[FIN] Finish the Promise

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera frowned at that logic. "That sounds kinda dumb," she said bluntly. Not like she had much better logic with some things though, although such a thought didn't cross her mind.  

[League Trainer Rosie]

Arched eyebrows furrowed softly, watching her feet as they walked. "You're father, blames Kodo..." Shy wasn't sure why, but that fact made her feel a bit embarrassed, or ashamed. She knew Luke's dad had not done the best things in regards to her friend... but it was hard to get past the fact that this was Luke's father, his parent... a part of her always understood, and held a great importance in that fact.  

[Suudonym]

"For the seven years I stayed in the manor, I was safe," he said, remembering his father's words. "Then I went to Kodo, and all of this happened…" He should never have left; the thought was overpowering and inescapable. Slowly his lethargy thawed into a renewed regret.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Seven years... "So, wait..." Sera frowned, trying to figure this out. "He made you stay in the manor... For seven whole years? You never left?" Her frown deepened. "If that's the case, then of course nothing bad ever happened, nothing bad's gonna happen in your own house if you never leave it. Sounds like a whole lot of absolutely nothing would happen, good or bad."  

[League Trainer Rosie]

She looked over at Sera, nodding softly in agreement. "That isn't how anyone should live their life, and it isn't responsible, or respectful of a parent to expect to keep their children safe, by keeping them inside."

'There is a whole lot more to the world Rosie, I know sometimes it scary, sweet heart. But someday you're going to have to learn how to handle it without crying.'

The words surfaced from her mind, making her feel the shadow of a young helpless child again.
She blinked hard a few times, but just continued on.
"They should not have expected you to live like that, and Luke... you know you wouldn't have wanted to either, you don't want to now..."  

[Suudonym]

He nodded to confirm Seraphine's doubts. Indeed it was ridiculous, and indeed nothing had happened at all - so much so that he had eventually arrived at the desperate need to escape, even if the only escape he had was to a completely foreign place. Rosie's words, however, drew a different response, one that was immediate, numb, and completely disconnected from all sense of self, "I don't want to live at all."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera's response wasn't nearly as immediate, but it was quite the opposite from Luke's emotionless statement - her hand shot out to forcefully slap his shoulder as she shouted, her angry tone matching her countenance exactly, "Don't say that!"  

[League Trainer Rosie]

What he said, and the way he said it were so alarming to the blond that she stopped walking very abruptly, staring at Luke in complete shock, though cautiously wondering if she had just... misheard him.
She couldn't seem to find anything to say, though Sera's reaction was quick as well. Rosie gasped and covered her mouth when the girl slapped him. but still, all Rosie could do right at this moment was stand there in shock.  

[Suudonym]

On realizing what he had said, the words distressed Luke as much as they had his company, and as he recoiled from Seraphine's strike, it was with fear and anxiety in his expression. "I don't--" He shook his head slightly in defiance of himself, a faint trembling in his hands, and turned his eyes away. "I don't mean it…" But he did mean it, or at least a part of him did. It had to for the words to have appeared in the first place, let alone for him to have acted on them just earlier.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

When his countenance changed so suddenly from one devoid of emotion to one of anxiousness and fear, Seraphine retracted her hand quickly, just as suddenly regretting the action she'd taken without thinking about it prior. She held it out again as if to touch him, then retracted it again uncertainly, "I didn't..." Didn't what? Mean it? Of course she meant it.

The girl recovered relatively quickly (albeit falteringly) and wrapped her arms around his shoulders instead, suddenly a little distressed, feeling as though the sudden change had been because of her - that her actions had caused him such anxiety. It made her feel guilty, moreso than she'd ever felt before, and it wasn't a feeling she was at all used to. "I'm sorry.."  

[Blood_Goddess]

It all came rushing in way too fast for Rosie to keep up. What he had said, the quick, sharp reaction from Sera.
Luke reacted to it with a statement that had retracted his previous comment. but the words were there, and for the first time in her life, faced with the concept of one of her friends having spoken words 'I don't want to live at all.'

He didn't want to live at all,
One of the people she cherished most in the world, was so miserable right now, that he would say those words.
The sorrow that overtook her trumped everything she had felt that day, and the girl was left standing there, shaking her hands back and forth as if trying to get control over the complete and utter helplessness she was feeling.
"No." She could only whimper, "No no no."

Saying something more constructive would have been nice, but all her mind was letting her repeat was that simple word with an occasional 'please', while she simply dissolved.

He didn't want to live at all.  

[Suudonym]

Luke was overcome by a sudden and terrible need to flee, to run away from the statement he had left lingering in the air. Seraphine's gentle touch felt like a snare, and he was unable to tolerate it, breaking away with the disposition of a wild animal in a hunter's trap. He shook his head just barely in a failing attempt to dismiss her apology, "No, I'm sorry, I--" I can't take this anymore. The recognition destroyed all semblance of composure, and he surrendered where he was, crouching on the pavement with his face pressed firmly into his palms. "Help," he pleaded. "I don't want to do this. Not again. Please." He was breaking, absolutely splintering into pieces from the unending whiplash of apathy, sorrow, and unbearable agony, and the thought that he could lose himself completely was terrifying.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The fact that Rosie began to fall apart first, shortly followed by Luke crouching down on the sidewalk and looking like he was about to cry at any moment, both combined to make Seraphine feel suddenly confused and helpless. They were relatively okay just a moment ago, what happened? Why? She wasn't sure whether to hug Rosie or to try and hug Luke again, despite his negative reaction - she wasn't sure about the situation or a proper reaction or anything at this point.

Her uncertainty and hesitance showed plainly on her face, but she was starting to feel the same as she had in the hospital when they'd learned of Luke's condition - Rosie was upset and crying, and she had felt the need to abstain from tears herself even more not because she had been out in public, but because Rosie had been so upset. Someone had to be the one to not cry - someone had to, and she had decided it had to be her (completely forgetting about the fact she'd cried the day before, but that hardly mattered).

Sera reached a hand out to take Rosie's arm gently, as well as to tug on it a little before she let go and knelt down beside Luke. She did the same as she had with Rosie, but instead she gripped his arm firmly, reassuringly. She didn't bother to try and hug him due to the reaction she'd gotten from him before. "You won't," she said, her tone as firm as her hand on his arm, although she wasn't at all sure what he had meant specifically, "you won't. That's why we're here, we're here to help you," she insisted, although she was feeling pretty damn helpless at the moment. She wasn't sure what he meant or what was even going on in his head, and it made it difficult to respond appropriately.  

[League Trainer Rosie]

There had never been a time when she felt more lost then now. Unable to comprehend what must be going through his mind to have said that.
She wasn't blind to his response though, as if his own words had scared him as much as they had scared Rosie.

She floundered on what to do. But it couldn't matter at this point. Sera had grabbed her hand, helping to get Rosie's legs moving, One of the many things that Rosie was thankful for her friend for.
It wasn't long before Rosie was on her knees too.
"Please believe us." She strained, adding to what Sera had said, in a pleading tone. "We love you so much."
She couldn't stop herself, the sobbing, at this point anything she was saying was instinctual, but its all she had to say in a moment of desperately trying to talk to their Luke.

She didn't know what else to do, how to help him, what to say to him, or even what he meant.
All she knew what was her arms were around him again, clinging to him as if he would slip away if she dared let him any looser, legitimately scared to let him go. finding nothing more to say that made any coherent sense at the moment.  

[Suudonym]

The sound of Rosie's sobbing was more desolating than anything else he could have thought or felt at that moment, and out of necessity the panic ebbed. Desperately he sought the words to reassure either of them, but everything he could conceive was empty and painful. "It's okay," he managed on a failing voice. "I'm not… I don't-- I'm sorry." He raised a trembling hand to ease Rosie back enough that he could see her face, concern and apology and as much reassurance as he could manage in his pale expression, "It's okay. I'm sorry."