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[evocation]

@kyna.medina | ■ ▲ ◌ ▼

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[lifetothefullest]

[That's... Not the response he was expecting.]

Well, yeah, that's true, but did something happen?

[He'd been worried about the earthquake, but apparently that's not actually the problem here? Or not the foremost one, anyway; it might still be subconsciously making things worse.]

[evocation]

[His agreement seems to mollify her a little, but she still lets out a huff. She points her glass at him in an accusatory way.]

Your advice didn't work.

[lifetothefullest]

[Lance puts his hands up briefly in mock surrender at the accusation.]

Okay, I guess that sort of answers my question, but...

[Elaborate?]

[evocation]

[Kyna studies him almost suspiciously for a moment, then relents.]

You're not an idiot.

[What high praise.]

This is like, the third time trying to talk to someone has blown up in my face.

[lifetothefullest]

Well, thank you.

[He'll take the compliment, he supposes. 'Not idiot' is a low bar, but still.]

In the same sort of way as last time? What exactly happened?

[It's just too vague for him to have any idea how to help.]

[evocation]

[She sighs, still slightly defensive.]

You're not gonna give me shit, right?

[lifetothefullest]

No, that'd be kind of a terrible thing to do when I'm the one asking you to tell me.

[evocation]

[She makes a face at that. He's right, but she hasn't had much luck in that department recently. Kyna reaches for her necklace absently, sliding the pendant back and forth along the chain.]

I've got this...

[She almost says "friend", then course corrects at the last second.]

One of the people I went to Antarctica with. He's been acting... weird. Avoiding me. So I asked if something was wrong and said he could talk to me if he needed to, and he just... shut me down and turned the whole thing on me. Like it was all in my head and I was being ridiculous.

[lifetothefullest]

[He waits patiently for her to continue, and when she does he finds her choice of words interesting in several respects. One is the aborted sentence, and another is that this is almost exactly how she described her last attempt at talking to someone to have gone.

But he decides not to mention that for now.]

If it makes you feel any better, that isn't a reaction people typically have when there's genuinely nothing going on. You were probably right in thinking there was something to be discussed.

[Maybe hearing that she's not being ridiculous will help, at least.]

[evocation]

[She lets out another little huff.]

Yeah, he's a fucking liar.

[Even though she knew that, it's nice to get confirmation from someone else.]

But he turned it into this whole thing about how I was pissed at him and he couldn't say anything right.

[lifetothefullest]

What do you mean?

[Lance has a pretty good idea of what she means, but he's doing his best to get all the information first.]

[evocation]

About which part?

[What do you want her to complain about in detail, Lance?]

[lifetothefullest]

About him turning it into something about you being mad at him.

[But all of it, really, he'll take elaboration in any area.]

[evocation]

Oh.

[That.

Well, Lance is actually listening, so this is less awful than... most of the experiences she's had lately.]

I don't know, he just... flipped it out of nowhere. When I asked if he needed to talk he brushed it off in this shitty way, and I was like, "You never brush me off like this," and he tried to make it into me not being okay. And then he tried to end the conversation every other text. It sucked.

[lifetothefullest]

[Lance considers that a few moments, crossing his arms.]

It sounds like he wasn't ready to talk yet, which is understandable, but that doesn't justify him in acting that way toward you.

[evocation]

Right?

[She sounds utterly vindicated, even if there's still a tiny part of her insisting that she screwed something up and it must be her fault. But she's in full rant mode now, so off they go.]

And then one of his friends decided to just totally ignore what I wanted and confront him for me even when I said not to.

[lifetothefullest]

[Lance wrinkles his nose at that next part, because wow, that's a serious jerk move.]

Why? What were they trying to get out of it?

[evocation]

I don't know!

[She puts her still empty and half-forgotten glass down with a heavy thunk.]

But now I probably look like an idiot.

[lifetothefullest]

Why would you look like an idiot? It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong; one person was unnecessarily hostile, and the other was overstepping.

[To put both nicely.]

[evocation]

[She frowns at that, mouth twisting. Her arms cross, the gesture almost defensive.]

I don't know. I don't know how to explain it.

[Because it puts her in a position of vulnerability is what she doesn't know how to explain.]

[lifetothefullest]

[When she crosses her arms he uncrosses his, letting her be the only one so the conversation doesn't feel closed off, especially with that vague answer.

He decides to redirect just slightly to see if he can help guide her to a conclusion.]

Who are you worried about seeing you that way? One of the people you're talking about, or others?

[evocation]

You're not going to psychoanalyze me, are you?

[It's a clear attempt at a deflection, and Kyna regrets it as soon as she says it. Lance is actually trying to understand where she's coming from.]

Sorry. It's just... I don't know. I shouldn't care so much.

[lifetothefullest]

[Because it's such an obvious attempt he doesn't answer it, at least not directly, focusing more on her last comment.]

You care for a reason. Figuring out what that reason is will help a lot more than just being frustrated with yourself for your feelings.

[evocation]

[She makes a face at that.]

I know the reason, it's just a fucking stupid one.

[Lance should really be getting paid for this.]

[lifetothefullest]

[He could say that emotions are natural and can't really be 'stupid', but he won't get into that. Instead--]

I'm not going to judge.

[So if she wants to share said stupid reason...]