Date: 11 Jan 2023 03:50 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 079)
From: [personal profile] conning
“Did I?” He looks at Malcolm. “It wasn’t real. It was something this place made for me. I’m dead. If I don’t graduate, I don’t have a future either.”

That’s about when it registers that Malcolm is upset. Neal isn’t sure about what, there are too many possibilities. But he came here for himself without even considering that Malcolm might be upset, too. A little tease of shame wriggles in the pit of his stomach. “I wish we’d known each other as kids. I think we would have been friends.”

Date: 11 Jan 2023 14:17 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 032)
From: [personal profile] conning
“I know I would have.” He smiles a little. “I didn’t really have friends either. I had people I liked, some people who liked me who I’d go and play with, but I never let anyone come to my house. Eventually people stopped asking me to theirs. I was weird. Charming, smart, good to bum homework answers from, but weird.”

Weird and poor, though that was a little less relevant in that neighborhood.

Date: 13 Jan 2023 03:48 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 029)
From: [personal profile] conning
“You’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.” Neal’s tone is genuine surprise. “Which might not help with little kids, but…”

Date: 13 Jan 2023 14:27 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 083)
From: [personal profile] conning
"That's terrible," Neal says softly. All of it, but the idea of Malcolm's mother giving him animals just to see if he hurt them and then taking that companionship away when her litmus test was finished in particular.

Date: 13 Jan 2023 16:24 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 079)
From: [personal profile] conning
Neal's lips pinch into a little frown and he looks down at George, who's come back to lean against his leg. Not rubbing against him, really, just leaning there like a little weirdo. He smiles, reaching down to pet him as a pang of something guilty he doesn't want to think about tugs at him.

"Have you always liked birds?"

Date: 14 Jan 2023 03:21 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 047)
From: [personal profile] conning
Neal smiles in response, a bit of the Odyssey springing to mind. “Come hither, as thou farest, renowned Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans,” Neal murmurs, repeating the first line of the Sirens’ song. He pauses.

“Did you get her to have someone to come home to?”

Date: 14 Jan 2023 17:54 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 006)
From: [personal profile] conning
Neal blinks in surprise. He can't remember Malcolm mentioning that before. "That's... like, on a regular basis?"

Date: 17 Jan 2023 03:49 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 029)
From: [personal profile] conning
He mentally translates the Latin, adding it to “night terrors” and wincing at the mental result.

“Can’t… can’t the Admiral stop them?”

Date: 17 Jan 2023 19:38 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 033)
From: [personal profile] conning
He shrugs, bending to pick George up. "Can't that be your deal? He cures them?"

Date: 18 Jan 2023 20:08 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 052)
From: [personal profile] conning
Neal frowns. "Is there another way to cure them?"

Date: 18 Jan 2023 20:37 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 056)
From: [personal profile] conning
"So how is that a waste of a wish?" He's confused, Malcolm.

Date: 19 Jan 2023 03:38 (UTC)
conning: (NealC 033)
From: [personal profile] conning
His brows knit a little. “Like a new life? A changed one? A world that’s completely different, good and fair?”

Neal gestures at nothing in particular, no judgment in his tone. “You haven’t asked for any of that. And you don’t seem to think it’s even a good idea every time. And you can get more than one deal with more than one graduate, can’t you? Why not choose something that makes your life better in a way no one else can?”

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