(Untitled)

[allnaturalmagic]

Who: Terra, Erk, and Colette
What: Terra attempts to smooth things over between Erk and Colette.
When: The afternoon of the 23rd.
Where: The park.
Warnings: Erk is a Frumpyface.

Comments

[frumpyface]

Back when they had both lived in Castle Wrigley and not the Ari Apartments, Louise had tried to drill the concept of etiquette into Erk's head. Now, as he made his way to the park, he attempted to recall as much of those lessons as possible. The food is secondary, but don't eat until your host has eaten. Be sure to wait for others if they have yet to arrive. Eat even if the host is not the best of cooks.

And for the love of Elimine, don't bring a book.

At the very least, Erk managed the last point, and given his track record, it may have been the only point he'd get. Yet he made his way to the park nonetheless. He hadn't been too tempted by the idea of lunch in the park, but he did need to talk to Terra. It had taken a while, but he had finally managed to learn a spell from her magicite.

He spotted the familiar green hair from behind and stopped in his tracks. Didn't Lady Louise say first impressions at these functions were important, even if you were already familiar with them? How was he supposed to do that?

He made his way closer and cleared his throat as he approached from behind, making sure he didn't startle her too badly. "Lady Terra... ah, thank you for the invitation." Which was a half-truth at best; Erk would much rather be reading inside the library, but slowly, he was beginning to see the merits of socializing. As a noble, they were merits he would be forced to see sooner rather than later.

[allnaturalmagic]

In order to try and calm her nerves a bit, Terra had taken the food out of the basket and arranged it at the small table. Sandwiches, lemonade, fresh strawberries, and slices of chocolate cake all got moved around several times until she was satisfied with how everything looked, all the while bracing herself for what needed to be said. She was upset with Erk, but he was still her friend, and she didn't want to cause him to be angry with her. She hoped that he would understand, and told herself that if he did get mad, it would all work out in the end - somehow. She couldn't just stand by and let things remain as they were.

She was absently rearranging the strawberries when she heard Erk's greeting. She didn't turn around immediately, and when she did, it was slow and deliberate. Now that he was here, surely he'd notice the food for three people; there was no point in trying to keep things a secret. She gave him a long, measuring look before speaking.

"Hello, Erk. Thank you for coming. I'm afraid this is a bit more than just lunch in the park, though." She paused to take a deep breath. It was now or never. "I think you've taken things too far in regards to what happened with Colette, and I believe an apology is in order." She wasn't frowning, not quite... but it was clear that she wasn't happy.

[frumpyface]

The concept of a third person had completely gone over his head. Was she really hungry herself? It wasn't like he was about to eat that much on his own. He was about to go and sit down on the other side of the table before she had delivered her own first impression.

Suddenly, Erk knew exactly what Louise meant in those lessons. Even though Terra had been a friend and, possibly more importantly, someone who had lent him magicite, Erk immediately felt defensive towards her. She was there, she saw Colette literally break him as if he were a twig. How could an avoidance to that sort of person be taken too far?

He crossed his arms and looked back at her. "I can't say I agree with that statement. The issue in question was hardly a pleasant experience and one I don't aim to repeat again." For a brief moment, he considered just turning around and walking away, but that would just complicate matters more than he'd prefer to deal with. "I don't see what I'd apologize for."

[allnaturalmagic]

It wasn't in her nature to really get mad at people. Even after remembering some of what Kefka had done to her, Terra felt more sadness and loneliness than anger. However This past week or so had been rough on her with the worry for the cat that turned out to be Erk, and Colette, and then the incident with Raven; she could feel her patience and control slipping.

Erk's words and attitude were enough to push her over the edge. She didn't yell when she was angry - instead, her voice and expression turned cold and distant, which could be even more frightening in certain circumstances. This was likely one of those times.

"You'd apologize for hurting Colette's feelings." She understood why Erk was still upset; he had nearly been crushed, after all. Colette's reaction to her hug had been one of complete devastation, and it had taken some happy memories to finally return the poor girl to her normally cheerful state. Terra had been willing to let it go and wait for things to get better on their own, but Erk's callous comment about super strength had gone too far in her opinion.

"I realize that she hurt you, but she clearly didn't do it on purpose. You know as well as I do that Colette is a very kind and gentle girl. She's still upset over what happened, and you are not helping." She looked at Erk with an expression of combined sadness and anger. "I won't let things go on this way. When Colette gets here, you will apologize."

[clutzy_chosen]

By the time Colette happened upon this conversation, she was, of course, still in very good spirits. Just remembering the letter Terra gave her made the girl bubble up in excitement and happiness. It had been too long since she'd gotten a chance to really spend time with her friend; between training to control her strength, her new job, trying to make her wings appear, and a bunch of other things... well, she felt kinda bad for not seeing her often enough. So to make it up, she'd made cookies the day for the two of them. A simple chocolate chip, but maybe she'd make something more adventurous later. Maybe Terra would even help her next time!

"Hi Terra!" she called out the moment she took notice of the girl's voice, and waved an eager hand in her direction. A hand which promptly froze in the ari when she realized who else was standing beside her. A slight chill passed through her stomach. "O-oh..." It was...

Had she misread something? Well, Terra never said who else would be joining them. She shouldn't have assumed, right? Right... right, of course. She'd know better next time.

Manners demanded she stop gawking from shock, so as soon as she was able, Colette collected herself and resumed her bright smile that only chipped a little around the edges. Suddenly, she didn't feel very hungry. "Hello Erk," she said, though with an obvious hint of politeness and veiled awkwardness that made her lower her eyes in sad shame.

Oh, if only she had brought more cookies.

[frumpyface]

Erk had just about formulated his response when he heard Colette call out to Terra. His head whirled around and he took an instinctive step back. The last thing he needed was another hug or more broken bones. "L-Lady Colette!" he stammered, trying to remain polite while still wondering what to do.

On the one hand, he really wasn't sorry. She had hurt him first, so wouldn't it be better if she apologized first? And if he was particularly unlucky, and the time spent as Fruffums would attest that he wasn't, she may forget about everything at an apology and move to hug him again. That classified heavily under Do Not Want territory.

However, he did realize that of the response he had thought of, he wasn't able to address the point of hurting her feelings. The best he could do was say he didn't know if she was hurt by his comment. Her reaction had sealed any chance of using that argument. And, he acknowledged, it was entirely possible that he hadn't heard her apology during the heat of the moment.

Terra's unexpected argument had its own problems. Mainly, if he didn't listen to it, his chance of holding onto that magicite was slim to none. And so, pondering the question of how he could feel entirely guilty and responsible for something he mostly didn't do, he swallowed and responded, "I, ah. It's... nice to see you again." His eyes were on the ground and not looking at her, too guilty to even look her in the eye.

[clutzy_chosen]

He didn't like her very much. The stammering pointed to that obvious conclusion, as did his surprised expression at the sight of her (so Terra hadn't told him about another person, either...) He just wanted to be polite and not hurt her feelings, she guessed, and that made her feel worse.

It wasn't his fault at all. She'd been the one to hurt him, so of course he'd want to avoid any further contact. Even if she did learn how to manage her immense strength, or never hugged another person again, it wouldn't change what had already happened. To think he might revoke his previous opinion just because she was finally getting the picture proved how foolish she could be.

"... I-It's okay." Oddly enough, some of the butterflies in her stomach quieted, and her unease started to smooth out now that she could see how uncomfortable the other felt. No matter if she still hurt or felt full of guilt, she didn't want to make things worse for him. "You don't have to pretend. I... know you don't really want to be around me."

She moved over to the table and placed the bag full of cookies there, trying to situate them nicely so they wouldn't stand out too much. When she turned around, she was smiling, and her eyes were closed tight.

"I made cookies for the both of you! They're chocolate chip. I hope you like them." Depending on what happened, she decided it might be best to not be present when they finally ate them. As much as she didn't want to disappoint Terra, she felt she'd done enough damage to Erk.

[frumpyface]

Why couldn't he just talk to girls? That would make this entire scenario so much easier. But... he had to apologize. Trying to remain polite about this whole mess wouldn't stand for long - eventually it would just come out. He sat down at the table, ready to deliver his apology.

And then Colette had beaten him to the punch. And it was all in the little details. The tone of her voice. How she had taken on the guilt for herself. The assumptions that he could have only wished were baseless, and yet perfectly reasonable. It was just like... like...

Erk sucked in a sharp breath as the words felt as thought they literally caught in his throat, while every muscle in his body just wanted to hide his head in his hands. Sweet Elimine, why wouldn't her shadow just leave him!? Even now, nearly four months after she abandoned him, things were still reminding him of her.

It was only when he was struggling to keep control of his body and not break down in front of them that he realized he never said anything to her.

[clutzy_chosen]

She'd been expecting some type of reply, any confirmation to her latest fears. Anything would make this easier because at least for sure she'd know where she stood in his mind. But Erk steeling up and staring straight ahead as if he'd seen a ghost wasn't it.

".. Um, Erk?" Somehow, she knew she had done this, too, but rather than hide back in shame, Colette felt compelled to at least correct this mistake before things got worse. She took a step towards him. "Are you okay?" Worry tinged her voice. "Do you need anything?" Oh no, this wasn't some new power, was it? Colette didn't think she could take another surprise, especially if it hurt someone else.

[frumpyface]

His eyes clamped shut like iron traps, not wanting to have to look at anyone. However, in a shaky voice there was one thing he could say that was 100% truth: "It wasn't something you did."

He took several deep breaths; as always, Agrias threw a wrench into the most carefully laid plans. Why did he have to be hurt by her now, of all times? Coming out here to meet with Terra was increasingly looking like a very bad idea. He seriously considered just getting up and leaving and trying again when he felt he could. But that, as he concluded earlier, would just make things worse, especially now.

So he steeled his voice as best he could and kept his attention on a knot in the wood of the table. Even so, his words still wavered as he said, "You... didn't mean too hurt me, Colette." He swallowed hard and continued, "But I said... things I shouldn't have. I didn't consider you feelings."

And as the memories came rushing like water through a breaking dam, he managed, "I didn't... mean to hurt you. I... I'm sorry."

[clutzy_chosen]

Erk seemed to be very good at giving her surprises. Once again, Colette ended up hearing the one thing she wasn't expecting. It had never crossed her mind that Erk would apologize for anything, or even repeat what other people had quickly told her. It might've been true - she honestly never meant to harm him in any way - but hearing it said outloud turned to be a little shock. She probably looked silly with her eyes steadily growing wide.

"N-no, um..." She fumbled for a good way to express herself, and incidentally, not to seem too pleased at the thought of Erk not actually hating her. "It's okay!.. I mean..." No, it wouldn't do to pretend she'd been okay, even if that's what her gut instinct told her to do. "You helped me realize I have to control my strength, so I should be thanking you, right?" Even as she spoke, she carefully searched his expression for any more cracks, her concern steadily growing. Something was really wrong with him. "Because of you, I won't hurt anyone else... so... Thank you."

[frumpyface]

Erk was quiet for a while. He hadn't quite heard exactly what she was saying to him. He wasn't looking in her direction either, and nor did he feel like he would any time soon. He could already hear Louise gently chastising him for not looking the speaker in the eye, but he could care less at the moment.

However, he did pick up a fraction of it, "You don't have to thank me," he said with an odd lack of emotion. "If I did anything, it was you who came through. I did nothing."

[clutzy_chosen]

"I think you did," she replied quietly, feeling oddly stubborn over this fact. "I can hug people without having to worry now! Well, at least I think I can..." Admittedly, she still hadn't attempted to hug any person, always convincing herself she should do more training just to make sure there would be no accidents. But she felt a lot better about it, so she owed it to Erk somehow. It made sense in her mind, regardless of whether he agreed or not.

[allnaturalmagic]

Terra had just stood back and watched for a bit, ready to intervene if it was needed. Things seemed to be progressing - not as smoothly as she would have liked, but at least they were talking to each other. Several times she thought she was going to have to grab Erk before he bolted, but amazingly he remained.

Finally, it seemed like things were getting resolved. As far as she could tell, there was only one thing left to do. Silently, she walked over to Colette and wrapped her arms around the girl, giving her a gentle hug.

[frumpyface]

If she thought he was going to get up in a similar gesture as of yet, she was sadly mistaken. Hugging wasn't something he was going to get into overnight or overmeal, Colette or normal-strength. He had made his apology and still felt guilty.

Now with visions of Agrias in his head, he just wanted to be left alone. Once again, the only thing stopping him was knowing that all this progress - if you could call it that - would be wasted and he would just have to do it again. Likely forced again as well. So instead, he simply focused on the table, any sense of hunger starting to fade. Was he even hungry before he came? He couldn't remember.

[clutzy_chosen]

"Terra..." The hug made Colette seize up out of a moment of panic, suddenly self-conscious about her strength and worried she'd somehow mess things up. But as her friend didn't let go and nothing happened, the panic passed, allowing Colette to finally relax into it. She'd almost forgotten how comforting a hug could be, or how much she'd missed them.

She turned a little and returned it, drained and tired but still smiling from complete relief. "Thank you, Terra..." If not for her, none of this would have happened. She'd remind herself to make another batch of cookies, just for her. For now...

When she released her friend, Colette turned again and smiled a little bit more brightly than before. All previous signs of fatigue and worry were gone. "We should probably eat soon! I'm sure everyone's hungry." Maybe food would help Erk feel better. As much as she wanted to help, she couldn't force it out of him either. Plus, the sooner they ate, the sooner he could go home and rest.