fiddlestick | IC Inbox (Kaisou)

Oh...um- okay. Yeah. I'll... try to remember that.

[Because Elliot is right on the money on that one. Seeking approval from others is something he genuinely has to work on.]

She really is. [It totally sounds like a cult. He manages a nervous little chuckle.] Thanks. And um...thanks. For listening. And not immediately kicking me out of your home.

[The nerdiest cult there is, tbh]

Hey, I wasn't going to do that. [Throw him out, he means] I'll admit it was more than I was expecting, but I also know it took a lot of integrity and courage to tell me. Especially when you didn't have to.

I'm not about to overlook that. [varian made a lot of mistakes...so many mistakes- but he's clearly trying to be better. this conversation alone was proof of that. ]

Yeah...I know it's-uh. It's a lot to take in.

[Even HE finds it a lot and he lived through it. Still, Elliot's words are helping drop his anxiety down considerably. ]

I felt it was...I don't know, important? For people to know. At least the people who're closest to me. It didn't feel right hiding it from you.

[ ....!]

You consider me a close to you?

[A teenager?? Openly admitting that an adult in their life is important to them??? Elliot hand goes to his chest, he is in awe! True awe!! ]

[Varian's just gonna give him that Good Solid look only a teenager can do when they've decided you're being deeply uncool and extremely weird. He's a teacher. He knows the look.]

Uh...yeah? Why wouldn't I?

[Oh yes he knows the look well. But he is too happy to let it affect him. When you're a high school teacher, you have to savor the rare days you actually get acknowledgement]

Eheh, no reason! It's just nice to hear, that's all.

[He can enjoy the warm glow of being appreciated. ]

Oh. Well. I um... I can always say it more? If that helps? Almost all my friends back home are adults so it's not like it's something I'm...not used to.

[Deeming adults as uncool is thankfully one of the teenage habits he has not picked up, but give him a few more months with Actual Peers and check in on him again on that one. ]

[It's a rare feeling]

Ah, no that's ok! You don't have to do that. I'm not that needy for positive affirmations!

[HE AIN'T AS BAD AS HIS DAD, NO SIREE. He clears his throat]

But really? Did you not have friends your own age?

But it is nice to hear sometimes.

[Because oh boy is Varian that needy.]

Nope. Not back home, anyway. There wasn't anyone my age in my village and there was no one really in the capital, either. Rapunzel is the closest to my age and she's still four years older than me.

Eheh, I can't deny that...

[Elliot knows there's some affirmations he would've liked to heard more, growing up]

Oh, I see. That sounds pretty lonely... [Having someone your age around is important. Elliot knows that much] ...Is that why you built so many robots?

[What he has to ask ok]

I guess. No one ever really spent any time with me anyway, I was used to it.

[The village branded him dangerous and someone to avoid long before he'd earned that moniker. Loneliness was his everyday. He blinks, confused for a moment.]

Huh? Oh! No- no. I copied the design from this inventor, Lord Demanitus. He'd booby-trapped the caverns Rapunzel and I travelled through to find the flower. There was an automaton there. We survived it, but I replicated the design afterwards.

[So not only did this child create a robot army, he created a robot army in the space of a few months after only just seeing said robot once. Just in case Elliot needed more reasons to have a big concern for this lad. ]

[Varian might be used to it...but it sounds very sad to Elliot. No wonder he's so hungry for approval.]

You...replicated a design that you saw. Did you find the blue prints or...?

[He shakes his head.]

No, no. There weren't any blueprints. There was just the machine we had to fight against. I couldn't go back under the castle because I knew they'd up the guards there, so I had to build it from memory.

[He says it like building something he'd only seen once, briefly from memory isn't a hard thing. He's not even bragging about it. It's just something he did. No biggie. ]

[ 💧 ]

Oh.... cool cool cool cool. [Cool.]

I can do that after hearing musical pieces, but that seems like it's on a whole other level.

[And a lot more scary. And dangerous, oh god dangerous]

[Be afraid, Elliot.]

I guess? I never really thought about it before. It's something I've always been able to do, I guess? I can do it with chemicals, too. I don't think it's that much different from being able to do the same with musical pieces- that's pretty impressive, too.

Ohhh, I'd say there's a difference!

Music can do a lot of things for people, but...no musical piece in the world could create a robot, or anything like that.

Funnily enough, mine were powered with a music box on the inside. It's not like we have actual...engines back home yet. In hindsight, they were probably pretty creepy.

[Elliot is taken aback for a second, well - Congrats Varian. For all your long list of crimes, this is the one that earns Elliot's look of sharp disapproval. You don't abuse music kid!! ]

I see. So we clearly need to go over how to ethically use the power of music on top of everything else. Got it.

[Out of everything he'd said this was the last thing Varian thought would have earned any ire from Elliot. He really should know better, the guy is his music teacher, after all. He clears his throat, a nervous little laugh bubbling out of him.]

Right...yeah- yeah, of course. Sorry.

[Of course it's what sets Elliot off, out of all the things listed. Because Elliot is a madman about music.

But that scolding past, he'll take a deep breath and the sharp look will go away. Right. He made his disapproval known. No need to drill it in]

...Good.

So...is that everything? Any other closet skeletons, or was that the last of it?

[Varian settles again as the sharp look vanishes, heaving out a sigh, his shoulders slumping.]

No, that's it. My closet is officially clear of skeletons.

Alright...

[He sets his own coffee down, and scoots over in his chair so he can reach over and put his hand on Varian's shoulder gently]

Then, I want to say...I'm proud of you. Not for all the stuff you did- but..

I know it couldn't be easy, coming forward like this. So I'm proud of you for doing so.

[Varian tenses, for just a second, Elliot's touch, before relaxing again- taking the gesture for what it meant. He manages a tired, nervous smile. Normally gaining anyone's pride (especially an older, authority figure) would have him absolutely delighted, but he's too emotionally tuckered out to get too excited about it.]

...Thank you. It- it really wasn't easy, but it felt like the right thing to do.

[He chews his lip.]

And trust me, I'm not proud of the stuff I did, either.

[He'll pull away after a moment, not keeping the touch long. Elliot wasn't much of a tactile person, not unless he was particularly close to someone. ]

Yeah, I know you're not. [He can tell that much]

But really, maybe you got a lot of things you need to work on, but I do think you're pretty incredible for how far you've come. Not everyone is willing to face their demons or their pasts.

[Varian tries to take some comfort from that. He knows he needs to learn to believe the people in his life when they tell him he's doing well. To listen to what they have to say rather than the nasty, biting comments that scuffle in the back of his mind.]

...Thank you. I um...appreciate that.

[He doesn't sound convinced, but he's trying.]

And yeah. I...I plan on working on my...things. I know I've got a long way to go yet.

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