[semi-open] never betray the way you've always known it is

[scowlish]

Who: Onni, Lalli, Reynir, Genji, anyone else involved with Lalli's Great Escape
What: catch-all for threads related to the fallout of Hotakainens failing at feelings during the epidemic
When: November
Where: around Anchor
Warnings: emotional constipation?



❄ Lalli's Great Escape

Comments

[arcadedragon]

Genji doesn't know who Onni is, he's never met him, not talked to him before, but the fact that his cousin is delirious and missing is making Genji uncomfortable. All he can think about is the time that he'd gotten sick as a child and wandered into the arcade and passed out. Well he'd thought it was the arcade, he'd actually been in an alleyway behind the ramen shop until Hanzo had shown up and carried him home.

This isn't nearly as urgent, no one is actively trying to kill Lalli (as far as Genji knows) but it's still alarming. Even through passive texts he can imagine that Onni is very worried.

His hunt for Lalli isn't going exceptionally well. He only has a vague description, and this place is huge, but listening intently he can hear the distant sounds of people talking, hushed voices conspiring.

Maybe Lalli is in more danger than originally thought. Looking all around he spots a ventilation shaft in the wall, quickly prying the cover off and crawling into it, silently slinking closer to the sound of whoever is talking. He can't get above where they are, blocked by the shaft narrowing to the point where he can't crawl through it anymore and forcing him to drop down into the main room. Someone's bedroom maybe?

With a flick of his wrist, shurikens slide in between his fingers, other hand on his wakizashi as he silently approaches the door to what he assumes is the bathroom.

[lallipop]

Lalli woke up a little while ago and has felt awful ever since. He's handed the earbuds back to Cho, finding the sound distracting when he's not trying to drift off, but he's not interested in talking to her either. Which leaves him alone with his thoughts. And those thoughts keep landing on how much he's definitely fucked up.

He hadn't wanted to hurt Onni like that--he'd only wanted to remove the obligation of caring for him, hadn't wanted to talk to him because he thought it would only lead to a lecture. But the Onni he talked to had sounded devastated, because of Lalli. And of course he would be; it was stupid of him to have ever thought otherwise.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Regardless of what Cho is doing, he's ignoring her and staring miserably at his own knees when he hears an unmistakable footstep in the vent above them. Immediately he tenses and his gaze shoots upward, his mind racing--his first thought is beast and even though there shouldn't be any here, the adrenaline makes his pulse pound. Nothing good ever comes from things scurrying around in vents.

"Something's in the ceiling." His voice drops to a whisper--for once due to urgency rather than fever--and, yeah, that's him very clearly making a move to get out of the tub.

[tenuefarfalla]

"You're still going to have to take your cough suppressant," Cho tells him, not entirely certain that he hasn't internalized the schedule and is making an attempt to avoid the medication by distracting her. He's serious, though - focused, and concerned, and trying to get out of the tub not to run, but with a determined focus in his eyes.

It could be a hallucination. But what if it's not?

Cho stands quickly, holding out a hand, not actually touching Lalli, but coming close to it. She holds up one finger to her lips. Quiet. Then turns her attention to the ceiling. Let her listen. She wants to see if she can hear what he hears.

[lallipop]

He does stop moving when she indicates, though he doubts she has ears as good as his. Regardless, there isn't another sound right away. The one he'd heard was very quiet, so this is someone or something who knows what they're doing.

But he definitely heard it. He knows what someone trying to sneak sounds like. And he can sneak pretty well himself--while Cho is trying to listen, he slips out of the water and creeps toward the nearest vaguely weapon-shaped thing he can see. Which happens to be a blow-dryer. He's fairly certain it is not actually a gun, but it's heavy enough to hit something with.

And then it happens again--an undeniable, metallic shfff of movement, now much farther along, from the direction of the next room.

[tenuefarfalla]

Yup, Cho definitely heard that. They're trapped in a bathroom with God knows what outside the door and she has no idea how she's supposed to protect Lalli from this. The flu, the fever, she's on it. She knows what to do, she has an entire theoretical medical education at her mental fingertips and she's prepared. Whatever is on the other side of the door? She is not. Not at all. She wishes Cole was here. Cole and his confidence and his speed and his knives. Why did she wait so long to take him up on his offer to teach her how to defend herself?

Cho reaches for the metal bar in its bracket on the wall, meant for towels. She knows how to swing a bat, maybe not to hit a baseball with any real skill, but for a bigger target, it'll do. The weight feels right. Solid. It's something, at least. "Stay behind me," she tells Lalli, in a quiet voice. She has no idea how she's supposed to actually protect him, but that doesn't mean she won't try.

[arcadedragon]

The sounds have stopped, whoever's behind that door knows that Genji is there and he frowns behind the mask. He must be getting careless, he's only been here a month and already he's neglecting his training and making mistakes. There's at least two people, and Genji pauses to listen for any indication that he's about to burst in on two random residents unconnected to what he's looking for who happen to be in a bathroom together. Having been caught in that situation more than once he's very familiar with the sound of scrambling to pull clothes on - which he doesn't hear now.

So it's something else.

There's an electric edge to the silence now, both parties waiting for the other to make a move. It's Genji who breaks through the tension, darting forward to slam into the door with his metal shoulder and bust it right off the hinges and into the room, quickly jumping back with shurikens at the ready.

Never hesitate, but always be sure of the situation before attacking. And right now he isn't one hundred percent sure of who is on the other side of the door, the last thing he wants to do is kill an innocent couple having some fun in the bath.

In the darkness of the room he may not fully be visible to the occupants other than the lights on his suit and the edges of his shuriken. He'd decided to not wear the jacket and pants on this little mission as they hindered his movement too much. He's still crouched in a defensive position, ready to end whoever is in there that is holding Lalli hostage.

[lallipop]

Lalli startles badly when the door bursts open. Normally he's more prepared for dangerous surprises, but normally he isn't feverish and having to lean on the wall for support.

He's wobbly enough that just jerking back in surprise causes him to wobble and lose his balance, and in his panic he ends up throwing the blow dryer he's holding blindly in the direction of the intruder. Then he's just preoccupied in landing the way that hurts the least.

❄ for reynir; after the conversation with cho

[scowlish]

[For all that he'd been in control of his voice and calm when he'd hung up on Cho, the moment the audio is turned off, he isn't anymore. The anger and grief and fear are too much to handle, and he throws the phone hard, it bounces off the wall and lands on the bed Lalli had been sleeping on. For a moment, Onni stares at the phone lying in the hollow on the bed that Lalli's body had made while he was taking care of him, and then he lifts his hands to press them against his face and makes a guttural howl of distress into the heels of them.

It rings in his head, over and over again, that woman comforting Lalli as if Onni was some sort of danger to him, an enemy, someone who would hurt him, and Lalli's small noise of distress. That noise is an old, familiar noise, a sound of distress that would wake Onni from a dead sleep if he heard it, that had woken him in that way so many times since Lalli was a child. But there's nothing he can do, now, when Lalli is making that sound, because that woman is keeping him away.

Because Lalli asked her to, because Lalli had explained things to her in a way that painted Onni as the enemy, and if that's how Lalli sees him, then there's no point in arguing with her more anyhow. And that thought is what makes the sobs start up again. Onni sinks to his knees and keeps his hands pressed against his face, letting out a few ugly wracking sobs, his teeth scraping against the heel of his hand as he makes another noise of hurt and grief, hitched with his sobbing. It's intolerable, to feel this alone, it feels like his world is ending, and for a moment all he wants is to be taken away to Tuonela to sleep beside Tuuri and his mother and father and all the other people who'd left him before this. To feel nothing, because he can't tolerate the intensity of the pain inside him. The intensity of his aloneness in a world where he feels so small and powerless.

Bringing his knees up, he presses his face into them, wraps his arms around them, and just lets himself cry for a few minutes, trying to vent the pain, but it only twists up more and more until he feels like he's going to explode. His breath is coming in desperate too-fast pulls, his heart is racing, he feels like he's going to choke on his panic and hurt and loneliness. He can't be alone, he can't be alone, he can't live like this...

The intensity of what he's feeling is like shock, his ears are ringing and his mouth is open as he struggles to breathe, and somewhere in the painful emptiness of his mind, beyond being able to think coherently, he remembers a voice, gentle and determined. Remembers the feeling of arms around him the last time he cried like this.

'Okay. Nothing can help. But I'm still not gonna let you face it alone.'

Without even really thinking about it, Onni stumbles to his feet, keeping one arm up in front of his face almost like a shield. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembers Reynir saying he'll go to shower while Onni does the entry on the network to ask for help finding Lalli, so he crosses the main room of the apartment to get to Reynir's room. Knocks on the door and speaks in a muffled, hitched voice.]

Reynir?

[braidmage]

[ The knock is a surprise. Reynir had only gotten out of the shower moments before. He is still damp, still only wearing a fluffy bright white robe that he had 'borrowed' from the spa. He has braided only down to his shoulders, and has his wet hair in three strands in his hands when the knock comes, and then Onni's voice.

Something's wrong. Reynir can just hear it. Onni had already been quite upset, with Lalli missing. A deal more than Reynir was, in part because Lalli and Onni are family, but also because he is somewhat used to Lalli disappearing and turning up again on his own. To him, Lalli isn't someone to look after.

But it hits him then that maybe Onni has gotten bad news, and so he drops everything, leaving his hair half-braided and coming to the door even though he's not dressed. As soon as he opens the door and sees Onni, he's glad he did. He's a mess. Reynir acts on intuition, and emotion. The moment he sees Onni in his door, tears streaked on his cheeks, eyes and nose red, breathing fast and labored like he's terrified, he acts. Reynir gets an arm around his shoulders and steers him inside, shutting the door and pulling Onni over to his bed. It's not made, but what does that matter? Reynir helps Onni to sit down and then sits beside him, asking: ]

Onni! Onni, what happened, are you okay, is- is Lalli okay?

[ Then, when it becomes clear that he was aiming too high, he amends: ]

Hey, just breathe, okay. I've got you.

[ This isn't the first time Reynir has seen Onni in this much pain, but it hasn't gotten any easier. His heart is racing and he's so worried he feels like he might be sick. ]

[scowlish]

[It seems like an eternity before Reynir comes to the door. Onni stands there with his arm over his face, struggling with his breath, his mind an empty humming blank as he waits, his chest heaving. Then the door opens and Reynir is putting his arm around his shoulders while Onni drops his hand and lets Reynir see the state of him - he's awful and he knows it, with his face wet and his eyes and nose red, snotty and leaking tears. But he lets Reynir see it, lets Reynir lead him over to the bed and help him to sit down, and then he buries his face in his hands again, his breath hitching.

Answering the questions Reynir asked him is impossible, he can't make his mind function to string the words together and couldn't make his mouth work past the way he's breathing even if he could form a response. For a moment, the stress of being unable to explain ratchets the anxiety up to such an extent he's struggling to get breath in past his closed throat, the edges of his vision going dark. But Reynir seems to understand he can't speak, and changes his tactic, just telling him to breathe, telling him he's got him.

Onni closes his eyes, trying to regulate his breathing, trying to get himself under control enough to speak while Reynir touches his back carefully. It takes some time, but eventually he manages to get his breathing in order, even if his heart is still racing and tears are still leaking down his face.]

He's...he's with someone. She said he's okay.

[The rest of it is too big, too awful to try to explain, the words get tangled in his mind when the concepts are so big and painful. Taking a few hitching breaths, he gasps and then gestures vaguely for Reynir's phone on the side table, and after the younger man hands it to him with a slightly confused look, he navigates to the entry he made with shaking hands, opens the conversation he'd had with Cho, and hands it over to Reynir. He can't explain it, it's too much, so he lets Reynir read it for himself.]

[braidmage]

[ Reynir sighs loudly in relief when Onni finally says that Lalli is okay. Or, rather, he says that Lalli is with a person who insists he's okay. Which is not the same thing. He's confused why Onni is gesturing for his phone, thinks maybe he's going to try calling Lalli? But he goes along with it, not questioning, just handing it to Onni and letting him click through to what he needs. When Onni hands the phone back over and it's showing a previous conversation, Reynir hesitates. Onni seems to want him to read it, though, so he looks down and tries.

It's hard to get his mind to focus, until he realizes the timestamps are from just a little while ago and this is in response to that network post he'd told Onni to make about Lalli. He still can't concentrate much, tense and confused why the person Onni was talking to wouldn't just tell him, confused why Lalli would want to be hidden in the first place. Once the conversation switches to audio, Reynir feels even more tense. Onni is hearing this over again. The emotion in his voice, the horrible sobs, are difficult to listen to.

He can't understand the part in Finnish, but then, he doesn't understand the rest, either. Onni's insistence seems a little weird to him, until he mentions Tuuri. How he thought she was fine. How someone had lied to him.

Reynir glances over when the recording gets to that bit, the color draining from his face, a lot of naked sadness in his eyes. He had thought he was doing Onni a favor, back then. He had thought Tuuri would be fine.

That guilt only twists tighter when Onni is insisting that Reynir had had no reason to lie (not true, from Reynir's perspective, but...) and that he'd not seemed like someone who would lie. He draws his bottom lip between his teeth, then, struggling against the hurt he feels. It's a hurt he'd earned, after all. Onni's right. Reynir had been in the wrong. He'd probably done harm, lying impulsively like that. Even if Tuuri had been grateful to him.

The recording finishes shortly after that, and Reynir clicks off the device, dropping it to his lap. One of his hands is still flat against Onni's back. He doesn't move it, but he's stopped stroking there in those soothing circles. He isn't sure it will be welcome. He isn't sure what Onni means by this, playing this recording for him.

After an incredible heavy silence, Reynir says, soft and earnest: ]

Onni... I'm sorry I lied.

[scowlish]

[While Reynir reads and listens to the conversation, Onni allows himself a few rough sobs, his face in his hands, and then tries to control himself again. The initial grief is passing, and the anger is gone, but what's left is a sort of numb blankness that he's all too familiar with. A numb blankness that comes when he can't process the loss of something important to him, important enough to feel fundamental, shaking the entire foundation of who he is.

By the time Reynir finishes, he feels capable of speaking again, at least, and he registers that Reynir has stopped rubbing his back, that the pause is heavy and full of something. Then Reynir apologizes for lying, and Onni shakes his head.]

I'm not angry about it. That's not the point.

[Lifting a hand, he rubs it over his face and exhales.]

It's just context. She won't let me see him, because he doesn't want to see me.

[Tears well up again at that, and he rubs his face again, his chest hitching as he tries to get that under control again, but there's no stopping the self-hatred. The acknowledgement that everyone he loves is going to end up leaving him, resenting him, being angry at him or hating him...or they're going to die. He presses his face into his hands again, and when he speaks, it's muffled against the palms of them.]

I did everything wrong. For him and for Tuuri.

[braidmage]

[ Oh. In a way, it's a relief to Reynir to hear that this reminder of the hurt he'd caused isn't the reason Onni is breaking down. But it also means it is not something he himself can try to fix very easily. If it were about him he could try to explain, to work for forgiveness. It's much harder to know what to do about Onni being sad that Lalli genuinely doesn't seem to want to see him.

Because there's no denying the truth of it. Reynir can't make excuses for Lalli - not truthfully - and he can't pretend it's all a misunderstanding.

He sighs, heart breaking for his friend. ]

Oh, Onni.

[ And Reynir turns, knees bumping against Onni's as he draws him in for a hug, tucking Onni's face into the curve between his neck and shoulder, hand coming up to stroke the back of his hair gently. Holding him, giving him a place to hide his face that isn't his own hands. ]

That isn't true. You didn't do things wrong. For either of them.

[ Right now, more than anything, Reynir wishes his own mother or father were here. They could do this better than him - reassure Onni that being a guardian is tough and heartbreaking and imperfect. Reynir hasn't done it, himself. He's not really in a position to offer that kind of support. If only he knew someone else, here, who had helped to raise someone... but as far as he knows, there aren't many parents. ]

I'm not saying... listen, Onni. I know you probably made some mistakes. When you started looking after them you were just a scared kid, yourself, and figuring it all out all on your own must have been harder than I've got any way to imagine. But that's not why Lalli doesn't want to see you. Because you raised him wrong or anything. He's just... Lalli.

[ Reynir had seen the way Lalli seemed to resist any attempt at friendship and sympathy and understanding. From him. From Emil. Even from Tuuri. ]

He'll come to his senses when he's feeling better. And he'll be sorry even if he doesn't say it.

❄ to clear the air.

[scowlish]

[It's a relief, when Lalli asks everyone else to leave. This isn't something he could have discussed with that many people in the room, even if they're people he'd liked at one point. He just stands still, flinches only slightly when Genji seems to puff out of existence to one side, and glances at Cole only long enough to see the smile at Lalli and then the cold expression aimed at him. His hands clench tighter, and he lifts his chin - Onni has never particularly cared what people think of him, but he frankly has no idea why Cole is here or why he's acting like that.

It doesn't matter.

What does matter is that Lalli is here and wants to talk. There's no door to close to ensure them privacy, so Onni just settles down on the closed lid of the toilet and looks at Lalli, his expression going from stoic to tired. He still hasn't slept more than a few hours since he'd found Lalli in Reynir's room, and it's written all over his posture. He rubs a hand over his face for a moment, closes his eyes for a second, and then leans forward, his elbows on his knees. After a moment, he finally speaks, his voice heavy and tired.]

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. Are you okay?

[lallipop]

[Lalli doesn't look at Cole, or Onni, or any of them as they all trickle out. His eyes flick up once to confirm that the room is empty and Onni is still here, and then they return to the floor.

Now that it's time for him to explain himself, he finds he has no idea what to say. He doesn't know how to begin to articulate the guilt and shame he's feeling, no idea how to form the apology he needs to.

And Onni apologizes to him, after all the pain he's caused. Lalli can't stand to hear it, with the way Onni looks and sounds right now, and he flinches like he would at a painful noise. Already this is going wrong. He needs to say something. It doesn't seem to matter what.]

No, I... I shouldn't have left. I didn't mean for it to be like this, everything is going wrong. I-I messed up.

[He knows there is no point in hoping Onni doesn't hear his voice crack, but he does anyway.]

[scowlish]

[When Lalli speaks, Onni glances up at him for a moment before he has to pull his eyes away and look down at the ground again. Pursing his lips, he tries to put together the words he's been rehearsing in his mind since he'd talked to Cho on the network and heard how she comforted Lalli after they'd had their short conversation and she'd taken the phone away.

Sliding his hand back over his face and through his hair, he listens to Lalli's apology and makes a noise in his throat. Sighs deeply to vent some of the rising emotion. To stay calm for Lalli's sake.]

It's okay.

[He glances up at Lalli after a moment, taking a steadying breath and then speaking as if he's practiced it in his head too many times.]

I hope you know I would never hurt you on purpose. If you wanted to be taken care of by someone else or if...

[It's his turn for his voice to crack. But he pushes on.]

...if you were afraid of me, I would have taken you to someone else, or called Reynir or Cole to come take you. I just wanted to know you were okay.

[lallipop]

I'm not afraid of you!

[Is that what Onni thinks? Is that what Cho told him? He doesn't remember a lot of the exact details of the conversation, just that Cho had taken the phone away and he didn't know why, but he'd learned by then that it's better to follow her lead.

He curls up again now, his hands not quite over his ears but hovering there, threatening to land. He knows he's not supposed to, it's bad for his fever for some reason, but he can't help it, and he doesn't really know why, and maybe that's the problem.]

That's not why I left.

[The real reason he's afraid to even contemplate, let alone give words to, like putting it out into the universe would make it truth.]

[scowlish]

Okay.

[Lalli's answer is so vehement and immediate that it's a little startling. Onni blinks owlishly at him for a moment, his expression a little surprised, before it passes. Biting at the inside of his lower lip, Onni restructures his understanding of the situation, opens his mouth to start to explain that she had made it sound very much like Onni was bad for Lalli. That he's been thinking about it and he understands why, that he's too overbearing, too needy, too demanding. To try to tell him that he'll change the way he acts to make it better, even if it's difficult to do.

But when he lifts his head and looks at Lalli to start speaking, his cousin is curled up with his hands hovering over his ears, and Onni snaps his mouth shut. For a moment, he's silent, and then he speaks carefully.]

Tell me when you can, Lalli. I'll stay here.

[Onni knows that with his fever it's not good for his cousin to fold his body up like that. But he also knows that the distress he would cause by pushing him and taking away his coping mechanism will damage him more than a few minutes of being curled up.]

It's okay.

[lallipop]

[It takes a minute or two for him to unwind, and even longer than that to work up the nerve to speak.

This is something that has festered inside him for as long as he can remember, but he's never said it aloud, never taken the chance that it could be affirmed and therefore destroy him. But after what Lalli's done to him, Onni deserves to hear it. To be given that chance, if it's what he wants.]

I'm not stupid. I know I'm different from other people.

[It's hard to know what to say, to give voice to this. The words are slow and halting and he prays Onni knows not to interrupt him until he's done, or the fragile thread pulling these thoughts from his mouth will break and they'll be lost.]

I know I do things and think differently and everyone thinks there's something wrong with me and maybe they're right. [His tone makes it clear that he's stating a fact. This isn't an insecurity given voice, it's the truth.] And I know it's... that I'm...

[He gestures helplessly, because there isn't a word that will encompass what he's trying to say, one word that can truly describe the struggle of him. He settles on:]

Difficult.

[He takes a shaky breath and keeps going.] I know I was harder to deal with than Tuuri. I know that's why you yell at me and why grandma yelled at me and Tuuri hit me. And you look so tired all the time, and... now that Tuuri...

[He can't bring himself to finish the sentence. He doesn't need to, anyway, and what he's about to say is hard enough to get out. There's something in his throat thick enough to get out, and the effort drops his voice to a whisper.]

I don't want you to feel like you have to take care of me if it's trouble for you. It's okay. I get it.

[Here he glances briefly at Onni, as if to gauge his reaction, before his eyes flick back down. The next part comes out a little sheepish, as if he's quite aware how dumb it sounds now.]

And I didn't want to talk to you because I thought you were angry and I didn't want to get a lecture.

aftermath, closed to allison

[lallipop]

[There's a lot about Anchor that reminds Lalli uncomfortably of the Silent World, and one of the most unsettling is the way it likes to bring in the occasional building or vehicle, always empty and abandoned, like some skeleton of civilization.

He doesn't know what a "block buster" is, but there's only one way to find out.

As he creeps between the dusty aisles, he has to admit he still has no idea. The only thing here are these strange plastic rectangles in weird paper sheathes or little vest-things that give him more trouble to open than he'll admit. He takes one off the shelf labeled TOP GUN and shakes it out of its little envelope to inspect it.

There's no obvious purpose for it, just some divots on the side and holes in the middle. He sticks his finger in one experimentally and finds that the border of it spins around, so he does--it's the only indication of function he's found so far--and ends up with a roll of filmy paper spat out onto his hand.

Okay? What's the point of that?]

[hersay]

[ allison, on the other hand, approaches the blockbuster with nothing short of glee. a movie store? in this wasteland? allison never experienced the whole foods zombies, so she doesn't expect anything other than some charmingly dusty old movies, and oh boy, does this blockbuster sure deliver. allison goes in hoping to make a strategic strike. if they don't have say anything, the greatest romantic comedy of a generation, she will take it up with the bots.

instead, what she finds is a skinny teenager? young man? with a videocasette and the film all spooled out, very much offending allison's hollywood sensibilities.

allison just stares, her brow furrowed. dude, what the hell? ]

[lallipop]

[He jerks into an alert stance as Allison rounds the corner--long-held instincts are hard to break, after all--which just makes it more awkward when the intruder turns out to be a normal human woman, and he's brandishing a useless lump of plastic and film in front of him like it can protect him.

He stares right back at her.

Then, wordlessly, he holds the abomination he's created out to her. If she came in here willingly, maybe she knows how it works.]

[hersay]

[ allison sighs. this is super, super weird but you know what else is weird? being marooned on a strange interdimensional space station, getting your mind read, and mystery space plagues. allison can handle this.

she takes the cassette and film, noting that this poor thing was once top gun, another classic now lost to the wastes. allison carefully sets it on the ground, demonstrating to lalli the respect it deserves. they'll have to start over. allison reaches over to the shelf and tries again, removing the nearest tape she recognizes.

she motions lalli to follow her, and leads him to a tv plus vcr. she pops the cassette into the player and ferris beuller's day off begins to play. see? easy. she turns back to him, to see if he's followed her, if he's tracking so far. ]

[lallipop]

[Things Lalli has never seen before include: televisions, VCRs, and movies. He jumps when the player sucks up the tape, and startles even more when the screen begins to show images.

Normally, he might try to play it off like he hadn't actually been surprised, but unfortunately for him he'd inhaled some truth gas on the way to the Blockbuster.

Also, by pure instinct he's thrown an arm between Allison and the thing making the noise, which makes it hard to pretend he hadn't actually reacted.]

What is that??

[hersay]

[ allison startles a little at the jump, not really expecting that. she figured this guy hasn't used a vcr before -- maybe he grew up after those were out and dvds were in, or something? maybe he's a blu-ray only kind of guy? but nope, it's now clear that he's never seen a movie, ever. how sad!

allison sits a healthy distance away from the screen, and pats the ground beside her, gesturing to lalli to come sit. ]

It's a movie. [ she whispers, her voice still hoarse from disuse and injury. ] You watch it.

[ as she says that, the movie opens to a young american teenager doing an absolutely fantastic job at faking illness. allison still doesn't know who she's talking to, and therefore also doesn't know that her viewing partner has just been through several illness-related arguments. fun! ]