I wanna take you for granted, yeah, yeah well I will - Phone

[ceasetoexist]

[Phone]
[There's a small, throat-clearing sound on the other end of the phone before Pokey finally begins to speak.]

I found something in the ghost town that opened up during the fight with that stupid robot. You jerks have fifteen seconds to get a pen and paper, because when I start reading? I'm not stopping.

Alright. Hope you're ready, cause here we go.

[And Pokey will proceed to recite what's written on this note. He goes at a moderate pace, not super fast but not particularly slow or meticulous either. He doesn't stop, aside from one time. He pauses a bit before the last paragraph, and that one he reads noticeably slower then the others. And then a short pause after he finishes.]

I hope you losers caught all that, or at least one of you did, cause I don't want you bugging me to repeat.

[Filtered to Legion of Doom Members]

Alright listen up. The Riddler's droned, probably not for good, but we should probably elect someone to act as an impromptu leader with him gone if he hasn't done so already.

That being said, I'd actually like to do something now that we're settled down after all the bullcrap of the last few weeks. We were supposed to have a meeting last week but, uh, oops, understandably that didn't happen. So I suggest we have one this week, or try to. If no one else can host it, we can use my place because there's only drones here aside from myself, so if you have family members you don't want finding out about this, you don't have to.

I also want to suggest that everyone brings some kind of list of what they saw, what happened, and who they met during this mess. It's going to be best to try and understand this crap from all angles and, because of the mess it was, if any of us have info on the other people in this town we're stuck with, it'd be a good idea to get it out now so we can compile it in case we have to go against these jerkoffs sometime.

[Filtered to Mindy]

Hey squirt. I just...wanna make sure you're alright, after all that went down last week. That's all. Just making sure you didn't go and somehow get hurt.

[A pause. And then, he asks, slowly.]

...You wanna do something today? Like play a game?

[And after these phone calls, Pokey prepares to put the phone up. And stops. And for a long moment, he hesitates between putting it up and dialing one last number.

In the end? He chooses to dial that number.]

[Filtered to Lucas]

[When Pokey starts speaking, his voice is low. Trying to force calm. Struggling to say what he's trying to say.]

Stup-

Pig's bu-

Lucas.

[It was a struggle just to get your actual name out. THink that was hard? It's even more strained when he says the next part. Strained, and somewhat angry, but oddly enough? There's an odd sincerity in his tone. He means it.]

What you said about other people. About needing them. About some of them actually being good.

You were right.

I was wrong.

[And he just stops. He'll stay on the phone for a moment or two, waiting for a reply. And if none comes, he puts the receiver down.]

Comments

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

[Oh, and he does want it. He wants it bad, Lucas. But does he feel like he deserves it? Not really. Honestly, he doesn't feel like he deserves much of anything at the moment. Just an odd sense of guilt, and just sadness and irritation after discovering the truth about the dairy. And just the gnawing feeling that it should've been him instead of any of the others he knew that got droned.

But he can't say that, not to anyone and especially not to you. He just needs to find a way to alleviate some of his guilt, and even if it is his? It feels like he'd still be stealing from you. Whatever yyou went through to get it, you probably did more then he ever did. Is more deserving in general.]

....Sometimes you need to let things go. Or they eat you alive.

[And right now. This is the easiest thing he has to let go. And he says that still not looking at you, doing his best to hide the utterly beaten expression on his face from you.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

. . . I see.

[How ironic that Porky would say something like that to him. Lucas will withdraw his hand the whole way, tucking the yo-yo back within his pocket. If Porky can feel that way about his most treasured possession . . . Well. No. It wasn't comparable. He wasn't obligated to return that feeling in kind. But he knew, of course, that the sentiments were true, had come to understand this within the first few months of Porky's arrival here.

That didn't mean, of course, that he had entirely been able to stop it from eating away.

Lucas does not notice Porky's expression. He's got a complicated one of his own working its way through all of the internal conflict that he's feeling at the moment. At the moment, predominantly . . . it is pity.]

Some things can be let go. Bad memories, bad feelings . . . But. Remember, when you're letting go, the things you ought to hold on to really tight, too.

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

[Pokey's just silent for a moment. Thinking, mainly. Because really, even after what he said, he already knows in the end he's going to be eaten away entirely. Really, by this point, the only thing he can hope to do is find some way to end whatever he had before he did get eaten entirely away, because if he kept going on like he was all he would do would be to speed up the process.

Pokey already knew the best way to stop it from getting to that point. Of course, he still wouldn't tell anyone, not yet at least if even ever, what that plan was. It wasn't like he could accomplish it here anyway.

Finally, weakly, Pokey says.]

Yeah. You're right.

[Before getting up and starting to move away. Pokey has to get away, or he's going to crack, and this whole conversation hadn't helped his guilt as much as he'd thought. How could it have, really, after all he'd done and what he would eventually do? Let alone the fact that he, apparently, had survived here when there were so many others who deserved to still be here more then he did.

He keeps walking for a minute. Then stops. And he just can't stop what comes next, no matter, how hard he tries. It just comes. It'd been something Pokey had wanted to say for a couple of months anyway, and it was happening here and now whether he liked it or not.

He turns back to Lucas for a moment, then speaks.]

I'm sorry. I know that means absolutely nothing, and I don't expect any real kind of reply, or understanding or acceptance of it. But I am sorry.

[And he'll quickly turn around to keep moving. He has to leave. Now.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[That was unexpected. But his natural instinct, the core of his being, the power that had always lent him strength, responds without hesitation, calling out quietly before Porky can leave.]

I accept it. . . . I forgive you.

[He does. He can forgive this person, this child who had not yet become the monster that would remorselessly commit those unforgivable crimes. This boy who, once selfish through and through, was finally beginning to grasp hold of what it was he had never had. Love was the most important thing in the world. He believed this. Completely and absolutely.

Could he forgive Porky Minch? . . . He didn't know. If they ever met again, maybe he would be able to say. But what he would like to be able to feel and what he really feels - those are two different things. He had never claimed to be perfect.

Could he forgive Pokey Minch? Yes. Yes, he could. To forgive someone who had not yet wronged him and who, now, would likely never wrong him. It was simple as that.]

[godisachild.livejournal.com]

[Pokey stops. Dead. And he just stands there, shaking slightly, still not facing Lucas. He has to resist the urge to immediately shout at the other boy, to call him a moron. Because even if he hadn't done it yet, there was still so much he had done. That he was still going to do, that traditionally would probably be fairly bad even if he was doing it for somewhat different reasons. Trying to use what he had always had now to try and force a way out for everyone instead of just himself. The idea of actually being forgiven had never occurred to him. Pokey didn't know if he could accept that.

But he beats it down. His urge to just get angry. What does he say to that? Thank you? Does he say anything at all?

In the end, he just opts for something simple.]

...Alright. I'll see you when I see you, I guess.

[Before he's off again. Faster now, trying to beat it before Lucas might have something else to say.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

. . . Bye.

[Lucas will simply stare after Pokey for a few seconds before reaching in his pocket to dig out the yo-yo again. A moment of contemplation passes before he leans forward and slowly begins to throw the toy up and down.]