Who wants to go home?

[paradisamods]

[It's been a long and busy past few days, and the giraffes of Terre Haute can sense the uneasiness among the weary travelers. Though some may not quite grasp why, others have a better sense of what's going on.

The three most vocal giraffes approach the group, who seems eager to depart. It seems they have a parting gift for the group, as well as a rather generous offer.]


[RAFFLE'S GIFT | BARRY'S OFFER | RAFFY'S SEND OFF | THE RIDE HOME]

Comments

[wilder]

What? Him?

[He sure notices that prod! Hm.]

Nah. Really not worth the effort of getting up.

[ino]

[ welp, she'll be blunt then ]

More like you're too busy avoiding him.

[wilder]

[Aw man, he knew this would come eventually]

Hey, it's not like he's approached me either.

[ino]

[ rolls her eyes. of course once-ler didn't approach him, did zelos learn nothing from all of the times they'd had to drag him kicking and screaming to do anything ... ]

What happened, anyways?

[wilder]

[He'll look over at her, a slight eye roll of his own in return]

Let's just say he crossed some lines with me.

[ino]

... An argument or something?

[ a little surprised. she's never really seen zelos MAD ... ]

[wilder]

Yeah, something like that.

It was during that whole time with the ink stuff before the trip, remember? When Once-ler decided to open his big fat mouth to everyone?

[ino]

Oh. That.

[ she looks a little annoyed, and she pauses, before realizing something ]

Wait. He never apologized to you?

[wilder]

Apologized?

[A scoff]

Of course he hasn't. [crossing his arms] I'm not even sure what I'd do if he did.

[ino]

[ CLENCHES FISTS ]

That idiot ... !

[ oh buddy onceler you in big trouble now ]

[wilder]

What? You're surprised?

Oh lemme guess, he apologized to you.

[ino]

That's different. [ she waves a hand dismissively: he'll always apologize to her and she knows it ]

I was hoping he'd actually keep his word about apologizing to everyone else, but apparently we need to have another conversation.

[ cracks .. her knuckles lmfao ]

[wilder]

Right, right. [He knows it, AS LONG AS SHE'S AWARE SHE GETS SPECIAL TREATMENT]

[Though his expression will soften a bit at that. All these little sisters and their obsession with beating people for him it's so cute]

Yeah well...maybe converse with him about taking his problems out on other people, that's what really pissed me off.

[ino]

That was a part of the original conversation, too.

[ a huff, and she runs her fingers through her bangs ]

I swear, I've never met anyone who's more of a self-fulfilling prophecy than he is.

[wilder]

Ah, I thought it might be.

[Since he knows Ino doesn't take that shit]

Self-fulfilling what?

[ino]

A self-fulfilling prophecy.

[ she sighs ]

You know how he thinks he's a terrible person and that everyone will abandon him? The fear of that happening makes him lash out and do stupid stuff, so that prediction ends up coming true by his own hand.

[wilder]

Oh. Yeah?

[His head cocks just a little as he digests this new term and concept.]

...You know, when put that way- yeah! It makes a lot more sense! [THIS IS BRAND NEW INFORMATION] He is that!

[ino]

Most of the time when he's being an asshole, the fact that he hates himself so much is usually to blame.

[ she pauses, before clarifying ]

That doesn't excuse him from getting called out on his behavior, of course. I got pissed, too. He was being really insensitive.

[wilder]

...Yeah.

[He'll uncross his arms to instead wrap them around his knee.]

It doesn't matter what reasons you have if there's people who didn't do anything are getting hurt by it.

[He sighs] I did try you know? I didn't just get mad and stormed off even though I wanted to. But he just...I couldn't even get him to see past himself for ten seconds. Even when I asked why he felt bad for what he did with the valley...it was just all about him in the end.

...I hate people like that.

[ino]

[ ... her irritation fades into something more like surprise and concern, when he says that ]

The valley was all about him?

[wilder]

Yeah, it threw me off too. When I asked why he regretted what he did, I thought it'd something like I hurt a lot of creatures or an entire valley! Something pretty obvious, right? A serious no-brainer.

But no, instead he said after taking forever to actually answer the question, he said: "Because I hurt the small handful of beings who ever actually cared even a tiny bit about my existence."

[a sigh] Way that sounds...sad story or not, if there hadn't been beings in there that cared about him? If he hadn't gotten burned? He wouldn't have regretted a thing.

[ino]

[ lmao ... yeah, that does sound like something once-ler would say. still, something's off about this ... ino frowns thoughtfully for a moment ]

I know that's what it sounds like, but ... I know that he feels bad because of what it will become, and the troubles that people like Ted will face in the future, too, because of his carelessness. I think he was just scared that he was going to let you -- someone who he cares about -- down.

[wilder]

Yeah well, he did.

[his shoulders slump a little. He knows part of him is probably being harsh. Anyone else could find good things about the guy, he's sure. But him? He's too cynical to give people benefit of the doubt very easily]

Sorry, as much as I wanna believe you're right? ...I'm just not sure. If he's a guy that can think of others? Then I want proof of that. Even just a little from him, that's all. I don't expect him to be a great humanitarian or anything, but...gimme something.

Well I mean, he gimme something anyway.

[ino]

[ she looks a little sad when he says that ]

You really don't believe he cares about anyone else?

[wilder]

It's not that I don't want to, I'd like to be able to believe the best in people, sure.

But I'm just not that trusting a guy. I know it's harsh, but...[He shakes his head] Sorry, it's my own problem. I didn't mean to be a bummer.