Log: Madin and Liam
Jul. 23rd, 2024 01:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_madin posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsFollowing on f rom this log, Madin and Liam have something of a discussion about Madin's concerns.
It also goes very badly.
Liam was feeling marginally better. He was pretty much off the hard pain meds and while he still couldn't bend his knee and had crutches, he could at least hobble without feeling nauseous. Predictably, he was therefore in the woodshop. He had both music and the lathe going as he shaped a large burl of wood he'd found tossed under a table with a chisel, so he missed the door opening at first. "You better have on shoes, Sharon!" he called automatically.
Madin had come in to the wood shop looking for a drill. A shutter had come loose on the ground floor and they needed to screw it back into place. On seeing Liam, they muttered 'fuck' and started trying to back out silently. Fuck the shutters.
Stopping the lathe and turning to make sure Sharon was safe, Liam sighed. "Oh. It's you." Whatever, he turned to go back to work.
Madin shrugged, backing the rest of the way out of the room. They should say something. They should try to present the fact that Liam should be careful but he wasn't gonna listen so what was the point? Fuck it.
Maybe this was a Kyle problem. He was the under 18s guardian, right?
Turning again, Liam shut off the lathe, the wood coming to a standstill. "What's your problem?" he asked finally.
"My problem? I'm not the one getting groomed by a psychotic feral," Madin snapped. They felt bad the moment the words left their mouth but fuck it.
"Huh? She's not allowed to groom me without consent, she knows that. It's creepy. And I shower daily," Liam didn't understand why they were getting so worked up over that.
"Are you fucking stupid?"
" You should see someone about your anger issues. They're kinda out of control," Liam answered.
"No they're not!" Madin got control of themself. "Sharon. Is grooming you. In. You know. The other way. Because you're 17 and she's 21 and like." Madin stuttered to a stop. "And literally no one cares, because they all just see a cat and not a feral that's smarter than both of us combined."
Liam just blinked, "Are you stupid?" he asked, "Do you not hear how insane that is? Have you met Sharon?" he pushed himself up, getting his crutches underneath him. "She's not interested in sex. At all. And I'm not interested in sex with her. Ew. I'm 17, but I've got preferences and she isn't it. Way to cherry pick your facts and act like I'm some mindless automaton. You're creating a problem where there isn't one!"
"It's not just sex. I know she doesn't want to fuck you. No, she's just violating boundaries and getting you all wrapped up with her emotionally."
Liam's tail whipped violently behind him, ears down. "You.... you have a lot of trauma. Go get a therapist. But stop trying to add to mine!" He began makings his way slowly and carefully to the door.
"I'm just trying to look out for you." Madin sighed, scrubbing their hands through their hair. "You know how I was in jail when I was your age? And then the Brotherhood? I've seen this. People really fuck up teenagers because they get all in their emotions. And I've seen ferals who are more feral than Sharon and they were messed up. She’s not just a cat and you can't treat her like that's the end of what she is."
Liam turned, "I'm sorry you had bad experiences, but me? I'm not you. Sharon isn't a cat even if she claims she's one, kinda like how I'm not a cat either. But for the first time in either of our lives, there's someone that... kinda gets it. Not totally, but pretty close. I've set boundaries with her when I've not liked what she's done. Multiple times. And she respects them. Now. We were just kidnapped, apparently to be filmed fighting for our lives. That tends to do this thing called 'trauma bonding.' So all this?" he used his tail to gesture for him, "This is all you still. So take yourself out of my business. If I need help, I'll go ask.... anyone else."
"Fine." So much of what Madin was worried about was impossible to fully articulate. The way people pushed their way in and just quietly making sure they moved your boundaries one step at a time was something they'd seen too often over the years.
But the explanation was impossible because it was just vibes. Maybe they were wrong about it all. They weren't good with people, especially normal people like Liam, from normal lives. Maybe it really was just fine for an adult to do everything Sharon did when it wasn't about sex. And Liam was basically an adult. "Fine. Whatever. I'll leave you alone even during work from here on." Screw the shutter. They'd fix it later.
Liam sighed. Well. Now the vibe for woodworking was ruined. Changing the music, he went back to his project. He was going to get the vibe back. Or maybe just rework things. He'd figure it out.
It also goes very badly.
Liam was feeling marginally better. He was pretty much off the hard pain meds and while he still couldn't bend his knee and had crutches, he could at least hobble without feeling nauseous. Predictably, he was therefore in the woodshop. He had both music and the lathe going as he shaped a large burl of wood he'd found tossed under a table with a chisel, so he missed the door opening at first. "You better have on shoes, Sharon!" he called automatically.
Madin had come in to the wood shop looking for a drill. A shutter had come loose on the ground floor and they needed to screw it back into place. On seeing Liam, they muttered 'fuck' and started trying to back out silently. Fuck the shutters.
Stopping the lathe and turning to make sure Sharon was safe, Liam sighed. "Oh. It's you." Whatever, he turned to go back to work.
Madin shrugged, backing the rest of the way out of the room. They should say something. They should try to present the fact that Liam should be careful but he wasn't gonna listen so what was the point? Fuck it.
Maybe this was a Kyle problem. He was the under 18s guardian, right?
Turning again, Liam shut off the lathe, the wood coming to a standstill. "What's your problem?" he asked finally.
"My problem? I'm not the one getting groomed by a psychotic feral," Madin snapped. They felt bad the moment the words left their mouth but fuck it.
"Huh? She's not allowed to groom me without consent, she knows that. It's creepy. And I shower daily," Liam didn't understand why they were getting so worked up over that.
"Are you fucking stupid?"
" You should see someone about your anger issues. They're kinda out of control," Liam answered.
"No they're not!" Madin got control of themself. "Sharon. Is grooming you. In. You know. The other way. Because you're 17 and she's 21 and like." Madin stuttered to a stop. "And literally no one cares, because they all just see a cat and not a feral that's smarter than both of us combined."
Liam just blinked, "Are you stupid?" he asked, "Do you not hear how insane that is? Have you met Sharon?" he pushed himself up, getting his crutches underneath him. "She's not interested in sex. At all. And I'm not interested in sex with her. Ew. I'm 17, but I've got preferences and she isn't it. Way to cherry pick your facts and act like I'm some mindless automaton. You're creating a problem where there isn't one!"
"It's not just sex. I know she doesn't want to fuck you. No, she's just violating boundaries and getting you all wrapped up with her emotionally."
Liam's tail whipped violently behind him, ears down. "You.... you have a lot of trauma. Go get a therapist. But stop trying to add to mine!" He began makings his way slowly and carefully to the door.
"I'm just trying to look out for you." Madin sighed, scrubbing their hands through their hair. "You know how I was in jail when I was your age? And then the Brotherhood? I've seen this. People really fuck up teenagers because they get all in their emotions. And I've seen ferals who are more feral than Sharon and they were messed up. She’s not just a cat and you can't treat her like that's the end of what she is."
Liam turned, "I'm sorry you had bad experiences, but me? I'm not you. Sharon isn't a cat even if she claims she's one, kinda like how I'm not a cat either. But for the first time in either of our lives, there's someone that... kinda gets it. Not totally, but pretty close. I've set boundaries with her when I've not liked what she's done. Multiple times. And she respects them. Now. We were just kidnapped, apparently to be filmed fighting for our lives. That tends to do this thing called 'trauma bonding.' So all this?" he used his tail to gesture for him, "This is all you still. So take yourself out of my business. If I need help, I'll go ask.... anyone else."
"Fine." So much of what Madin was worried about was impossible to fully articulate. The way people pushed their way in and just quietly making sure they moved your boundaries one step at a time was something they'd seen too often over the years.
But the explanation was impossible because it was just vibes. Maybe they were wrong about it all. They weren't good with people, especially normal people like Liam, from normal lives. Maybe it really was just fine for an adult to do everything Sharon did when it wasn't about sex. And Liam was basically an adult. "Fine. Whatever. I'll leave you alone even during work from here on." Screw the shutter. They'd fix it later.
Liam sighed. Well. Now the vibe for woodworking was ruined. Changing the music, he went back to his project. He was going to get the vibe back. Or maybe just rework things. He'd figure it out.
