[PP-F4] Coming Clean - Complete

[Teion 0]

Teion trudged through the snowfall, making a straight shot from the teleport gate to Endilix's bar. She was acting on impulse, messaging him like she had. She'd stewed in her thoughts for a while since she last spoke with Emerath about the twins' dirty secret involving her. She spent the last couple days confused and apathetic, missing her home at the same time. If only she could log out of the game, she could pull the covers over her head and separate herself from this for a while. The worst she'd have to deal with is going to work, and even then she could keep herself busy enough to stay distracted. She let out a frustrated sigh. The only emotion she had room for was anger, which was what made her drag herself down to this chilling atmosphere. 

Edited October 25, 2015 by Teion

[Endilix 0]

Endilix had been a bit surprised that Teion had wished to see him. She had actually managed to catch him at one of the times when Flints was out exploring or napping, as the case may have been, and so he thought the timing good to see his good friend. He ran a rag along the bar, wiping it down. He still hadn't had any customers, though to be fair he hadn't really been practicing his cooking or trying to make anything anyway. That was when he remembered the lemonade he had made for Teion. She was coming to visit, so maybe she'd want to try it? He pulled it from the fridge where he had been keeping it and poured a small glass of it, returning the rest into the nice to-go bottle he had made for her to take with her to use the stat bonuses on later, as he waited for his friend to show.

[Teion 0]

Teion finally reached the doors of Fearsomely Strong Cider. She pushed the door open, bringing some cold air with her, and brushed herself off slightly, distracted by the sudden change in her surroundings. It didn't take too long for her to spot the familiar face behind the counter, and suddenly she was unable to find words of introduction. For a second, seeing Endilix act as though nothing had happened in the past few days, it was almost as if she had imagined the whole ordeal.

"H-hey..." She said lamely. The anger she felt a minute ago had subsided and left her feeling awkward.

[Endilix 0]

Endilix heard the familiar ding of someone entering his bar, and looked up from his cleaning of the counter to see Teion standing there. He gave a smile to her and threw the rag he was using to clean over his shoulder. He gave her a light wave and said, "Hey, Teion! Glad to see you!" He motioned to the stool in front of the bar with the sweating glass of lemonade, "Come, sit. I already have a drink ready for you. Specially requested, if I remember correctly." He raised an eyebrow, now actually unsure if he had remembered correctly. "You did ask for strawberry lemonade, right?"

[Teion 0]

Teion was stunned for a moment, realizing her brashness had landed her in a terrible situation. She must have been looking at Endilix like a deer in the headlights before she caught herself and tried to regain her composure. 'If I don't say something now...' She thought firmly, then speaking up, "Actually, I wanted to talk about something..." Her voice left her sounding weaker than she had anticipated, but she didn't budge from her spot at the entrance. A knot formed in her stomach--she was afraid of ruining their friendship, all for her selfish need for closure. "When we...went out, a long time ago." She came right out with it, hardly giving him time to react. "That wasn't you, was it?"

[Endilix 0]

Endilix looked a bit shocked by Teion's sudden topic, but he quickly composed himself and crossed his arms across his chest. "You always pick the weirdest topics to start conversations with. But I must admit, this is certainly one for the books. That was years ago." He motioned to the glass of lemonade, as a couple of the ice cubes shifted from melting in the cool liquid. "Come, sit and drink your lemonade. Let's talk about more recent events, like how your shop is going. I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to come visit. Emerath told me that it's very wonderfully set up and that you had even made a very nice dagger! I'm so proud of you!"

[Teion 0]

Teion stopped, bewildered at Endilix's reaction to her question. After a moment, her eyes narrowed and her tone quickly changed to outrage. "You're just a corward!" Her voice was loud and accusing. The anger she felt on her trip to the fourth floor came back in full force now. "It's been so long and you can't even admit it? How many times? How many people have you hurt since then?" She didn't care that she had started lecturing him. Her words came spilling out. "What about this new girl? Will you ask your brother to get rid of her once you've grown bored of her, too?" She shot daggers as she stared him down.

[Endilix 0]

Endilix looked as if he had been visibly struck. The words hung in the air for a moment, as he stared at Teion, his mouth open in disbelief. Finally, after processing her sudden outburst of rage, he leaned forward, putting both of his hands on the counter. He stared down at it for a moment, before looking up at Teion, a bit of a hardness in his eyes. "I suppose Emerath told you then. I guess it was only a matter of time. I've been dealing with the mistake of letting him go out on a date with you since it happened."

Endilix scowled, "Do numbers really matter? It's not the girls' faults if they never actually made me happy. Not everyone in this world is capable of the same romantic love that you see in storybooks and fairy tales. Sometimes people just want to have fun."

When the topic of Flints came up, Endilix flew into a bit of a rage of his own, "She's different! Don't you dare compare her to all the other girls. Just like you turned out to be different, just for entirely different reasons. If it weren't for my brother being who he is and how he is, I might not have seen that for either of you. I was going to throw you away like garbage. I was going to push Flints away and let her go do whatever. I was stupid back then, with you. I was almost stupid here in this game." He realized that he was pointing at Teion, a fire in his eyes, but he didn't stop, "You have no right to judge me. After what happened, what Emerath and I both did to you... I have stood by your side, while he ran away. I have been your friend, and helped you recover from the heartbreak that I caused and regretted, even if there was nothing more I could do about it but be your friend."

He put his hands back on the counter, and stared hard at it, "And Flints... maybe it's survival. Maybe it's the real threat of death in a dangerous world. But I truly do care about her, maybe even love her. I'm the one who doesn't feel good enough. Not for her, or for anybody."

[Teion 0]

"So was I just your responsibility?!" Teion wasn't backing down. "You asked someone else to do your dirty work, and when it backfired you put on a mask to cover it up!" His words began to sting, but she clenched her teeth. "If you wanted to toss me out, you could've just told me so." At this point she felt like she was putting up a strong front. Endilix spoke about Flints, which she assumed was the name of the girl he had met. Her heart tightened when he talked about her. She started feeling upset, reminding her again of her confrontation with Emerath. These boys caused her heart so much confusion, it was starting to hurt again.

She took a deep breath. "It was selfish of me to come here. I know that." Her voice was more calm as she came down from her ranting. "I'm sorry I had you humor me. I thought I had a shot." She gave a half-hearted shrug, and her gaze drifted to the barstools and then the floorboards. "But I could never get inside your head. I never knew what you were thinking, or how you really felt. And maybe I crossed the line by trying." Her anger had faded away completely, leaving her feeling drained.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Teion

[Endilix 0]

Endilix continued to stare at the counter as he listened to Teion's rebuttal. He looked up at her when she finished speaking and saw that she was no longer even looking at him. He gave a heavy sigh, not exactly able to feel angry at her for her feelings. She isn't wrong, and I know that. And she knows that. The question is whether I am willing to admit it. Endilix leaned over the bar on his elbows, pushing the drink on the bar more towards Teion, causing the ice cubes inside to clink against the glass as the liquid sloshed around. "Please, come have some of this lemonade, and we'll just talk about this, until I can hopefully give you a satisfactory answer." He continued to stare at her for a moment. He didn't really want her to leave the shop in a flurry of emotions. He'd rather face his demons and get this all off his chest while he had the chance, because he wasn't sure if he'd have the chance to again.

"You are my friend. It wasn't a mask. You're a very sweet girl, and I'm sorry for what you've been put through. Yes, regret initially caused me to stick around and push through my apathy. But that isn't why I'm your friend today." He sighed, thinking about what she said about getting in his head. "Emerath does the same thing. Trying to figure out what I'm thinking. It's funny, because in the same way that nobody can seem to think like me, I can't ever seem to understand how others think either. I wouldn't say trying to understand someone is crossing a line. Becoming a part of someone's life means that you have to know who they are and why they are that person, or else you can't accept them and be a part of their world. I don't really take the time to get to know anyone. I just want cheap thrills."

[Teion 0]

At his request, Teion hesitated, but begrudgingly moved to the counter to take a seat. She listened to what he had to say, and by the end of it her mind felt weary. She leaned over and crossed her arms on the countertop, resting her head against them and staring at the glass of lemonade before her. She watched silently as a bead of sweat trickled down the outside of the glass and gathered her thoughts. "After things went sour... I didn't know how I felt." She admitted softly, still staring at the glass of pink liquid. "Things didn't make sense, but I eventually pushed it to the back of my mind and told myself I was better off to stop trying to understand." She sighed lightly, closing her eyes. "After I talked with Emerath the other day... It was like going back to that time, except there's a whole other person in the mix."

Teion paused before continuing, but figured she might as well put everything on the table. Dael was probably the person she trusted the most, at least in Aincrad. "I know I should be more concerned with figuring out my own feelings first. But besides getting in your head, I guess I wanted to know how you really felt. And now that I know Eru--...Emerath was involved... It's hard to figure out what was real and what wasn't. For both of you." She opened her eyes just enough to watch another water droplet fall down the side of the glass. 

[Endilix 0]

Endilix had ended up taking a step back and leaning against the shelves that housed some of his basic drinks and alcohol. He watched as Teion explained the inner turmoil she had been feeling. It created a bit of melancholy in Endilix. Mostly because he had never really known what inner turmoil like that would feel like. He had never felt it with anyone. Not even his brother. He always either pushed any doubts away or pretended that they didn't exist in the first place. He just couldn't empathize with her, and he supposed that just made this all the more difficult.

Finally, Endilix gave a heavy sigh and said, "At the time, you were just another girl I had lured in with 'twin magic'. All I had wanted was the usual cheap thrills and then I would be done, move on, and life would go back to being the usual." Endilix shrugged, "But, I suppose when I wasn't looking, Emerath had actually gone and made friends with you. We weren't apart often, but I guess you piqued his interest enough for him to actually hang out with you outside of the time that him and I were together. When he found out what I was going to do, he was upset, going on about how he wouldn't let me hurt you like I did all the other girls. And so, I looked at him and said, 'Fine. If you care about her so much, you go on the date with her.' He was so shocked. But then he agreed, and I was the one who was shocked. But I let him go." Endilix watched Teion's eyes follow a bead of water trailing down the side of the lemonade glass, as he said, "He did really care about you. I don't know if it was in that way. But given how he ran away from you, I'd say he did feel that way and was afraid to admit it."

Endilix pushed away from the shelves and sighed, "As for me, if you're looking for some deep, dark, harbored feelings that I never told you about, well, I'm a lot simpler than that. There aren't any. You are my friend, and I care about you, and enjoy your company. But that's as far as it goes with me."

[Teion 0]

Teion let his words sink in. As if she didn't feel lost enough with herself, his explanation finished and she felt a dull throbbing behind her forehead. She laid her forehead flat on the counter and felt the cool wood against her skin. Her fingers ran through her hair and ruffled the violet locks in frustration. She couldn't help herself from tearing up now--she'd been holding the "weak" emotions in around the boys, but she was too tired to continue. "I don't think I know what to do now." She wasn't showing her face, but her voice cracked. She took another deep breath. "We didn't exactly end on good terms the other day..." Endilix was so easy-going, she couldn't stay mad at him if she tried. She thought what he did was stupid, sure, but she wouldn't be able to hold a grudge, and it wouldn't be worth it anyway.

Teion finally lifted her head up, revealing a small pink spot on her forehead where she'd been resting against the hard surface. A couple of tears had fallen down her cheeks, but she didn't bother wiping them away. She didn't want him to feel pity for her, but she couldn't bring herself to fuss about her appearance right now. "I don't know if I'll ever understand you boys." She said with a weak smile.

[Endilix 0]

Endilix tried his best to smile for Teion in return, like he had always done when she was sad. This was a bit more difficult than usual though. He could see the pain in her eyes from all of this. It wasn't much different from what he saw back then. That pain had caused Endilix to act out of character and chase after this girl, essentially bugging her until he became an actual friend to her. At least this time he actually cared. Endilix walked over to the counter, and put a hand on Teion's head, giving her a light pat, "I don't think, even though we grew up together, Emerath and I understand each other, to this day. We may never. And we shared our mother's womb, each other's genes, and our entire lives."

He took his hand away, and pushed the sweating glass to Teion one more time, "The lemonade will make you feel better. It's lucky, you know." He smiled at her, hoping that his poor attempts to cheer her up wouldn't end in utter failure, but then he followed it up with, "Trust me. If Emerath has always stayed close to you, even at a distance, he's not going to abandon you now. You could probably message him and he'd come running, like he always did before when you needed his help. He was far more reliable about that than I ever was."

[Teion 0]

Teion finally brought a gloved hand to her face and wiped the moisture away with the rough fabric. She felt a bit embarrassed as he comforted her, but her gaze drifted to the lemonade as he pushed it towards her again. She felt a twinge of guilt, bringing all this down on him out of nowhere. He made her a drink, not prepared for any of this before she stormed into his shop and cause a huge fuss. She sighed lightly--something they both of them had done a lot of tonight--and pulled the glass between her hands. She could feel the cold through her gloves, and hesitantly took a sip of the drink.

"...It's good." She mumbled, almost embarrassed to admit she liked it. She was happy they all seemed to be doing well with their professions. Her heart squirmed in her chest as Endilix spoke again. She shrugged lightly, "I don't know. She replied, "I probably just need to give us both some time." She couldn't help glancing at the wall to her right, where Emerath's shop was sitting just a few steps away.

[Endilix 0]

Endilix was delighted that she liked the lemonade, though she seemed to be a bit begrudging about it. He shook his head and just hoped that was the emotions talking, and not her actual taste buds. He hoped so, because he held up a finger and said, "One moment," before heading back into the back and grabbing the glass bottle from the fridge. He placed it down on the counter for her and said, "Here you go. A to-go bottle with the actual stat bonus. It'll give you a better chance of finding loot next time you go exploring or fighting. It really is lucky lemonade."

With that out of the way, Endilix took a step back and folded his arms across his chest as he said, "Honestly, time is good and all, but he has at least had a few years to stew over this. I think he could do with getting it out of his system sooner rather than later. Maybe go on a quest or something together. Beat up some poor defenseless animals, and remember why you two even became friends in the first place, before my sorry self got in the way."

Item Given to Teion From Store Inventory:

• Acquisition: Craft
• Name: Lucky Lemonade - Strawberry Flavor
• ID: 32833
• Roll: CD: 11
• Item Type: Snack
• Quality: Rare
• Enhancements: 2x Vitamins
• Description: A specific blend of lemonade flavored with finely chopped strawberries. Meant to make the drinker more lucky in finding what their hearts desire (+2 LD for thread duration).

[Teion 0]

Endilix brought out the container of lemonade and Teion smiled more genuinely this time. "Thanks," She accepted the item. "Sorry it took me a while to pick it up." She smiled sheepishly.

Teion fiddled with the glass in her hands, taking a couple more sips as he spoke again.  "I guess you're right..." She spoke softly, stealing another glance in the direction of Emerath's shop. "I wonder what he's up to now?" She wondered out loud.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Teion

[Endilix 0]

Endilix gave a bit of a dismissal wave as Teion apologized for not picking up the lemonade sooner. "We've all been busy in some way or another. It's not like it was going to go anywhere." He did pull down a bottle and a glass of his own, pouring himself some water, before replacing the bottle and taking a drink. After setting the glass back down on the bar, now half empty, he mirrored Teion's gaze towards his brother's shop.

"He's probably breaking something," Endilix said with a shrug. He turned back to Teion with a smile, "You know, at night, when I'm laying on the couch trying to sleep, I can hear him cursing after he breaks things. I feel bad for our other neighbors. I think he has actually managed to wake up Flints a few times with his shouting."

Edited October 24, 2015 by Endilix

[Teion 0]

Teion couldn't help laughing lightly, as Endilix responded so matter-of-factly. "Y'know, with how composed and perfect he always tried to be, it's actually funny to imagine that." She smiled, swirling the drink around in its glass. She pulled up her menu and scrolled to her messages and hovered over Emerath's name. She frowned slightly, as if she had a plan and was suddenly unsure how to proceed. She gave a small huff under her breath and began a new message.

She had started typing a couple of times, deleting her sentence when she stopped likely it. She sighed in frustration, finally decided on a message before hesitating over the send button. 'I'm sorry about the other day. Let's go kill some stuff, okay?' She settled for the simplest message, and forced herself to hit send.

[Endilix 0]

Endilix watched as Teion sat at the bar trying to send a message to his brother. He saw her begin to type out all these different responses and couldn't help but chuckle a bit to himself when she finally went with what was probably the simplest of messages. "Well, now that's out of the way. Hopefully we can all get on the path to recovery and move on. Specifically you and him. And if you ever need to tell me how much you hate me, you know I'll listen." 

Endilix held up a finger and walked back into the back room, after having an idea. He pulled up his messaging system in the back, where Teion wasn't able to see him, and sent a message of his own. 'Hey bro. I just talked to Teion. She's pretty tore up. Agree to go adventuring with her. It'll help both of you.' He sent the message off and walked back out to Teion with a bottle of orange juice in his hands. He uncorked the bottle and poured himself and her a glass for her to drink after her lemonade. "I don't know how long you plan on sticking around, but I'm happy for the company. We haven't spent a lot of time together, just the two of us. I'd enjoy it."

Edited October 25, 2015 by Endilix