The Blanc Residence
Nothing wrong with not crying. (Or maybe that's his father's voice.) You were here, you'd offered him a place to sleep, you didn't seem to hate him, even after meeting his parents and hearing everything Elodie had to say about him. He's cried enough for both of them.

There's nothing in his expression, or his body language, that's judgey about where he is. It seems nice, and homey, and honestly infinitely pleasanter than his parents' place.

So if you're still willing to show him, he still wants to see it.

"Torment and suffering seem pretty reasonable." He tries to say it like a joke, because he knows that's not the answer you want. It has him sniffling, and reaching for one of those tissues - he really has no more tears, but his nose is, well, snotty, from the excess of crying.

And it looks like he would be again, at the assurance of support, if he had any left to cry. The relief and gratitude there as raw and real as his voice. "Thanks doesn't feel like a big enough word." A shaky little breath. "She won't fire you. Even if she wanted to, we don't have another leading lady , and maybe she could do it, but then she'd have to see me and pretend she didn't hate me 8 times a week, so..."

His voice is smaller as he adds, "seriously, thank you. I - I didn't know where to go. I'd feel like I was imposing, to set me up with a place. I don't know when I'd be able to pay you back, or..." a rueful laugh, threaded with delirium. "If I didn't live with Dee, I'd be in trouble." It's really just how relevant that conversation was that has him laughing.

He'll lean into that meeting of knees, reaching to take the hand youre offering. Judging by how tightly he's holding onto it, now that he has it, he's hanging on by a thread, and the touch helps ground him. Okay, fully a deliroius little laugh. "They hate me too, so you've got company."

It's his turn to hesitate, "would it be weird to ask you to hold me again?" It had been comforting outside the theatre, it would be comforting here - and he doesn't need to aim for masculine with you, either, so asking to be held is... should be fine, right?

A flicker of concern. "I know they're fully terrifying in their final form. You okay?"

bitchlyone has started a new game with the following players:
bitchlyone

" S T A R T G A M E : t r u e "{ " g a m e I d " : " 1 7 1 8 6 0 6 8 5 9 " , " p l a y e r L i s t " : [ " b i t c h l y o n e " ] , " r o l l N u m b e r " : 0 , " c u r r e n t P l a y e r " : 0 , " d i c e " : { " f a c e s " : [ 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 , 0 ] , " r e r o l l " : [ t r u e , t r u e , t r u e , t r u e , t r u e ] } , " s c o r e 0 " : { " 1 " : n u l l , " 2 " : n u l l , " 3 " : n u l l , " 4 " : n u l l , " 5 " : n u l l , " 6 " : n u l l , " p l a y e r " : n u l l , " u p _ t o t a l " : n u l l , " b o n u s " : n u l l , " 3 k " : n u l l , " 4 k " : n u l l , " s s " : n u l l , " l s " : n u l l , " f h " : n u l l , " y a h _ t o k e n " : n u l l , " y " : n u l l , " c " : n u l l , " y a h _ b o n u s " : 0 , " b o t _ t o t a l " : n u l l , " g _ t o t a l " : n u l l } , " o w n e r " : " b i t c h l y o n e " , " s t a t u s " : " r e a d y " , " r o u n d " : 0 , " l a s t P o s t " : 1 7 1 8 6 0 6 8 5 9 }

The Blanc Residence
There was some… maybe broken part of her that made it difficult to cry in this situation that was so worthy of it — like she could feel and mirror the pervasive violin-rake of anxious notes playing through your posture, your expression, the mess you were making of your face.

Holly first pivoted to a table beside the couch for a box of tissues inside a cheaply decorated tin cover, pulling that with her as she joined you on the couch, some kitschy cushion from a Rockshore high school emblem on it from when they sold these for a uniform fundraiser — just… little details tying her to this lower-income neighborhood.

How she contrasted you, the entire reason she ever wanted to show you Rockshore to begin with, all made a little more relevant now after the brush with your prestigious parents and their malign gaze, the resultant damage.

"…and what? What do you think that deserves, exactly? Ruin? Torment? You're human, Leo. I fucked up, too. I acted on stupid impulse, but—" it's kind of a good thing you left when you did, because the face your mother and father made, they could make her blood run cold.

"…look I don't know what all the fallout's about to be but you've got my support, okay? I can… like I'm committed to Elodie's play, I'm gonna give the best damn performance I can, assuming she hasn't fired me. I don't know if you wanna crash here for a while but I can set you up with somewhere to stay at the very least, it's honestly not even a problem. I don't know about anything more long-term but at least that's your immediate animal problems settled…"

And whiles he didn't presume herself any closer than just a meeting of knees, but she fumbled out a trembling hand. "…a-and, uh… Christ, Leo, your parents hate me, now. At least it's in the open, all mask-off n' shit…"

Holly failed to stifle an uneasy, delirious chuckle. "…I think I kinda prefer it that way, if I'm bein' honest."

Steps in and walks to the cage that holds Faith's property and looks in at him sleeping. Thinking of
ALL the things Wwe need to catch up on since his
absence.

Looks to see that the box I left is still in the corner of his cage. ~smiling a wicked smile~

*snaps fingers and fruit and cheese as well as water is
sent from the kitchen to the 3 occupied cells*

Turns and steps out into the halls of soi.

The Blanc Residence
It was supposed to be a triumph. Briefly, it had been. And then his parents had shown up.

Not that he blames them. This is all on him.

The lack of Brix hasn't even registered. It really has been an ordeal of a night, and he's cried enough the make-up he'd put on don't even remotely hide the bags under his eyes.

Even distraught, his shoes were off, and by the door. He was curled up on the first soft surface he'd found, a couch.

Also, your pink car is charming.

"Holly?" At this point he's well past any illusions of being okay. Which maybe makes it clear just how much he's been compensating, or trying to, in and around rehearsals. His voice is hoarse, and has a raw, hopeless note to it.

You get a miserable little headshake. "I'm the one that kissed you back, Holly, that's on me. I kept hanging out with you, even when it upset Dee - I didn't understand why, but that doesn't really make it any better. I kept opening up to you, even when that upset her, and I didn't get it, but I just kept doing it. So no, I ruined everything - I guess not all by myself, but mostly by myself."

Knocks on the door

peeks a last time.

The Blanc Residence
Well, she hadn't planned it this way but as it was, it put her folks, that is her mom and sister and brother somewhere downtown for the rest of the night after treating them to shopping and inner around the night at the theater.

But regardless, the house was unlocked and there was almost always some food or baked goods left around from mom — Holly knew you'd be in no mood to do anything but shrink and worry.

…god, it was gauche to arrive back at Rockshore in the car she was driving, but Holly anticipated that it was going to be, just… one of those days, you know? A happy one, a fun one, a celebration of artistic triumph, or… maybe just a silly excuse for a loud car and a rowdy party.

And just where was Brix, anyway? Holly coulda sworn she meant to run into him sometime during the night but the entire ordeal and resulting crisis just threw her into a whirlwind, a huracàn if you will, and deposited her after so many consecutive impulsive decisions, to offer her place as a safe haven and then even more recklessly, follow you here.

You knew about her stupid pink car, right? Well it was rumbling rather obviously outside for a second — oof she might have scraped the front diffuser against the crappy off-angle driveway, before the engine cut and she was hurrying inside the modest single-family home.

"Leo?" she called out, bursting through the side door from the driveway, still kinda fighting the way she had to hike up her skirt up from its trailing mermaid up to her knees just so she could work the pedals, carrying her shoes in on one hand.

"Christ, dude, I'm so sorry I ruined everything…"

-has to head in to the day... knows he will be back, sorry he has missed cherry c-

The Blanc Residence
He'd run. He's not proud of it, leaving Holly with his parents, but his meagre ability to cope snapped. No, it had snapped well before that.

Once he got in the Uber, he'd realized he can't just go home. For all his trespasses, he couldn't add another to the list - Elodie had broken up with him. He couldn't just show up at their apartment. Her apartment. If he could just talk to her... he'd done the unforgiveable, already, if she'd given up on him. He'd hurt so deeply, so much, and he'd been doing it for weeks. But he still needed to talk to her. To try. Even if it was too late.

And she might take pity on him and agree to him sleeping on the couch for a night.

So he'd phoned, left a message, and then phoned again. Had, in fact, phoned til her voicemail told him no more messages could be left. If she wouldn't even answer the phone, what hope was there? The coffin hadn't needed more nails, but that was the last one on the part of him that hoped maybe he could make things right.

He was going to have to tip the driver really well.

When he'd switched his destination to Rockshore, he hadn't been entirely clear on where. Again, he'd just kind of tapped the map to take him somewhere, and Rockshore was far enough he'd kind of hoped he'd have a plan before he got there. Keep redirecting an Uber all night didn't seem viable.

Somewhere across the bridge, Holly had called to check on him, and when she'd offered him someplace to go, he'd been beyond relieved to have the 'nowhere to go' problem solved. By the time he got there, his voicemail was full of messages from his parents. Messages he did not even try listening to.

By the time she got there, he'd wept himself out - there were no more tears left. Instead, he was in an echo of the pose she'd found him on the curb outside the theatre, the only difference his head was resting on his knees, drawn up to his chest.

-sits down, hard and waiting-

I just discovered this blog and so far it's pretty fun!
https://www.thenibble.com/

Rehearsals
It wasn't until the conversation ended that Holly realized that she was burning up and practically hyperventilating. She wouldn't self-describe as terrified, but nevertheless off-kilter. Delirious to the point of escalating completely unnecessarily.

The most flattering interpretation was that it was all very deliberate, to say that she invoked a contingency toward 'Holly's the crazy one — Leo our sweet boy is innocent after all, did you hear the manner with which she spoke at us?' and even in the worst of scenarios the very least she could offer Leo was an out.

…but right now her head was far from clear. She was far from rational, and after a dizzying backstep where she nearly lost her balance, Holly dug into her purse and pursued her keys, rapidly tapping through her phone as she presumed she'd be fighting Leo's parents on an entirely different arena, now: Getting through to his number.

Simultaneously, her keys maneuvered to waking that violently pink Lamborghini in the parking lot — yes, one of the rare times the Huracàn got to see downtown again. What, if not for her own acting debut?

(l/p)

-sits down... hard and waiting-

hearthugs

The House
Slowly stands up, still holding the blanket.

"If I told you now,
It would be for your protection,
'Cause I'm sure I'd disappoint you,
Though I can't imagine how.
Would it make me better
If I told you now?
Could you make me better
If I told you now?"