GiveThemAllAVoice
c_for_characters
I dunno for sure how Nikola is going to react/respond/comment on things, but I have a guess... and I have an idea where things are going to go if he acts like I think he might. :"D
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Cryptic 
GiveThemAllAVoice
gotta keep you on your toes!
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Haha
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I'm waiting for a "Yee Haw".
GiveThemAllAVoice
hahah
GiveThemAllAVoice
I just know she's going to react strongly if things keep going a certain way
GiveThemAllAVoice
total side note, I still feel groggy and ache-y as hell, but I have ginger ale so i'm happy
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Hurray 
GiveThemAllAVoice
glad you mentioned the drink thing the other day, because even though I forgot ice cream, the ginger ale is SO hitting the spot ;A;
GiveThemAllAVoice
sorry for the random haha, just wanted to thank you XD
c_for_characters
It's perfect for certain feelings.
GiveThemAllAVoice
yisss
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GiveThemAllAVoice
what is the best ginger ale brand in your opinion? I've only really had canada dry
GiveThemAllAVoice
If i'm allowed to ask random/unimportant questions XD
c_for_characters
Vernors, with Canada Dry as a second place.
GiveThemAllAVoice
ooo, I'll have to be on the look out for Vernors then. Glad to know I at least love second place though. No wonder others just don't seem as good XD
GiveThemAllAVoice
thank you for indulging the dumb question haha
c_for_characters
Vernors is aged for 15 years in a barrel. It's a lot of effort for a pop
It's a lot of effort for a pop
GiveThemAllAVoice
whoa, really? O_O
GiveThemAllAVoice
that's cool as hell, actually. I really DO need to try some
c_for_characters
They're hard to find in some parts of the country...do you have Crest near where you are? They used to stock it.
GiveThemAllAVoice
i've never heard of Crest, so I'm going to guess no, but the largest city near me might, so I'll look it up at some point. If nothing else, maybe I could get it shipped 
c_for_characters
Maybe!
GiveThemAllAVoice
yeeeeeep, that's what i thought might happen, oh boy. thanks nikola XD
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Well, the only way she restores equilibrium is to bleed off the excess power. shrugs
GiveThemAllAVoice
yeahhhhh, she's just frustrated at how he's acting/dealing with it and isn't exactly thinking straight
GiveThemAllAVoice
his plan worked, and will work, but she's... about to try and actively break this now as an 'i told you so'
GiveThemAllAVoice
and frankly, when she's not worried about burning herself out (since she wants to turn back) AND is as frustrated/angry as she is, he may actually get an idea of what her upper limit is, at least without any other energy sources
c_for_characters
Nifty 
GiveThemAllAVoice
and I genuinly don't know how strong that is, but Nik's probably about to get 'source blood electricity chamber' flashbacks at best
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Hurray!
GiveThemAllAVoice
not hurray, she's going to hate herself for this XD
GiveThemAllAVoice
especially if she DOES break something, but then, if she DOESN'T break anything, she's going to hate herself for being scared of something that's 'apparently too weak to matter anyway'
GiveThemAllAVoice
but I guess that's going to get worked through later, or never~ XD
GiveThemAllAVoice
(she is absolutely SO pissed off in my head that it's making ME angry cry, lmaooo)
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(Oh noooooooooooooo)
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But this is, as far as he's concerned, a necessary step. It's getting her to not retreat. I have a metaphor for it.
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K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER (2002) - Emergency surface
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Immediately after this, he admits that it was a risk - BUT. Now they know where the edge is.
GiveThemAllAVoice
She says he has no idea whether this was the only way he could do that, if he had actually just told her what the machine could handle and then they could scientifically push past that, if needed, step by step
GiveThemAllAVoice
i THINK she's more just pissed that she feels ignored again, and like she didn't actually escape her previous circumstances after all >_>
GiveThemAllAVoice
sorryyyy
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taps window to make sure you're ok on this one
GiveThemAllAVoice
?
GiveThemAllAVoice
you mean from her being angry? I'm alright, just too empathetic for my own good lol
GiveThemAllAVoice
can't help but imagine myself in a situation to try and write more realistically, or make sure things make sense
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Yeah, i've been there with some tags.
GiveThemAllAVoice
it flares up and dies away pretty quickly since I'll usually distract myself or move on to other things after writing something, so it's mostly just exhausting
GiveThemAllAVoice
yeah... it's hard to avoid completely
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Let 'im have it, Althea!
GiveThemAllAVoice
welllllllll
GiveThemAllAVoice
we'll see lol
GiveThemAllAVoice
it's probably not going to be as glorious as either of you would hope
c_for_characters
Given that much voltage, she's probably at least getting back down towards normal. I mean, she basically did this: 
Godzilla Singular Point | Forma Final + Atomic Breat...
GiveThemAllAVoice
oh she is
GiveThemAllAVoice
but that also means she's got nothing in the tank
GiveThemAllAVoice
and a no electricity althea is usually a passing out one
GiveThemAllAVoice
or at least very sleepy and VERY hungry XD
GiveThemAllAVoice
though not till she calms down
GiveThemAllAVoice
god i WISH there was a way to explain/make her next line come out in Serbian just to kick him a little harder though. (I swear I mean that in the best way LOL)
c_for_characters
Haha well, feel free to have her pass out. He'll take care of her in proper Electric Dad fashion.
c_for_characters
Though I'm also imagining her just telling him off and him trying to get a word in to remind her that she will, in all of this, have likely burned off any clothing
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Just "Yes, ok, but..." "NO, I HAVE THINGS TO SAY." "Well you're gonna say 'em cold."
GiveThemAllAVoice
oh she knows, and she's pissed about that too hahaha
GiveThemAllAVoice
she's going to cling on out of SPITE until she feels like she's safe to pass out, because he kinda undid some of that
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GiveThemAllAVoice
also... I may just handwave her knowing a few basic things in serbian because she WOULD have started trying to learn it as almost a present to him, buuuuut wouldn't have expected some of those phrases to be coming out TOWARDS him
GiveThemAllAVoice
but as you know, some of the first things anyone learns in another language are the swears
c_for_characters
GiveThemAllAVoice
(and google translate would give them an appropriately stilted/novice feel while still getting some of the 'i'm pissed at you and i'm going to say it in YOUR native language so you know that i'm going the extra mile to say how pissed off I am at you'
GiveThemAllAVoice
feeling XD
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Hahaha yes.
GiveThemAllAVoice
SORRY
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HAH. Pithy.
GiveThemAllAVoice
pfff, she doesn't have enough energy for much else at the moment
c_for_characters
Hope that works!
GiveThemAllAVoice
i'm very sorry in advance, nikola u_u
GiveThemAllAVoice
let's play how many things can go wrong in a moment and how angry that can make her!
GiveThemAllAVoice
For clarification, she'd probably be MORE upset if she 1, had the energy to, and 2, didn't know Helen would do something much worse than murder him if he even considered anything inappropriate
c_for_characters
The answer is: all of them! But he's also doing the only thing that can be done.
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Because leaving her on the floor, exhausted and in that state, would be unthinkably cruel to him.
GiveThemAllAVoice
Some part of her will certainly realize that, even now, but that doesn't change how unthinkably 'cold' she thinks he was already, so he isn't really getting any bonus points
GiveThemAllAVoice
Not that it probably matters, since I don't think she expects any real apology from him :/
c_for_characters
He's gotta realize he's gotta apologize first, which he doesn't.
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As far as he's concerned this is "Look, we solved the problem. You don't have to worry, you can exert control over your state, hurray."
GiveThemAllAVoice
"I'm going to exert control over this fist in your damn face once I can stand again."
GiveThemAllAVoice
yeah she's... gathering that, about him
GiveThemAllAVoice
and isn't happy haha
GiveThemAllAVoice
Though i'm sure she's beating herself up about 'trusting him' too, which ISN'T HEALTHY DAMN IT, but since when is she healthy lol
c_for_characters
She's never healthy, and the complete lack of explaining things to him has hindered things further
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But hey, this is them. A complete mess that still, ultimately, works out for each other.
GiveThemAllAVoice
she feels like he keeps dismissing her before she can even say anything, so she's given up. It's probably related to old habits, honestly. Her parents wouldn't have wanted to hear anything either, so why would he? That's how parents are, right?
GiveThemAllAVoice
too bad he couldn't get a dose of her absolute fury in that electricity lol
c_for_characters
Perspective: he views her as essentially an electricity elemental, so that level is to be expected.
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He's never been a parent. Hasn't had any living family for the better part of a century.
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Has lived essentially alone for all those decades.
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And only recently learned to stop using people as means to an end.
GiveThemAllAVoice
Yeah, that's one of those things that... she knows, but doesn't know, really. It's almost impossible to fully know an 'aloneness' like that unless you've felt it, which, she's closer than a lot of people might be, but not really close enough to grasp where the disconnect is
GiveThemAllAVoice
(she absolutely thinks right now that he really was just using her as a means to an end :/)
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So how do we walk them back from the edge, then.
GiveThemAllAVoice
and she fell for it hook, line, and sinker
GiveThemAllAVoice
If you're actually asking, she definitely needs a moment to try and control herself, since the anger's definitely not going away, and if he doesn't get that something's wrong after her cursing at him, trying to punch him, and then telling him to leave, 3 things I don't think she's ever done, then I don't know what her next move would be :"D
c_for_characters
He's going to assemble things for her when she wakes up. Assuming she's passing out momentarily?
GiveThemAllAVoice
Other than maybe flat out tell him that 'at least if you're going to use me as your next big achievement, tell me so I know not to trust you in advance'
GiveThemAllAVoice
Probably, much as she'd like not to, it wouldn't really be realistic for her not to pass out unless she got an immediate 'infusion' so to speak, and that would only delay the inevitable
c_for_characters
Ok, writing that into the tag.
GiveThemAllAVoice
it might be one of those 'long blink' sort of passing out where you wake up not sure if you actually were asleep or not and can only tell because things around you have changed
GiveThemAllAVoice
ye 
c_for_characters
Aaaand there you go. Hope that doesn't burn things down even more.
GiveThemAllAVoice
uh oh, that's not scary to see haha
GiveThemAllAVoice
okay first, LOL at those clothes
GiveThemAllAVoice
second, are the rooms arranged in such a way that she'd be able to sneak out, because she might try if they are
GiveThemAllAVoice
I can handwave/make reasons for her not to, or to try and fail at it, easy peasy, but that's the first thing she wants to look for now
c_for_characters
I'm figuring a sort of 'connected nearby' sort of thing, but sure.
GiveThemAllAVoice
what about a pen? XD
c_for_characters
What about it...?
GiveThemAllAVoice
would there be a pen nearby?
c_for_characters
He'd have it with him.
c_for_characters
Or nearby.
GiveThemAllAVoice
i just meant wondering if there'd be one scattered/left where she could grab it, but k
c_for_characters
If you want, sure!
GiveThemAllAVoice
figured out something that works more instead!
c_for_characters
Before I click in, should I be worried?
GiveThemAllAVoice
nahhhhh probably not
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GiveThemAllAVoice
cracks knuckles oh boy
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Whaaaaat?
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What'd he do wrong this time?
GiveThemAllAVoice
I only wish I could remember the quote i'm thinking of that either Helen or Henry said to him during the episode where he 'discovered' free electricity
GiveThemAllAVoice
but alas, that will have to do
GiveThemAllAVoice
c_for_characters
Fairly close, yeah.
GiveThemAllAVoice
her saying that has all the energy of that line + 'I hope you're happy, because you just betrayed the best friend you ever had' line, though substitute that for family
GiveThemAllAVoice
Though part of her feels obligated to remind me that this is either just 'how she deserves to be treated' or 'how parents treats their children' =__=
c_for_characters
And him, for his part. "You were panicked about being in that state. I was trying to HELP."
GiveThemAllAVoice
"By treating me like a faulty CAPACITOR, not like any sort of SCARED LIVING BEING"
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"Like you would've believed me if I patted your head and said it would all have been fine, EVEN IF YOU SAID THAT, which would have been a great hint."
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This is literally two people with a lot of emotional issues flinging feelings at each other.
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And I'm heading off to bed, alas, but will tag back on the morrow.
c_for_characters
Night!
GiveThemAllAVoice
niiiiight!
GiveThemAllAVoice
and yes, yes it is :"D
GiveThemAllAVoice
Also she wants to point to all the times where he told her to stop saying things when she was trying to get her anxiety/fear out in the open, so of COURSE she shut down. Which makes sense since that would make it easier for him to do whatever tests and the like
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They'll work it out. Somehow. Eventually.
GiveThemAllAVoice
me trying to make sure she doesn't say something that actually DOEs fully ruin everything but is also truthful and as harsh/angry as she currently feels 
GiveThemAllAVoice
(damn my brain wanting more/closure to the story and having to wait ) But seriously, night!
) But seriously, night!
GiveThemAllAVoice
wow, I actually can't sleep because i'm too upset about things. Not specifically this, though the emotion of it didn't help when i found out something else, but that's for another time when i'm not frustrated and can see if it's actually the case or not, but anyway you get my random thoughts so that I don't forget:
GiveThemAllAVoice
althea wasn't afraid of being in electric mode itself, she probably felt more alive and awake than ever sensing the world in new ways. She was afraid of being alone again. Of not being able to go back to normal and so being 'tossed out' by Nikola as a failed investment. If even he was afraid to get close to her like that, then why would want her to stay?
GiveThemAllAVoice
That kind of thing. god I want to sleep
GiveThemAllAVoice
I guess this is going to ruin some of those christmas plans
c_for_characters
Aww
c_for_characters
And sorry, tag brain has not showed up tonight.
GiveThemAllAVoice
nah you're good, i'm major stressing about some other things right now as you probably saw lol
c_for_characters
I kinda can. Need to talk about it?
GiveThemAllAVoice
I imagine there COULD be christmas plans if they sort things out since this is at some unspecified time, but the joke was there
GiveThemAllAVoice
meh, just trying to figure out how to stay safe for christmas, and whether I even CAN, while also trying not to think about how fucked I am financially because apparently I work too slow with mental disabilities and a damn pandemic =__=
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How stuck are you?
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Is there anything I can do to help?
GiveThemAllAVoice
haha unless you have a magic full remote job I can get today, not really, but I appreciate it.
c_for_characters
I don't.
GiveThemAllAVoice
I'm trying, mostly, to come to terms with the fact that if I want to see my dad, who yes is super problematic in some very important to me ways, did still try his best and I do still care about him, then I basically have to put myself in very serious risk, which will then probably put me behind on work/thesis/class stuff for a couple weeks too.
c_for_characters
Ugh, what an awful dilemma to be stuck in <3
GiveThemAllAVoice
It wouldn't be so bad if his mom had just gotten vaccinated but she's even worse than he is 🙃
GiveThemAllAVoice
I appreciate it, i'm sorry for rambling
c_for_characters
Ugh, if you were up here and it was a matter of paying tuition, I could just loan you what you'd need...but tuition up here is like 2,500.
GiveThemAllAVoice
only 2.5 holy crap
c_for_characters
Max 5k for foreign students?
GiveThemAllAVoice
that's still less than I pay for a college I live literally next to per semester u_u
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Graduate per-year average up here is 7K.
GiveThemAllAVoice
and this is a SMALL college
GiveThemAllAVoice
ugh I hate it here
GiveThemAllAVoice
part of me keeps wanting to give things a fair shake but like, how am I supposed to see any positive in this system?
GiveThemAllAVoice
What does the U.S.'s college/university system really do that other countries' can't?
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Not much, I wouldn't think.
GiveThemAllAVoice
I wouldn't think so either, and yet that's the biggest argument I keep hearing
GiveThemAllAVoice
Though that's usually from people who also think there's no such thing as racism or sexism anymore, ugh
GiveThemAllAVoice
yeah, sorry, i'm just rambling
GiveThemAllAVoice
sorry that you're one of the few people who gets a lot of the troubles I'm having to deal with haha
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It's ok <3
c_for_characters
I'm here for you, that's kinda part of the being friends deal.
GiveThemAllAVoice
I appreciate it <3
GiveThemAllAVoice
Too few of those these days
GiveThemAllAVoice
Hahah, I guess if you ever need someone to do some sort of throwaway job where I can earn 20 bucks here or there, let me know XP
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I do know a tutoring place, actually.
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They do remote stuff, US and Canada. They hired me back when I was really hurting for hours.
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Tutor Doctor.
GiveThemAllAVoice
Oh, that's one I haven't heard of actually, I'll write that down
GiveThemAllAVoice
thank you!
c_for_characters
You're welcome!
GiveThemAllAVoice
dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnnn
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GiveThemAllAVoice
Nikola 'accidentally emotionally abusive' Tesla is quite the nickname to get him to change their ways, but for a brief moment, she considered it
c_for_characters
Well that's a bit on the nose.
GiveThemAllAVoice
she's still coming down from being LIVID at him, if you mean what I said, but yeah. Thankfully it was more of an internal 'grumble grumble' thought
GiveThemAllAVoice
sorry
c_for_characters
I disagree with the notion that you have to support illusory worries or it's abuse - but he sure did go about things wrong.
GiveThemAllAVoice
Her argument is that they weren't illusory. And that whether they're real or not doesn't necessarily make them illusory either: that's the sort of thing you literally need professional help to manage, after all. The idea of ignoring 'all of someone's worries' is the problem
GiveThemAllAVoice
One can acknowledge someone has a fear, let them know they're heard and understood, without feeding into it
GiveThemAllAVoice
I'm.. sorry if I'm not making sense or explaining this well, sorry.
c_for_characters
Oh, no, I agree with that - I do that all the time with students.
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I find people often cross over that line, tho.
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So it's worth checking.
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His last knowledge of psychology probably comes from when Freud was still alive.
GiveThemAllAVoice
Ah. Sorry if I pissed you off there
c_for_characters
Haha oh God no.
GiveThemAllAVoice
Ohhhh boy, Nikola has some catching up to do. That's kind of appalling.
c_for_characters
He kinda wandered off into 'vampire mastermind' for a number of decades.
c_for_characters
he was literally nuts, and, as he's about to remind her - he kinda hated people.
GiveThemAllAVoice
phew okay, I know my anxiety has been all kinds of out of control for a while now but damn I was sure you shifted into 'actually upset tone' :"D
c_for_characters
I'm not sure I actually have one, I was just treating it seriously. <3
GiveThemAllAVoice
Fair enough. I'm sure it's hard to really understand that without seeing it first hand though, as many people are loathe to admit
GiveThemAllAVoice
I'm sure you probably too if it came to it, but I hope to never have to see it myself <3
GiveThemAllAVoice
(I am DEFINITELY used to 'treating it seriously' as meaning 'YOU FUCKED UP' lol)
c_for_characters
My standard form with my students is "I know how you must be feeling, and I'm sorry for that, but might I suggest that..."
c_for_characters
Which is a good way to try to, y'know, let them know they don't necessarily have to worry.
c_for_characters
So, acknowledge the feeling, show you understand it has power as best you can, but try to redirect them if you can.
GiveThemAllAVoice
Yeah, that sounds pretty close to what I usually tried to do too. It can be a fine line but especially when someone's stressed or full of anxiety and hormones, it's important to let them know they're heard
GiveThemAllAVoice
yup
c_for_characters
Also why I don't police bathroom time, for related reasons.
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Students ask me "why isn't so and so back yet?" "I'll page them at 20 minutes."
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I don't engage, I check in after that time, but let them do what they need in the length of time they need. Are some people screwing around? Sure. But that's for hallway monitors to check, not me.
GiveThemAllAVoice
god, ESPECIALLY in today's whole situation. Cracking down even harder on students is the last thing most need for their mental state lol
GiveThemAllAVoice
hahaha 'not my division'
c_for_characters
Honestly, yeah. I don't need to be shitty to students who are already stressed and might be having a long visit to Cramp City that day.
GiveThemAllAVoice
Easily one of the worst cities e__e
c_for_characters
And not my job to police that. Or, for that matter, what my students are wearing!
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I have not once enforced the dress code.
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Only situation where I would is like the one time a teacher of mine caught a student trying to get away with wearing a hentai hoodie.
GiveThemAllAVoice
yeahhhhhh
c_for_characters
Also sorry about things with Nikola. I'm afraid I'm irreversibly screwing things up
GiveThemAllAVoice
1, you're not so no worries <3
GiveThemAllAVoice
2, she needs a little reality check that he's not infallible and that she shouldn't think he's perfect, as well as knowledge that they both need to communicate better
GiveThemAllAVoice
3, it's very weird to hear YOU say that, instead of it being me worrying
GiveThemAllAVoice
he's just lucky that she's so tired now, she's being much more blunt with him. She's going to be so ashamed of herself later u_u
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GiveThemAllAVoice
siiiince she didn't actually tell him what had happened
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aaaaand she's not sure how much it actually was because she tried to draw one and pooooossibly overreached.
GiveThemAllAVoice
so I just realized
GiveThemAllAVoice
apology christmas celebrations
GiveThemAllAVoice
hilariously awkward for both
c_for_characters
That’ll be great. Also, I sleep.
GiveThemAllAVoice
lol i figured you already had. night!
GiveThemAllAVoice
Well, apparently I am going to visit family for christmas, unless something happens last minute, but since I have plurk on my phone.... If anything happens, I'll give you the 'juicy gossip' as the kids used to say
GiveThemAllAVoice
also i'm annoyed that the way my brain works is that it keeps trying to spin out potential possibilities of conversations thea and nik could have, even more so now that i'm trying to avoid doing that with conversations my family is probably going to have, but even if i felt confident writing them talking, it wouldn't make sense for a convo happening now
GiveThemAllAVoice
but then even when I try to distract myself from that, or think of something else, other, usually related, ideas/topics/conversations start repeating and starting over and like... sticking in my brain, like 'what present would thea get nik? would she at all? would he at all?' etc and it KEEPS STICKING >: ( it's annoying
c_for_characters
That is indeed a problem. And now you've shared it, because I'm trying to figure out what a gift would be.
GiveThemAllAVoice
LOL