Bad Things Happen Bingo: anger born of worry (any char you like)
The list of peopleViridiel wanted to punch was long, but he hadn’t expected hiscousin to be part of it.
They had met byaccident when he had decided to visit his home in Silvermoon.Viridiel had stopped to pick up a coin he had dropped, and Aenor hadliterally walked into him. It had been the first warning sign: forall of his scholarliness, Aenor was never so lost in thought that hecompletely ignored his surroundings – except this time. Not thatthe collision would have hurt, at least Viridiel. From the looks ofit, Aenor hadn’t gotten any better from his usual state of spindlyfrailty. The opposite, if anything. It was the second warning sign.
Viridiel decided toinvite Aenor over for a chat and some snacks, and soon the signsstarted to form a pile. Aenor looked tired, barely looked at him inthe eyes, sat and stood with his shoulders slumped and didn’t evenbother to poke the pie slice that had been offered to him. For awhile, Viridiel managed to tolerate it. Soon enough, however, thephlegmatic behaviour combined with half-hearted – no, emptysmile – became too much to bear.
He slammed his handsonto the table, making the cutlery clink and startling his cousin.
“Cut the crap,Aenor,” he said through gritted teeth. “You’ve spent the lasthour trying to make me believe that you’re all fine and dandy. Howabout you stop pretending and actually speak the truth?”
“I-I was tellingthe truth,” Aenor stammered, blinking and seeming obviouslysurprised by the sudden change of mood. “I have been alright.Considering the… circumstances, at least. You shouldn’t haveanything to worry about.”
“Shouldn’t haveanything to worry about? Really? What do you take me for, an idiot?”Viridiel barely noticed how his voice had started to grow louder.“Just look at yourself! You do look at yourself in the mirror whenyou dress up every morning, right? Do you really think that you see ahealthy happy person in your reflection?”
“I’ve alwaysbeen like this,” came out the quiet and weak reply. “You knowthat I have never been an epitome of health–”
“That isn’texcuse for that miserable face!” Viridiel banged his hands againagainst the table and almost caused their half-empty cups to spill.“You look like you’ve not slept or eaten for days! You sound likesomeone just killed your pet! You act like you can fool me justbecause I’m apparently not supposed to give a damn, but sorry, Iactually do!”
At this point,Viridiel was practically shouting, but he felt like nothing short ofshouting or curse words could have brought his message home. He hadbolted up from his seat in the middle of his heated argument; Aenorjust sat on his chair, almost frozen. For once, his gaze was focusedon Viridiel, and he stared at him with wide eyes.
A moment passed inheavy silence. A myriad of emotions seemed to flicker in Aenor’seyes, ranging from fear to confusion and guilt, but he eventuallyaverted his eyes. Viridiel sat down and took a few deep breathsbefore he continued.
“I know that Iused to actively avoid you and that we didn’t get along pretty muchat all, but that changed already on the Broken Shore, if not evenbefore,” he spoke with a voice which he forced even. “You’re mycousin. One of the relatively few family members who hasn’t kickedthe bucket or gone bonkers. Incredibly naive, maybe, but at least youcare about the people around you.”
He had to keep apause before he managed to speak again, and the words came out muchmore pained than he would have wanted.
“…Would it kill youto care about yourself for once?”
All the while, Aenorsat looking at the table, not moving or speaking. Viridiel’s finalwords made him flinch like someone had hit him, but it took a bitlonger before he came up with a reply – and even it was feeble.
“I’m sorry,”he whispered.
Viridiel looked at Aenor and couldn’t think of anything to say. He was upset and angry, but he was also worried. He didn’t like how hefelt.
He couldn’tremember when he had last seen someone look so forlorn.