xp_logs | Log: Tandy & Kurt Sunday Afternoon (Reply)

After meeting with Haller, Tandy tries to sneak outside but is caught by Kurt.

Tandy had left from a meeting with Mr. Haller, but not before peeking her head out to make sure the coast was clear. It was. She pulled up the hoodie to cover her face before making her way down the hall and down the stairs, but had spotted someone at the bottom of the stairs. It was Kurt, not wanting to face another adult she moved away from the stairs. God, she felt childish for avoiding people at all costs.

Unfortunately, he'd already seen her. "Tandy", he called out quietly, making his way over with dog in tow. "Please do not run away."

Hesitating before stopping several feet away from the stair, Tandy lowered her head in shame. She didn't turn around, but figured that he wanted to talk to her on what happened.

He approached and without hesitation, wrapped his arms around her.

"I have talked to Topaz. Were things really so bad for you?"

Tandy tensed up for a moment and then started to shake as she tried not to start crying. "I just wanted to sleep." It was the truth, she could come up with a dozen of other reasons on why she did what she did. But the underlying factor was that she just wanted dreamless sleeps.

"Ssssh, it will all be all right", Kurt told her, holding her like a child needing comfort - which in his eyes, she was. "Now we can help you to get better in more real ways."

The teenager nodded, hoping no one else would come around. She hated when people saw her at her weakest, "I am sorry."

Kurt glanced around, taking in the hoodie and the way she'd tried to escape, and nodded. "Somewhere less public? I want to talk to you, if you have time."

Wiping away the stray tears, "I was going to go to the quarry..." Need she say more? It was Kurt that told her about the quarry and what she could use it for.

"Do you mind if I come with you?" he asked. "I will stand well out of the way when you drain your powers, do not worry."

"Okay." Tandy whispered and looked down to see the dog standing there."What is his name?" Changing the subject so she wouldn't break down again.

"Triscuit." Kurt leaned down and scooped the little dog up, upon which he started wriggling in an effort to get at Tandy's face with doggy kisses. "Half King Charles like Lorna's Lili - his mother - half golden retriever."

Tandy reached out and gave the dog a good scratch behind the ear. "He is adorable. We should go before...before more come."

"Of course", he agreed willingly. "I am sure you know that you will have to face them eventually, but if you are not ready yet..."

"Not yet. I am pretty sure by now, the entire staff knows and almost all of the kids..." Tandy began to walk back towards the stairs and peered down before she walked down them. "I don't think I'll ever have a good enough answer for what I have done."

"You were desperate, you found something that seemed to help and you pursued it", Kurt said firmly. "It was foolish, yes, but you have really harmed no one but yourself."

Tandy looked down at the floor, she didn't realize that her actions could seriously harm her. Rubbing her temples as she made her way outside, "They never covered that part in classes."

Kurt followed quietly, still carrying the dog. "None of us saw this situation arising, partly because we did not know what Topaz could do."

"It was an accident, that's how it started. I would had hurt Hope and her if she didn't use her powers...then we would be singing to a different tune if it happened differently."

"Tandy." He stopped her, turning her to face him. "No one would have blamed you for a powers accident. They happen, have happened here before. An accident is an accident."

"But I didn't stop it. I kept going to her. And then after the Slenderman...I went to her almost every single day."

"That, my poor child, is what we call an addiction", Kurt said sadly. "Topaz is no more to blame in this than you, neither of you forced anything on the other, but I wish you had told someone that you were feeling the need to go to her."

Tandy bit her lower lip and looked down at the ground as she was shuffling her feet on the gravel. "I...it's not that I don't trust you or others...it's just that...growing up I had no one to turn to before. I am not used to it nor do I not know how to approach someone with this. I mean...I am just a kid, I shouldn't have demons dreams or slenderman things feasts on me. I never felt so lost in a world I am so new too."

"I do not know what to tell you, Tandy. It is true you should not have anything feasting on you, ever, but the world is how it is."

"I guess the world likes to throw stuff at us. Wither we are human..." She looked down at her hand. "Or mutants."

"It does." He reached for her hand and squeezed it quickly. "I wish we could protect you from it all."

"So do I." The blonde took a deep breath in and then out to calm herself down and to think clearly. "You have always been so kind to me. Thank you. And I promise if I feel down again I'll go and talk to someone."

"Good. Even if it is more than down, even if it is as bad as when this first happened with Topaz?"

Tandy nodded again, "Yes. I promise."