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[alwaystakenotes]

Who: Tory, Greg, partners
What: Tory and Greg have a talk.
When: November 23rd
Where: Greg's apartment.

Comments

[whoshotsherlock]

Greg was more confused than anything. Tory sounded tense, and considering the kid almost always was some level or another of tenseness (and flaily-ness), that was saying something. And the way Candmon had talked about him backing out of something

[alwaystakenotes]

"Oh, it won't tak-" Tory started.

"Yes it will. In," Candmon said and pushed. Tory stumbled inside.

"Ah, f-fine," Tory muttered, not looking at Greg. He hadn't been able to look him in the eye yet.

[whoshotsherlock]

Eyebrows raised up, Greg stepped away from the door to avoid getting plowed in to by Tory. There was a slightly awkward silence after, until he finally looked at Candmon.

"Uh. Look. No offense but... maybe Tory and I should talk alone?"

[alwaystakenotes]

"He's here. My job is done," Candmon said. "Just don't let him leave until he looks like he's been really awkward. Then you'll know he got to his point."

Tory was grumbling under his breathe. There were times he really did not like his partner.

[whoshotsherlock]

"uhuh, just... let me handle this, okay? When I need your advice I'll ask for it," Greg said sternly, mildly annoyed with Tory's partner. He wasn't exactly making either of them feel very comfortable.

Taking Tory by the arm, he went in to the kitchen, stopping at the fridge to get out a beer for himself and a soda for Tory.

"Here. You wanna start or is there something I should open up with to get this going? 'cause... something's going on, but damned if I have a clue what."

[alwaystakenotes]

Candmon shrugged. "Have at it then," he said, leaving the two alone.

Tory sat down at the kitchen table, taking the soda when it was offered and just holding it. Had to keep steady. Cool and calm. He could do this.

"Uh, well...did you...come to yell at me a few days ago...about what you saw...in my....you know," Tory muttered, not looking up.

[whoshotsherlock]

"Yell at you for-..." Greg started, looking genuinely shocked. Slowly he shook his head.

"No, man. Why would I? I said it was fine. We've been dealing with that nightmare shit anyway. I haven't seen you since you went to Nick's, remember?"

Another pause, then.

"... shot in the dark, but maybe you got hit, too? Though why that would be your nightmare..."

[alwaystakenotes]

"Because the last time someone saw what I wrote in my notebooks, I got punched in the face and pretty sure I ruined whatever relationship I had going with him. Couldn't say exactly as I was pulled here after I got hit," Tory muttered. "And if you hated me...the others might hate me too..."

[whoshotsherlock]

"Tory... I'm not mad at you. I'm not going to be mad." Greg asked, slightly hurt that Tory had continued to think something like that.

"I'm a lot more logical than that. So you've got an odd hobby. I've done plenty of weird crap in my life. I don't care what you do. I was a little miffed at first because things have been going so badly, but that's nothing to do with you. I promise. I wish... you'd have a little more faith in me than that."

[alwaystakenotes]

Well, there was a feeling he didn't have much. Embarrassment and shame were easy enough, but...

Well, only his mom really got guilt out of him.

He gulped, his grip tightening on the can. "It's...I know what it looks like. I've thought about it a lot and I know how a lot of people can see it and...and what it appears isn't okay."

[whoshotsherlock]

Greg puzzled over Tory's words for a minute, but admitted furthered confusion when he couldn't make heads or tails of it. He hadn't given the situation with the notebook much thought after his initial upset, so whatever anyone else might have been saying or thinking about it was nothing he knew about.

"... I'm lost. What are you talking about?"

[alwaystakenotes]

"It makes me seem like a stalker!" Tory snapped without thinking, focused on his soda. "It's freakish and weird and very stalkerish. People either think I'm a freak or a spy for some organization!"

[whoshotsherlock]

"And aside from the one or two times I've probably made some crack about it, when have I ever seriously considered you something like that?" Greg asked, shaking his head and putting a hand on Tory's shoulder.

"Come on. Look at me. Screw what other people think. None of us here have any problems with you, and we're the ones that matter, don't you think? Miku considers you family. I do, too."

[alwaystakenotes]

"I know...what matters is what people I care about and what I think...which is why I freaked about it..." Tory muttered. "I was worried...you would see it that way. And it's not like I could help it if that Dream Weaver person is behind this and her name relates to her powers..."

After the mishap with his 'father,' he'd been paying attention to the comms.

[whoshotsherlock]

Greg sighed and let out a soft chuckle.

"Come on, Tory. How many times have we had the 'I'm not going to make a big deal over what you do' conversation before? Seriously. A little confidence in yourself and the rest of us wouldn't kill you. You don't have to look at everything so damn cynically."

He gave Tory a little shake.

"Cheer up, would you? This is mopey even for you."

[alwaystakenotes]

"Hard to avoid that when you've been a cynic for years," Tory muttered and shook his head. "It's not even me being a cynic! It's me...being..." He trailed off.