that was way harsh, ty. (pinolo) wrote in fableless, @ 2016-10-19 22:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! log/thread, sam white horn, tyler pirlo |
WHO: Sam White Horn & Tyler Pirlo
WHAT: Sam's dealing with grief, Tyler comes over to distract him and ends up revealing his Tale. They talk about it.
WHEN: Not too long ago.
WHERE: Sam's place
WARNINGS: ---
“Wanna hear a story?” It wasn’t a real question though. Sitting idly on one end of Sam’s couch, Tyler let the awkward silence stretch for barely a second before doing a drumroll on his thighs. “Oh, what the hell, I’ll just tell you anyway,” he began, not even waiting for Sam’s answer. Grief was a shitty thing; he had seen it chip away at his own father when his mother died. He had seen glimpses of it from his own lens since, and each time, it cast a different shadow on the people it affected. Sam hadn’t been an exception. Tyler had been concerned, but he figured people had their own ways of dealing with shit. But it’d been a month since it happened, and Sam still needed to eat, lest he rot away on his own couch. So when Tyler showed up at his place unannounced, he did so with the pretense of a pizza delivery (“Surprise,” he’d greeted dryly). “Did I ever tell you about the time I rode a pigeon and a dolphin, in the same day?” “No, because I’m pretty sure I would’ve remembered that,” Sam replied skeptically from behind his second slice of pizza. It was...really filling, actually, which was weird because normally, he could eat half a pie and still have room for dessert. But Sam hadn’t really been the same since Poppy. A weird change in appetite certainly seemed to be part of that, given his diet over the course of the past month. “I’m guessing this did not happen as Tyler.” He added, and pulled his legs up onto the couch so he could slump against the armrest. “Eh, I had a different name back then,” Tyler shrugged. “As you do,” he added as unnecessary clarification. “I used to be pretty light as shit that I could ride a pigeon. Not Thumbelina light, but one time I was stuck on a beach and I couldn’t Uber ‘cause they didn’t have Uber back then. So lo and behold, a pigeon flew down and offered me a ride.” Sam raised his eyebrows and lowered his pizza. “Damn. All I did most of the time was make sure Mowgli didn’t get himself killed by accident. And took naps, but I mean. I do that now.” He regarded Tyler curiously, interest effectively gained. “What happened after? And where does the dolphin come in?” “Dude, that kid lived in a jungle, and he was gonna be toast if it weren’t for you and the others.” Tyler grabbed another slice of pizza. Shit, he spoke too soon, didn’t he? “Naps, though. Naps are pretty great.” He leaned back into the couch before continuing. “I mean, I saw my dad on a boat and tried to swim to him. Then a dogfish ate him. Just like that.” He shrugged. Whether he was trying to downplay exactly how traumatic the experience was for him or just the absurdity of it all was left for debate. “...and yeah, a dolphin came out of nowhere and saved my ass. I’m talking Sea World level shit. I thought the dolphin was gonna eat me too, not gonna lie, but it got me to the nearest island.” “Casual,” Sam agreed sarcastically, and threw Tyler an exasperated look. “Dude, that’s fucked up. I’m glad that dolphin saved you and shit, but like, that’s still fucking terrifying.” “Yeah, right? What kind of fish eats the dad of a child?” Tyler replied, eerily as flippant as Sam’s sarcasm implied. He threw his hands up in an exaggerated shrug. “Anyway, shit was capital F fucked up, and that dolphin saved my ass. The end.” Sam frowned, and looked at Tyler questioningly. “No kidding. So am I supposed to guess who you are, or…?” Maybe he was just tired, but was Tyler saying he was…really? Was there any other Tale that fit? The distraction of a pizza was enough to buy Tyler a few seconds’ time, but he couldn’t let an elephant in the room turn into one, could he? “You wouldn’t be the first person to,” Tyler shrugged. While taking another bite of pizza, Sam regarded his friend speculatively. “I don’t have to, obviously.” “I didn’t have to meet my Talemates, obviously,” Tyler shrugged, still leaving room for Sam to guess if he wanted. “But I did.” “That doesn’t answer my question. Do you want me to guess, or not?” He raised his eyebrows. “Sure,” Tyler shrugged, feeling more brazen as he did so. “Gimme your best shot.” Sam finished eating his slice of pizza, just to make Tyler wait. “You gave yourself away when you said a ‘dogfish ate your dad,’ because I’m pretty sure the only Tale that I’ve ever heard of that has one of them is Pinocchio.” “Honestly? Most people assume it’s a whale ‘cause of the movie,” Tyler said nonchalantly. “Or they hear dogfish and think of the brewery.” Oh, yeah, he guessed right. “Got it in one though,” he added cheekily. “So, what, are you some kind of human lie detector, then?” Sam volleyed back, and reached for another slice. He hadn’t been this hungry in a while, but he wasn’t about to fight it, not when his eating habits had been so...all over the place, as of late. “Yeah, you could say that. The plus side is that it makes for pretty easy bragging rights in Mafia,” Tyler began. Having scarfed down yet another slice, he instinctively reached to grab another helping of pizza. “The downside is --” At this point, was it really a downside? “-- everybody comes off as a piece of shit.” After reaching for another slice and a sip of his Coke, Sam frowned at Tyler. “That sounds really sucky.” And opened his mouth to say something else - well, to ask something else - before realizing that would be a terrible idea and promptly shoved some more pizza into his mouth instead. “I don’t know how you deal with that, always knowing when someone’s lying.” “Eh,” Tyler muttered noncommittally. A shrug followed. “I just got used to it. It’s either that or get mad every time somebody answers ‘no’ to ‘Do these jeans make me look fat?’, and ain’t nobody got time for that. It’s what they say about picking your battles.” “Yeah, I guess it’s not worth the energy,” Sam nodded after Tyler finished explaining his logic. If he’d been in Tyler’s shoes, Sam probably would’ve adopted a similar approach. “I’ve always liked my powers, but sometimes I think it would’ve been cool to actually turn into a bear,” he offered then. “Yeah? That’d be pretty badass, huh?” He grinned at Sam. “Baloo did have a pretty sweet life, just kickin’ it in the jungle.” “Occasionally making sure Mowgli doesn’t do anything stupid, but yeah. Pretty chill.” Sam grinned back, the smile feeling a bit unfamiliar on his face after not using those muscles for a while, but the longer he held it - not to the point where it was creepy, a normal length of time - it felt more natural. Easier. “You know me. I’m all about that bear necessities life.” “Hey, chill’s not a bad way to be. I’m apparently all about bad life decisions, if my Tale life is anything to go by,” Tyler couldn’t help but laugh, as he shrugged and threw his hands up. “Every time I do something shitty and think I’ve hit a low bar, I just remember that I’ve probably done worse in the past. You, on the other hand. You were the Cool Dad, trademark and everything.” Sam’s grin turned into a thoughtful frown for a second, but then came back, stronger than ever. “Never thought of it like that, but now that you mention it - yeah. Baloo was a Cool Dad.” He snorted when Tyler just compared his current screw-ups to the ones he’s done as Pinocchio. “He was one of my first words, you know. Baloo. My parents kept thinking I was saying ‘blue,’ not Baloo, though.” Sam added conversationally. “Heh, blue. Baloo. That’s pretty great. The more you know.” An unironic smile formed on Tyler’s face. “It rolls off the tip of the tongue. Much easier than Pinocchio.” “I figured you should know. Just in case we ever go on The Newlyweds Show. And maybe a little.” Sam agreed with a chuckle, and lifted his Coke up to take a sip, only to find that a small smile was still on his lips. Huh. Tyler’s hands came together in a resounding clap as he laughed at that. “They put it together once we watched The Jungle Book. Or maybe we were in one of those Disney stores and I saw a stuffed animal. Who knows?” He shrugged, unbothered, and drained his cup. “I still think it’s funny sometimes that I ended up working for two of my Talemates.” “Yeah? Did you know about the tale first or the job posting?” Tyler finished off the last bites of his pizza. “That’s cool, though. You got your own jungle, sorta.” “Well, I met Samar when I was like, maybe thirteen or fourteen. It was one of the first times my claws came out, and I was still learning how to put them back,” Sam started slowly, “And I knew he was my Talemate then - you know, just got that vibe - and then I checked the Registry to confirm that. So Tale, I guess. And then after I turned sixteen, I found that they were hiring, I applied, and there you go. Still there today.” He spread his hands to indicate that was it. Not a very exciting story, truth be told, but having Sahir and Samar around for much of his teenage years had been really helpful. Their friendship meant very much to Sam, even if he didn’t talk about it much. “Cool. That’s pretty dope,” Tyler nodded. “That vibe, huh?” His voice piqued in curiosity, as he took a moment to reflect on his own Tale family. He definitely felt it with Ryan, having gone from bumping into him on the street and becoming friends (Friends? Yeah, friends.) with the guy in much less time than Tyler had with most of his college pals. And while he was inebriated when he met Juliet, maybe there was a reason why she’d talked to him in the first place. And Miles? It was tough to say. Tyler had known who he was beforehand, and even he wasn’t dumb enough to disregard that bias. “I think I might have gotten it a few times. I never really felt it much until recently,” Tyler admitted. Sam nodded. “That vibe,” he confirmed, and then smiled tentatively when Tyler mentioned feeling it, too. “That’s awesome, Ty. Are they nice, so far?” “They’re cool,” Tyler nodded simply. “Not gonna lie, it’s trippy as hell seeing people you knew from before, but different. Though I can’t even be one to talk -- you had the animals.” “It’s not as strange as you think it would be, seeing animals as people,” Sam shrugged. “I’d argue we were all anthropomorphic, anyway, and...I don’t know. I don’t find it trippy. I find it comforting. Like someone else gets me in a way that my family will probably never be completely able to.” “Hmm. Yeah….” escaped Tyler, but it tapered off weakly. It was the last sentence that resonated with him, not because he didn’t agree, but he couldn’t relate. He’d had family -- but he’d also spent a good part of his life without one that there would always be a void that to fill. Did his current Tale family live up to that absence? Who knew, he thought, as he distractedly drummed his fingers on his lap. ‘sides, this conversation was getting deeper than he’d intended. “Alright, welp. This storytime was brought to you by the letter P for P……” He looked around, only to find an empty box. “....izza.” Sam followed Tyler’s gaze, and smirked slightly. “Good try, but something tells me that they would definitely not let you anywhere near a kids’ tv show. Never mind Sesame Street.” |