hands folded against the surface in conversation. ]
no subject
He isn't like that because he's gay - I don't think so, anyway? It's just a... an Inigo thing. Something he thinks he has to do. That's how it sounded when he explained it.
[ ...when they were just laying on the dirty gym floor because what's what you do sometimes with your bro. ]
I don't think he'd mind though, anyone knowing he likes guys. He was engaged before with a guy on the train.
[ Which Roland surely already knows. Right? ]
no subject
[ He absolutely DID NOT know this??? Roland stares at Tidus, mouth slightly agape. To have been engaged in a place like this wasn't completely unusual, but if they were called to the conductor - and certainly that might be the implication here, he can read the cues, the inbetweens - and what follows then...
Roland is at a loss for words for a moment, facing forward with head bent at an angle. ]
Poor Inigo. [ He clicks this tongue against his teeth. Feels that pang, what more him, back then? ] He already feels so much. No wonder...
[ All their conversations making more sense now; apart from Inigo's revelation of his history as the prince who helped save the world but paid the price for it in the end. His fear of loss. The abandonment. ]
no subject
I didn't know the guy - he disappeared sometime into my first month, I think. [ Time moves so fast - but he's more sure the longer it's out of his mouth. ] I wouldn't rush to talk to him about it. Just... read the mood if you decide to bring it up, yeah?
[ He isn't sure how Inigo will react. --no, he knows: he'll be sad. But it might end up a good sad, speaking to Roland about it. He might have the right words to say. Better than Tidus did when the loss was fresh. ]
no subject
[ A consideration he'd lend anyone, always trying to be gracious about what others will hide and what they are willing to say. He assumes Tidus knows too; that Inigo has actually experienced more than he has to in his young life, and that will need no further elaboration regardless of how it's taken. ]
[ He lets out a quiet sigh. ] What was his name?
no subject
Yuki. Never really asked him about the guy. I just know... [ He breathes from his nose, mouth pulled pitifully. ] Inigo planned to go with him to his world. It was the first time I heard about people thinking about stuff like that. Not going back home.
[ Not really a thought he had reason to mull over himself. ]
no subject
Hm. I guess that's a first for me too, at least on this train. It's easy to assume going back home fixes things, huh? Well, not always. Not all the time. [ Roland closes his eyes briefly, letting his own words sink in. Lending some wisdom to it, one he knows intimately. Doesn't have to explain on that note! Tidus gets it. ] Anyway. I'm just glad to know Inigo's found the pep in his step again.
no subject
He sees Roland's last remark as a way to swerve the subject, and Tidus is happy to drive it as well, to keep away from those murky waters. ]
Yeah, well, that's Inigo for you. He does his best to keep going. [ But, thinking about it - the Inigo then and the Inigo now. ] …I think he's learned to rely on others more. Slowly- he used to always dodge an issue or laugh off what I said when we first met, but he's more open these days. 'Specially when it comes to hugging, [ he scoffs. ]
I hope he is better. [ He shakes his head. ] But I'm not worried. Not exactly. I know he'll find a good guy someday. The biggest problem is this train.
[ And that good guy being snatched from Inigo a second time. ]
no subject
[ But this is Roland preaching to the choir. Tidus surely already knows these qualities from Inigo well, but regardless, are worth repeating. The smile on Roland's face tells as much, anyhow. ]
But you're right. It runs on its own logic and won't share who gets to stay and who goes out next. Why do names turn gold, and what does it take to get a chat with the conductor? And remembering that you did?
[ Back to problem number one. ]
We'll keep trying, though. And in the meantime, at least Inigo has good friends around him. You'll look out for him, I know that for a fact.
no subject
I know the same for you too. [ ... ] If I ever disappear, or you - we'll look out for him. For the other. Agreed?
[ He knows it didn't need to be said, but- ]
I just want it said.
[ -he'll cut that thought before Roland can be surprised he even asked it, brought it up. But he wants that verbal agreement, just feels it right now. After the people Inigo has lost, how hard it's hit him, how he would be if either him and Roland were to go...
Tidus doesn't want to think about doing that to him. But he knows it's out of their hands. All they can do is be there to support the guy - whoever's left - when it does. ]
no subject
Done. Agreed.
[ Roland offers his open palm in a sideways handshake of sorts, casual enough but a physical affirmation of a promise that matters to him anyway. ]
no subject
A small huff leaves Tidus's throat, and he slaps into it, hearty and with a sting, grabbing it into more of a joined fist of solidarity. ]
Good! Haunt ya if you don't.
[ Is that too morbid? He's got a smirk tugged up one side of his mouth anyway, something private for them. ]
no subject
Heh. If you know where to find me.
[ Jokes that come easily enough, the more you've accepted what's come to pass. Inigo would be in good hands, regardless. ]