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Post by Trent Frey on Jan 5, 2014 22:51:32 GMT -5
Lyric shifted his weight and tugged absently at his shirt a moment before he caught himself. Then his hands hung at his sides. "This girl I was with in school a few times came and just left her with me. Said she was mine and she had to go. The kid doesn't even have a name. Sometimes we call her Kiley or Quinn or Mae, or something. But the kid doesn't want to be called Kiley, that was Quinn's dead sister." He shook his head.
"So she raided my fridge, messed up my kitchen, and hid in a cabinet. Dare just got her out by bribing her with a stuffed animal."
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Jan 5, 2014 22:54:53 GMT -5
"Well, to be fair, stuffed animals are quite nice. I once had a horrible day and Matthew bought one for me. I'm pretty sure if everyone had a teddy bear we'd have world peace or something," Rhys said, smiling. It didn't take much to see the awkwardness and tension involved, and maybe a little joke would help. "But anyway, do you know anything about how the girl was raised?" If she didn't even really have a name, it couldn't be good.
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Post by Trent Frey on Jan 5, 2014 23:02:36 GMT -5
"Ah..." Lyric shook his head. "All I know is like, her stepdad—the girl I was with—was some kind of bastard. I don't know..." And then he remembered. He'd tuned out a lot of what Quinn had told him because a lot of it was just air-filler, but he'd been stone cold sober when she'd told him this. He'd been standing on the edge of the Astronomy Tower with his toes hanging off the edge, and she'd told him in an attempt to get him to listen to her instead of jumping. And he'd listened.
Lyric blinked, but his eyes were still far away as he tried to find the words. He'd caught the feeling first, that it had been something horrible, that it really had gotten his attention. "Her stepfather... I think he killed her sister."
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Jan 5, 2014 23:05:54 GMT -5
That definitely earned someone the honor of being called a bastard, as far as Rhys was concerned. His eyebrows pulled together and any trace of a smile left his lips. "Are you going to keep the girl?" he asked. It was important to know. If Lyric intended to give the girl up for adoption, then referring to Lyric as dad or to the building as home probably weren't the best ideas.
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Post by Trent Frey on Jan 5, 2014 23:17:03 GMT -5
Lyric's brows drew together, and he looked off into the shop rather than at Rhys. Somehow his gaze found the photograph of his mother, her profile and the subtle lines at the corners of her eyes, the motion of a well-worked hand with neatly-trimmed nails as she pushed a lock of dark hair behind her ear.
"My dad left and it sucked," he said, "but I can't take care of a kid. I don't know what to do with one, I can't even f~ing take care of myself half the time." What would happen if he slipped? If Keith left him? He didn't trust himself. Even aside from the fact that a kid would get in the way, he didn't trust himself to do it right.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Jan 5, 2014 23:21:41 GMT -5
"Even people who want and prepare for a kid end up with things they don't know how to do," Rhys reasoned. "If you really don't think you can take care of her, that's fine, but you should also know that the adoption system in this country isn't all that great and it's possible she could end up in the system her whole life." He'd learned a lot about adoptions and orphans in the country since deciding he wanted to have a kid with Matthew. It wasn't all good news even without mental illness in the picture.
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Post by Trent Frey on Jan 5, 2014 23:28:07 GMT -5
Lyric shook his head. He'd known guys at PONY who were foster kids, and the whole thing was crap. They'd been abused and neglected for the money it gave their foster parents. Could he do any better? He had a feeling the only thing keeping him from abusing Keith was that Keith liked it, but this was a kid. It couldn't even talk. "I don't have to decide right now, do I?"
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Jan 5, 2014 23:35:43 GMT -5
"The sooner you decide, the better," Rhys said. "If we string her along now, it'll cause more problems in the future. I'm not saying that telling her she's going to be sent to an orphanage won't cause her harm, but telling her one thing will happen while you plan for another will just hurt her." Getting the girl's hopes up wouldn't do any good at all.
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Post by Trent Frey on Jan 5, 2014 23:42:29 GMT -5
Lyric stared off into the shop, brows drawn tightly together. He didn't want to do it. He didn't know how someone could just drop a kid off with him and say it's your problem now. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair, and it wasn't a good idea.
"Can't I just give her to someone?" he asked, looking at Rhys. "I shouldn't have a kid." For a hundred reasons he didn't need to say out loud.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Jan 5, 2014 23:45:26 GMT -5
"You can, but if you're going to do it, then you need to make that decision as soon as possible, and everyone involved needs to know about it," Rhys said. "I mean, imagine if you'd been dropped off, then you were told someone is your dad, then you were ripped away and sent to someone else or an orphanage. Whatever she is to you, she doesn't deserve to be strung alone." This kind of situation rarely turned out well, from what little he'd seen of such circumstances, but he was fully willing to give whatever advice he could.
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Post by Trent Frey on Jan 5, 2014 23:53:11 GMT -5
"Imagine you watched your dad beat your mom because dinner wasn't hot when he got home, then smacked you around a little for getting in the way. Is that any better? If he gets drunk on the weekend and f~s his boyfriend seven ways to Sunday is that any better? I can't keep her, I'd just f~ her up worse than she's already f~ed."
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Jan 5, 2014 23:56:32 GMT -5
"Well, you aren't that dad, though, are you? And Keith seems like a good man, from what I've seen," Rhys said. He mostly only knew Keith through Matthew, but he hadn't seen much to make him actively dislike the man. "The fact that you're aware of your issues immediately makes you a better father than all of those who refuse to admit their faults."
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Post by Trent Frey on Jan 5, 2014 23:59:50 GMT -5
"So if I know I'm gonna end up knocking her around it's better?" Lyric asked. Father. He couldn't be a father, he couldn't! Despite the fact that the kid had eyes eerily similar to his own, despite the fact that the time fit and he'd actually seen Quinn, it just wasn't possible!
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Jan 6, 2014 0:05:42 GMT -5
"No," Rhys said, shaking his head. "I just mean that you're aware, and that's a good thing. Being aware means you can get help. I have a ton of issues, and Matthew's helped me with them, so have Dare and my therapist. Being aware is a good thing, it's an even better thing if you're trying to fix your issues. I'd rather have a dad who's trying to fix his problems than one who won't admit he has one."
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Post by Trent Frey on Jan 6, 2014 0:11:02 GMT -5
"I got help," Lyric said, bristling, "and all it was was f~ing psychotists trying to get me to talk about my feelings. I got out of crap because it was stop or die, not because the psychotists helped me." And he stayed out because of Keith, and because of Shadow. A f~ing cat kept him clean.
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