Tadashi’s Apartment
Seattle, WA
United States of America
June 2017
While Samuel Peters was not normally the most patient kind of man, he knew when to shut up and listen when a co-worker was in distress. At least, that’s what he was doing at the moment—only nodding and humming in sympathy while Tadashi vented and vented. It had been happening for the past half-hour or so; since Peters had gotten there at Tadashi’s place with a box of takeout and the offer to do something productive like binge watch something or work on a report due the week after.
Apparently, ‘productive’ to Tadashi meant venting and letting his emotions fly free. This was something that Peters was not used to doing. Peters was used to being on the side of the venting; talking about his clashes with Aether, muttering angrily about how things had been back in Bronx. Typically, Tadashi would be on the other side, listening and offering words of wisdom that the American would find made much more sense than the irritation steaming in his head.
This time, things were going the other way around.
Peters wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.
Tadashi paced around his apartment, venting and shaking his head and speaking rapidly, quickly. In the midst of it, Peters could only cling on to a few words and phrases. Before he could speak up, Tadashi stopped in the middle of the living room and looked at Peters. “I’m not exaggerating, right?”
“Er—”
“I’m not exaggerating about Aether, right?”
“Uh.”
“Because she isn’t taking care of herself! She isn’t sleeping properly, she isn’t eating correctly—I don’t know what’s going on with her, the last thing we need is her overexerting herself again and feeling like she isn’t capable of everything—”
“She’s not going to overexert herself,” he interrupted. At that, Tad looked his way. Peters folded his arms over his chest, watching the other from his sofa. “She’s not that stupid. Cut her some slack.”
“But I am. I’m cutting her slack, trying not to be too much with her, but—but she’s off and doing this all over again.”
About to speak up and defend Aether, Peters could only fall silent when Tadashi started to run his hands through his hair. He had stopped pacing at that point, stopped moving around his apartment. He opened his mouth only to close it and exhale, fingers moving to pinch his temples. Peters remained silent.
He wanted to at least input something on Aether’s behalf—he understood where she was coming from, at least. Then again, her outburst at HQ had been a little too much. Seeing the look on Tadashi’s face after she said those words wasn’t easy to stomach; what more how Tadashi promptly walked out after it had happened?
“…you don’t understand,” Tadashi managed. He sounded a little choked up, a little bit like he was losing control over his emotions. Peters let himself grimace a bit. That was never good. “Something can happen, Peters. That’s what I was trying to tell her. God knows what people like us go through, and then there she is, not prioritizing herself. Things can happen.”
Peters didn’t say anything, only sighing quietly as he stood up. “Sit down, Tad. I’ll get us something to drink. Seems like you need it.” He left before the other could protest, making his way to the other’s kitchen where the alcohol was stored in the upper cabinets. He didn’t think much of it, only getting the alcohol that was most likely to settle the other’s nerves while at the same time wouldn’t get him shit-faced drunk. The last thing they needed was Tadashi spilling anything he wouldn’t want to while plastered.
When he came back, Tadashi was still on the couch. Peters eyed him carefully. “…Tad. You know that Aether can handle herself, don’t you?”
“But—”
“No, Tad, listen.” He sat beside the other, cracked open the bottle and poured a minimal amount into Tadashi’s glass, pushing it towards him right after. “She’s our leader for a reason. None of the admin would have put her as our head if they didn’t think she could care for herself. Aether…fuck it, fine, she has her moments. But she isn’t self-destructive.”
“…how are you so sure about that?”
Peters wasn’t. Tadashi downed the shot.
“I’ve known her much longer than you or Mack have. Aether…” Tadashi trailed off, staring down at the shot glass. Peters waited. “…doesn’t have the best self-care techniques.”
“Then we help her. Not coddle.”
“Did it come off as coddling?”
“It came off as coddling. Listen.” Peters frowned, looking at the other, “I get where you’re coming from. But at the same time, we technically don’t have the right to force her into doing what we think is the best for her.”
“But—”
“Come on, let me talk. Have a shot.” Tadashi grimaced, but poured himself a bit more alcohol anyway. Peters went on, “You’ve known Aether the longest, fine. That’s true. But I get where she’s coming from, too. Think about it: things haven’t been easy with us with the case and whatnot. But think of Aether who’s pretty much representing us. She’s the kind of person who’d beat herself up when things aren’t going the way she planned. I know I am,” he added in a lower voice.
And it was true. As much as Peters and Aether butted heads, he wasn’t stupid—he could tell how much being unable to get things done had watered her down significantly. That, combined with Tadashi’s coddling, made things worse.
“She’s been trying, Tad.” Peters leaned against the couch and kept his eyes on Tadashi, who seemed to at least understand where the other was getting at. The older male sighed into his glass and set it back on the table, promptly rubbing his eyes afterwards. “I guess all of it just pushed her to the edge despite you meaning it in a good way.”
“…did it really?”
“You saw how she was and heard how she sounded.” Peters shrugged, “Doesn’t take an idiot to realize that she wasn’t feeling the best.”
“But I just want her to be safe.” At that, Tadashi rose and started pacing. Peters tried to stop him, but Tadashi went on and expelled his feelings, obviously trying to grapple with the concept that Peters had just thrown in his direction.
Without much to do, he took out his phone and sent Mack a quick text. Mack would know what to do, at least—
[From: Peters
Tad’s been venting for the past hour.]
[From: Peters
It’s a little worrying. I can hear the frustration in his voice.]
“I just want her to be safe, Peters.” The frustration reached its peak; “I trust her, I want her to be okay—but she really isn’t taking care of herself. God knows what time she gets to sleep and wakes up in the morning for the job.”
No response from Mack. Peters grimaced and was about to speak, but Tad stopped in his tracks and buried his face into his hands.
“I can’t…”
“…Tad?”
Silence.
[From: Peters
‘I just want her to be safe, Peters.’
‘I trust her, but she really isn’t taking care of herself.’
‘I can’t…’]
[From: Mack
he can’t what?]
[From: Peters
Hold on]
“Tad, buddy.” He got off the couch carefully, phone in his hand. “Tadashi.”
The other took a deep breath, and then another. He seemed to calm himself, to ground himself. It was at that point that he lifted his head quietly and muttered loudly enough for the two of them to hear: “…I can’t let that happen to her.”
[From: Peters
‘I can’t let that happen to her.’]
[From: Mack
…what the fuck are we gonna do now]
He didn’t know. Peters didn’t know.
He knew that both parties were upset, for one part. Both of them were frustrated for different reasons. The only thing was, Tadashi didn’t seem too keen on listening and hearing him out—which was just as frustrating for Peters, but he tried to get the other anyway.
The only way for them was to make up was for them to talk things out. Knowing Aether, at least, her emotions would have died down. She wasn’t the type to keep anger in her system for so long, unlike other people.
He left another hour later, after Tadashi had promptly calmed down and apologized for the venting. Peters merely waved it off in response.
All there was left was to somehow bring them together and get things across to one another without Tadashi possibly wanting to hear only his side of the argument and without Aether possibly getting too flustered with emotion.
No comments:
Post a Comment