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My catsth are in the car. Beyond that, I'm on my own. And before you athk, I am armed but who the hell wouldn't be? Four kniveth and that'sth it.

Well... that makes two of us.

[The lock clicks and the door opens, just a crack. Amal in indeed holding his crossbow, standing back just far enough that Psii can get in.

He doesn't even ask. Concern is written on Psii's face and he's pretty sure he looks the same, if not worse.]

Is that Psii?

[TJ rounded the corner out of the bedroom, only to see the two men standing with their weapons out. TJ brought a hand to his face.]

Aw, c'mon, man... I ain't the fuckin' Queen of England.

[Once he's sure that crossbow isn't going to go off on him, he slips inside with some knives on a belt and a kid's backpack flung over one shoulder.]

I'd athk if you two were okay if that wathn't a fucking idiotic quethtion. Tho- how fucked up do you feel?

[Amal makes a face at TJ, but doesn't protest. It's just Psii. No reason to argue.]

Better than the first time it went up, if I'm being honest.

But not by much.

And I'm feelin' better than the first time, too. By a lot.

[Maybe a bad time for a joke, but TJ was already getting stir crazy and it had only been an hour. He needed some goddamn levity, already.]

I don't know, maybe Bram could thare you hith thecrets.

[Ha ha headless joke. Psii isn't smiling much as he says it, however, just sets his backpack down on the ground. Give him a second...]

[Voila, a snuggie. He is draping it over Amal's head. Hope you like them, buddy.]

Alright, we might be blurring quadrantsth a little here, but I think everyone here needth a feeling jam. What do we have an overabundance of?

[Amal protests, but he's got bigger problems to focus on, like the fact that the door needs to be shut and locked again. The snuggie stays draped over his shoulders for the time being.]

A feelings what? What are we blurring, what's going on?

Ain't enough in here to make a pile, Psii. [TJ explained, though he felt a little bad all the same. Amal was coming apart at the seams here, and he wasn't helping.] N' Amal, it's this... troll thing, when you're upset, you're supposed to make a pile and sit on it and talk about your feelings.

[For real.]

You're jutht not inventive enough.

[And he makes a move to prove this point clearly wrong... only to pause as Amal's confusion hits in.]

...TJ did you not talk to your matethprit about the moirail thing? [gdi TJ]

Okay, now you're just making things up! Knock it off, both of you, I'm not in the fucking mood.

Dude, now ain't the time. [He didn't feel too bad not mentioning it -- after all, he did mention it, in passing. Knowing Amal, it was the furthest thing from his mind and TJ felt that was probably for the best.]

Things are a little... tense, 'round here. Though. [And now, he's speaking to both of them.] I'm fine and nobody's gonna come swoopin' in to kill me if I take a leak unassisted, so maybe we can take it down a notch?

Alternian wordth, I'll explain later- [Mostly because TJ is saying so, really.]

And I'm not worried about you dying. [A lie, but he says it convincingly enough.] I'm worried about your emotional thtates, both of you. TJ, I'm hijacking all your clothing. And the furth I brought. And then we're getting on it and talking about our feelingth inthtead of freaking out.

Got it?

[Y'all don't think he's serious? Hell no, he's making for the clothing section, he is doing this.]

[Amal bristles at the insinuation -- he is NOT overreacting, god damn it, this is serious!]

I don't need to talk about my feelings, okay? I just need to... find this person. And remind them that their last target is dating someone who knows how to get rid of a body and leave no trace.

[Between Rambo over here and the growing pile of khaki Psii was accumulating, TJ wondered if maybe he was dreaming. Or going insane. Or both.

He crossed to Amal, breaking their usual avoidance of PDA. Nothing more than a handhold and a kiss on the forehead, but it was what he could give in the hopes of calming the other man down.]

Maybe, uh, maybe listenin' to Psii and laying down in a bunch of furs might not be so bad? [Unspoken, but: you are seriously tense, dude.]

[It is an alarming pile of khaki. Seriously. Who the fuck brings these things over here? What the fuck was traded for them? He is questioning this place's integrity.]

[Either way, he lets TJ handle his matesprit as he focuses on making a pile in the largest amount of space he can find, psionics doing most of the heavy lifting. It's when the furs land onto the pile with a thmp! does he nudge off his shoes and the coat he was wearing so that he can crawl onto it himself.]

[...Well, more like 'perch'. The effect, along with the stare he sends their way that somehow manages to give off the message of You can get over here of your own free will or I will use my brain to strangle you with that snuggie and then drag you over here while you're distracted anyway DO NOT TEST ME, makes him look like a disconcerting lanky gargoyle.]

[A feelings jam is happening one way or another, you fuckers.]

Edited 2014-11-29 08:13 (UTC)

[Suddenly Amal is willing to take back everything he ever believed since childhood. Space travel is a terrible idea, and aliens are the literal worst things ever. He gives TJ a reproachful look -- he is exactly as tense as the situation calls for -- and starts to make his grumpy way toward the pile.

That's a lot of crap in a heap on the floor, all right. All he knows is, he's not the one in charge of washing all this crap whenever they let him leave.]

Fine. I'll sit in the fur. But only for a couple of minutes; I have calls to make.

[TJ looked profoundly relieved as he watched Amal scale the pile, making a grumpy nest for himself near the top. Quick to follow suit, TJ clamored up next to him.

His strength seemed... lessened, somehow. Like a bone-deep exhaustion had fallen over him. But he still found the energy to pull a bear skin over Amal and himself, with Psii perching above them like a pointy mama bird.

Maybe trolls were right about this whole 'pile' thing. It was kind of nice.]

Who do you gotta call that ain't here, man?

[Yeah man, trolls know exactly what they're doing. Even if it's sometimes horrible. But we're not talking about that.]

[It's only when the two of them are secured snugly in the pile does Psii relax, manuevering a bit so that he's on the other side of TJ. He's important to him and Amal, so this seems like a good even middle. Listening carefully, he decides this is as good area to nudge towards. Probably? He is such a shit conciliator.]

People who were here for it latht time?

[Amal clearly cannot believe his life so far has led to this moment, swathed in a khaki nest under a bear pelt with his boyfriend and an alien with apparent boundary issues.]

I was thinking about getting Sherlock to track him down, but yeah, a lot of people would remem--

[The sentence dies as he realizes, with a jolt like a suckerpnch, that he once again focused on himself and forgot someone very, very important. God, he sucks.

One text to Poison later, he's back into the conversation.]

Anyway. No way in fucking hell am I letting this happen again.

[Nestled between these two heat-generating furnaces, under a bear pelt, TJ felt very toasty. Almost cozy, really. His anxiety -- and it was there, for all he was determined to ignore it -- receded that much more in the face of it.]

Well, if you ask me, I don't think I'm the guy people should be watchin' out for. [He spoke tentatively at first, ready for this not to go over well.] It's everyone. Dude already stuck me once, why would he want to do it again? What would it prove?

Becauthe you're eathy prey. You were got a firtht time, you could be got a thecond time. Becauthe he wantsth to thee if he can get a reaction like the firtht. Becauthe he knowth you, tho you're familiar.

There are a lot of reathons. Trutht me, I know. Why did he go after you in the firtht place? The guy liketh to play mythterious.

[Unpleasant things, but they had to be said. Feeling jams weren't always pleasant, but necessary. Sometimes that meant being a little unkind.]

No one could find him the firtht time, right? He knowth what he'th doing.

I tried to track him down myself, and the people I asked to help me ended up disappearing like a week later. No video, no announcement, just boom, gone.

[Amal settles back, relaxing just a bit despite himself. It's warm in here, and with TJ so close he doesn't have to worry as much.

Still worrying, though.]

Glen -- [to TJ:] do you remember Glen? -- [to both:] had a theory, but I don't know if there's anything to it because we were never able to prove anything. You were helping people who were going hungry, and she thought that maybe if you stand out, if you're someone who does enough good to prevent misery or deaths, maybe they target you.

I dunno, maybe it's way off base. We never had enough to go on.

[Psii's list of reasons was pretty compelling, as was Amal's theory -- or Glen's theory (she didn't spark much memory in TJ except for the sudden and immediate knowledge that she was a woman, not a man, despite her name). He nodded to them both, hands kneading against the fur until he found Amal's hand and, after a fashion, Psii's wrist.]

No offense to Glen or you, but I ain't exactly a pillar of the community. [TJ frowned, looking between them.] I mean, this ain't a food bank, I'm not givin' shit away for free.

I just don't think it's as easy as all that. [And, tentative, again:] Like--Like it's a distraction or somethin'. I dunno.

[There's a small jolt at being touched- he'd been avoiding it himself just because he didn't want to cause any issues with Amal. He relaxes after a moment, however, free hand coming to rest on the back of TJ's.]

...I don't think he'th with the Tech group. Maybe I'm wrong- I've only been here a little while. But... I don't think tho. There'th thomething more.

[There's a shake of his head.]

What'd it feel like, not having anything to do after that? And you- [To TJ, now.] -come on, you jutht thaw torture porn of yourthelf. Hardly anyone ith relaxed after that.

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