Home is where the heart isn't <3 (OPEN)

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan smiled. He stretched out and yawned; it had been quite along time since he felt calm so it was a refreshing change.

"Well that's good then!" he said cheerfully, as he watched his new friend eat the jellybean.

Ryan shrugged at Ithica's question and returned it with one of his own. "I don't know why you wouldn't want to be my friend, but I'm used to it. Why didn't the other people in my life like me or want to be my friend?"

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica watched the clouds. He had never been too good at picking out shapes from them, but he enjoyed watching them move across the sky nonetheless. He opened his mouth to answer Ryan's question, only to shut again. Ithica sat up, hugging his knees while staring intently at the jelly bean package.

Why didn't the others want to be Ryan's friends? He sighed, rubbing the back of his hand. "Sometimes people are too concerned with themselves to notice other people. And when they do notice other people, it's only to realize their flaws, and to take that person down to bring themselves up."

He played idly with a strand of grass. Ithica wasn't totally innocent. There were times, especially in the morning, people would talk to the demon and he would zone them out and instead talk to Rosie. He looked up at Ryan. "I'm really sorry that people do that. If I'm ever mean to you feel free to hit me or something."

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan frowned. In the back of his head, he knew Ithica was right. People in the world were cruel. They would tear somebody else down if it would make themselves feel better; but why was their target of choice always him, always Ryan?

Absentmindedly he tore up some of the grass; upset at the fact that he was always a target. Distantly he heard Ithica's offer and shook his head. "No no no. I could never hurt you, not when you've been so kind to me. In these short hours you've been nicer to me than anybody in my life ever has....." he said, blushing slightly.

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica reached inside of his book bag and pulled out a stuffed dog. Yes, he was almost twenty and he carried around the occasional stuffed animal. Rosie was too sarcastic and bitter sometimes, but he found the dog was.. well, comforting. He pulled out Rosie as well.

He Animated both of them, and listened faintly to Rosie complaining about how he always put her down mid-speech. He smiled apologetically, watching as the dog went to Ryan, rubbing against the boy.

At Ryan's comment about him being nice, Ithica shrugged. "You'll find people who are just as nice as I am. The dog's name is Daisy, by the way. You can keep him if you like. Since he's a stuffed animal he doesn't need to eat or anything like that."

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan smiled at Rosie who came back to life. He also smiled at the dog who was rubbing against him; although artificial it warmed his heart to see something else showing him the affection that he was denied so much.
"I doubt I can find anybody as nice as you are..." he said as he casually patted the dog on the head.
"This might even be a fluke, a once in a lifetime thing..."

"I couldn't keep this...it's yours!"

[Ithica Pettineo]

"You probably can't. I am pretty amazing, aren't I?" Ithica smirked, a smug expression on his face. He knew he really wasn't that amazing, but he had figured that if he kept thinking he was, he didn't feel quite so much like a loser.

Rosie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Amazing isn't the right word." She was about to say something else, probably something snarky, when Ithica interrupted her.

"What is? Handsome? Smart? Brilliant? Fantastic? All of those clearly describe me." Ithica grinned, then turned his attention to Ryan. He raised an eyebrow, his grin dropping slightly.

"It's a gift. From me to you. I mean, if you don't like the dog I guess.. ah, it was really presumptuous of me to assume you'd like the dog." Ithica's self confidence wavered. What if Ryan hated dogs? What if Ryan hated stuffed animals? What if he didn't want a gift from a stranger?

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan blushed as he Ithica went back and forth with Rosie.
"He's so very...silly, it's refreshing to see someone so carefree" he thought to himself as he continued to watch the doll and the guy talk.

"No no..I like the dog, I really do.. it's amazing. I just...It's really important to you..I wouldn't want to take something that is so nice..." he said, trying to find words.
"I would feel bad...since I didn't give you a gift"

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica's distress dropped, his confidence rose, and his happiness was restored. He offered Ryan a lazy smile, and hugged the boy. "It's okay to take a gift." He tilted his head when he heard Ryan's explanation of how it was too nice and he didn't have anything to give Ithica. He rolled his eyes, his smile spreading wider.

"Please take it?" He attempted to put on the most adorable face he could, which consisted of his eyes widening, and his lower lip sticking out. "You've already given me a gift, anyway. Your friendship."

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan smiled as he was hugged. Although a bit hesitant, he lifted the dog up onto his lap, and it panted happily at him. Casually he patted it on the head.
"So this is what it's like...friendship, it seems so strange yet so right all at once. Maybe it's something that becomes more familiar with time..."

Ryan blushed as Ithica pronounced that his friendship was a gift, something again, he had never heard. "I'm not sure what to say.. I wouldn't think my friendship is something that should be treasured...."

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica pulled away, and resumed hugging his knees to his chest. "You're joking, right? All friendships should be treasured. Why would yours be the exception, Ryan?" He inquired. It was a rhetorical question on the most part. The other boy was misused too much, so of course his confidence was lower. Ithica's heart hurt just thinking about being treated that way for that amount of time.

"You've never had a friend? Not even when you were young, or.. anything like that?" Ithica wasn't sure if he was the right one to talk about having friends when he was young. He tended to freak the other elementary schoolchildren when he started talking to Barbies and the Barbies talked back. One question still pestered Ithica, one that wasn't very... well, one that would be gaucherie to ask someone he met a few hours ago. But when was Ithica ever socially talented?

"How did you know you were gay if you weren't ever close to anyone?" Ithica asked. He supposed theoretically that people could know they were straight if they weren't close to people. Ithica, however, had never experienced the slightest feeling of attraction towards either gender, so he didn't really know how people made their decisions.

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan smirked. It made him feel good to know that his friendship was treasured. Not just good, but really great. He had never known that feeling before, the feeling of being wanted, or treasured in the least.
He listened as Ithica questioned him about his past, about the fact that he never had any friends. "Friends..." he thought, such an alien concept. They only existed in fairy tales he used to think, not meant for him, not meant for someone like him.

"Nope, I never had a friend. No one really liked me, I was unpopular in school, so...I didn't get anything there. My mother didn't even love me, so why would the other kids?" he said; as a tiny bit of resentment filled his voice. He hated his old school, and he didn't know how to feel about his mother. Did he love her? Did he hate her? Did he deserve the abuse suffered at her hand? He didn't know.

"How do I know that I'm gay..." he thought this question over carefully. It wasn't a question he ever had before, usually when people found out they just ran away, they didn't question. "Well...when I was in school...the only time I actually liked it, was during gym class..." he said trailing off, taking a few seconds to finish his statement.

"The only time I actually liked school...was during gym class, in the locker room..." he said, blushing slightly. Shrugging; he added: "I just liked being around all the guys, I liked looking at them. One caught me looking, and that worsened the torment"

[Ithica Pettineo]

Ithica couldn't help it. He tried to remain stoic, but at the admission he giggled. Not at Ryan per se, but.. something about the thought of his situation struck Ithica as funny. He tried to keep himself from smiling, but failed.

Rosie, on the other hand, tilted her head slightly. She walked over to Ithica, murmuring in his ear about how she didn't understand why the other boy was blushing. Ithica felt his face tinge, and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He whispered into her something about guys getting undressed in locker rooms.

The porcelain doll took a few startled steps back, and sent Ryan a scandalized look. "What?!"

"It's what humans do! Eaat, breathe, reproduce, think about reproducing, WEELLL.. not about reproducing.. but the act of it. Well, male humans do anyway." Ithica nodded. Rosie stared at him, slack jawed. He stared at her blankly. "Huh. Birds and bees talk went easier than I thought it would." He said casually.

He watched Rosie walk far, far away, and sit with her back facing them, arms crossed. Ithica chuckled, and returned his attention back to Ryan. "Did an agent from the Academy find you?"

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan frowned. "Oh great...he thinks I'm a dork now..." he thought solemnly to himself, and the disappointment shown on his face. "I know I'm lame..."
he looked at the ground as the doll, Rosie, gave him a weird look. Things were NOT going well, he thought.

Ryan's mood took a turn for the better, as the subject changed. "Agent from the academy? No...this girl I ran into, she helped me.."

[Ithica Pettineo]

At the look on Ryan's face, Ithica pouted and gripped his knees tighter. He really hated when hurt people's feelings. "Sorry." said Ithica softly, watching the other intently. "You're not lame. Sorry for making you think that," Ithi sulked, glaring at Rosie's back.

His eyes flitted back to Ryan as he answered the question. "Sounds like a nice girl." Ithica smiled. He was mildly curious as to how she did this, but Ryan didn't consider her a friend. "How'd you meet?"

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan shrugged. "It's okay"
He didn't want to push his new friend away with his over sensitivity, and it was a small enough sleight that he could get over it.

Ryan thought for a second, he thought about the scene just a few days before and what went down, how desperate he was for food and what happened. "Well you see, I met this girl... I don't quite know her name. But she was amazingly powerful, and she told me to come here...."