(Untitled)
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.
( Terra knew this wouldn't be easy... )
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.
( Terra knew this wouldn't be easy... )
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."
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"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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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".. 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.
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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."
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"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."
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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At first, she didn't know if Colette would even return the hug, but as the other girl finally relaxed she knew she'd done the right thing. She smiled warmly as she released her. "You're welcome."
Terra nodded at Colette's words. She had been hungry before arriving, but all the tension in the air had taken away her appetite. Now that things seemed to be settling, lunch sounded much better. "I didn't make anything special, just some sandwiches..."
She turned to Erk, worry replacing the anger she had felt earlier as she got a good look at him. Perhaps there could have been a better way to go about this? "...Erk?"
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His tone of voice betrayed his otherwise calm words. It wasn't just that he'd prefer not to speak of them, but he wasn't going to. He was allowed to be stubborn, right? He was expected to keep this sort of thing to himself, right?
Louise's words came back to him as he finally summoned the strength to keep his head up - don't bring up touchy subjects at the table. "My apologies. I tend to get lost in thought."
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