Here Hold These (George)

[Georgina Speer]

George mocked offense - walruses were weird waddling welliphant wammal werple wep wop whoop wup... she needed a hobby.

People like Oriel were cool. Cool people. Yeah. The people who weren't all like, "Oh, you can't say that, it might be extremely ever so slightly offensive to someone somewhere in the world," or, "You can't do that even though it looks like fun and isn't illegal or anything,", those people were boring as it got. But if you were willing to just... not care less, George was happy. Besides, what was the point in being fake? If you weren't afraid to act like you would, then you would be the happiest possible, because you're not worrying about image, and all the people around you are there because they really like you, and not some fictional character you conjured up yourself to be.

That got deeply philosophical. Maybe George could be a philosopher... but then again, someone threw one of those questions at her once - it was like, 'You're standing on a bridge with your heavy friend and there's a runaway train about to pass under. If you don't stop the train, the 10 people on it will die. So, what do you do?' Some people would say throw their friend in front of the train, some people would say throw themselves in front of the train, some said they would do nothing. George, however, she said she would be the one driving the train, eating popcorn and laughing at her own imminent demise... maybe philosophy was a bad idea. Mental asylum, on the other hand...

The hat girl tilted her head and looked curiously at Oriel. She was trying to work out he meant the kind of talking where they conversed, or the kind of talking where he punched Kodi in the face. Seemed like the former.

He feels bad? George scoffed, fat chance. The promise of an apology was... minorly warming. But she didn't want to see him again. Ever. So the usually mentally rambling girl was stuck for words, it was a rare sight. "I..." she began, and then stopped herself. If she didn't have anything good to say... "'Kay."

And then the British girl put two and two together, "Are... you and him... friends?" Wasn't the best formed sentence, but oh well. She was interested - of course, she didn't actually know the dentokinetic very well, but he didn't seem the type to be friendly... ever. She wondered if he even understood the words 'caring', 'considerate', or even 'nice'. Probably not. Then again, her view on him was rather... twisted.

[Deleted]

Oriel wondered what it was like, to live a life or in a world where people liked you no matter what you did, what you said, how you acted, or where you came from. It seemed like that's the kind of world that so many of these "happy" people came from. They were free to act however they wanted because their families would love them and always stand by them regardless. Oriel…he had that once. Or at least he thought he did. With his sister. But that was so many years ago, while Oriel was sure that it was still true on his side, he…had no evidence that his sister would feel the same if they were to ever meet again.

Instead….Oriel had to live with strangers and prudes who would only like him(not even love) if he kissed their ass in the exact way that they wanted him to. After a while of that, and realizing that no matter what you did to gain their favor, nothing changed, Oriel gave up trying to be what they wanted. Instead, he worked as hard as he could to be the exact opposite of what they wanted.

Now that he was in a situation where he didn't necessarily have to do either….there was some relief. And he was glad that there were people like George around him who liked Oriel just the way he was, in all his goofy, grumpy, offensive glory.

Oriel…wanted to give that to other people, since it was something he hadn't had. Maybe that was why he was so quick to forgive the boys he now considered his closest friends, Kodi and Erik. Who knew? But Oriel did know that he wanted things to be okay between them all.

That's why he was talking to George. That's why he talked to Kodi. He didn't like it, it almost felt like he was betraying one for being friends with the other. It was hard enough getting Phoenix to understand why he couldn't just ignore the dentokinetic.

With a silent sigh, Oriel offered George a small smile. "Yeah," he admitted, somewhat guiltily. "….You probably don't think so…" And Phoenix definitely didn't, "but…Kodi and I're…a lot alike…actually." It sounded a little dumb to say out loud, but…Oriel always thought it was true. It was why the dentokinetic unsettled him so much when they first met. "Probably about two years ago…nah, maybe even just a year ago, I might've done the exact same thing he done." There were several occasions, actually, where Oriel felt so out of control that he didn't care who it was he was abusing. Many of them he still hadn't a chance to apologize to yet. Others, he still had no intention to. "..Does that surprise you…?" He wouldn't be surprised if it did.

[Georgina Speer]

She knew of families larger than her own, but George's was quite large, and pretty well connected, considering the fact that she had multiple aunties, uncles, cousins, a brother, a sister and her grandparents, mostly still all alive. She was lucky, in a way. Then again, she had to remember all those birthdays and names and stuff. Her head was not big enough to store all of that knowledge. And she was lucky in another way - in how great the members of her family actually were. They almost all cared for each other, and respected each other. There was, from what she knew, a few difficulties between her mum and one of her uncles, but what family is actually perfect?

George never had to experience anything that Oriel did, in that sense. She did always have people supporting her, looking after her, keeping her happy (if that was neccessary). If George knew of her friend's life situation, she would probably feel kind of... bad. She would almost wish she could 'donate' some of her family to him. Because it wouldn't be fair, and she wouldn't want to be living on a cloud, while he lived on the cold ground. She would never want that.

But... she didn't exactly suspect anything. He seemed happy - albeit a little nuts, but the best people were, weren't they? Besides, it wasn't like she could complain (not that she was, at all).

She couldn't exactly... compute the idea of him being friends with Kodi... well, maybe she could. Georgina didn't exactly know Kodi that well, other than feeding off of gossip. He was mean (mean was not a strong enough word, it sounded whiny and childish), harsh, opinionated and a terrible person, from the points of view of those who cared about the lives of others more than what the time of day was. Oriel... was nicer than that.

He was nicer than that, right?

So, when her curiosity was confirmed, she dwelled on it for a moment. And then, the added information. George continued to think, and at the question, she tossed up her thoughts, "...a bit, yeah." She sighed, "But, people change, right? I mean..." She looked at Oriel and gave a weak smile, "You got Phoenix. Now you're... happier." She still struggled to believe a little that Oriel would actually hurt anyone like Kodi had to her, but... she went along with it. "Maybe... K-Kodi just needs something to help him..." She wasn't close to forgiving him, not by any means. He messed with her head, she doubted so many things at the moment, and was conscious of things that didn't bother her before. Maybe, in a way, it was a good thing. But in other ways, it made her frightened. She didn't like being scared.

"Maybe he just needs someone to be nice to him." George scoffed a little, "I mean, I didn't exactly help myself, when I..." She jostled the bags on her arms, and smirked at the ground, "Maybe I'm just insane. I'm pretty certain that's the case anyway."

[Deleted]

Oriel was reminded a little of the time when he first met George. He had bitterly told her how unimportant his own opinion was to other people, how easy it was for others to dismiss it just because of who he was and not for any validness or logic behind his reasoning. That in turn had depressed the girl so much that she overused her power to the point of giving herself temporary amnesia. That truth was such a reality for him that he expected it, though he'd never admit how sad it made him, because he'd rather stubbornly face and fight against it than let it debilitate him. Conversely, it was such a foreign concept to George that she, he assumed, couldn't even imagine what it must be like to live your entire life feeling like you don't matter.

It was just the difference between their worlds. And here they were, two people, getting along like good friends, laughing and joking as if there were nothing other important in the world, and yet when faced with a particular situation like Kodi, both of them had completely opposite levels of sympathy for the boy. Oriel had felt what he felt, which was why, he guessed, he couldn't abandon him. Oriel never wanted people to give up on him, though they always did, so he didn't want to give up on Kodi. Because he was sure that Kodi didn't want that either.

Oriel smiled, thinking not for the first time just how wonderful George was, that she was able to try and sympathize with someone like Kodi. "Yeah…I think you're right. He might just need someone." Oriel'd gotten hints that Kodi wanted him to be that person but….Oriel couldn't give him that. Oriel had Phoenix and what's more, Oriel was just as broken. He probably would have just perpetuated the behavior.

He was touched, though, that George thought that Oriel was "changed". He chuckled softly, lowering his gaze to the ground as they passed over it. "I don't know how much people change though," he said pensively. "I mean, I've changed how I act compared to how I used to. I'm…glad you never knew me like that." As the angry child who would snap into a rageful fit and screaming frenzy every time things didn't go exactly how he wanted. Every time someone ignorantly offended him in the spirit of trying to "help" the "poor" boy.

"….I'm different now…only because I force myself to act different." Ninety percent of it was for Phoenix's sake…because he didn't want Phoenix to see him like that or accidentally get caught up in Oriel's fits. The other ten percent was because of the work he'd been doing with his few sessions so far with Dr. Neville. "But….there ain't a single fucking day….where I ain't so fucking angry that I just want to murder someone…." Oriel took a deep breath, trying to push down the welling up of what he was just speaking of. Even now he was holding it down. Talking about it alone was enough to wake it up. But Oriel still kept his face neutral…offering a smile or two to George as he spoke.

"Nah…you stood up for yourself. Showed you got guts." If any girl he knew had done the same thing….. "I'm sure, at least, he respects that." Oriel smiled again and blew out a short laugh through his nose. "I know I would….well, I did…" After Phoenix had told him the whole story. Oriel's smile widened into a toothy grin. "Think we're both pretty insane at this point, though. So you ain't got nothing to complain about." If he could, Oriel would have brought George in for a hug. But bags…lots and lots of bags were still on his arms. At least they'd finally arrived at the pastry shop. "So….just pick out what you want, alright?"

[Georgina Speer]

Everyone mattered. No matter what. You might feel worthless, alone, pointless, but everyone, everyone mattered. George didn't just think that or believe that, she knew that. Every single living being had an effect on the world around them. Insect, mammal, human being, everything - without one person, so many people would be different. No matter what you believed, everyone was important, and everyone deserved to be noticed and feel like they matter, or see the impact they were making. For some.people, yes, the impact was negative. It caused issues, friction, distance. But it existed, it was there, and it was necessary. The world wasn't perfect. Even with her morals of hope for the future, George wasn't naive, or ignorant. There were somethings you couldn't avoid, but if you believed in your own actions and knew of your own importance, problems were possible to overcome. They could be solved, if you gave yourself the oppurtunity to solve them.

At least, that was what George thought.

That was why she (half reluctantly) was trying to see things from the dentokinetic's point of view. After all, she didn't know what was going on in his life, and even though she did it, it wasn't her place to judge him. If she ignored the fact that he punched her and attacked her with abusive words, you know, just casually brush those facts to the side.

"Does he have someone, like... right now, or...?" She was curious... she had a strong suspicion that Oriel could be that person. The fact that he could relate to the other boy, and protect him (to a fault) to George's face... they seemed to have some kind of connection. Besides, she had no idea of anyone else who could or would be able to deal with someone like Kodi.

She was judging again. You're really not good at this non-judgemental thing. Shut up.

George had a minor problem when it came to people changing who they were, but that depended on the specific situation. There was the case where you had a bad trait or habit, such as... I dunno... randomly stealing things, just 'cause you could. If you changed that, like, stopped being such a buggering asshole stupid ignoramus small-minded twit kleptomaniac and apologized and/or made up for what you had done, that was a good thing. That meant progress, becoming a better person. But changing who you were because you wanted to be like someone else, or because it was cool, was wrong in so many indescribable ways. Although she knew she could do with a bit of... editing, in a way, George was happy with who she was right now. She was more concerned with Oriel. She listened as he spoke, not saying anything in reply for once. I mean, she joked about killing people a lot... probably more than she should... but it troubled her, because what Oriel was saying sounded far from a joke. He might not have been screaming about in a rage, but this was just as disconcerting. She wanted to say something, but was practically.speechless. So it just hung in her ears and made her face contort in concerned confusion.

The British girl gave a half-smile. You got guts, he said to the paranoid girl. And respect seemed to be far away from what she thought Kodi felt towards her. She looked at Oriel and huffed a laugh, "I love how sticking up for myself seems to be some kind of great feat." She shook her head, "It's a shame that it seems so difficult to be self-respecting." She sighed a little, and then laughed as the conversation turned to insanity, "Who says I'm complaining?" Being mad was where it's at.

She licked her lips a little and looked over all the sweet things indecisively. There was too much choice! She turned back to her tall friend, "You choose and I'll have the same." She didn't really mind what it was - if it had pastry and was sweet, she was good.

Except for if it had any banana. Banana was no bueno.

[Deleted]

Oriel was quite certain that his only impact on the world was a big fucking negative one. Even when he wasn’t trying, just for merely existing, people seemed to be disturbed by the orphan boy. If it happened just for him living, then he may as well give them a better reason to hate him. He was happy, however, that recently…he’d been able to make a more positive effect on some people. George seemed to think he was alright. Phoenix…Oriel didn’t think he deserved everything that Phoenix had given him. Somehow, there were still even others who thought that Oriel wasn’t a complete fuck. Note, not a complete fuck, it was still undeniable that he was a certified asshole. That wasn’t going to change. Right?

Fuck, he didn’t know.

It certainly helped that there were people like George who were willing to try and understand…people like Oriel and Kodi.

Oriel shrugged. “I don’t think so.” He wished he did though. “I know he wants one.” Oriel smirked, thinking back on the memory of when Kodi told him that. And that smirk grew into a semi-mischievous grin. Oriel peered down at George. “Want to see something funny?” he asked. Rhetorically, of course, Oriel had every intention of showing her thin. “Here hold these a sec.” Oriel handed off the bags from one hand to her and pulled out his phone, flipping through the screen to the pictures of that photoshoot he did of Kodi when he was sick and delirious.

Oriel snorted as he flipped through the series of pictures, Kodi without his eyeliner and smiling like a derpy kid. “A…rare sight to see, don’t you think?” Oriel bet Kodi didn’t even know he could look like that. One of these days, Oriel was going to have to show these to the dentokinetic.

Oriel wasn’t surprised with George’s response, or rather lack of, when he revealed to her a little snippet of his dark side. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything? He wondered if it would change anything between them…or if she even believed it? “It is a feat, I think. Not a lot of people do it.” At least not that he’d seen. Oriel didn’t even think he did it often enough. Sure he was confrontational, but that wasn’t really the same, was it?

The change in subject from something so heavy to pastries was very much welcome. He was sure it was for George too. He shrugged and sent her a halfway smile. “I always get the same thing. Raspberry danish.” He rolled the words slowly off his tongue as he crept up to the counter. “We’ll take three,” he told the service girl. He turned back to George. "That work for you?"

[Georgina Speer]

Oriel may have thought his impact on the world was mostly negative, but in George's eyes, he was awesome. Seriously, she kind of overlooked the whole memory-loss thing when they first met - hell, she joked about it with him! If you didn't have a good sense of humour and the balls to deal with shit, you weren't gonna be happy in life. There were limits in both aspects, but she didn't feel like he was terrible human being at all. And she may have been one person in a world of billions... unless you counted Phen - Phoenix probably thought Oriel wasn't all that bad either... they were going out after all... okay, she may have been one of few in a world of billions, but that didn't discount her at all. Oriel was not a complete asshole in any way.

Lots of people wanted to have a "person", so she could understand Kodi being one of those people. George... kind of was. There were times when she got jealous of other people being able to have intimate moments with others, and being close and such, but she was okay on her own. Besides, she had her friends, and in her eyes, they seemed more permanent.

She smirked with curious entertainment up at Oriel. Something funny? 'Course she wanted to see it. When didn't she want to see something funny? "Sure." She replied, awkwardly adjusting her arms to take the extra weight. And then her eyes dropped onto the phone, and she almost dropped everything, pffting out laugh. She wasn't one to generally be mean to someone in pain/need/suffering/whatever this was, but it was brilliant! He looked so kawaiiii~! "No kidding." She mumbled, shaking her head, "And here's me, remembering him as some scary vampire kid. He's so cyuuuute!" Like a damn teddy bear. With sharpen-able teeth. A horror movie teddy bear before the horror. Yeah.

George had her bad moments, but nothing like that. She wasn't exactly sure how to react, and that's why she hardly did.

There was a line you had to be careful not to cross, between sticking up for yourself and being snooty. Georgina crossed it occasionally, but when it was an actual accusation, towards her, her talents, her hobbies, her personality, anything, she just held her ground. What was so daunting about it? "If it is such a feat, I'm glad I'm capable of it." She couldn't imagine letting someone change her view of herself. Which was why the whole encounter with Kodi freaked her out so much.

The English girl didn't like being serious. Unless it was funny serious or helpful serious. Scary or upsetting serious was not fun, and it bummed her out. Sweet foods made that better - a spoonful of sugar helps the horrible topic of conversation go down. Or something. She nodded gleefully with a bright smile, "Raspberries are yum. It's all cool beans with me." She watched the worker bee buzz about and looked up at Oriel and his fuzzy hair, falling into the clouds for a moment. Just thoughts about their whole conversation which didn't really make a sensible strand, and kind of drifted from one general idea to another. She sighed to herself and jostled the bags on her arms. Life was weird.

[Deleted]

“Isn’t he?” Oriel agreed at George’s squees upon seeing the delirious, plain-faced pictures of a boy who tried so hard to look like a scary wolf when he was really just a sappy little puppy. He laughed. “Just don’t tell him I showed you these,” not that she would have the chance, George was probably going to still be avoiding Kodi for a long while, “Or…actually, don’t tell him these exist at all, I don’t think he even remembers me taking them.” Kodi’s fever had been pretty high and he’s been doped up on some kind of cough syrup. Sheesh, what a dope, even Oriel knew that you weren’t supposed to drink the whole bottle!

“Yeah,” Oriel agreed, looking down on her with a smile. “You’re made of some pretty tough shit.” He’d give her a generous pet on the head if his hands hadn’t been reoccupied by the baggage that was hanging around them once he put the phone away.

Oriel wasn’t going to elaborate much further into his anger issues. The best he’d done to this point was acknowledge that they existed and do what he could to keep them hidden for the most part. He’d spoken about them, briefly, to a few select people, George included, but…he always felt like he was bothering people whenever he tried to talk seriously about such heavy stuff. George didn’t needed to be bogged down by his problems. So, he’d drop it, and let them concentrate on more pleasant things.

“Mmm, whoever invented raspberries was, like, a god or something,” he commented stupidly, eyeing the delicious treats in the display case. Oriel caught the counter-person’s attention and put in his order, three raspberries danishes. Moments later, after a brief exchange of bills and change, he was handed a to-go box with the goods. “You want it now or want to wait until we get there?” he asked, holding up the white box of pastries as he slowly led her out of the building.

[Georgina Speer]

George continued to squeal over Kodi's adorableness like a friend would over a mother's baby. Who knew someone with such a horrible way of acting could create such a dopey expression. At his next comment, she raised her eyebrows, still looking at the phone. She felt like she didn't need to state the obvious - she wasn't gonna talk to Kodi, no less rat someone out to him. Besides, why ruin something beautiful; something told George that Kodi would not be a fan of these gorgeous snapshots. She wad slightly concerned as to why he might not have remembered the photos being taking, but he was up and walking now, so it was probably fine.

George smiled. She didn't really realize how strong she was, she just accepted what she thought as normal. Anything outside of it was... well, abnormal. So she felt like he was exaggerating, but left it nonetheless.

The first part of solving a problem wad accepting that it was happening, right? And George wished she could help to solve people's problems, but it wasn't exactly her forte. Contrary to popular belief, the English girl did have a good head on her shoulders, but she did tend to be naive at times, creating solutions to problems that wouldn't do anything, or would make the problem worse. You could say she needed more experience, but when it wad people's lives and thoughts and feelings and happiness in your hands... it's not something people have the ability to practise with.

George chuckled, "Nah, it was totally the fruit fairy." She could feel her random juices beginning to flow back into her blood. She smirked at her own comment and looked up at Oriel. And her mind went raspberries raspberries raspberries raspberries and she rolled her eyes to herself. "I wouldn't usually restrict myself from sugar intake, but seeing as my arm movement is restrained anyway, I think it'll have to wait." She closed her eyes and followed him, sighing contentedly, "I can't wait for the delicious fruity sugar and flaky pastry to be all up in my mouth." She licked her lips, "Mmm sugar sugar sugar." She began to mumble. She felt like she was somehow getting hyper without any food, but she wasn't afraid to just let it happen. She peeked up at the taller boy, "Do you think your hair was made with liquorice extracts?" Because that would be fabulous.

[Deleted]

Oriel didn’t think that George would willingly encounter Kodi again anytime soon, but it was good to have all his bases covered. After all, Kodi might still come around and actually apologize to the girl face to face some several months down the line when he finally worked up the nerve to own up to his attitude. Once day, he might. No, Oriel was sure he would. Especially if Oriel made him. And he would if he thought the boy was dragging his feet.

Oriel looked down at his pretty British companion. “Fruit fairy? Those exist?” Guess it was possible. Oriel imagined a fairy much like Phoenix who could produce fruit pastries out of thin air. And then he wondered if there was a meta-power like that? If there was, Oriel would be that person’s best friend forever! “Alright, in that case…” Oriel rolled his head back completely distraught. “I’ll hold off so you don’t have to see me enjoying the deliciousness while you wast away with bags in your arms!” Not that Oriel had any free hands either.

“Nope. My hair is the product of bathing in virgin blood,” he said without missing a beat. Because eww, liquorice hair.

[Georgina Speer]

Nope. George was not going anywhere near that ugly facebutt boy any time soon. Nope. Nada. Non. Nein. Kamehameha. Bleh. Maybe if he apologized. And brought candy. But then he might spike the candy... with real spikes. Spike extravaganza. Spikidy-spike-spike. Spikes 'R' Us. Ouchies for the mouthies, pain for the veins... what was she even talking about before?

"Totally~!" She confirmed, without any actual evidence. Come on, of course there would be a fruit fairy, somewhere over the rainbow. At Oriel's act of 'restraint' or whatever, George kind of awkwardly nuzzled up against him, "You're fab." This would've been a great time to develop a useful power, like telekinesis. George tried... but nope, still stuck with stupid stupid tracking. Ballsmas.

George kind of gave him a half disgusted look, making her face twitch, "When did I ever give you my blood..." She mused. She thought for a moment, before saying, "I have to always wear a hat, or one day, the brain mungeon will come and munch on by brain, because it's so amazingly amazing and nutritious. Also sugar." Sugar would never not be involved. Blerg.