Talks abounding Who: Autumn and Mazie When: Early afternoon Where: Mazie's room
Autumn went to Mazie’s room first, hoping she was there. Knocking, she waited, trying to mentally come up with a plan of action here before everything went straight to hell, very very fast.
Mazie was there, not exactly happy with the way her conversation with Kyle had gone. She'd been playing it over in her mind ever since she got back from his room and she still thought she probably could have handled that better. Looking up at the sound of the knock, she headed to the door even though she wasn't expecting to see Autumn there. "Hey," She said, smiling at her since it was Autumn and not Kyle or someone else. "Come in."
"Hey." Autumn said, stepping inside and shutting the door behind her. "Honey, we have to talk." she told her first, wanting to rip the bandaid off fast. "I just got done talking to an extremely upset Kyle. And...the things he said? There's a whole lot of bad going on there. So, why don't you tell me your position?" she invited, so Mazie didn't feel like she was just going to be thrown under the bus without even getting a chance to give her side of the story. Also, Autumn knew that there were always two sides. Always. So, she needed to know Mazie's too.
Great. Little tattletale… Now she was in trouble and Mazie didn't really want to be in trouble when she was just trying to make things right. Sighing, Mazie went to her bed and flopped down onto her back there, staring up at the ceiling. "I just don't understand why they're fighting being together if they both like each other. At first I thought he was just messing with Adam, but the more we talked, the more he said he liked Adam and I just…why can't they both just be together and happy? I know it's idealistic but why not just try it?"
"You're completely discounting Kyle's entire person in this." Autumn said gently, going to sit on the edge of the bed so she could gaze down at Mazie. "Hon, I know Kyle's attracted to Adam--but thinking someone's cute isn't the same thing as actually liking them and wanting to be with them. One's purely physical, one's deeply emotional, and there's a big separation there. Kyle isn't 'messing' with Adam. If anything, it's the other way around, because Adam's having massive trouble keeping to the whole 'let's just be friends' thing--which Kyle has been very steadfast about from the start. Add on top of all of that that 'why can't they be together and happy' isn't even on the table..."
"But Kyle said that he liked Adam," Mazie said, looking back at Autumn. "It felt like he was screwing with my friend, so I went to talk to him about it. It didn't go well," no surprise, "But he said he liked Adam and I just don't really understand it." The larger issue at hand for her, though, was the idea that maybe Kyle didn't really like Adam and somehow she was going to have to tell Adam that. Whether it came out when she should be providing support or some other time, Mazie just didn't want to have to give him bad news if that was really the case.
"Fine, did Kyle say he wanted to be with Adam?" Autumn said, cutting it back so that there was less to go ahead with. If Mazie needed walking through this in baby steps, she'd do it.
Sighing, Mazie shook her head. "No, he didn't say that." But it just seemed so stupid to her not to be with someone if you both liked each other. Looking back at Autumn, she frowned. "I'm gonna have to go apologize to him, aren't I?"
"Yeah, you really are." Autumn said. She reached out to start sifting her fingers slowly through Mazie's hair. "Hon, not everyone wants the same things. Relationships are all different. Kyle knows he can't handle anything serious right now, and Adam would take their relationship up to eleven if he had a chance. That alone would fuck things up horribly, and possibly destroy their friendship as well. Then take Adam. Adam needs to work on Adam right now, and he needs to have friendships. I don't think Adam should be in a relationship at all right now, because he'd shift focus there, put his heart and soul into another person, and stop working on his own issues. He's not ready for a relationship right now. I know he would want one, but as his personal counselor? NO. Big no.”
“He's making really really awesome progress, I swear he is, and this would just set everything back. Adam's also the type who just...his affections waver like you wouldn't believe. I think it's because this is his first encounter with people who are really nice to him and give a damn about him. Another reason he shouldn't jump into something, because he needs to figure his own shit out first. He also needs to learn that he's not going to get everything he wants when he wants it, and part of having real relationships with people is needing to compromise. There's a billion other things I could add in here. But either way....yeah, hon. You owe Kyle an apology, and can I just say, if you ever go and tell anyone that you're going to harrass them endlessly until you get what you want as the end result? ...there's going to be bigger problems. Okay? I'm not signing on to be with someone who's going to be running around being controlling of people. I'm not that girl." she said, not in a lecturing way. Her voice was still gentle. But she meant it.
Mazie wasn't a real big fan of this conversation. She’d prefer it if Autumn were running her hands through her hair and talking about almost anything else in the world than this, but she brought this upon herself. She listened and tried, really made an effort, to replay exactly what she'd said to Kyle, just as she'd said it, and couldn't deny that maybe she'd come off that way even if she hadn't exactly meant to. It wasn’t a thought she might have had before coming here, before meeting Autumn, but she had it now. She'd gone into this with good intentions, in her opinion, but apparently it had backfired, hard. "Fine," She said, looking back at Autumn. "I'll apologize…" Not that she was getting up out of her seat to go do that right now. Kyle could fucking wait for his apology, especially since she had to sit here and start to feel a little guilty now because of Autumn's words. He could wait. "I just want Adam to be happy. He was finally happy when he came to see me the other day. It's important to me that he's happy."
"Hon--have a little faith in Adam. Do you honestly think so little of the guy that you believe he would require or even be satisfied with a forced relationship? Do you think it would be remotely healthy to just badger someone into a relationship with him? He'll get there. I know it's hard to see someone pining for someone else, but that doesn't mean a hook up will magically fix everything. In Adam's case, really really not, on that." She kept threading her fingers through Mazie's hair. "And I know it is. It's important to me too. Just...you have to kind of take a back seat, hon. Be supportive, not aggressive, and realize that what you think is the way to go might not be. He's got to go through this himself, this kind of stuff? Will only hurt kinda everything he's working for. It's a process. Nothing is going to be like the movies." She leaned down and planted a smooch on Mazie's forehead. "I know you mean well, but in this case...do you get what I'm saying?"
Mazie sighed. "I didn't…intend to go in there trying to force them to be together. I don't want him to be in a forced relationship, I want him to be in a real one. I just thought that he was getting messed with and now…." She nodded after a moment, looking up at Autumn. "I get it. And I get why I did it. I know I need to work on thinking like this before I do something, but it's hard for me." Be supportive, not aggressive. It was a lesson Mazie was pretty sure was going to take her a while to really understand. "I get what you're saying. I'll apologize the next time I see him. Scout's honor." Not that it was something she was really looking forward to doing, but it was something she probably needed to do, even if some residual anger was still there.
"No, not next time you see him. Hon you seriously transgressed here. You do it now. You stomped over there like a hurricane, gave him nine kinds of hell for not dating your mutual friend, then told him you were going to not stop until it happened. If this were out in the real world? He'd have a solid harassment suit here. Intentions don't mean anything when the result is that far off. You aren't gonna win points for having intended to do the right thing. Kay? And I get it's hard for you--but you need to start stopping and thinking through things before you do them. Hell, I'm available to you twenty four hours a day--ask me. You know I'll tell you what I think." she said. She started to put a little braid in Mazie's hair.
"But now means I have to get up and leave and you're already here," Mazie said, looking back up at Autumn. She knew she couldn't play that card with her, one because Mazie wasn't the bat-your-eyes type, but also because Autumn would see right through it. "Fine, I'll go apologize. But after that, can I at least come help you set things up or something? I don't want to thinking of this the rest of the day."
Autumn smiled. "I have to go back out and decorate! I'm throwing a ball here, love!" she told her. "And you can. Though he's currently down there putting up decorations too. Oh! I wanted to say, too--I'm going as Inara...will you be my Kaylee?" she asked, smiling. “Or my Mal, either one, really!”
If he was there, maybe she shouldn't go. Or wouldn't go. She didn't want to leave Autumn out there without the help, if she wanted it. But then her next question got Mazie's attention and she perked up, lifting up on her elbows with a big grin. "You're serious? You're going as Inara? Did you…were you watching my dreams?" Because that was…insanely hot and Mazie was already picturing it in her head. "Yes, hell yes. I'll be whoever you want me to be. I like Kaylee, but I can be whoever as long as you go as Inara."
"Then be my Kaylee." Autumn said with a bright smile. "It'll be awesome. And you have those dreams too, huh?" she winked. "Sounds good to me. So, there we go. Smoothing things over as best as possible, decorating, dressing up then partying til we drop!"
"Can I stay with you tonight? Really thinking I am not going to want to go back to my room after seeing you dressed up as Inara all night." She was hopeful that maybe there'd be more, too, than just going back to Autumn's room for sleeping, but she tried to keep that hope contained. They were still working things out, still getting back to that, and Mazie had just been told that not all things that she wanted happened when she wanted them to, or even at all. But a girl could hope, right?
"I'm pretty sure you'd have a really hard time fending me off, so absolutely. Yes. Please." Autumn told her. She'd certainly been banking on a sleep over after this.
This masquerade and the after party were both starting to make apologizing to Kyle look a whole lot better. Mazie grinned and sat up more properly, reaching for Autumn to pull her into a kiss, fingers curling around the back of her neck. When she pulled back it wasn't far, just enough to really give Autumn another smile. "Already looking forward to it."
"Me too." Autumn said. "Now get your ass in gear." she said, giving her one more quick kiss. "The quicker it's over the quicker party stuff can take priority." she said, then stood up, tugging Mazie up with her.
Mazie went with her, smile still on her lips, and nodded. "Yes Ma'am," She said, giving Autumn a little salute before she started toward the door. Better to get this over with so she didn't keep mulling it over. It would free up space for daydreaming about Autumn in her Inara costume until she got to see the real thing.