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[25tontrap]

Who: Ritsu Namine and Ted Kasane
What: The aftermath was more than they were expecting
When: August 7th, afternoon
Where: Hyperion, UTAU apartment

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[drills_andbread]

To say Ted was going through a rough time in his life was an understatement.

Yes, he was angry, but not at Ritsu anymore (Ritsu, Ritsu, not Namine-san. Not anymore.), it was at himself. He felt so stupid, so useless, so...so not like a big brother should be.

And that bothered him. Of course it bothered him, it was his whole reason for existing. To protect, to comfort, to be that solid and dependable person that everyone needed, and he couldn't do any of those things, be any of those things.

The knock on the door snapped him out of his train of thought, and he quickly answered it.

[25tontrap]

"Go on. Yell at me. I know you want to," Ritsu snapped the second the door was open. Not.. exactly the eloquent semi-apologetic greeting he was originally going for, but his thoughts were far too muddled (and he was still too irritated) to properly voice what he'd been thinking thirty seconds ago.

[drills_andbread]

Ted sighed.

"I'm not angry at you. Not anymore." He paused, stepping to the side and gesturing forward, "Come inside, I'd rather not have this chat in the hallway."

[25tontrap]

That... was not what he was expecting, either, and the vague surprise showed on his face.

Frowning, he stumbled in to the apartment, hand on the wall of the hallway to keep himself from falling over completely. Moving again made his stomach lurch more than he liked, and he was still running far too warm for his systems. He was ignoring it, though.

"Listen... Ted-kun..." he managed, voice oddly thick. He paused to clear his throat. "This isn't easy for any of us... Tei is a huge problem, and Teto-chan is in far over her head in a place none of us can help. How do you think I've felt for all the months I was here alone? But... losing it over a lapse in my own judgment? Do you truly think it was that irresponsible, or are you just looking for a place to put your frustrations?"

[drills_andbread]

Ted watch Ritsu warily, making a mental note to make sure he got some rest once this was all over.

"I...admit that I took my anger out on you. And that wasn't the least bit right. I apologize for that. A part of it was also me being worried about you. I..." He paused, searching for the right words, "I don't want you to make decisions that will lead you down that path that my sister has taken."

[25tontrap]

"Teto-chan's decisions were hardly driven by sex and alcohol, I can assure you of that," Ritsu defended softly, rubbing the back of his bare leg with his foot absently. "And I'll admit to some terrible decisions in the past few months. Last night was not one of them. Trying to get help for Teto alone... was probably the worst, followed by ever thinking that a person like Finitevus had anything but ulterior motives for helping me."

He let out a sigh, pressing a hand to his temple, trying to will the pounding away. The fact that he felt near tears wasn't helping at all.

"But damnit... Ted... last night was the first night in weeks that I actually let myself go for a little while. It was the first night I didn't spend sitting in a hospital room wondering what the fuck I was doing there, talking... talking to some one who probably can't even hear me..."

[drills_andbread]

Ted's response to this...was to sigh, and hold his head in his hands.

"Ritsu...I think, at this point, we may have run out of options. What are we going to do?"

[25tontrap]

"Don't ask me that... please..." Ritsu answered thickly, unable to stop the tears that rolled down his cheeks. He shook his head despite the added ache that it caused, turning to lean against the wall for support only to wind up sliding down it, putting his head in his arms.

"I've already done too much damage... I made things worse. There is nothing here, absolutely nothing, that I can fix..." he admitted, voice cracking sharply.

[drills_andbread]

Ted was at his side faster than he could blink, and placed a hand on his shoulder

"Then...for now, let me take care of things. At the very least, it will give you time to recuperate. In mind and body."

[25tontrap]

To say he was exhausted would have been an understatement, and the way he felt feverish and achy was only making it worse. What little happiness he'd felt at being intimate with some one who didn't immediately spurn him for being different was fading away, replaced by that same aching pain in his heart that had been there ever since he woke up from being repaired after Finitevus' attack.

"It shouldn't be all on you, though..."

[drills_andbread]

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. But right now, you need some rest."

They would work out the details later. Right now, he wanted to stop Ritsu from running on fumes.

[25tontrap]

He wanted to argue. He wanted so badly to tell Ted that going it alone was a terrible idea. But he was just too exhausted, too worn down to even continue the conversation. He just looked up at Ted pleadingly, wishing he had the strength to say something.

[drills_andbread]

"You can attempt to convince me otherwise later. Right now, it is time for bed."

He offered him a hand, and it was clear that the conversation was over. For now.

[25tontrap]

"I left alone Lance back in my apartment..." he groaned, not wanting to get up.

[drills_andbread]

"We'll deal with that later. Bed."

And with that, Ritsu was promptly picked up, and put over Ted's shoulder.

[25tontrap]

"erf..." Ritsu grunted, unable to even try and stop Ted from doing so.

"I still don't see how you're capable of doing that..." he grumbled in mild annoyance, trying to shut out just how much the world was spinning from up there.