Cordelia glanced in his direction, carefully watching Prop’s shifting expressions to try and figure out his current feelings. Just…?, her inner voice repeated, waiting for an explanation to come from his usually smiling lips. As soon as she managed to unclasp his fingers from around the crumpled ball of paper, she released his hand –– slender digits quickly opening the letter; eyes scanning the contents. “Oh, Prop…” She sighed quietly, truly feeling his pain. Or, she could only imagine how he must be feeling. Not a single word had been exchanged between her and her father since her arrival at Thornewood. She’d gotten a letter or two regarding important topics she needed to stay informed about, as well as a credit card, ‘in case she needed something’.
As far as she was concerned education-wise, she’d graduated with high enough grades to get accepted into the schools she’d planned on applying for. Once she was well enough to get released, that is. “Hey, at least you can admit that you do have problems you need to work on. I’m not quite there yet.” Cordelia nudged him playfully, trying to cheer him up somewhat. ”And you might be annoyed by your parents, but at least they’re both alive and kicking. Dad hasn’t even called once since I got here.”
As Cordelia walked out into the gardens, she couldn’t help but to focus all of her attention on Prop and how he was feeling, finding it somewhat of a relief as she had done nothing else but focus on her own feelings and thoughts for the past couple of weeks. “Oh please," She snickered quietly, shaking her head at his silliness. "If I somehow manage to get out before you do, you bet I’ll be coming back twice a week to g l o a t.” A faint, amused smile painted her delicate features, finding herself genuinely at ease the more time she spent in his presence. “Hey, it’s fine.” She dismissed his words, hooking her arm with his once again. “Don’t worry about it. I was the one that didn’t really leave my room for weeks.” Her smile faltered somewhat, before returning once again, this time slightly bigger than before. “Mmm, as tempting as that sounds, and even though it’d probably make me feel better for the moment, I don’t think he’d appreciate getting punched. Hm, no, I don’t think he’d like that at all. It’s not worth getting thrown into ISO for, so, never mind,”
"It goes both ways, you know. I know that I’ve been cooped up in my room for a while, but I hope that you feel like you can still talk to me about whatever’s bothering you." Cordelia paused, and offered him a small smile, sitting down by the trunk of the tree at the edge of the gardens. "I’m glad you’re not, but that doesn’t give me a free pass. I still have to apologize for being a shitty friend. And, I… I know what you mean. Feels like I’m balancing on the very e d g e right now, just waiting for something to trigger me. I hate it,” She replied, her voice a tiny bit quieter than before, averting her gaze from his as she looked down on the ground, absentmindedly picking at the grass.
"I was supposed to be applying to law school after this semester", he muttered bitterly, hating the sight of the letter in Cordelia's hands. Even just seeing it was making him angry. Before he could stop himself, he had knocked it out of her hands and stepped on it, before kicking it away as though it contained the plague.
"Really? That's kind of a dick thing to do", Prop shook his head as Cordelia mentioned her father. "You can't just abandon family like that. Especially not if you're stuffing them into a fucking mental hospital!". Though he was infuriated at his parents at the moment, to be fair, they did visit him, along with his little sisters, and that was at least something.
"Hmmmm.....I think I could handle the gloating as long as I still got to see you", Prop couldn't help but smile. He really had missed Cordelia, and it was so nice to see that she hadn't left without saying goodbye, like he'd feared. "Just be careful though.... I mean, are you sure it's really a good idea to gloat a lot to the big angry guy who's in Thornewood in part because he tends to punch people way too easily?", he joked, gesturing to himself. He was kind of afraid of seeming too violent, since Cordelia didn't seem like the type to like violence, but on the other hand, making fun of himself would at least help him feel a little better. "Hey, you find someone who would actually appreciate getting punched, and I'd be impressed!", he replied, feeling better and better as they spoke. At least it was helping take his mind off things. Being angry alone had always been much worse for him, because his anger would just stew, and he'd end up completely blowing up. "But so....there is someone who upset you?", he asked, frowning in concern. He had wondered why she'd been so isolated, and if there was someone who'd inspired it....well, they'd be lucky if all Prop did was punch them. "What happened? I was really worried, you know"
"Of course I do", Prop returned the smile. "Hell, it's never easy having to deal with your shit, but better telling you than some shrink who's paid to pretend to feel bad for me", he scoffed, sitting down next to her. "Okay. Well, apology accepted then". He really wasn't going to blame Cordelia or get upset. Sure, he'd been kind of pissed when he'd thought she'd left without saying goodbye, but seeing her again...it just sort of made any frustration he might have had at her disappearance leave him. Besides, everyone at Thornewood was dealing with problems, and he couldn't fault her for having them. He nodded, understanding. "I know...it's awful. Like you never know what's going to set it off", he sighed, putting an arm around her, in a hopefully comforting way. "But hey, don't do anything crazy, okay? Or if you do, come tell me first, that way I can at least make sure it's not too crazy", he smiled slightly.
