amicably_absent | (no subject)

(no subject)

Glitch slept in late, not remembering Wyatt waking him before he left and instead retiring out to the rotunda with some books for the day. He sat on the swing, luckily having found the one where they had found DG swinging, not having to race back through the maze.

He read quietly through old books, books he had penned during his academic years. It was familiar, but he couldn't remember writing them.

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He looks away, the grin fading to something softer, something much more vulnerable. "In a way. I find reaching conclusions on opinions first saves a lot of hurt though. If you assume the worst, anything better is a blessing. I've never been very good with people."

His voice is almost whisper soft and shy, not looking up to Jeb.

Jeb, unlike his father, doesn't notice the shift at all. He thinks, and who wouldn't were they in his shoes, that he's simply said something very, very wrong. Though, with all the other things he's said already, he has no idea why he's gone too far now.

"Hey..." He reaches out, placing his hand on Glitch's arm. "I'm sorry. No one should ever have to feel that way. I was going to say you make him smile like it's the easiest thing in the world, and I have no idea how you do it. And, that I'm actually kinda glad you do. He needs to smile more. Be happy."

"Glitch has that effect on a lot of people, I notice. I don't really understand how he does it, I was never like that before."

The fluidity of pronouns is confusing, even for the man using them. Then the bright smile is back. "You're sweet, like your dad. Thanks." He closes his hand on Jeb's and pats it softly.

"So...we're okay? You know, with me being awkward when you guys go all fluffy with each other and stuff?"

He thinks he can feel a headache coming on, though he has no idea why, other than he feels terribly confused. Wyatt never did get around to explain about the whys and what fors of Glitch and Ambrose switching places.

"I'm not revolted. And I don't hate you. I just don't know you well enough to really like you yet, either."

"That's fair." He keeps swinging, back and forth. Back and forth. "I like most people on first impression. All of them. Every time. Until they're horrible to me. Which usually doesn't take long, but sometimes-"

He blinks and goes silent for a moment, then looks to Jeb and smiles. "Hi!"

"Hey."

Yeah. That's a headache, alright. "But sometimes, what?"

"Sometimes what what?" He blinks again. "What are you talking about?"

His mouth opens and closes, but nothing comes out, until one of his hands find its way to comb through his hair. "I don't know?"

"Neither do I. At least it's both of us." He's very cheerful about it.

"Yeah, so... We're having fish for dinner. Wyatt asked me to go look for you, make sure you get back indoors in time for it. Dinner, I mean."

He really, really has no idea how Wyatt does it, and he really means that.

"Oh, awesome." He smiles and picks up his books. "I'd forget to eat probably until far too late. But I've been eating out here."

"You want to start heading back?"

He decides to help with the books. "Let me get those for you."

He's seen Glitch walk on his own, and it isn't the most balanced of walks he's ever seen. He doesn't want to come back with Glitch somehow injured because he couldn't be bothered to help a guy out.

"Thank you." He sorts out the books and starts off towards the maze in his usual swaying, casual gait.

Before he follows, Jeb takes a quick look around to make sure nothing's left behind, and, satisfied that they have everything, he starts walking.

Small talk. Small talk shouldn't be this difficult. "How was your day?"

"I have no idea. It was probably good though. I can't remember anything bad." Which is as good as he gets. "The grumpy lady said I need a bath, but she's not willing to fight with me over the soaps again."

"Who?"

It's either that or pointing out that not remembering your day and assuming it's good, is, well, not good. And he doesn't want to ask if Glitch usually doesn't remember his days, or if it's a temporary thing.

Or if he just remembers Wyatt.

"The grumpy lady. The nurse." He starts into the maze, moving with confidence so long as he doesn't think about it.

And Jeb follows along, keeping a look out for his own footsteps along the way. He made sure to map the maze in his head as he went along, made sure to take note of things that most people wouldn't, to guide him.

He wonders why Wyatt would say it was easy to get lost in here. Once you know the way, you know the way, simple as that.

"Do you think you need a bath? Maybe it's just a lady thing. Obsessive cleanliness?"

He's trying to make a joke, and he's not so sure he's succeeding.

Jeb clearly has an uncanny memory for directions. Glitch keeps walking, letting himself move through the hedges.

"With my memory? It's always hard to say..."

When you set up a resistance camp in the middle of the biggest forest you can find, and have to switch locations at the drop of a hat, a keen sense for survival comes in handy real quick. It's stuck with him, and it isn't about to be unstuck anytime soon.

"Well, you'd think a guy wouldn't need his memory to know when he stinks." He grins.

Glitch laughs. "You get that cheek from both your parents, I think." He winds back out to the manor house. "Well, people aren't avoiding me, so I guess I'm good."

"Yeah... Mom was a real nutter, sometimes. She'd say the craziest things." The grin fades to a smile. "She could bullshit anyone, anywhere, about anything."

He shrugs, shifting his grip on Glitch's books. "I don't know if she was like that before the Longcoats. I don't remember."

"I think she was. That's how Wyatt describes her as well. When we found the house..."

He remembers the pain. He remembers walking silently next to Cain.

"And the grave."

He slows to a halt, watching Glitch somberly. "He really didn't know, did he?"

"No. He thought you were dead. That he'd watched the two of your die for years... Then Zero let slip that you were alive. We were trying to cross the divide when he found a... something. A soldier carved it, resistance soldier. Just like the one that stopped the bullet. The guy told us where you were living. Behind the white tree."

Glitch stops and looks back. "I think he only kept going for the hope he'd find you."