•In half broken Japanese, I wrote to you 愛してる oh 愛してるFor most of my life, I've thought not with my heart but my brain 心を愛してる•
(Authors Note: 愛してる means I love you)
|VI|
•••
"So what's your story? How long have you lived around here?" Dream asked, Vi gave a smile, one of the first the skeletons had ever seen.
"I've lived around here for a while yeah, lots of people left after the Ebott incident, uhm, don't really have much to leave with, or much to leave for," Vi muttered, Ink looked at them curiously.
"Ebott Incident?," Ink questioned before Blue could kindly elbow him in the ribcage.
"You guys don't know about the Ebott Incident?" Vi asked, baffled before they continued, "It's kind of a huge deal."
"Ink's so forgetful sometimes," Dream laughed uncomfortably, forcing a smile, acting as if he knew, Vi could almost see it plain as day.
"How.. how can you forget something so traumatizing? I mean, monsters had just resurfaced and it was a bloodbath," Their voice dropped to a whisper as they looked around, it was kind of taboo to talk of the incident, "Someone you knew must have died? I mean you look my age, you could've been at my school when it happened." With that the carefully zipped bag fell open, as they spilled all they knew.
"Must've gotten lucky," Blue muttered, smile dropping at the word 'bloodbath'. He listened, knowing he would have to recount this to Ink later, resigned to his fate.
"13 of the deaths were monsters, they attacked lots of different places, the group behind it. Uhm, I don't think they came out with a name, but it was monsters, it left a lot of people orphaned or widowed or dead," Their recounting was hazy, but true nonetheless, "A lot more humans were killed, a lot of kids too. I knew a lot of people who died, some bad people did die in the- the incident."
"Oh geez," Ink muttered, his tone more serious than he ever knew how to be, invested in the story.
"It's funny actually, sometimes it feels like I was spared, my whole family died, my friends families died, uhm, but me and my friends lived, of our class of 11 only four of us lived so that was uhm, fun?" They really didn't know how to talk about a traumatic event in a casual way, so Vi was anxious as they spoke.
"You have friends?" Ink blurted and Dream chided him, rubbing his shoulder with a hand a tad bit forcefully.
"Oh well not anymore actually.." Vi laughed awkwardly, continuing, "My friend group kind of split up after the incident, my friend, Micheal, he couldn't stay because his parents were killed, and me and my other friend, Pluto, just kind of stopped talking afterwards, uhm, I regret it a little, I want to have friends." I just don't know what I did wrong...
Silence for a moment.
The three skeleton's impressions from their initial meeting were completely displaced at this. While it was not good friendship tactics, they truly thought that Vi didn't want friends in the slightest, to hear this news, Dream was ecstatic and Blue could already feel the positivity wafting off of him in bursts.
"We could be your friends!" Dream chirped, clasping his hands together with a calm smile. Vi felt calm too, for some odd reason. Maybe they could start to heal. Maybe they could finally overcome this.
"Yeah.." They paused, taking in a careful breath, forcing themselves to relax, "I'd like that."
•••
The rest of the lunch was easy, carefree, after becoming friends, it was like a veil had been lifted, temporarily at least. Vi talked away carefree for some number of minutes, conversation ping ponging as the 'Care Bears' soon learned that Vi's attention span could be as short as Ink's sometimes.
"-and there was just a random cat sitting there," Vi stopped a moment, "That reminds me, one of my friends loved cats, way more than anyone should."
"Why don't you tell us about your friends?" Blue asked, shortly after adding, "If I may."
"Where do I even start?" Vi muttered, though almost excited to talk. Ink's attention snapped back from the ceiling and the lights to Vi, eye light changing to a question mark and a circle.
"You've talked about that one guy a lot, what was his name?" Ink snapped a few times, trying to remember, though thankfully he didn't need to.
"Micheal, was it?" Dream spoke, nodding slightly when Vi started to chatter, a soft smile on their face. He preferred smiles.
"Oh- he was great, he.. he was a huge part of me," Vi paused a moment, "He really liked cats and very certain things, saltine crackers were like the only thing he ate whenever he came over to my house, and he was really silly sometimes." They trailed off, they really never could form the words to describe their friends.
To Vi, Pluto and Micheal were their whole world. Micheal left them and in turn they left Pluto.
They still felt like shit, eight fucking years later.
Then, no faster than it had formed, the smile dropped from their features, they looked to the side, "I've talked too much, how about you guys?"
"Well you know Lust, I suppose Bartender would count as our friend, there's Anxiety, er, Error?" Blue started to talk, before Ink butt in.
"Error is only your friend Blue, he hates my guts," Ink spoke with a laugh, "Reaper, Geno, Classic, Fell, and Asy."
"We have quite a few friends, Vi," Dream chuckled and Vi nodded absentmindedly.
"So why are you guys here?" They asked, turning from a window back to the three knockoff Care Bears.
"Oh-!" Dream paused a moment, thinking of an answer as Ink and Blue looked to him, "Awkward family situation?"
"Family sucks most of the time," Vi commented and Dream hesitantly nodded, Ink and Blue did not.
"Not my brother, he may be a lazy-bones but he's nicer than Nightmare," Blue blurted and Dream was quick to retaliate.
"Nightmare isn't that bad you guys-,"
"Nightmare is practically incapable of feeling compassion,"
"Nightmare has tried to kill you on many occasions!"
"Cain instinct,"
"That isn't a valid reason for actual murder, you Abel kinnie,"
Vi stayed silent as the three semi-argued, over whether Dream's brother was a dick or not. Vi wasn't bothering to listen, arguments were a no-go.
Suddenly standing from their chair, they spoke quietly, "I think I'm gonna head home early, this was great thanks-," with that they scurried off. Finding refuge in a bathroom.
Just taking a moment to breathe.
They didn't even know why they were so worked up.
It didn't matter either way.
•••
The next morning Vi sat in their bed, they felt like shit. Not physically, but mentally.
Why'd they have to make such rash decisions?
Rash decisions like-
Rash decisions like leaving that dammed old house and its occupants alone.
This was it. Their turning point, fueled by some form of commitment and impulsivity, they told themselves that they would go back to the blue house.
Back to Mike's old house and to Pluto's new house. If Pluto even stayed there, if not, they may just walk around the trees.
They might as well bring some of their old poetry with them too. Things meant for Micheal but they never got the courage.
Vi's cheeks burned. Before they knew it, they were crying. Tears spilled freely and their sniffles turned to sobs.
Why couldn't they hold onto friends anymore?
Why couldn't they make friends anymore?
What was so different now than it was then?
They hadn't realized how much their own demeanor changed over the years, less eager to talk, to rant, to be social with anyone.
Vi closed themselves off after they were hurt and those walls kept people out. It was keeping Dream, Blue, and Ink out, and it would continue if they didn't stop with this bad habit of theirs.
(Few hundred words short of my usual quota but felt like I made up for it with the friendship, it's so hard to write people being social but not fudydhfufye)