A Change of Heart

[Tenome]

"Like, what was that?"

 

[IceQueen]

Mei stiffened and sat up, her face a bit paler. "I would rather not talk about it. It was quite a horrific experience for me." She said, rubbing her eyes. "It is also the reason I can never sleep."

 

[Tenome]

He bit his lip, not sure what to say. "Have you ever thought about talking about it with anyone? Maybe talking to a counselor would make you feel better."

 

[IceQueen]

Mei sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Counselors don't do shit. They just want to control my anger and tell me how many problems I have." She said.

 

[Tenome]

"Their job is to help." He frowned, concerned. Hot mess was right.

 

[IceQueen]

Mei sighed. "They don't like helping me."

 

[Tenome]

"Why would you say that," he asked, genuinely confused.

 

[IceQueen]

Mei sighed. "Been there too much. They already know my name and face by heart."

 

[Tenome]

He sighed. "Have you tried talking to someone who you know will try to help, or at least listen with no judgement?"

 

[IceQueen]

Mei shook her head. "Only person I can think of is sitting next to me." She said.

 

[Tenome]

"Do you want me to listen? I'm pretty good at not judging." He didn't exactly like the fact about knowing serious things, but sometimes friendships were serious. He fought his sigh.

 

[IceQueen]

Mei shrugged. "If you really want to know what happens in my psychotic brain." she said.

 

[Tenome]

"What are friends for?"

 

[IceQueen]

Mei nodded. "yeah... friends."

 

[Tenome]

"I don't want to push you to tell me anything you don't want to. It's up to you. Just know that if you ever want somebody to talk to, I'll be there, okay?"

 

[IceQueen]

Mei nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Friday night kind of did help my sleep a bit though." She said.

 

[Tenome]

"That's good," he said, laughing, "though you did say you slept in a chair."

 

[IceQueen]

Mei blushed and rubbed her head. "Yeah, I did."

 

[Tenome]

"Maybe you should try it more often."

 

[IceQueen]

Mei cracked her neck. "Hurts my back though." she said.

 

[Tenome]

"Ah, you can never have the best of both worlds, it would seem," he pointed out. "Are you feeling better? Maybe you should call your parents."

 

[IceQueen]

Mei went silent, her bangs covering her eyes before mumbling "I don't have parents."

 

[Tenome]

"Oh." He looked away. He hated stumbling upon touchy subjects. "Maybe you should call your guardians, then?"

 

[IceQueen]

Mei shook her head. 'Don't have those either."

 

[Tenome]

"You're a minor," said, confused. "Who do you stay with?"