tomorrow's shadows (fated_wren) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2013-05-06 01:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | adam, adam and wren, day sixteen, wren |
The Sun
Characters: Wren and Adam
Setting: her room
Adam sent his note to the Administration, not sure if he’d said the right things, but it would get the conversation started. And they’d gotten back to him quickly enough, to the point where he was left staring at their answer, reading it at least twice. He wanted to answer right away. Hell no, he was not going back to prison. Not in any way. But if he didn’t, he would never be cleared of the crime. But they’d let him stay until he graduated. Wasn’t that what mattered.
The first stop was Wren, even if he did hesitate near Kyle’s room, he went on ahead to her. He had a slight better feeling of how things were going with her, or at least how to fix them. The conversation with Kyle was probably going to be a lot harder. His first stop was B block, heading towards her room, but keep an eye on the farm in case she was there.
Wren was in her room. She was listening to music, shuffling her cards. She wanted to do cards of the day today, feeling people may need it. But she'd needed to do her quiz first, then she'd gotten caught up looking at other people's results.
When a knock came at her door, she set her cards on her bed, and went to answer it. While she was surprised to see Adam, she was also relieved. She'd been hopeful, when they'd commented back and forth on the journals some. That relief was clear on her features, and the small smile she gave him. "Hi."
The smile helped, even if it was small, as was that look of relief. Adam watched her for a moment then reached out and hugged her, tightly. “Hi,” he said, not letting go right away.
Blinking, Wren was taken off guard, but she relaxed and hugged him back in no time, giving him just as tight a squeeze back. "I've missed you." she told him honestly. She knew it hadn't been that long, but she really disliked things feeling off with them. He was one of her very best friends. One of the exclusive group of individuals that could be counted on one hand. She'd been so very hurt by even the idea that he would drop her or go changing absolutely everything without them talking about it together. But he was standing there, and she was happy about it. And there were hugs, which was even better.
Adam almost lost it. Right there, hugging her, he almost completely lost it. It wasn’t perfect, he was sure he still had to apologize for things, but Autumn had been right. It wasn’t over. He held on to Wren tighter for a moment longer then pulled back, but stayed closer, watching her eyes. “I’ve missed you too. I’m sorry.”
Hearing he'd missed her too helped. At least she wasn't alone there. "Can we talk about things?" she asked. "I think there are things to talk about, I'm really confused." she told him. "And I forgive you. But let's talk." she said, nodding a little before she took his hand to tug him into her room, going to sit back on the bed, picking her cards up once more.
“Whatever you want to talk about,” Adam said, closing the door as she pulled him into the room, going with her willingly. “I’m glad you forgive me. I was worried you wouldn’t.” Terrified really, but he could go into that if she asked. “What are you doing with your cards?”
Wren looked slightly confused there. “...why wouldn’t I?” she asked. “...you remember that I forgive pretty much everyone for everything, yes?” she posed. “You wouldn’t be any different.” she added. “You’ve even seemed a little upset with me for such a trait. But it’s working in your favor.” she added with a little smile. Adam and Charlie had a lot in common. More than either of them would be happy with. “I was going to do a card of the day for everyone.” she said. “And by everyone I mean my friends.” she added.
“Can we talk about changes in our friendship?” she asked. “Because I don’t really want there to be any.”
Adam frowned slightly, looking bashful in a way. “I’m not used to that. I know it’s how you are, but...I sort of learned the wrong way I think. Before you and Kyle, my best friend...there was no coming back from him being mad at you. He didn’t forgive.” He looked back up at her smiling just a tiny bit. “Will you do mine?” he asked.
Taking a deep breath he nodded. “I honestly don’t want to either, but...I don’t want you wind up in a situation that you’re not comfortable with. So...it’s up to you.”
"Well, for future reference, I'll forgive you." she promised him. She didn't see him doing anything that she wouldn't forgive him for. The only person she hadn't forgiven was Brian, and that was because he killed everyone she'd ever known, with the exception of Chester. Adam wasn't going to do anything like that. "Jeffrey, yes? I know we talked about him before." she added.
She listened to the rest, and nodded. "I'm fine, Adam. If I am uncomfortable, I will let you know. I would appreciate it if you didn't try to pre-emptively do things on my behalf, however, because I believe you assume incorrectly how I will respond. I'm a big girl." she told him with a smile. "And I'm not shy about sharing. Especially with people I care about. So, I'll let you know, if something like that ever happens. But I was really happy, with our friendship. It's been awful, thinking I was...I don't know. Being..." she didn't know if the word 'punished' was right, even if that was how she felt.
"...I don't want things to change. I still want to wind up eventually on a beach somewhere, and we can all go. And Chester trusts me. I know you two don't get along, but you both care about me. And he wouldn't ever cut me off from someone I care about. He, more than anyone else, knows just how isolated I've been in my life. He wouldn't do anything to jeopardize my relationships. Maybe you two should talk?" she suggested hesitantly. “I know it will be awkward, and you won’t come out hugging or anything, but maybe you could at least get on the same page.”
“Yeah Jeffrey,” Adam said with a nod. “Not the best example I’m finding out.” He took another deep breath and listened to her but when she stumbled over her words Adam reached for her taking her hand and pulling her closer to him. “It was awful for me to. I know I jumped the gun in things. I shouldn’t have done that. I just...I did you wrong on that. I should have known better that you wouldn’t be like that.”
Adam was nodding until she mentioned talking to Charlie. “I like the beach. I do want that. I just...We really don’t like each other Wren.” And he had a feeling that wouldn’t go over well.
Wren went over closer to him when he reached for her, still feeling relieved. "Okay." she said. "Well, we can move ahead." she told him, deciding that everything else could just be left behind. She was still confused about some things, but in the end she was thinking they didn't matter so much as just getting back to normal with him. "I know you don't." she added. "But you don't have to. You just have to reach a place where you can be civil to one another. You two actually have more in common than you'd think." she added. "But all I would ask is that you two can be okay. I don't need you to be best friends. Or friends at all. Just okay."
“Don’t say that. I don’t want to be like him.” Adam paused for a moment. “Except for the part where you care about him,” he added. He watched her then sighed loudly, making a bit of a face. “Alright fine. I will work on being civil.”
"He feels the same way. But...it's true." she said. "Maybe that's why you don't get along." she added. "I don't know. But thank you." she said. "I do actually think it would still help if you talked to the man. Maybe you could do it over the journals, or something. Just kind of clear the air, and get straight from him that he isn't going to do anything to sabotage our friendship."
“You are lucky I like you so much, because I really don’t want to talk to him,” Adam said shaking his head. “But I will try and talk to him. Since you asked. But I’m not promising that we’re going to get along any better.”
"I wouldn't ask for any promises." Wren told him. "Just, talk, see what happens, maybe you'll feel better at least that he isn't going to do anything bad." She hoped that would be enough to set Adam's mind at ease at least slightly.
Except possibly lie his ass off, Adam thought but he kept it to himself. It possibly could be believed that Charlie wouldn’t lie to Wren again, but he wasn’t going to put money on it. He could do that part that Kyle suggested, which was to be cautious and if Charlie opted to shoot himself in the foot, Adam could be there to protect Wren when she actually needed it. Not now. As much as that made his shoulders twitch. “I will talk to him. Promise. After I leave here.” He wasn’t leaving right now though and really wanted to stop talking about Charlie. “Is there anything else? Or do you think I could convince you do my card for today?” Adam smiled at her.
Wren smiled. "I could be convinced." she told him. She picked up her cards, and started to shuffle, eyes on him as she concentrated.
Adam tried not to laugh at her concentrating on him, feeling himself start to flush at the look, not used to that sort of attention. At least she was smiling though, that was a good sign.
Wren cut the cards three times, then put them back together, flipping the top card. It was The Sun. "This is generally a positive card." she said. "It talks of confidence, simplicity." she said. "Add into that cooperation, partnerships, collaboration, liberation, shared visions, attainment..." she rattled off. "Innocence." she finished. She smiled. "So, a good card."
Adam listened, reaching to touch the card, tracing the design on it. “Fitting for today. Since it’s all about fixing things with my friends.” The last word though, that sent chills up his spine. “Innocence.” He leaned back, running his hand over his mouth, obviously a little shaken.
Wren blinked, looking concerned. "Are you alright?" she asked, reaching out to put a hand over his on the bed. "Did I say something wrong?" She didn't know what it might be, but something she'd just said had him going pale.
Adam bit his lip, looking at the card then Wren. “I talked to one of the cops here. When we were on patrol together. We were talking about what I did and the cameras were off and...He was sure I was innocent. That I was set up. I have a case for it.”
Wren didn't actually look surprised, per se. "I've always thought you were innocent, remember?" she said. "I would have seen it in my cards if you'd killed someone. And you never could actually remember any of it." They'd discussed it over cleaning up broken glass in his room. She remembered it well. "You have a case now, however? Will you tell me about it?"
“That’s what he says, he said I have a case. Because I didn’t do it and they threatened me.” Adam bit his lip again. “I asked the Administration about it. If I could get a retrial or an appeal or whatever. They said I can but I have to leave the program. I have to go back to normal prison.”
"I don't want you to go back there, Adam. It wasn't a good place for you." she said, not thinking through the statement first. Then she squeezed her eyes shut, and took a breath. "I will support you in any decision you make, however I would worry for you every day. I--what do you want to do?"
Adam shook his head. “I don’t. Even if it’s just a few months waiting on a retrial, or it’s a year, I’ll be dead before it ends.” If not at some attacker’s hand, Adam had a feeling it might be at his own. He wasn’t sure he could survive more torture. “It just feels wrong to do nothing about it. To stay here and work towards graduation and not right the wrong.”
Wren considered that. "What would you consider satisfaction of this?" she asked. "What would 'right' the wrong in your eyes?" she asked.
He looked at her hand, the one he was holding. “I confessed to a crime I didn’t commit because I was scared and I wasn’t sure if I was innocent. I was assaulted...more than once in prison. I feel like something should be done about all of that. But Wren, I don’t want to go back there. I won’t survive. I don’t want to leave here. I just don’t know if what I want is as important as what’s right.”
"That's a question only you can answer. Because what matters is what you think. If I know anything, it's that concepts like right and wrong are entirely in the eye of the beholder. Like with my cards? They don't see right or wrong, they just see possibilities." She bit her lip for a moment before she continued. "If you want my opinion, I don't think your life is worth some ideal.”
Adam was quiet for a moment. “I don’t want to go Wren. I really want to stay. And I know I won’t last in prison. If they don’t kill me, I will.” He ran his hand over his head, looking at her again. “You really don’t think so? I spent a long time not thinking it was worth much of anything.”
Wren got closer, sitting mostly behind him and she put her arms around his shoulders, to just hug him and to be literal support. "Well you didn't think you were worth much of anything because you're inclined not to see it for yourself." she told him. "That doesn't mean you aren't. It just means you're blind in that particular area. But I know you're worth something. Kyle knows. You need to stop assuming you don't matter, Adam. Because you really, really do. Just look at things with us. If you didn't matter, do you think I would have been so upset for days on end? Been devastated? You don't get devastated over no one." she said, not in a tone that indicated she was expecting him to respond to the fact that she'd been sad--that was entirely not the point. The point was the sentiment behind it.
Adam got the sentiment, amazed that devastated made the list of how she felt over him. That made him sad, but he did get the sentiment and nodded. After a moment he turned in her arms slightly so he could see her. “Thanks Wren.” He smiled quickly, then leaned in to kiss her cheek, not sure where the urge came from but he went with it. “I’m sorry I made you feel that way. I know how it feels because you’re just as important to me too.” Even if she wasn’t expecting him to say something, he was going to say something. “I’ll work on trying to see myself as mattering.”
"If nothing else, you could try looking at it like this--trust us that we see something in you. So, maybe even if you don't, people you believe in do." she suggested, thinking he might have an easier time with that at first. "But either way...don't go doing something that's going to end badly for you over some ideal."
She was right in her thinking. “I think I can do a little better with trusting you than me,” he said smiling a little. “I won’t. I figure...I’ve got unfinished business here right?”
Wren smiled. "I just want you to be safe and happy." she told him. "If that's here, then you need to be here."
He smiled more, nodding a little. “I do feel safer here. Which reminds me, they removed Ryan.” Which he hoped would make her feel safer.
Her eyes widened slightly. "Oh." she said. She hadn't really talked to him since things had gotten strange there. She supposed it would make people feel safer in general, and knew a lot of people suspected him of the incident with Becka. So, she hoped that meant people were going to be okay now. "Thank you for telling me." she said. "I suppose my reason for moving has vanished."
“Yeah they told me in the response about what I could do about the innocent thing.” Adam sighed a little and looked at her. “He wasn’t the only reason you moved. You moved because Charlie and Leandro made you feel like you weren’t worth more than hiding over here and working on the farm.” He hadn’t forgotten that part.
"I know, but I've forgiven them." she told him. Therefore, to her, that stopped counting a while ago. "That doesn't matter anymore to me." she told him. "But you'll feel better now too, yes?" she asked. "No more fights?"
“It was no more fights before,” Adam said. “Because Kyle wanted it. And because it was stupid. I do feel better though. Safer and not just me, but others. You.”
Wren nodded. "Okay." she said. She knew she'd feel better if Adam didn't get into fights anymore. He just wasn't suited for it. Like she wasn't. Neither one of them was any good in circumstances like those. "So what now?" she asked. “You have a good day ahead of you. What’ll you do with it?”
“Try and make the most of it I suppose. I need to see Kyle. And apparently I’m talking to Charlie too.” Adam shrugged one shoulder. “And I’ve got to tell them what I’ve decided.” Though he was still hesitating, thinking about it. Maybe he’d talk it over with Kyle too.
"Think good thoughts. Cooperative thoughts." she told him. She picked up The Sun again, showing it to him. "Good card." she promised. "So, have a good rest of the day. I won't keep you since you've got other appointments to keep, but maybe soon we can all get together and do something? Get a drink, or watch a movie, or...I have no idea?"
Adam took the card, studying it, memorizing it before handing it back to her. “Good card.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek again. “You’re the best you know that right? And yes. We can do that very soon. Something relaxing.” He got up, but reached for her hand, holding onto it with a squeeze. “I’m glad we’re okay.”
She smiled at him. "Me too." she said. She was relieved, really. Sure, there were positive feelings along with it, but the main one she had was just straight relief. She felt like she could relax more now. "And something relaxing, soon. Maybe we can all go swimming." she suggested, squeezing his hand back. "Now go have your good day. Smile, and know that it should all click into place for you."
“I did promise to teach you,” Adam said smiling more before letting go of her. “I’ll let you know how the day goes. Thanks for being there Wren. It means the world.” He took a few steps back then let himself out of the room, waving over his shoulder.