[ The words are echoed right back at him. Because she's surprised. Maybe she shouldn't be, because of course Martin of all people would be the type to get people Christmas presents. It fits him perfectly.
But at the same time.. she's already so unused to presents, let alone that she'd think about it at a moment like this, when her mind is so focused instead on his wellbeing. ]
[He'll give her the address on Blackwood Run and do his best to look a little less miserably ill while she's on her way over. Whenever she knocks or rings the bell, she'll be met by a pale Martin in some sweat clothes, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He does his best to smile for her.]
Hey, Ange. I, um... come on in.
[Martin motions her in and shuffles back over to the sofa to collapse there. On the table, there's a teddy bear with a rainbow friendship bracelet draped over its head.]
[ There's not too much time before Ange is already at the door. She may have rushed over a little, although she was sure to pause and catch her breath before ringing the doorbell - because looking like she was desperate to hurry over and see him is just not Ange's style, obviously.
But as she's let in, before she can even remark anything about the way Martin looks right now - half-dead being a good word for it, but also awkward considering the circumstances -, Ange spots the presents.
And that just renders her quiet. Anything else she wanted to say just dies in her throat right then and there. ]
.. those are for me..?
[ Ange slowly walks up to them, poking the teddy bear's cheek with a finger. ]
[Martin offers her another exhausted smile before coughing weakly.]
Put-put on the bracelet and keep it on, okay? The bear's just to be cute. The bracelet's from Sodder. Should keep you safe from an attack that's supposed to kill you at least once a day. I know this place has a lot of... bad things. Suddenly bad things. I wanted you to have some protection. It's not a lot. But I wanted... you should have that.
[ She glances over from Martin to the bracelet, finally picking it up and holding it in her hand. Something like this could really do that? Not that Ange thinks Martin would lie to her, but it just looks a bit.. ]
S-.. Sheesh, you don't have to look out for me like that.. [ She's embarrassed.
She's so obviously embarrassed. That near-frown, the pink cheeks. Unsure how to deal with someone actually giving a crap about her. ]
Besides, don't you need it more than me? You're the one who just died and came back! [ Ah, there it is. The tsun coming out. ]
[He snakes a hand out from the blanket and holds up his wrist. It has a matching bracelet on it.]
I have a few. You were one of the people I wanted them for... just in case you don't have any cool bears watching your back. It did what it was supposed to for me. There were just too many of them.
I'm sorry you watched that. I just... I didn't want people not to know. To wonder what had happened to me.
[ Ange is quiet for a moment, wandering over back towards where Martin is, so she can sit down nearby him, rather than awkwardly talk across the room. She's taking the gifts with her already - putting the bear on her lap as she sits, and moving to already put on the bracelet, just to show she won't let his gifts go to waste. ]
It's not the first time I've seen someone die. [ Not that it makes it any easier.
But she likes to outwardly pretend it does. Even though her freakout on his voicemail already gave away the fact that it very much wasn't easy for her, no matter how much Ange tries to downplay it now. ]
It just sucks because I.. I don't want you to go through that much pain. You've already dealt with enough. [ Since he was able to understand her own pain before. The shared depression. ] You deserve better than to die at the hands of this dumb place.
Yeah, well... a lot of people deserve better. Most of them here, I expect.
[Except Elias. Elias can choke on a bone and get ripped apart by frost zombies, as far as Martin is concerned.]
Just staying close to home for the next while, though.
[Martin's on the sofa, and while he wants to be companionable, he doesn't want to wrap a sweaty arm around her. He simply leans a little in her direction as an alternative.]
Those bears who were helping you out... are they still around?
I don't know. I've tried to not go outside too much. [ It's not even that Ange is scared. Of course she of all people isn't scared of death. But if she wants other people to stay safe, then.. well, she guesses she has to at the very least give the right example here.
Even though he already died before that could do any good at all. But at least Martin's saying he'll stick to home now.. Thanks, death flu. ]
I know there's no point in me senselessly getting hurt.
Not right now. I came here by myself. [ Since she kind of rushed over, but it's not like Ange is going to admit that much out loud. Partially because of the surprise over the present, and partially because she wanted to see how he was doing.
The answer to that mostly seems to be 'alive, even if not that great' - but she'll take that, after what she saw before.
There's a slight pause, before Ange speaks up again to add: ]
.. this isn't some sneaky way of yours to check up on whether or not I have actual friends, is it? [ Who do you think you are to check up on her wellbeing, Martin, her dad? G-Geez! ]
That would be pretty sneaky. [His brows knit together before he give another wet cough.] No, I think I'll just ask that. Have you got some friends apart from me?
[ It's not something she may always have admitted that easily. Maybe she respects him just being direct about it, or she just trusts him with the knowledge. Either way - it seems he doesn't have to dig further to find out. Ange just speaks up. ]
Let's see.. Ruby, Fern, Peter, Richie, Gar, Vira-Lorr, Amara, Michael, Lucille.. I guess Atsushi too. Maybe Shiro. [ .. more than she expected, really, now she's actually putting all those names together like a list. ]
[More than Martin could name, certainly. He smiles for her.]
Hey, that's great, Ange. I'm really glad to hear it. Shiro seems like he's most people's friend, right? He's even managed to make friends with Jon, and he's... not the friendliest man.
I know Fern and I think I'm met Michael and Ruby. Not sure I've met any of the rest. Are they all-[don't say 'kids']--younger people like you?
That makes her pause for a moment. Because Martin - while maybe not exactly exuberantly social and extroverted, but she likes that about him - seems like such a nice person. And then he's dating someone.. not friendly? Is this just a case of opposites attracting?
But before she can say anything about it - or is even sure whether she wants to say something - Martin asks her something else, shaking her out of the thought for the moment.
Especially when he says it in that way. ]
Are you seriously trying to avoid saying the word 'teenagers', you old man? [ It's the softest kind of teasing though, accompanied by a slight shoulder bump. ] Most of the ones you haven't met are around my age though, yeah. Amara's a bit older, and Vira-Lorr is.. technically ancient or something.
[ She waves her hand, like that's no big deal. There's weirder things in Deerington. ]
I think Lucille must be somewhere around your age though. You should talk to her sometime, if you can. I think you two might get along.
Old man? [Martin puts on an air of mock-affront.] I'm not even a middle-aged man, thank you. [He coughs a little as he laughs.]
Right. Right, Lucille. I'll have to remember that. Well, it's good. There are a lot of... teenagers around, so I didn't think you'd be hurting for options, at least. Have you noticed that? Sodder seems to like the younger crowd.
Mm... I mean, they do in stories. Young adult books. Everyone likes a coming of age story.
[Another cough.]
I dunno. Most of the people who have weird things happen to them in my world... we see it happening to them when they're adults. Some stories have weird things happening when people were kids, but that's not the norm. It's... Kind of wish it wasn't like that. It's fine being special. But people here seem to be special in a way that means they suffered a lot in their worlds.
[ It's hard not kind of reading that personal note into it, and it makes her look away for a moment before pulling her shoulders up into a slight shrug. Trying to downplay it, as if she hasn't already confessed the depths of her depression to Martin.
But she just doesn't want to make it too heavy when he's still suffering the full aftereffects of being revived after dying. ]
Even if witches hadn't been a thing in my world, my whole family still would have died. [ The only difference being that she wouldn't have had to deal with the witches later on - but Ange knows the true root of her misery lies in the loss of her family all those years ago. ]
That's something that could happen to anyone. It doesn't make someone special. Sometimes really normal circumstances are pretty crappy too.
[ She will at least admit to that, the little nudge making her glance over in his direction. ]
The people here mostly make it easier. [ It's not something Ange would admit to easily, considering admitting to liking people feels too vulnerable, but she's really making an attempt over here. ] I was so used to being surrounded by awful people back home that I just wanted to get away from people altogether.
[ Maybe it's why the Lonely felt so weirdly exhilarating to her that one time. Because it had been everything she wanted for so long. ]
But the people here.. there's so much more nice people. People who like having me around, for some reason. [ Of course Martin himself is very much included in that, from what Ange thinks. ] So at the very least it makes me think that I at least can't abandon them.
It's a bit different for me and Jon. I had my mum to take care of growing up. She was really sick in a lot of ways, so there wasn't much time for other things... friends. Mostly it was school and home. Then work and home. I liked the people at work. They were nice... but when you can't really go out with them or tell them much about your life, your hobbies, it's hard to get close.
[It's strange to be telling this to a young girl, but Ange feels like she gets a lot of things some of the other people here just... can't. And if his experiences can help her, that wouldn't be so bad.]
Have you ever felt like you were alone in a crowd of people? Just... unseen? That's sort of what things were like for me before Jon. He always made me feel seen. [Martin huffs a laugh and then starts coughing again.] Even when he was yelling at me. At least I knew he was paying attention.
[ Ange really isn't too sure how she feels about Jon yelling at Martin. He better watch his back!! But maybe it's just how things naturally evolved or something, and Martin is so obviously in love with the guy that she doesn't want to really question it.
But it's true that she can understand it. Not necessarily from personal experience, since the way she grew up was miserable for entirely different reasons. But having experienced that misery in general - it makes it so much easier to imagine how others might feel when they have a rough time. Or just a busy time, in Martin's case. ]
I'm.. I'm glad he made you feel that way. [ She slowly says. Martin deserves as much. He deserves to be seen. ] How did you get to know him then, even though you had so little time..?
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rosecarmine
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-31 08:25 pm (UTC)Christmas present?
[ The words are echoed right back at him. Because she's surprised. Maybe she shouldn't be, because of course Martin of all people would be the type to get people Christmas presents. It fits him perfectly.
But at the same time.. she's already so unused to presents, let alone that she'd think about it at a moment like this, when her mind is so focused instead on his wellbeing. ]
You got me something..?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-06 04:02 am (UTC)Come over? I'm sorry, it won't be wrapped. But I want you to... you should have it.
[He'd offer to come to her place, but even just shifting himself from the sofa to the bedroom and back is going to be a chore.]
Don't think I'm contagious.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-06 10:54 pm (UTC)And.. well, the whole present thing aside, she can't help but think it would also just be a good way to check up on him after.. well, everything.
So there's not too much hesitation before she says: ] Okay.
What's your address? I'll come over right now, if that's okay.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-09 11:04 pm (UTC)Hey, Ange. I, um... come on in.
[Martin motions her in and shuffles back over to the sofa to collapse there. On the table, there's a teddy bear with a rainbow friendship bracelet draped over its head.]
Sorry I didn't wrap them.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-10 02:37 pm (UTC)But as she's let in, before she can even remark anything about the way Martin looks right now - half-dead being a good word for it, but also awkward considering the circumstances -, Ange spots the presents.
And that just renders her quiet. Anything else she wanted to say just dies in her throat right then and there. ]
.. those are for me..?
[ Ange slowly walks up to them, poking the teddy bear's cheek with a finger. ]
It's so.. cute.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-10 11:05 pm (UTC)[Martin offers her another exhausted smile before coughing weakly.]
Put-put on the bracelet and keep it on, okay? The bear's just to be cute. The bracelet's from Sodder. Should keep you safe from an attack that's supposed to kill you at least once a day. I know this place has a lot of... bad things. Suddenly bad things. I wanted you to have some protection. It's not a lot. But I wanted... you should have that.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-11 06:59 pm (UTC)S-.. Sheesh, you don't have to look out for me like that.. [ She's embarrassed.
She's so obviously embarrassed. That near-frown, the pink cheeks. Unsure how to deal with someone actually giving a crap about her. ]
Besides, don't you need it more than me? You're the one who just died and came back! [ Ah, there it is. The tsun coming out. ]
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-14 04:27 am (UTC)I have a few. You were one of the people I wanted them for... just in case you don't have any cool bears watching your back. It did what it was supposed to for me. There were just too many of them.
I'm sorry you watched that. I just... I didn't want people not to know. To wonder what had happened to me.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-14 10:54 pm (UTC)[ Ange is quiet for a moment, wandering over back towards where Martin is, so she can sit down nearby him, rather than awkwardly talk across the room. She's taking the gifts with her already - putting the bear on her lap as she sits, and moving to already put on the bracelet, just to show she won't let his gifts go to waste. ]
It's not the first time I've seen someone die. [ Not that it makes it any easier.
But she likes to outwardly pretend it does. Even though her freakout on his voicemail already gave away the fact that it very much wasn't easy for her, no matter how much Ange tries to downplay it now. ]
It just sucks because I.. I don't want you to go through that much pain. You've already dealt with enough. [ Since he was able to understand her own pain before. The shared depression. ] You deserve better than to die at the hands of this dumb place.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-18 06:02 am (UTC)[Except Elias. Elias can choke on a bone and get ripped apart by frost zombies, as far as Martin is concerned.]
Just staying close to home for the next while, though.
[Martin's on the sofa, and while he wants to be companionable, he doesn't want to wrap a sweaty arm around her. He simply leans a little in her direction as an alternative.]
Those bears who were helping you out... are they still around?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-19 10:28 pm (UTC)I don't know. I've tried to not go outside too much. [ It's not even that Ange is scared. Of course she of all people isn't scared of death. But if she wants other people to stay safe, then.. well, she guesses she has to at the very least give the right example here.
Even though he already died before that could do any good at all. But at least Martin's saying he'll stick to home now.. Thanks, death flu. ]
I know there's no point in me senselessly getting hurt.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-23 09:43 pm (UTC)[She's a practical girl, if nothing else, and Martin can't imagine being more grateful for that in this moment.]
Has there been anyone else with you? I know you said you have a few friends here. I don't think I know who they are.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-24 02:27 pm (UTC)The answer to that mostly seems to be 'alive, even if not that great' - but she'll take that, after what she saw before.
There's a slight pause, before Ange speaks up again to add: ]
.. this isn't some sneaky way of yours to check up on whether or not I have actual friends, is it? [ Who do you think you are to check up on her wellbeing, Martin, her dad? G-Geez! ]
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-30 06:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-30 06:51 pm (UTC)[ It's not something she may always have admitted that easily. Maybe she respects him just being direct about it, or she just trusts him with the knowledge. Either way - it seems he doesn't have to dig further to find out. Ange just speaks up. ]
Let's see.. Ruby, Fern, Peter, Richie, Gar, Vira-Lorr, Amara, Michael, Lucille.. I guess Atsushi too. Maybe Shiro. [ .. more than she expected, really, now she's actually putting all those names together like a list. ]
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-01 05:18 am (UTC)[More than Martin could name, certainly. He smiles for her.]
Hey, that's great, Ange. I'm really glad to hear it. Shiro seems like he's most people's friend, right? He's even managed to make friends with Jon, and he's... not the friendliest man.
I know Fern and I think I'm met Michael and Ruby. Not sure I've met any of the rest. Are they all-[don't say 'kids']--younger people like you?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-02 10:44 pm (UTC)That makes her pause for a moment. Because Martin - while maybe not exactly exuberantly social and extroverted, but she likes that about him - seems like such a nice person. And then he's dating someone.. not friendly? Is this just a case of opposites attracting?
But before she can say anything about it - or is even sure whether she wants to say something - Martin asks her something else, shaking her out of the thought for the moment.
Especially when he says it in that way. ]
Are you seriously trying to avoid saying the word 'teenagers', you old man? [ It's the softest kind of teasing though, accompanied by a slight shoulder bump. ] Most of the ones you haven't met are around my age though, yeah. Amara's a bit older, and Vira-Lorr is.. technically ancient or something.
[ She waves her hand, like that's no big deal. There's weirder things in Deerington. ]
I think Lucille must be somewhere around your age though. You should talk to her sometime, if you can. I think you two might get along.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-06 04:35 pm (UTC)Right. Right, Lucille. I'll have to remember that. Well, it's good. There are a lot of... teenagers around, so I didn't think you'd be hurting for options, at least. Have you noticed that? Sodder seems to like the younger crowd.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-07 10:31 am (UTC)And also people who have had something special happen in their lives.
[ One way or another. Ange knows that the worlds the people here come from are pretty varied. ]
I don't think I've met many people here who were exactly normal. Maybe those things tend to happen more often to teenagers across various worlds.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-13 06:20 am (UTC)Mm... I mean, they do in stories. Young adult books. Everyone likes a coming of age story.
[Another cough.]
I dunno. Most of the people who have weird things happen to them in my world... we see it happening to them when they're adults. Some stories have weird things happening when people were kids, but that's not the norm. It's... Kind of wish it wasn't like that. It's fine being special. But people here seem to be special in a way that means they suffered a lot in their worlds.
[He's looking at you, Ange.]
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-14 01:43 pm (UTC)But she just doesn't want to make it too heavy when he's still suffering the full aftereffects of being revived after dying. ]
Even if witches hadn't been a thing in my world, my whole family still would have died. [ The only difference being that she wouldn't have had to deal with the witches later on - but Ange knows the true root of her misery lies in the loss of her family all those years ago. ]
That's something that could happen to anyone. It doesn't make someone special. Sometimes really normal circumstances are pretty crappy too.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-18 04:53 pm (UTC)[Martin gives her a little nudge with his elbow.]
There's no way to balance some things... but it makes it easier to carry on sometimes, right?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-20 11:07 pm (UTC)[ She will at least admit to that, the little nudge making her glance over in his direction. ]
The people here mostly make it easier. [ It's not something Ange would admit to easily, considering admitting to liking people feels too vulnerable, but she's really making an attempt over here. ] I was so used to being surrounded by awful people back home that I just wanted to get away from people altogether.
[ Maybe it's why the Lonely felt so weirdly exhilarating to her that one time. Because it had been everything she wanted for so long. ]
But the people here.. there's so much more nice people. People who like having me around, for some reason. [ Of course Martin himself is very much included in that, from what Ange thinks. ] So at the very least it makes me think that I at least can't abandon them.
[ ... ]
Was it like that for you? With Jon?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-24 03:57 am (UTC)[It's strange to be telling this to a young girl, but Ange feels like she gets a lot of things some of the other people here just... can't. And if his experiences can help her, that wouldn't be so bad.]
Have you ever felt like you were alone in a crowd of people? Just... unseen? That's sort of what things were like for me before Jon. He always made me feel seen. [Martin huffs a laugh and then starts coughing again.] Even when he was yelling at me. At least I knew he was paying attention.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-02-24 09:51 am (UTC)He better watch his back!!But maybe it's just how things naturally evolved or something, and Martin is so obviously in love with the guy that she doesn't want to really question it.But it's true that she can understand it. Not necessarily from personal experience, since the way she grew up was miserable for entirely different reasons. But having experienced that misery in general - it makes it so much easier to imagine how others might feel when they have a rough time. Or just a busy time, in Martin's case. ]
I'm.. I'm glad he made you feel that way. [ She slowly says. Martin deserves as much. He deserves to be seen. ] How did you get to know him then, even though you had so little time..?
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