HI!!! IM GRAY WHITTMAN (technically I’m Stephen Grace, but I couldn’t pronounce my C’s for a while so I would say gray!!)
Mr Vincent is my papa!!! He’s raised me since I was two!!! Im almost nine!
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@whittman-jr
HI!!! IM GRAY WHITTMAN (technically I’m Stephen Grace, but I couldn’t pronounce my C’s for a while so I would say gray!!)
Mr Vincent is my papa!!! He’s raised me since I was two!!! Im almost nine!
“Mr Dorian, can I stay the night tonight?”
He’d been knocking on the mad door and repeating the question over and over. Hiding away from his mother for this long wasn’t easy, but maybe if he had somewhere to stay, he’d be well off.
“I think mommas mad at me and she’ll think I’m at papas when I disappear for too long. I don’t think she’d check here.”
- @whittman-jr
Dorian had just woken up from having fallen asleep in front of the TV... Again. And had opened the door to find the little boy standing there
"hey... Of course you can. You don't need to ask to stay over, you know that"
“I- I know. Momma yells at me when I don’t ask though. Says it’s not polite to come into someone’s house uninvited.”
He looked down.
“I- I’m sorry for the… urgency? She’s just been…”
He clings to Dorian. He’s barely able to keep himself crying for now.
"shh.. it's okay.. it's okay.." Dorian spoke softly, gently leading gray into the house before gently shutting and locking the door "you never need to ask me to come in.. okay? You're always welcome in my home, gray. You know that.."
“I- I… it’s just momma doesn’t like it when I don’t listen. She gets mean.”
He frowns, but he does look up. It’s clear that he’d been crying earlier.
“where do you want me to stay around here, Mr dorian?”
"You can sleep in my room, gray" Dorian told him "I can sleep on the couch in the living room, I don't mind"
“No, cause then your back’ll hurt. I’ve heard momma talk about that before when she gets home from the bar, and the whole next day she’s got a headache and back pain..”
He holds on tighter.
“Plus, I need someone to keep the nightmares away. My plushies usually do it, but I didn’t get time to get em before I came here…”
"I can be with you if you really want.." Dorian said softly, gently wrapping his arms around Dorian to return the hug
He nods, slowly loosening up. “That would be really nice.”
“dyou have any plushies, Mr Dorian? People say it’s childish, but I think many people in this world would do much better with a plushie, don’t you?”
“Mr Dorian, can I stay the night tonight?”
He’d been knocking on the mad door and repeating the question over and over. Hiding away from his mother for this long wasn’t easy, but maybe if he had somewhere to stay, he’d be well off.
“I think mommas mad at me and she’ll think I’m at papas when I disappear for too long. I don’t think she’d check here.”
- @whittman-jr
Dorian had just woken up from having fallen asleep in front of the TV... Again. And had opened the door to find the little boy standing there
"hey... Of course you can. You don't need to ask to stay over, you know that"
“I- I know. Momma yells at me when I don’t ask though. Says it’s not polite to come into someone’s house uninvited.”
He looked down.
“I- I’m sorry for the… urgency? She’s just been…”
He clings to Dorian. He’s barely able to keep himself crying for now.
"shh.. it's okay.. it's okay.." Dorian spoke softly, gently leading gray into the house before gently shutting and locking the door "you never need to ask me to come in.. okay? You're always welcome in my home, gray. You know that.."
“I- I… it’s just momma doesn’t like it when I don’t listen. She gets mean.”
He frowns, but he does look up. It’s clear that he’d been crying earlier.
“where do you want me to stay around here, Mr dorian?”
"You can sleep in my room, gray" Dorian told him "I can sleep on the couch in the living room, I don't mind"
“No, cause then your back’ll hurt. I’ve heard momma talk about that before when she gets home from the bar, and the whole next day she’s got a headache and back pain..”
He holds on tighter.
“Plus, I need someone to keep the nightmares away. My plushies usually do it, but I didn’t get time to get em before I came here…”
“Mr Dorian, can I stay the night tonight?”
He’d been knocking on the mad door and repeating the question over and over. Hiding away from his mother for this long wasn’t easy, but maybe if he had somewhere to stay, he’d be well off.
“I think mommas mad at me and she’ll think I’m at papas when I disappear for too long. I don’t think she’d check here.”
- @whittman-jr
Dorian had just woken up from having fallen asleep in front of the TV... Again. And had opened the door to find the little boy standing there
"hey... Of course you can. You don't need to ask to stay over, you know that"
“I- I know. Momma yells at me when I don’t ask though. Says it’s not polite to come into someone’s house uninvited.”
He looked down.
“I- I’m sorry for the… urgency? She’s just been…”
He clings to Dorian. He’s barely able to keep himself crying for now.
"shh.. it's okay.. it's okay.." Dorian spoke softly, gently leading gray into the house before gently shutting and locking the door "you never need to ask me to come in.. okay? You're always welcome in my home, gray. You know that.."
“I- I… it’s just momma doesn’t like it when I don’t listen. She gets mean.”
He frowns, but he does look up. It’s clear that he’d been crying earlier.
“where do you want me to stay around here, Mr dorian?”
“Mr Dorian, can I stay the night tonight?”
He’d been knocking on the mad door and repeating the question over and over. Hiding away from his mother for this long wasn’t easy, but maybe if he had somewhere to stay, he’d be well off.
“I think mommas mad at me and she’ll think I’m at papas when I disappear for too long. I don’t think she’d check here.”
- @whittman-jr
Dorian had just woken up from having fallen asleep in front of the TV... Again. And had opened the door to find the little boy standing there
"hey... Of course you can. You don't need to ask to stay over, you know that"
“I- I know. Momma yells at me when I don’t ask though. Says it’s not polite to come into someone’s house uninvited.”
He looked down.
“I- I’m sorry for the… urgency? She’s just been…”
He clings to Dorian. He’s barely able to keep himself crying for now.
[he’d been staying with Maris recently. He’d been somewhat avoiding Scarlet since their argument. He missed her, but he knew that if he was around her, they’d just argue again. He felt bad about it, sure, but she lied to him. He couldn’t just forgive her for that, especially since she’d promised.]
[he didn’t notice her from his little corner of maris’ room- a makeshift place for him to stay for now until he got his own room. He’s too focused on his drawing.]
- @whittman-jr
Mother? Are you in here?
[she had knocked once before entering, looking around. She had a dress slung over one of her arms; one of her darker red ones.]
I need help fixing my dress - it tore.
[She sighs when she finds Maris isn't in the room, instead walking over to place the dress on the bed. She spots him as she's glancing around for paper and a pen to leave a note.]
. . . Oh. Gray.
“Scarlet.”
[he doesn’t move from his corner, but he closes his sketchpad and leans it against the wall. He makes eye contact with her for a couple of seconds, before looking down to the floor, away from her.]
“I can go get Maris. She told me where she was going, I think I’m decent at getting around the city since I left the Tower.”
[he fidgets, clearly nervous to be around her since their last fight. He won’t apologize until she does. He doesn’t regret it- she lied to him, and he had every right to be angry.]
. . . Oh. It's alright.
It can wait-. . it isn't that important. I just didn't want to bring it up to my Father.
[She frowns slightly.]
Do you know where she might keep paper and a pen so I can leave her a note ?
“I can take a note for you. It’s no trouble.”
[he smiles softly, looking down. He doesn’t like the mention of her father, clearly uneasy around her. He doesnt know why he hates her father, really. Maybe it’s a number of things, maybe because he blames scarlets change on him, maybe because she won’t lie to him, or maybe it’s what Vox taught him to do.]
[he takes a spare piece of paper from his sketchpad and waits for her to tell him the message.]
Oh, thank you.
Could you write that I somehow managed to tear a hole in the side - the left side, right above my waist, and that I was coming to look for her to have her help me fix it, but she wasn't here, and that it would be greatly appreciated if she could sew it up for me ?
[he nods, copying her words down quickly. It felt wrong, wanting her to leave, but he knows she won’t apologize anytime soon for lying. She’d seen nothing wrong with it, even if he had been hurt. Scarlet wouldn’t have done that before Alastor ruined everything, he was sure of it. Alastor was the problem, he always was. Papa was right about that, at the very least.]
That's - that's it.
Thank you, Gray.
. . . Have you been in here all by yourself? I'm sure someone would be happy to come sit with you.
I-. . have to go run errands.
I’m sure you have something better to do.
[he crosses his arms and pouts.]
You know, you could just tell me if you’re mad at me. I’d like to know these things. I wish you’d stop lying to me.
. . .
I would love nothing more than to stay here and have one moment of peace. However, unfortunately for the both of us, I can't, because I'm not supposed to really be around you much. I can't risk being a disappointment.
. . . I'm not angry at you, though.
And who is your father to tell you what to do? You’re a grown woman, scarlet, you can do what you want.
[he scoots towards her.]
I hate him. He’s forcing you away from me and I hate that. He’s making you lie to me and- ugh! He can’t keep doing this, scarlet, we’re family! If he doesn’t want to see that, then maybe he’s the problem!
He was my family first.
You can't- you can't always be everyone's focus. Everyone's number one priority. You aren't mine. My father will always be number one in my life. Always. He saved me- he took me in. And I'm forever grateful for that, and he'll always be at the top of my list. I'm sorry that- that you're still a child, and that you don't know that yet.
But you can’t push me away!
[he’s whining- something his mother had always hated, but if there were any time for it, he figured it was now.]
I- I can’t keep fighting with you, but you just keep lying to me like this. I just want-
[he pauses, sighing. He’s genuinely angry, something odd for him. It had been happening more and more when he thought about her or her father.]
Forget it. You’ll just listen to what he says over me, anyways.
I'm not lying, Gray.
[her tone is firm and final - the same tone she used to use when a deal wasn't going her way. the tone that would scare people into submission, that gave her control.]
You. Are. Just. A. Child.
I will listen to my Father, not you.
Is. That. Clear?
[She's taken on a slightly green glow - static cracks faintly around her.]
[he doesn’t like the tone at all. He doesn’t remember the last time he was yelled at like this. he thinks it was probably while he was alive. It works- the scaring part- but to the point where he jerks away and backs himself into a corner.]
Yes ma’am.
[he’s so quiet now. His mother told him never to whine- maybe she was right about that- after all, look where it got him. Maybe she was right about more than that.]
[he’d think about that later.]
I- I’m sorry- I’m sorry imsorryimsorryimsorry-
. . .
Quit apologizing.
[She looks away, sighing as she walks over to the door. Shaking her head. She turns back to look at him as she reaches for the door handle.]
Let Mother know about the dress.
Thank you, Gray. I'm glad we could be. . . productive.
yes ma’am.
[he goes quiet again, fidgeting having stilled entirely. He’s deathly still, as if he’ll be in danger if he moves the wrong way. He rereads the note. He can’t do much else, really, unless he wants to space out, and he can’t look at her right now.]
[he only makes a move to go back to his drawing he was working on before she interrupted. There’s four people in it. He hadn’t gotten to the faces quite yet.]
[he knew who they were. He scratches out two of them, leaving the littlest one and the tallest. He closes the sketchpad again.]
[he’d been staying with Maris recently. He’d been somewhat avoiding Scarlet since their argument. He missed her, but he knew that if he was around her, they’d just argue again. He felt bad about it, sure, but she lied to him. He couldn’t just forgive her for that, especially since she’d promised.]
[he didn’t notice her from his little corner of maris’ room- a makeshift place for him to stay for now until he got his own room. He’s too focused on his drawing.]
- @whittman-jr
Mother? Are you in here?
[she had knocked once before entering, looking around. She had a dress slung over one of her arms; one of her darker red ones.]
I need help fixing my dress - it tore.
[She sighs when she finds Maris isn't in the room, instead walking over to place the dress on the bed. She spots him as she's glancing around for paper and a pen to leave a note.]
. . . Oh. Gray.
“Scarlet.”
[he doesn’t move from his corner, but he closes his sketchpad and leans it against the wall. He makes eye contact with her for a couple of seconds, before looking down to the floor, away from her.]
“I can go get Maris. She told me where she was going, I think I’m decent at getting around the city since I left the Tower.”
[he fidgets, clearly nervous to be around her since their last fight. He won’t apologize until she does. He doesn’t regret it- she lied to him, and he had every right to be angry.]
. . . Oh. It's alright.
It can wait-. . it isn't that important. I just didn't want to bring it up to my Father.
[She frowns slightly.]
Do you know where she might keep paper and a pen so I can leave her a note ?
“I can take a note for you. It’s no trouble.”
[he smiles softly, looking down. He doesn’t like the mention of her father, clearly uneasy around her. He doesnt know why he hates her father, really. Maybe it’s a number of things, maybe because he blames scarlets change on him, maybe because she won’t lie to him, or maybe it’s what Vox taught him to do.]
[he takes a spare piece of paper from his sketchpad and waits for her to tell him the message.]
Oh, thank you.
Could you write that I somehow managed to tear a hole in the side - the left side, right above my waist, and that I was coming to look for her to have her help me fix it, but she wasn't here, and that it would be greatly appreciated if she could sew it up for me ?
[he nods, copying her words down quickly. It felt wrong, wanting her to leave, but he knows she won’t apologize anytime soon for lying. She’d seen nothing wrong with it, even if he had been hurt. Scarlet wouldn’t have done that before Alastor ruined everything, he was sure of it. Alastor was the problem, he always was. Papa was right about that, at the very least.]
That's - that's it.
Thank you, Gray.
. . . Have you been in here all by yourself? I'm sure someone would be happy to come sit with you.
I-. . have to go run errands.
I’m sure you have something better to do.
[he crosses his arms and pouts.]
You know, you could just tell me if you’re mad at me. I’d like to know these things. I wish you’d stop lying to me.
. . .
I would love nothing more than to stay here and have one moment of peace. However, unfortunately for the both of us, I can't, because I'm not supposed to really be around you much. I can't risk being a disappointment.
. . . I'm not angry at you, though.
And who is your father to tell you what to do? You’re a grown woman, scarlet, you can do what you want.
[he scoots towards her.]
I hate him. He’s forcing you away from me and I hate that. He’s making you lie to me and- ugh! He can’t keep doing this, scarlet, we’re family! If he doesn’t want to see that, then maybe he’s the problem!
He was my family first.
You can't- you can't always be everyone's focus. Everyone's number one priority. You aren't mine. My father will always be number one in my life. Always. He saved me- he took me in. And I'm forever grateful for that, and he'll always be at the top of my list. I'm sorry that- that you're still a child, and that you don't know that yet.
But you can’t push me away!
[he’s whining- something his mother had always hated, but if there were any time for it, he figured it was now.]
I- I can’t keep fighting with you, but you just keep lying to me like this. I just want-
[he pauses, sighing. He’s genuinely angry, something odd for him. It had been happening more and more when he thought about her or her father.]
Forget it. You’ll just listen to what he says over me, anyways.
I'm not lying, Gray.
[her tone is firm and final - the same tone she used to use when a deal wasn't going her way. the tone that would scare people into submission, that gave her control.]
You. Are. Just. A. Child.
I will listen to my Father, not you.
Is. That. Clear?
[She's taken on a slightly green glow - static cracks faintly around her.]
[he doesn’t like the tone at all. He doesn’t remember the last time he was yelled at like this. he thinks it was probably while he was alive. It works- the scaring part- but to the point where he jerks away and backs himself into a corner.]
Yes ma’am.
[he’s so quiet now. His mother told him never to whine- maybe she was right about that- after all, look where it got him. Maybe she was right about more than that.]
[he’d think about that later.]
I- I’m sorry- I’m sorry imsorryimsorryimsorry-
//Hey idk if you’re active or anything but…
Gray had been staying there for a while now. He’d gotten into a routine of meeting with Vox for lunch- mainly because the kid had insisted time and time again that he was lonely. After all, he’d spent seventy years alone, so any chance to be with someone, he would take. He was often shut into his room by Vox’s workers, mostly so he wouldn’t interfere with work, but also because none of the wanted to deal with a hyperactive eight year old boy.
So here the kid was, snuck under Vox’s desk just doodling on a small sketchpad. He was being as quiet and small as he could manage so both the workers and Vox would never know.
A worker, however, ruined it, by running in and screaming their head off that they’d lost the poor boy.
- @whittman-jr please come back I miss you (I lost all motivation for our first thread… and the link)
[Vox, having been engaged prior to this in a heated debate with Velvette about Valentino's way of running the company (directly into the ground, even though Vel refused to see the obvious drop in ratings and media coverage for both Vo- for both ValTek films AND pornography, now that nobody was stopping Val from making shit that only catered to his own weird kinks and nobody else's), immediately froze up at the information. He didn't know Gray was under the desk, and if he had had any suspicion of it, it had been forgotten in the throes of an argument.]
[Two people had burst in the door and interrupted the argument, but he hadn't fully taken in the meaning of what they were saying. He pressed rewind on his memory, one of the few good things that came of having a fucking flatscreen for a head. All the anger - well, most of the anger - disappeared as it all replayed, the words registering more properly in his mind.]
[Firstly, some nobody sort of worker had burst in; someone after Ethan's own heart, to insult both of the incompetent idiots at once:] "Mister Vox- Boss- Sir, I know you entrusted me with - uh, - with the job of looking after your precious precious wonderful little darling angel of a brat- child! - of a child! - but, w-psh-bd-w- well, me and the... the team that, that was assembled to take care of your hellspawn seem to have... well, so to speak, maybe... lost tra-"
[And secondly, someone who was well on their way to a promotion to decision-making (or to getting fired for being too good at their job - Val was weird about that sort of thing recently):] "WE LOST THE FUCKING KID, BOSSMAN."
[Upon returning to the present: the wimp bitch was still stuttering and tripping over trying to explain themselves while the employee with a half a brain was rifling through the office looking for a place a small child could hide. Thankfully for Gray, they stayed away from the desk, not wanting to get too close to shok.wav, who swum in the tank just behind it. Velvette was disinterested, and even though Vox was still angry with her, he couldn't blame her for wanting to get out of here. She wasn't very fond of Gray for whatever reason - nowhere near as averse to him as Valentino, but...]
[She didn't get the whole parental instincts thing. She was decently happy to be the cool aunt that offered the kids drugs when the time came, but Vox didn't really think that time would ever come for Gray.]
[Speaking of Gray...]
When'd you see him last?
"I-I sort of think that, maybe as I was go-?" "Running down a hallway not five minutes ago. Went south but could've been just circling back around. That's why we're checking in here. Don't wanna go to a lower floor without exhausting the first one."
[Oh, that guy was *definitely* getting a promotion. Maybe even his name learned if he played his cards right.]
Good way to go about it. Straightforward.
[There was a short moment in which Vox stared down the unmoving 'Ethan #2,' as he had begun thinking of the weird devoted thing as. They seemed to be very paranoid - or just looking for praise.]
What the fuck are you doing, just standing there?! Go on, take initiative! GO SEARCH!
[The bitch scampered away to go join their saving-grace comrade. By now, Vel had long since left the room, leaving Vox to think a little more laterally as to the whereabouts of his kid.]
[If he were Gray approximately five minutes ago,where would he have gone..?]
He just carried on drawing. He’d been drawing pretty well for a boy his age, doodling shok.wav extremely accurately considering how close he was to the tank. He’s very proud of it, thinking that Vox will like to see it later, maybe even getting it framed. He knew how much Vox loved that shark. His art was rather important to him as well, and he knew, with all the scrambling around in a frenzy, that nobody would be able to hear that little scratch of a pencil against paper.
At least, until he drops his pencil while he’s drawing and softly says “fuck.” He picks it up, hoping that he was quiet enough to not be heard. He’d rather not know what Vox would do to him. That sort of language had gotten him many places with his mother, and every single one of them was never good. He curled up- mostly as a defense mechanism to hide himself again.
[Vox perked up immediately at the soft voice. Closer as he was to his desk than his employees were, he was the only one who had heard it. He turned around and walked three paces to stare at the desk.]
[He smiled to himself. Kid's gonna give these workers a heart attack. Though, he guessed, he couldn't exactly blame Gray. He hadn't been outside of the Tower in a while, all cooped up as he was, able to be looked over. Vox always guards his prized possessions, after all. He was sure he'd have done a similar thing if he were in this situation.]
[Eye contact with the desk is maintained for about another three minutes, until one of the employees turns around and shouts across the room.]
"HEY! WE DON'T THINK THE KID'S IN HERE! WE'RE GONNA GO DOWNSTAIRS! THAT GOOD WITH YOU, BOSS?"
Fine by me. Make sure you find Gray in the next...
[He checks the time discreetly. His (quite literal) internal clock happily supplies a late-morning answer.]
...well, sometime before eight at night, preferably.
[The same one, more quiet:] "On it. Terry, get your sorry ass over here."
"Right! Of course, bos- I mean superior! Superior!"
"Just shut the fuck up."
[The two continued bickering all the way down to the staircase. Normally this sort of behavior would be discouraged, but in the moment it was hard to care. At least it was entertaining. If that.]
[He ran a hand down his screen, accidentally scratching the glass in a very annoying place with one of his claws.]
[He was... kind of tired.]
[Gray. Gray was... Gray was here. A smile returned to Vox's face - maybe less wide than his usual, but with a lot more sincerity than most people got to see. Gray made him a little less tired. The kid was easy to take care of, sometimes acted far too mature for his age (though, he supposes, the kid is roughly seventy-eight), and above all, he actually gave a singular fuck about Vox. More than he can say for a whole lot of people these days.]
[Slowly, but not sluggishly, he made his way around the side of the desk, trying to keep his expression patient and open. He didn't fail, exactly, but it was hard to keep the headache he'd had all morning from showing on his face.]
[He sighed and half-crumpled, half-gracefully-planted-himself onto the ground.]
Hey, kiddo.
“Please don’t kick me out of your office,” he whispers. He’s curled himself up in the furthest away corner- which would have made him harder to grab, something he’d learned from hiding under the table from his mother. His mother hated the language he’d used, said it wasn’t right for a heaven-bound boy like himself, no matter how many times she said them. Papa always said she wasn’t a proper lady, and he’d always thought that since she used such language she’d be in hell. Maybe the couple of times he said them around papa got him here?
He didn’t know what he’d done to the universe to send him down here. He’d been as good as he could’ve been, at least in his eyes. Maybe he just hadn’t been good enough for papa.
“I didn’t mean to use those words, I-“
He looks as if he thinks he’s just committed murder. He has the same amount of guilt on his face and the same look of terror most people get in their eyes. He hoped his mother would never hear about this, but she always found of about these things when she was around.
[Vox's eyebrows scrunched up. He looked more intently at the kid, trying to figure out what he meant by that. A weird thing to say. He'd never kicked Gray out of his office before. Having him here was always... well, it was better to have him in here than anyone else.]
[Did Gray not know that he'd sent away those employees because he didn't want him to go away?]
Now, why the hell would I-?
[Oh.]
[The silliness of it hit him and he fought not to laugh. He didn't think the kid would appreciate it right now. He did, however, let his face relax and fall into a smile.]
[Looking at the kid, you'd think he'd just confessed to a deadly sin. Or been forced to witness one. Vox sat up more properly, having half-been laying on the floor before now. He extended his arms and made little grabby motions with his hands.]
C'mere, kid. Look, if I told you off for that, I'd be a massive hypocrite. I'm not gonna kick you out, and I'm not gonna shout at you or anything. Actually, it'd make more sense for you to shout at me...
[He looked a little sheepish, but not that much. Poor kid, really.]
[he saw the grabby motions. He didn’t know if it was like how momma would do it- make him feel safe and then-]
[its a memory he’d rather forget.]
“Momma was one of those. She used to yell at me for using the words she taught me.”
[He doesn’t move closer to Vox, oddly enough. He’s almost frozen in place right now. He’s just looking at Vox barely, eyes glossy with tears. His little goat ears had pinned back into the fluff. He looked almost human without them.]
[he wiped away the tears. Momma and papa both taught him that he didn’t need to cry if he wasn’t in trouble. He didn’t think he was in trouble. Maybe he’d just get a scolding- that wasn’t in trouble for him.]
“I- I did something I’m not supposed to do. I’m supposed to be yelled at.”
[Vox's brow furrowed. Or, well, his face bunched up on the screen. He didn't exactly have a well-defined "brow". Not the point. In all the time he'd known this kid - which admittedly was not an amazingly large amount, but impressive by some standards - not once had he known the kid to shy away from touch. Somewhere in his mind, Vox filed that away as a bad sign, but outwardly he said nothing, dropping his arms, cocking his head, and smiling bemusedly.]
[His smile dropped almost immediately at the mention of Gray's mother.]
The words she taught you. So she taught you how to swear, and then yelled at you for repeating her? Did she ever tell you why it was bad? What any of it meant?
[She probably hadn't. She almost definitely hadn't - the poor kid will have had to pick up on all the meanings through context clues and his mother yelling at him.]
[Vox, ever since he became vaguely aware of her existence, began to hate that woman in a way that was concerning to a lot of people. Almost as much as he hated himself, and that was... also concerning to a lot of people.]
[Maybe it was the fact that he ever took enough pity on her to fuck her in the first place that made it all worse. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't shown up to get her motherfucking kid in seventy years that was the salt in the wound. All Vox knew was that if or when he saw the conniving bitch again, there would be angelic spears at the ready. She needed to die. In front of him. And preferably not in front of Gray.]
[Snapping out of the deluded fantasy for a moment, he noticed his aforementioned son wiping his own eyes. Something kind of formed a pit there. Poor fucking kid...]
Kid, it's okay. I'm not mad at you, and I don't wanna yell at you. You don't deserve to be yelled at. You barely did anything, and you've been a perfect angel ever since you got here! I've got no reason to be mad at you. It's okay.
She- she did. I’m not supposed to say them because I was “heaven bound.” She was wrong about me going up there. Maybe I repeated them too many times and now I’m-
[he’s staring at nothing. A spot on the floor right in front of him. He’d always been imaginative but this was… wrong. His hands were shaky and he looked terrified. It was wrong.]
Barely did anything. So I did do something… even though it was little, it was something. Maybe momma was right- maybe I’m a bad kid- I-
[he balls up. He’s never done this before. He’s never just… shut down like this. He’s always been very outward with his emotions. After nightmares and memories and tantrums, and yet he’s never done this.]
I- I did bad. You’re supposed to make it- make me better.
[he’s keeping his arms tucked into himself. It was how he kept momma from grabbing his wrists. He didn’t want more bruises, he didn’t like bruises. Momma gave him too many. Though, if he did get any, he’d prefer them on his legs. Easier to hide.]
//Hey idk if you’re active or anything but…
Gray had been staying there for a while now. He’d gotten into a routine of meeting with Vox for lunch- mainly because the kid had insisted time and time again that he was lonely. After all, he’d spent seventy years alone, so any chance to be with someone, he would take. He was often shut into his room by Vox’s workers, mostly so he wouldn’t interfere with work, but also because none of the wanted to deal with a hyperactive eight year old boy.
So here the kid was, snuck under Vox’s desk just doodling on a small sketchpad. He was being as quiet and small as he could manage so both the workers and Vox would never know.
A worker, however, ruined it, by running in and screaming their head off that they’d lost the poor boy.
- @whittman-jr please come back I miss you (I lost all motivation for our first thread… and the link)
[Vox, having been engaged prior to this in a heated debate with Velvette about Valentino's way of running the company (directly into the ground, even though Vel refused to see the obvious drop in ratings and media coverage for both Vo- for both ValTek films AND pornography, now that nobody was stopping Val from making shit that only catered to his own weird kinks and nobody else's), immediately froze up at the information. He didn't know Gray was under the desk, and if he had had any suspicion of it, it had been forgotten in the throes of an argument.]
[Two people had burst in the door and interrupted the argument, but he hadn't fully taken in the meaning of what they were saying. He pressed rewind on his memory, one of the few good things that came of having a fucking flatscreen for a head. All the anger - well, most of the anger - disappeared as it all replayed, the words registering more properly in his mind.]
[Firstly, some nobody sort of worker had burst in; someone after Ethan's own heart, to insult both of the incompetent idiots at once:] "Mister Vox- Boss- Sir, I know you entrusted me with - uh, - with the job of looking after your precious precious wonderful little darling angel of a brat- child! - of a child! - but, w-psh-bd-w- well, me and the... the team that, that was assembled to take care of your hellspawn seem to have... well, so to speak, maybe... lost tra-"
[And secondly, someone who was well on their way to a promotion to decision-making (or to getting fired for being too good at their job - Val was weird about that sort of thing recently):] "WE LOST THE FUCKING KID, BOSSMAN."
[Upon returning to the present: the wimp bitch was still stuttering and tripping over trying to explain themselves while the employee with a half a brain was rifling through the office looking for a place a small child could hide. Thankfully for Gray, they stayed away from the desk, not wanting to get too close to shok.wav, who swum in the tank just behind it. Velvette was disinterested, and even though Vox was still angry with her, he couldn't blame her for wanting to get out of here. She wasn't very fond of Gray for whatever reason - nowhere near as averse to him as Valentino, but...]
[She didn't get the whole parental instincts thing. She was decently happy to be the cool aunt that offered the kids drugs when the time came, but Vox didn't really think that time would ever come for Gray.]
[Speaking of Gray...]
When'd you see him last?
"I-I sort of think that, maybe as I was go-?" "Running down a hallway not five minutes ago. Went south but could've been just circling back around. That's why we're checking in here. Don't wanna go to a lower floor without exhausting the first one."
[Oh, that guy was *definitely* getting a promotion. Maybe even his name learned if he played his cards right.]
Good way to go about it. Straightforward.
[There was a short moment in which Vox stared down the unmoving 'Ethan #2,' as he had begun thinking of the weird devoted thing as. They seemed to be very paranoid - or just looking for praise.]
What the fuck are you doing, just standing there?! Go on, take initiative! GO SEARCH!
[The bitch scampered away to go join their saving-grace comrade. By now, Vel had long since left the room, leaving Vox to think a little more laterally as to the whereabouts of his kid.]
[If he were Gray approximately five minutes ago,where would he have gone..?]
He just carried on drawing. He’d been drawing pretty well for a boy his age, doodling shok.wav extremely accurately considering how close he was to the tank. He’s very proud of it, thinking that Vox will like to see it later, maybe even getting it framed. He knew how much Vox loved that shark. His art was rather important to him as well, and he knew, with all the scrambling around in a frenzy, that nobody would be able to hear that little scratch of a pencil against paper.
At least, until he drops his pencil while he’s drawing and softly says “fuck.” He picks it up, hoping that he was quiet enough to not be heard. He’d rather not know what Vox would do to him. That sort of language had gotten him many places with his mother, and every single one of them was never good. He curled up- mostly as a defense mechanism to hide himself again.
[Vox perked up immediately at the soft voice. Closer as he was to his desk than his employees were, he was the only one who had heard it. He turned around and walked three paces to stare at the desk.]
[He smiled to himself. Kid's gonna give these workers a heart attack. Though, he guessed, he couldn't exactly blame Gray. He hadn't been outside of the Tower in a while, all cooped up as he was, able to be looked over. Vox always guards his prized possessions, after all. He was sure he'd have done a similar thing if he were in this situation.]
[Eye contact with the desk is maintained for about another three minutes, until one of the employees turns around and shouts across the room.]
"HEY! WE DON'T THINK THE KID'S IN HERE! WE'RE GONNA GO DOWNSTAIRS! THAT GOOD WITH YOU, BOSS?"
Fine by me. Make sure you find Gray in the next...
[He checks the time discreetly. His (quite literal) internal clock happily supplies a late-morning answer.]
...well, sometime before eight at night, preferably.
[The same one, more quiet:] "On it. Terry, get your sorry ass over here."
"Right! Of course, bos- I mean superior! Superior!"
"Just shut the fuck up."
[The two continued bickering all the way down to the staircase. Normally this sort of behavior would be discouraged, but in the moment it was hard to care. At least it was entertaining. If that.]
[He ran a hand down his screen, accidentally scratching the glass in a very annoying place with one of his claws.]
[He was... kind of tired.]
[Gray. Gray was... Gray was here. A smile returned to Vox's face - maybe less wide than his usual, but with a lot more sincerity than most people got to see. Gray made him a little less tired. The kid was easy to take care of, sometimes acted far too mature for his age (though, he supposes, the kid is roughly seventy-eight), and above all, he actually gave a singular fuck about Vox. More than he can say for a whole lot of people these days.]
[Slowly, but not sluggishly, he made his way around the side of the desk, trying to keep his expression patient and open. He didn't fail, exactly, but it was hard to keep the headache he'd had all morning from showing on his face.]
[He sighed and half-crumpled, half-gracefully-planted-himself onto the ground.]
Hey, kiddo.
“Please don’t kick me out of your office,” he whispers. He’s curled himself up in the furthest away corner- which would have made him harder to grab, something he’d learned from hiding under the table from his mother. His mother hated the language he’d used, said it wasn’t right for a heaven-bound boy like himself, no matter how many times she said them. Papa always said she wasn’t a proper lady, and he’d always thought that since she used such language she’d be in hell. Maybe the couple of times he said them around papa got him here?
He didn’t know what he’d done to the universe to send him down here. He’d been as good as he could’ve been, at least in his eyes. Maybe he just hadn’t been good enough for papa.
“I didn’t mean to use those words, I-“
He looks as if he thinks he’s just committed murder. He has the same amount of guilt on his face and the same look of terror most people get in their eyes. He hoped his mother would never hear about this, but she always found of about these things when she was around.
[Vox's eyebrows scrunched up. He looked more intently at the kid, trying to figure out what he meant by that. A weird thing to say. He'd never kicked Gray out of his office before. Having him here was always... well, it was better to have him in here than anyone else.]
[Did Gray not know that he'd sent away those employees because he didn't want him to go away?]
Now, why the hell would I-?
[Oh.]
[The silliness of it hit him and he fought not to laugh. He didn't think the kid would appreciate it right now. He did, however, let his face relax and fall into a smile.]
[Looking at the kid, you'd think he'd just confessed to a deadly sin. Or been forced to witness one. Vox sat up more properly, having half-been laying on the floor before now. He extended his arms and made little grabby motions with his hands.]
C'mere, kid. Look, if I told you off for that, I'd be a massive hypocrite. I'm not gonna kick you out, and I'm not gonna shout at you or anything. Actually, it'd make more sense for you to shout at me...
[He looked a little sheepish, but not that much. Poor kid, really.]
[he saw the grabby motions. He didn’t know if it was like how momma would do it- make him feel safe and then-]
[its a memory he’d rather forget.]
“Momma was one of those. She used to yell at me for using the words she taught me.”
[He doesn’t move closer to Vox, oddly enough. He’s almost frozen in place right now. He’s just looking at Vox barely, eyes glossy with tears. His little goat ears had pinned back into the fluff. He looked almost human without them.]
[he wiped away the tears. Momma and papa both taught him that he didn’t need to cry if he wasn’t in trouble. He didn’t think he was in trouble. Maybe he’d just get a scolding- that wasn’t in trouble for him.]
“I- I did something I’m not supposed to do. I’m supposed to be yelled at.”
[there had been a kid watching his “speech” for a while, off in a small alleyway nearby. He hadn’t thought much of it, the loud overbearing noise unfortunately normal for hell. He’d been drawing the whole time, until he recognized that voice. He skittered over there and slipped backstage due to his small size. Nobody would have thought anything of a small child, really. He sits there, waiting for Vox to come backstage again.]
- @whittman-jr (no pressure to answer, some people simply don’t want Vox to have kids, just make me aware)
//I kinda forgot what happened in the episode I think you're this is in uhm-đź’Ą
*He walked backstage, a little tired, but not really giving a shit at the moment-...
...There was a CHILD.
There was a CHILD backstage for WHO KNOWS HOW LONG-
WHY IS A CHILD IN HELL ANYWAYS?!*
"...What the fuck-"
//Forgive me for my kinda half-assed-sounding answer uhh yeah I tried-T-T ALSO JESUS CHRIST I'M SO SORRY THIS WAS ANSWERED SO LATE-
“Uh- hi! I recognized your voice.”
[he sits there for a bit, staring up at Vox excitedly. He smiles softly, little goat ears messing up his fluffy hair. It’s clear he’s been in the streets recently.]
“You sound like my papa.”
*Vox stares down at him, eye twitching a few times.*
"That's nice, but..."
*He takes a deep breath,*
"How the FUCK did you even get in here?!"
//That's the best pic I got lmao T-T
“I-“
[he scrunches up a bit in fear. He didn’t like it when people were mad at him.]
“I just slipped in, I- I can go, sir, it’s no trouble, I just thought maybe you were my papa…”
[he doesn’t look as sure now.]
[he’d been staying with Maris recently. He’d been somewhat avoiding Scarlet since their argument. He missed her, but he knew that if he was around her, they’d just argue again. He felt bad about it, sure, but she lied to him. He couldn’t just forgive her for that, especially since she’d promised.]
[he didn’t notice her from his little corner of maris’ room- a makeshift place for him to stay for now until he got his own room. He’s too focused on his drawing.]
- @whittman-jr
Mother? Are you in here?
[she had knocked once before entering, looking around. She had a dress slung over one of her arms; one of her darker red ones.]
I need help fixing my dress - it tore.
[She sighs when she finds Maris isn't in the room, instead walking over to place the dress on the bed. She spots him as she's glancing around for paper and a pen to leave a note.]
. . . Oh. Gray.
“Scarlet.”
[he doesn’t move from his corner, but he closes his sketchpad and leans it against the wall. He makes eye contact with her for a couple of seconds, before looking down to the floor, away from her.]
“I can go get Maris. She told me where she was going, I think I’m decent at getting around the city since I left the Tower.”
[he fidgets, clearly nervous to be around her since their last fight. He won’t apologize until she does. He doesn’t regret it- she lied to him, and he had every right to be angry.]
. . . Oh. It's alright.
It can wait-. . it isn't that important. I just didn't want to bring it up to my Father.
[She frowns slightly.]
Do you know where she might keep paper and a pen so I can leave her a note ?
“I can take a note for you. It’s no trouble.”
[he smiles softly, looking down. He doesn’t like the mention of her father, clearly uneasy around her. He doesnt know why he hates her father, really. Maybe it’s a number of things, maybe because he blames scarlets change on him, maybe because she won’t lie to him, or maybe it’s what Vox taught him to do.]
[he takes a spare piece of paper from his sketchpad and waits for her to tell him the message.]
Oh, thank you.
Could you write that I somehow managed to tear a hole in the side - the left side, right above my waist, and that I was coming to look for her to have her help me fix it, but she wasn't here, and that it would be greatly appreciated if she could sew it up for me ?
[he nods, copying her words down quickly. It felt wrong, wanting her to leave, but he knows she won’t apologize anytime soon for lying. She’d seen nothing wrong with it, even if he had been hurt. Scarlet wouldn’t have done that before Alastor ruined everything, he was sure of it. Alastor was the problem, he always was. Papa was right about that, at the very least.]
That's - that's it.
Thank you, Gray.
. . . Have you been in here all by yourself? I'm sure someone would be happy to come sit with you.
I-. . have to go run errands.
I’m sure you have something better to do.
[he crosses his arms and pouts.]
You know, you could just tell me if you’re mad at me. I’d like to know these things. I wish you’d stop lying to me.
. . .
I would love nothing more than to stay here and have one moment of peace. However, unfortunately for the both of us, I can't, because I'm not supposed to really be around you much. I can't risk being a disappointment.
. . . I'm not angry at you, though.
And who is your father to tell you what to do? You’re a grown woman, scarlet, you can do what you want.
[he scoots towards her.]
I hate him. He’s forcing you away from me and I hate that. He’s making you lie to me and- ugh! He can’t keep doing this, scarlet, we’re family! If he doesn’t want to see that, then maybe he’s the problem!
He was my family first.
You can't- you can't always be everyone's focus. Everyone's number one priority. You aren't mine. My father will always be number one in my life. Always. He saved me- he took me in. And I'm forever grateful for that, and he'll always be at the top of my list. I'm sorry that- that you're still a child, and that you don't know that yet.
But you can’t push me away!
[he’s whining- something his mother had always hated, but if there were any time for it, he figured it was now.]
I- I can’t keep fighting with you, but you just keep lying to me like this. I just want-
[he pauses, sighing. He’s genuinely angry, something odd for him. It had been happening more and more when he thought about her or her father.]
Forget it. You’ll just listen to what he says over me, anyways.
[he’d been staying with Maris recently. He’d been somewhat avoiding Scarlet since their argument. He missed her, but he knew that if he was around her, they’d just argue again. He felt bad about it, sure, but she lied to him. He couldn’t just forgive her for that, especially since she’d promised.]
[he didn’t notice her from his little corner of maris’ room- a makeshift place for him to stay for now until he got his own room. He’s too focused on his drawing.]
- @whittman-jr
Mother? Are you in here?
[she had knocked once before entering, looking around. She had a dress slung over one of her arms; one of her darker red ones.]
I need help fixing my dress - it tore.
[She sighs when she finds Maris isn't in the room, instead walking over to place the dress on the bed. She spots him as she's glancing around for paper and a pen to leave a note.]
. . . Oh. Gray.
“Scarlet.”
[he doesn’t move from his corner, but he closes his sketchpad and leans it against the wall. He makes eye contact with her for a couple of seconds, before looking down to the floor, away from her.]
“I can go get Maris. She told me where she was going, I think I’m decent at getting around the city since I left the Tower.”
[he fidgets, clearly nervous to be around her since their last fight. He won’t apologize until she does. He doesn’t regret it- she lied to him, and he had every right to be angry.]
. . . Oh. It's alright.
It can wait-. . it isn't that important. I just didn't want to bring it up to my Father.
[She frowns slightly.]
Do you know where she might keep paper and a pen so I can leave her a note ?
“I can take a note for you. It’s no trouble.”
[he smiles softly, looking down. He doesn’t like the mention of her father, clearly uneasy around her. He doesnt know why he hates her father, really. Maybe it’s a number of things, maybe because he blames scarlets change on him, maybe because she won’t lie to him, or maybe it’s what Vox taught him to do.]
[he takes a spare piece of paper from his sketchpad and waits for her to tell him the message.]
Oh, thank you.
Could you write that I somehow managed to tear a hole in the side - the left side, right above my waist, and that I was coming to look for her to have her help me fix it, but she wasn't here, and that it would be greatly appreciated if she could sew it up for me ?
[he nods, copying her words down quickly. It felt wrong, wanting her to leave, but he knows she won’t apologize anytime soon for lying. She’d seen nothing wrong with it, even if he had been hurt. Scarlet wouldn’t have done that before Alastor ruined everything, he was sure of it. Alastor was the problem, he always was. Papa was right about that, at the very least.]
That's - that's it.
Thank you, Gray.
. . . Have you been in here all by yourself? I'm sure someone would be happy to come sit with you.
I-. . have to go run errands.
I’m sure you have something better to do.
[he crosses his arms and pouts.]
You know, you could just tell me if you’re mad at me. I’d like to know these things. I wish you’d stop lying to me.
. . .
I would love nothing more than to stay here and have one moment of peace. However, unfortunately for the both of us, I can't, because I'm not supposed to really be around you much. I can't risk being a disappointment.
. . . I'm not angry at you, though.
And who is your father to tell you what to do? You’re a grown woman, scarlet, you can do what you want.
[he scoots towards her.]
I hate him. He’s forcing you away from me and I hate that. He’s making you lie to me and- ugh! He can’t keep doing this, scarlet, we’re family! If he doesn’t want to see that, then maybe he’s the problem!
[he’d been staying with Maris recently. He’d been somewhat avoiding Scarlet since their argument. He missed her, but he knew that if he was around her, they’d just argue again. He felt bad about it, sure, but she lied to him. He couldn’t just forgive her for that, especially since she’d promised.]
[he didn’t notice her from his little corner of maris’ room- a makeshift place for him to stay for now until he got his own room. He’s too focused on his drawing.]
- @whittman-jr
Mother? Are you in here?
[she had knocked once before entering, looking around. She had a dress slung over one of her arms; one of her darker red ones.]
I need help fixing my dress - it tore.
[She sighs when she finds Maris isn't in the room, instead walking over to place the dress on the bed. She spots him as she's glancing around for paper and a pen to leave a note.]
. . . Oh. Gray.
“Scarlet.”
[he doesn’t move from his corner, but he closes his sketchpad and leans it against the wall. He makes eye contact with her for a couple of seconds, before looking down to the floor, away from her.]
“I can go get Maris. She told me where she was going, I think I’m decent at getting around the city since I left the Tower.”
[he fidgets, clearly nervous to be around her since their last fight. He won’t apologize until she does. He doesn’t regret it- she lied to him, and he had every right to be angry.]
. . . Oh. It's alright.
It can wait-. . it isn't that important. I just didn't want to bring it up to my Father.
[She frowns slightly.]
Do you know where she might keep paper and a pen so I can leave her a note ?
“I can take a note for you. It’s no trouble.”
[he smiles softly, looking down. He doesn’t like the mention of her father, clearly uneasy around her. He doesnt know why he hates her father, really. Maybe it’s a number of things, maybe because he blames scarlets change on him, maybe because she won’t lie to him, or maybe it’s what Vox taught him to do.]
[he takes a spare piece of paper from his sketchpad and waits for her to tell him the message.]
Oh, thank you.
Could you write that I somehow managed to tear a hole in the side - the left side, right above my waist, and that I was coming to look for her to have her help me fix it, but she wasn't here, and that it would be greatly appreciated if she could sew it up for me ?
[he nods, copying her words down quickly. It felt wrong, wanting her to leave, but he knows she won’t apologize anytime soon for lying. She’d seen nothing wrong with it, even if he had been hurt. Scarlet wouldn’t have done that before Alastor ruined everything, he was sure of it. Alastor was the problem, he always was. Papa was right about that, at the very least.]
That's - that's it.
Thank you, Gray.
. . . Have you been in here all by yourself? I'm sure someone would be happy to come sit with you.
I-. . have to go run errands.
I’m sure you have something better to do.
[he crosses his arms and pouts.]
You know, you could just tell me if you’re mad at me. I’d like to know these things. I wish you’d stop lying to me.
[he’d been staying with Maris recently. He’d been somewhat avoiding Scarlet since their argument. He missed her, but he knew that if he was around her, they’d just argue again. He felt bad about it, sure, but she lied to him. He couldn’t just forgive her for that, especially since she’d promised.]
[he didn’t notice her from his little corner of maris’ room- a makeshift place for him to stay for now until he got his own room. He’s too focused on his drawing.]
- @whittman-jr
Mother? Are you in here?
[she had knocked once before entering, looking around. She had a dress slung over one of her arms; one of her darker red ones.]
I need help fixing my dress - it tore.
[She sighs when she finds Maris isn't in the room, instead walking over to place the dress on the bed. She spots him as she's glancing around for paper and a pen to leave a note.]
. . . Oh. Gray.
“Scarlet.”
[he doesn’t move from his corner, but he closes his sketchpad and leans it against the wall. He makes eye contact with her for a couple of seconds, before looking down to the floor, away from her.]
“I can go get Maris. She told me where she was going, I think I’m decent at getting around the city since I left the Tower.”
[he fidgets, clearly nervous to be around her since their last fight. He won’t apologize until she does. He doesn’t regret it- she lied to him, and he had every right to be angry.]
. . . Oh. It's alright.
It can wait-. . it isn't that important. I just didn't want to bring it up to my Father.
[She frowns slightly.]
Do you know where she might keep paper and a pen so I can leave her a note ?
“I can take a note for you. It’s no trouble.”
[he smiles softly, looking down. He doesn’t like the mention of her father, clearly uneasy around her. He doesnt know why he hates her father, really. Maybe it’s a number of things, maybe because he blames scarlets change on him, maybe because she won’t lie to him, or maybe it’s what Vox taught him to do.]
[he takes a spare piece of paper from his sketchpad and waits for her to tell him the message.]
Oh, thank you.
Could you write that I somehow managed to tear a hole in the side - the left side, right above my waist, and that I was coming to look for her to have her help me fix it, but she wasn't here, and that it would be greatly appreciated if she could sew it up for me ?
[he nods, copying her words down quickly. It felt wrong, wanting her to leave, but he knows she won’t apologize anytime soon for lying. She’d seen nothing wrong with it, even if he had been hurt. Scarlet wouldn’t have done that before Alastor ruined everything, he was sure of it. Alastor was the problem, he always was. Papa was right about that, at the very least.]
[there had been a kid watching his “speech” for a while, off in a small alleyway nearby. He hadn’t thought much of it, the loud overbearing noise unfortunately normal for hell. He’d been drawing the whole time, until he recognized that voice. He skittered over there and slipped backstage due to his small size. Nobody would have thought anything of a small child, really. He sits there, waiting for Vox to come backstage again.]
- @whittman-jr (no pressure to answer, some people simply don’t want Vox to have kids, just make me aware)
//I kinda forgot what happened in the episode I think you're this is in uhm-đź’Ą
*He walked backstage, a little tired, but not really giving a shit at the moment-...
...There was a CHILD.
There was a CHILD backstage for WHO KNOWS HOW LONG-
WHY IS A CHILD IN HELL ANYWAYS?!*
"...What the fuck-"
//Forgive me for my kinda half-assed-sounding answer uhh yeah I tried-T-T ALSO JESUS CHRIST I'M SO SORRY THIS WAS ANSWERED SO LATE-
“Uh- hi! I recognized your voice.”
[he sits there for a bit, staring up at Vox excitedly. He smiles softly, little goat ears messing up his fluffy hair. It’s clear he’s been in the streets recently.]
“You sound like my papa.”
[he’d been staying with Maris recently. He’d been somewhat avoiding Scarlet since their argument. He missed her, but he knew that if he was around her, they’d just argue again. He felt bad about it, sure, but she lied to him. He couldn’t just forgive her for that, especially since she’d promised.]
[he didn’t notice her from his little corner of maris’ room- a makeshift place for him to stay for now until he got his own room. He’s too focused on his drawing.]
- @whittman-jr
Mother? Are you in here?
[she had knocked once before entering, looking around. She had a dress slung over one of her arms; one of her darker red ones.]
I need help fixing my dress - it tore.
[She sighs when she finds Maris isn't in the room, instead walking over to place the dress on the bed. She spots him as she's glancing around for paper and a pen to leave a note.]
. . . Oh. Gray.
“Scarlet.”
[he doesn’t move from his corner, but he closes his sketchpad and leans it against the wall. He makes eye contact with her for a couple of seconds, before looking down to the floor, away from her.]
“I can go get Maris. She told me where she was going, I think I’m decent at getting around the city since I left the Tower.”
[he fidgets, clearly nervous to be around her since their last fight. He won’t apologize until she does. He doesn’t regret it- she lied to him, and he had every right to be angry.]
. . . Oh. It's alright.
It can wait-. . it isn't that important. I just didn't want to bring it up to my Father.
[She frowns slightly.]
Do you know where she might keep paper and a pen so I can leave her a note ?
“I can take a note for you. It’s no trouble.”
[he smiles softly, looking down. He doesn’t like the mention of her father, clearly uneasy around her. He doesnt know why he hates her father, really. Maybe it’s a number of things, maybe because he blames scarlets change on him, maybe because she won’t lie to him, or maybe it’s what Vox taught him to do.]
[he takes a spare piece of paper from his sketchpad and waits for her to tell him the message.]
[he’d been staying with Maris recently. He’d been somewhat avoiding Scarlet since their argument. He missed her, but he knew that if he was around her, they’d just argue again. He felt bad about it, sure, but she lied to him. He couldn’t just forgive her for that, especially since she’d promised.]
[he didn’t notice her from his little corner of maris’ room- a makeshift place for him to stay for now until he got his own room. He’s too focused on his drawing.]
- @whittman-jr
Mother? Are you in here?
[she had knocked once before entering, looking around. She had a dress slung over one of her arms; one of her darker red ones.]
I need help fixing my dress - it tore.
[She sighs when she finds Maris isn't in the room, instead walking over to place the dress on the bed. She spots him as she's glancing around for paper and a pen to leave a note.]
. . . Oh. Gray.
“Scarlet.”
[he doesn’t move from his corner, but he closes his sketchpad and leans it against the wall. He makes eye contact with her for a couple of seconds, before looking down to the floor, away from her.]
“I can go get Maris. She told me where she was going, I think I’m decent at getting around the city since I left the Tower.”
[he fidgets, clearly nervous to be around her since their last fight. He won’t apologize until she does. He doesn’t regret it- she lied to him, and he had every right to be angry.]