Preparations: John and Mickey and open to Leon
Mickey listened to John, hearing that tinge of despair in the boy's voice, and a cloud of worry passed over his face. It sounded like heartache, and a relatively fresh one at that. It sucked for everyone, but when you were at John's age, you just felt everything so intensely.
Not that Mickey didn't still, but he was an ifrit. His blood always ran hot.
"Everybody sucks at that sort of thing," Mickey said. "Being rejected can be - no, it is one of the worst things in the world. Because no matter how much you want it - and that's it, isn't it? It's the most you've wanted something, ever - you cannot change somebody else's heart, sadly. So yeah, it sucks. And it's gonna suck for a little while more. But it'll get better, I promise."