for purity's sake.

[faking]

Who: Alois Trancy, The Psiioniic
What: Alois is a Grade A Butthead, but he's got a good heart in there somewhere. He's about to aggressively show it to Psi, and will probably look like a giant toolbag while he does it.
Where: Supervisor trailer #5
When: Late afternoon, edging into early evening -- S1:D13
Warnings: Bad language and bad behavior... should be tame though.

The knocking on the trailer door isn't going to stop any time soon. It's harsh and heated and insistent, a sharp-knuckled rapping with no reprieve. It will probably get pretty annoying pretty fast. No wonder, then, that the Psiioniic will find Alois standing outside the door, when he opens it. (Pretty annoying, pretty fast!) Alois has looked better. He's still glittery with faerie gems, but his special glow spots have a sickly tinge to them, and the half-moons underneath his eyes are so intense they almost look like makeup. He must be exhausted—he is exhausted, though it's his own fault. He has been sleeping as little as possible.

More importantly, he looks quite stern. Anger isn't a new look for him, he wears it like it's fashionable, but often it comes off as petty or overemotional. Random, even, sometimes. This particular anger, this sternness, is more unusual to see on him. He has taken his arrival to this trailer quite seriously, and he wants to be taken seriously, too.

At first he only barely glances at Psi, when the door is opened—instead he rubbernecks, leaning left to peer past Psi as best he can. He's obviously trying to get a view of the trailer's interior; he's shameless and has no problem being nosy as hell. But whatever he sees or doesn't see isn't satisfying, so he straightens himself back properly, folds his arms primly, and looks up into Psi's face.

"Is she here?" The subject in question is probably obvious, but he doesn't bother to elaborate. Instead: "Look, I need to talk to you."

Comments

[faking]

Projecting. Alois is totally projecting. The worst part is that he's one hundred percent aware of it. Or maybe worse than that is that he isn't stopping himself. He tells himself Bonnie deserves better than someone who's just trying to make himself feel better. He tells himself that Luca's— Alois swallows, curling his fingers against the tabletop and frowning down at them, lips pursed. Luca's memory deserves better than a too-late indulgence for his shitty older brother's ego.

But, you know, oh well. Alois has never been good at stopping the stuff he shouldn't do.

He wraps his hands around one of the cups of tea, and pulls it toward himself. No sugar just yet; and he doesn't move to drink it, either. He stares at its steaming surface, taking a steadying breath. Then he looks up at the Psionic. "It's like, it's like divination, sometimes. Even if she says she'll tell you what she want, a little kid doesn't always know. She might not know if she's grown an inch and needs new clothes because of it; she might not know if she's got a fever. And the food— You know— It's good to feed her three meals a day, but the little ones, they should be able to eat whenever they want." He thinks, strained, that he would have fed Luca any time his tummy rumbled, if he could have. If he could have. Yeah, yeah, he's projecting, whatever—Bonnie should get to eat whenever she wants. "Good bread, good apples, and sweets. Give her a sweet if she starts crying. Don't tell her she can't cry—let her cry about anything, and stay with her until she feels better. Give her toys and tell her stories. Tell her good stories, about love and happy endings, even if it's a lie like that—sometimes a kid needs a lie, they don't need to know everything about the world just yet. Sometimes a kid needs..."

He trails off here, wondering if he's babbling, but it all feels really important. It's all important. The Psionic doesn't know what the hell he's doing, Alois can tell; but, to be fair, Jim Macken didn't know what he was doing, either. He tried his best, but sometimes your best isn't enough, and...

Once more, he exhales. "Sometimes a kid needs more than you can give. But you have to try anyway. If you're going to take care of her, you have to really take care of her. With everything you have. She can't take care of herself, so she's helpless. Don't let her be alone in that."

He's still for a moment after that, quiet, before he flares back to life and grabs the sugar. Then he dumps some into his tea, vaguely vicious about it, eyebrows creasing.

"That's if, of course, you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart." There's acid there, like he still doesn't really believe it.

[dorkypantsuit]

Like divination, he holds back a smile at the description. There's a lot that Alois is telling him. He almost feels as though he should be taking notes. It's a lot of useful information, but it's not really what Alois is saying that keeps his attention. It's the reason he's saying it that makes the Psionic really listen. Of course the yellowblood doesn't really know why Alois seems so intent on making sure Bonnie is cared for, but it's obvious that Bonnie's wellbeing is Alois' intent. The way Alois talks and the way Alois acts while he's speaking make it clear that this is something important to him, and the Psionic can't help but wonder why.

She's helpless, the words really make him think. Of course those thoughts are interrupted when Alois suddenly grabs for the sugar and aggressively begins pouring it into his tea. Right, the other boy is still suspicious.

"I don't know how I can convince you that I am, but I really do just want to help her."

Is there something he can say to convince Alois of his sincerity? He thinks about it carefully. He thinks about his lusus, and his own brief childhood. He remembers the wigglers even younger than him that had been caught.

"...You're right that kids need help. They can't protect themselves like adults can... I just want to help."

It feels like an understatement. He knows he's not saying any of this right, but hopefully it makes at least a little bit of sense to the human.

[faking]

The sugar dissolves in the piping hot tea, and Alois watches its crystals dissipate. (He wishes his own crystals would dissipate; the gemstones on his own skin still horrify him.) He's quiet while this happens, and whatever is happening inside him happens far below his surface; anything molten is hidden away, and for now, nothing about him is scathing. He breathes in a mellow way, he idles his fingers in a mellow way. He takes a drink of tea, that done mellow as well.

He shuts his eyes as he swallows, and then opens them again to look at Psi. "I miss real tea," he says mournfully. "Or, you know, good tea, the sort a gentleman such as myself ought to be drinking daily." Almost as if to challenge his own assessment of himself as a "gentleman," he sets one of his elbows on the table—rude!—and settles his chin in his hand. "Well... Yes, all right, you want to help. I can see that." Well, he can sort of see it? The Psionic seems earnest, at least. But Alois is certain that anyone can be a liar. Just look at him!

But it's not like he has any authority here. And he can't just go around... shanking people or... No, he can't do anything about anything. All he has is the strength of his word, and in a case like that, composure is better than a temper. He learned that from Claude, and it's hard to practice, but sometimes the necessary things are hard.

"You must be very careful," he says finally, softly. "She needs... you. Well, she needs someone, but perhaps you will do." Here he pauses, biting something back, face a bit pinched. Then: "I'll help you if I can."

[dorkypantsuit]

Alois' silence is unnerving in some way. He cannot tell what the young human is thinking, or even if he has taken the Psionic's words seriously. When he finally responds only to mention tea the Psionic is a little thrown off. Then again, perhaps that was Alois' intent. He hesitates, not sure what else there is to say, but feeling like there is something he should say.

"... Do you want to stay the night or something? So you can see how she's doing here?"

He really does want help if it's being offered, but more than that he wants to help Alois feel more at ease with the current situation.