Tell me you love me, but you treat me like I'm never there

[awreck]

Who: Nice & Wreck
What: Dealing with the aftermath of who they were in the Story
When: The day after the return to the Library
Where: Lego Club!
Content warnings: It's TBHX and mentions of suicide are likely, so pre-emptively warning for it here.

Wreck hates and loves the Library all at once. It's because of this place that Nice is even alive and himself to begin with, and so Wreck is immensely grateful for this opportunity. However, when the Library keeps dragging the Editors into Stories to play their parts to properly end the story, it's difficult to appreciate the second chance they've both been given.

Once they returned from the Story and ceased to be Láng Yìchén and Jiāng Wěi, there was no need for Nice to say anything. Wreck immediately knew that Nice would want to avoid him, and so he gave him his space, resisted seeking him out, kept his mouth shut.

It doesn't last long, though. How could it, when he had promised himself he would be more attentive and not allow Nice to carry his burdens on his own? So, the most he manages to give that space for roughly 24 hours before he actively seeks Nice out. He checks all of Nice's usual spots first, and eventually he comes upon the Children's Area where the Lego Club is held.

Comments

[dovedive]

[ It seems there were a lot of things weighing heavily on Nice's mind. About the library, about the stories, about all these stupid personas they keep adopting, and about Wreck. So many things were affecting him, so many things were bothering him, and it really showed in the children's area where all the Lego boxes were. When Wreck finally Nice, he was on the floor with different boxes of legos opened. Half of the boxes looked to be one solid color of pieces inside and in front of Nice were a bunch that he had recently dumped out to organize. ]

If you want a specific color, try not to mix them.

[ He heard the footsteps, but his mind couldn't register who they belonged to at the moment. ]

[awreck]

[ He feels relieved when he finds Nice, although he's not surprised to see him organizing the Lego pieces. Wreck walks over briskly and crouches down beside him. ]

Did someone put away the pieces haphazardly?

[ Wreck keeps his tone light and evenly measured. ]

[dovedive]

[ Nice freezes for a brief moment when he hears Wreck's voice, hesitantly reaching out to pick up another couple blocks to inspect. ]

Supposably they're supposed to be haphazardly thrown together.

[awreck]

[ Wreck squints his eyes a bit as his brain tries to parse that information. ]

Liiiike... intentionally?

[dovedive]

Yeah, like some sort of "look here's all these pieces of random colors make anything you want!" mix match bucket.

[ Nice's voice takes a higher mocking tone. ]

[awreck]

Mm....

[ It's not like he's a neat freak himself, but he'd be pissed if he were trying to build something and had to dig through a sea of colors to sort them out so he could actually build what he wanted in a way that made sense. ]

So, were you trying to sort them? Or trying to suffer through building something with that mess?

[dovedive]

I was trying to sort them...

[ But really he just wanted something else to focus on other than his thoughts. ]

[awreck]

Hmm...

[ He tilts his head thoughtfully. He wants so badly to fix one small problem for Nice, even though he understands why Nice is sorting them to begin with. ]

Want me to help?

[ He figures if he asks, Nice can make the choice himself. ]

[dovedive]

[ Nice pauses again. His eyes darting toward the direction Wreck was in before looking back to the pile of Legos. Frowning thoughtfully another few seconds of silence fill the room before he nudges some of the pile to Wrecks side. ]

If you want to.

[awreck]

Maybe we can build something together after?

[ Wreck leans forward, spreading his arms wide and leaning forward as if to scoop the Legos into his arms. The Legos glitch in a full display of rainbow colors and static as Wreck uses his hands to guide and shape the pieces into a tower that's wider than it is tall.

When the glitching fades, the pieces are in solid blocks of color, although the tower begins to fall apart. Wreck pulls over a few empty boxes so he can sort the colors into the boxes as the pieces spill over the sides, sliding the boxes toward Nice as each box fills with mostly single-color Lego pieces.

It's not perfect, as Nice will see. A few different colors outside of the primary color of each box ended up spilling in, too, but it's significantly more organized than the heap of random colors. ]

Sorry, looks like you'll still have to sort them a bit.

[dovedive]

That- [ Wreck might think that Nice was about to scold him or something of the sort, but he was staring in amazement. So even here Wreck had that kind of power control. ]

is actually.... pretty cool.

[awreck]

...What?

[ He laughs faintly, feeling a little flabbergasted. ]

The sorting?

[dovedive]

I didn't realize your power could scale back into such a way. And you have a good handle on them too...

[ It's a lot more impressive than anything he could do. ]

[awreck]

...You're such a goofball.

[ Wreck rolls his eyes, but he's smiling. ]

I can manipulate entire buildings like a Rubik's cube, but this is what impresses you?

[dovedive]

Since when can you find people manipulating things like toys like this in such a way that they sort themselves?

[awreck]

Yeah, but it's not like it's perfect. There's still a few mismatched colors in there.

[dovedive]

Stupid... I'm trying to give you a compliment here. Take it...!

[ Nice lets out a soft huff and lightly elbows Wreck beside him. ]

[awreck]

Okay, okay!

[ He chuckles as Nice elbows him, glad to get that kind of reaction out of Nice. ]

Message received loud and clear. I'm amazing at my job.

[dovedive]

[ Nice just rolls his eyes and gives Wreck the softest little sounds of annoyance. Nice falls into this silence again, placing small pieces here. Placing yellow pieces there. Then suddenly without warning Nice just reaches out and messes up everything he organized before him. ]

[awreck]

[ Wreck watches him, glancing aside for a moment before turning his gaze back to Nice. ]

So I know the answer is no, but I'm gonna ask anyway. Do you... want to talk?

[dovedive]

No!-- Yes...? I don't know!

[awreck]

Okay.

[ He reaches out to rest a hand on Nice's shoulder. ]

...Would it... be okay if I talk and you listen?

[dovedive]

[ . . . ]

I guess... so.

[ he can't get his thoughts in order, maybe Wreck could do a better job. ]

[awreck]

[ He isn't sure if Nice is okay with the contact, so he squeezes Nice's shoulder before he lets his hand fall away. ]

Okay. So... um...

[ He'd thought about what he wanted to say in general before he began searching for Nice, but now that he's here, he's not really sure where to start. ]

I guess I wanted to start off with I'm sorry? I know it wasn't really us, but it still... also kind of was, so...

[dovedive]

[ Nice's face scrunches up a little, almost unreadable. He turned his head to finally look at Wreck. What was he talking about? What was he even apologizing for? Did he think Nice wanted to hear an apology? Was he just apologizing for the sake of it??]

What are you even talking about?