We Need To Talk

"[THREAD TITLE]" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
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Verdandi: Some hours after the scene on the road, Verdandi slips back into the house that William had led her and Liam to, all but saying “What’s mine is yours.” Given the boots, cloak, and scarf strewn across the floor, Liam seems to have taken that literally.
“Liam?” Verdandi calls softly. “Can we talk? Please?”
Liam: “The fuck do you want.”
Liam’s words were soft and muffled through the closed door, but not full of any less vehemence and hurt than they had been hours before. He had his knees pulled up to his chest on his bedroll and the lower half of his face was buried in his arms. He stared at the opposite wall, eyes tired and reddened.
Verdandi: Verdandi walks to the door, easing it open. “I just want to talk,” she says in a gentle tone. “I talked to–” She just stops herself from saying ‘your father’–”Vox. He didn’t tell me much, but… if you want to know, I can tell you what he said.” She sighs, walking into the room.
“You said you’d help me find out what’s wrong with me. I want to help you if I can.”
Liam: He lifted his face slightly, which burned a little at the fact that Verdandi had walked in on him in such a state. “No offense,” he growled, “but he’s a piece of shit and I don’t want to hear about him ever again.”
Verdandi: “Okay,” she says, holding up her hands. Verdandi searches about wildly for a change in topic. “What about your sister? Do you want to see her later?” So… not as much of a change as she’d like, but… She sits down on her bedroll across from Liam.
Liam: “No.” His tail flicked slightly and he fell silent again. The paws of his feet rubbed against each other, the claws digging barely into his skin. He relished the slight pain and discomfort it brought.
Verdandi: Verdandi reaches out a hand towards Liam, but lets it fall before she reaches him. “I want to help you,” she murmurs. “Please let me.” Tears are stinging at her eyes, but she resolutely ignores it, instead looking steadily at Liam.
Liam: He rubbed his forehead and then his eyes, feeling the stinging roughness from his earlier emotions. “Verdandi.” His throat and voice were raw. “You weren’t…ever part of it. I met you just a few days ago. You weren’t there for the beginning. So I don’t see how you can’t be there for the end of it.”
Verdandi: “I already told you I’m not going anywhere,” she says gently. “You’re part of my mess, and–and you’re my friend. Friends help each other.”
Liam: He sighed and rested his forehead on his arms. “I involve you in a lot of my business already,” he said quietly. “Take what you can get, Verdandi.”
Verdandi: Verdandi flinches, gaze dropping to the floor. Her vision blurs with tears, and it takes more effort than it should to blink them away. “That’s what friends do,” she whispers.
Almost under her breath, she says, “I think that’s what friends do. I’ve only got one, now.”
Liam: Getting to his feet, Liam paced to the door, and stood in front of it, his tail switching. His throat burned with all the acidic words he wanted to spew, but instead he just huffed slightly and rubbed at his nose, fighting not to break down again. “I just…don’t want to talk about any of it. To anyone. It’s not you.”
Verdandi: “It’s not good to keep things bottled up inside,” Verdandi says. “It’ll just make things worse.” She sighs. “I can’t force you to talk, though. I just hope you’ll trust me, at some point.”
Liam: “I dunno. Maybe.”
He looked over his shoulder, looking like he wanted to say something else, but he looked away and put a paw on the door handle. He hesitated, and Verdandi could hear a wet sniff.
Verdandi: Verdandi takes a deep breath, then gets to her feet. “We don’t have to talk right now,” she says in a low voice, approaching him at a measured pace. She wraps her arms around his waist and rests her forehead against his back. “We can just sit together. I’ll be here for you.”
Liam: Pushing a paw across his face, Liam held still a moment longer before slowly pushing the door open and leaving her arms, face red with both emotion and shame. “I’ll find you later.” His nose sounded stuffed. He was dying to get out to the mountains and hide away in the forest for a bit, making sure that he wouldn’t run into his father anytime soon.
Category:Events
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Liam Arnason
Category:Verdandi Østergård
Category:Act I