Rictor & Sharon, Monday afternoon
May. 25th, 2026 09:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsRictor feeds Sharon as a distraction from the ongoing troubles, but turn to another predicament: Rictor's moribund love life.
Fish, as a taco filling, is not common Yucatec cuisine, so Rictor had to trust the recipe he had found online instead of his own experience. But it was a valuable endeavor, as it had been a rough several weeks (understatement) for himself and Sharon, and they both deserved a delicious distraction. It would hopefully justify the hour it would inevitably take to clean up the breaded coating that had burned onto the skillet (he was not brave enough to try deep frying the fillets). He handed her a plate, free of alliums and other felinephobic foodstuffs, before preparing a dish for himself.
"Buen provecho."
"This I shall do." Sharon held the plate to her nose for a better sniff and licked her lips. Typical of her, it was not a normal, anticipatory wettening, but more akin to the quick swipes of a cat staring at a can of wet food slowly rotating in an electric can opener. It was a testament to her hard-earned social education that she waited for Rictor to join her before actually beginning to eat.
"Is good," she declared unnecessarily as she licked the ruins of the carefully prepared yet instantly devoured taco from her fingers. "This recipe I approve of. Cooking, this is your passion, or displacement activity in times of stress?"
Rictor had barely finished his first bite when she spoke, so it gave him a moment to consider her question. And then he cracked open a can of Tecate from the six-pack he'd brought and downed a third of that before finally answering. "I have to do something while Liam is still missing, and Star returned to his uncle, so . . ."
Her tail stiffened slightly at the mention of Liam before she forced herself to relax, reminding herself of what Felicia had told her. Fear and anger could be redirected to more productive purposes. Perhaps this was one of them. With effort, Sharon put down the second taco.
"Absence, this I understand," she said. "Not just Liam, but Star also. Is like with Match. The reason is similar also. Family, this is important."
"I know. If my Chiich and Nool were sick, I would be at their side, too," he conceded. How could he possibly be upset at Star for manning up and taking care of the man who raised him. Still . . . "It's hard with him gone. We talk every day, but I don't think . . ." He bit his tongue. Verbalizing the thought that had been haunting him this last month would make it real. Were he to be caught in Ted's trap now and forced to face this fear, he was not sure he could escape this time.
It seemed as if there should be more to that statement. Sharon waited, but Rictor didn't seem inclined to finish it. In that moment she, too, felt Shatterstar's absence. She'd always found their communication relatively easy. Rictor's intent, like the earth he so loved, sometimes required excavation.
"What is it you do not think?" she asked.
Rictor crushed the rest of his beer before giving in to her inquiry. "I don't think he loves me. At least, not the way I love him." The remaining tacos on his plate were suddenly unappealing, like his admission was an incantation that alchemically transmuted the meal to piles of ash. "He was so eager to leave. He didn't even think about what this means for us until I asked him."
The shapeshifter gave this possibility due consideration, turning the facts over in her mind like a small mammal with questionable life signs.
"This is not true, I think," she concluded. "Caring for his uncle, this was a duty. Shatterstar is noble. Love I cannot speak to, but when is a matter of honor there is no hesitation."
"He didn't tell me until an hour before he left." He looked down, letting his long unkempt hair cover his face so Sharon could not need his losing battle against keeping his feelings in check. "When he asked me to take him to the train station. If he had told me the night before when he learned about his uncle and decided to leave, it would be different." Maybe, he had to admit to himself. Maybe they could have talked about it, maybe made a decision that was not spur of the moment, something that satisfied the both of them. But Star would still leave regardless, that was undeniable.
Body language, at least, she could interpret. Unfortunately knowing a friend was upset did not impart any idea of what to do about it. Sharon gnawed her lip uncertainly.
"He was special to you," Sharon said at last. "You to him, also. Parting, this is not easy, but still you may speak. Messaging apps and video calls also. Before coming here I maintained many friendships in such a way."
Rictor peaked at the remaining beers, considering if this conversation made him want another or if that would just make him look like a sad sack. He opted to pass for now, but the probability was growing that the 6-pack would not see the sun rise tomorrow.
"And we do every day, but he's not here. What is the point of dating if you don't see each other in real life and everything is done on a screen? That's not romance."
"Many couples did I know whose relationships were virtual only. But is different, maybe, to go from near to far than far to near." Sharon's tail swept the floor as she contemplated why this might be so. "Now that I am here, some of this I understand. To have someone beside you, to speak to and to pet you, is different than words only. This I did not appreciate until it was experienced. This is what you mean?"
He grunted in agreement. "Those relationships people have online are not for me," he said softly. "For me, I need to have something physical. Something real. Words in a DM bubble or a face on a video call are for friends and not the people you're in love with. Maybe Star can survive on that but I cannot."
Sharon frowned. "So you will break up?"
Even though he already knew the answer, Rictor hesitated before telling her. "I think we have to."
The frown deepened.
"What is wanted and needed from a relationship I do not understand," Sharon said, carefully feeling out untread waters, "but this logic is for you, not for me. And cruel, maybe, if is not communicated to Shatterstar. For him this is maybe acceptable, and assumes is same for you. I know he would not wish you pain. If this relationship does not serve, decision is simple. "
"You say you do not understand but everything you say is logical," Rictor retorted, a small smile growing on his lips despite the heaviness of the topic. "Maybe you can break up with Star for me."
"You wish this?" Sharon inquired, leaning forward. "Never have I broken up with someone, but with Shatterstar, this would be easy. He is logical also. I would ensure no ambiguity remains."
His jaw dropped, he was so taken aback by her frank offer. Not that it was entirely unexpected coming from her of all people. She would do anything for her chosen few, especially when she could get something favorable to herself out of it. He shook himself out of that shock, though, when he actually thought through this scenario.
"Star would hate me if I had you do that for me. Even if he accepted the reason for the end, he's not a robot. He feels things as keenly as anyone. So I wouldn't do that to him. But thank you, anyway." The small smile returned, grateful to his friend, though the sadness remained in his eyes.
"You are welcome. Is this not the way of friends?" Sharon wasn't actually positive about the last part, but it was probably something like that. She sat back in her seat. "When conversation is had you tell me, yes? I will not speak of it to him unless you have already done so. This is Boundaries."
He nodded. "Thank you. I'll tell you when it happens. Though I'm sure you'll know before I say anything, since you're so perceptive." His grin widened, now finally reaching his whole face, as he acknowledged his gratitude for having a friend like her in these dark days.
"I am the most perceptive," Sharon agreed. Satisfied, she lifted her second taco and gave him a questioning look. "The social contract is now concluded? Lunch may resume?"
His own appetite returning now that he'd gotten this out of his system, Rictor mirrored her and picked up his own. "Yes. Enough about me and my feelings. We can talk about your favorite subject instead: you."
Fish, as a taco filling, is not common Yucatec cuisine, so Rictor had to trust the recipe he had found online instead of his own experience. But it was a valuable endeavor, as it had been a rough several weeks (understatement) for himself and Sharon, and they both deserved a delicious distraction. It would hopefully justify the hour it would inevitably take to clean up the breaded coating that had burned onto the skillet (he was not brave enough to try deep frying the fillets). He handed her a plate, free of alliums and other felinephobic foodstuffs, before preparing a dish for himself.
"Buen provecho."
"This I shall do." Sharon held the plate to her nose for a better sniff and licked her lips. Typical of her, it was not a normal, anticipatory wettening, but more akin to the quick swipes of a cat staring at a can of wet food slowly rotating in an electric can opener. It was a testament to her hard-earned social education that she waited for Rictor to join her before actually beginning to eat.
"Is good," she declared unnecessarily as she licked the ruins of the carefully prepared yet instantly devoured taco from her fingers. "This recipe I approve of. Cooking, this is your passion, or displacement activity in times of stress?"
Rictor had barely finished his first bite when she spoke, so it gave him a moment to consider her question. And then he cracked open a can of Tecate from the six-pack he'd brought and downed a third of that before finally answering. "I have to do something while Liam is still missing, and Star returned to his uncle, so . . ."
Her tail stiffened slightly at the mention of Liam before she forced herself to relax, reminding herself of what Felicia had told her. Fear and anger could be redirected to more productive purposes. Perhaps this was one of them. With effort, Sharon put down the second taco.
"Absence, this I understand," she said. "Not just Liam, but Star also. Is like with Match. The reason is similar also. Family, this is important."
"I know. If my Chiich and Nool were sick, I would be at their side, too," he conceded. How could he possibly be upset at Star for manning up and taking care of the man who raised him. Still . . . "It's hard with him gone. We talk every day, but I don't think . . ." He bit his tongue. Verbalizing the thought that had been haunting him this last month would make it real. Were he to be caught in Ted's trap now and forced to face this fear, he was not sure he could escape this time.
It seemed as if there should be more to that statement. Sharon waited, but Rictor didn't seem inclined to finish it. In that moment she, too, felt Shatterstar's absence. She'd always found their communication relatively easy. Rictor's intent, like the earth he so loved, sometimes required excavation.
"What is it you do not think?" she asked.
Rictor crushed the rest of his beer before giving in to her inquiry. "I don't think he loves me. At least, not the way I love him." The remaining tacos on his plate were suddenly unappealing, like his admission was an incantation that alchemically transmuted the meal to piles of ash. "He was so eager to leave. He didn't even think about what this means for us until I asked him."
The shapeshifter gave this possibility due consideration, turning the facts over in her mind like a small mammal with questionable life signs.
"This is not true, I think," she concluded. "Caring for his uncle, this was a duty. Shatterstar is noble. Love I cannot speak to, but when is a matter of honor there is no hesitation."
"He didn't tell me until an hour before he left." He looked down, letting his long unkempt hair cover his face so Sharon could not need his losing battle against keeping his feelings in check. "When he asked me to take him to the train station. If he had told me the night before when he learned about his uncle and decided to leave, it would be different." Maybe, he had to admit to himself. Maybe they could have talked about it, maybe made a decision that was not spur of the moment, something that satisfied the both of them. But Star would still leave regardless, that was undeniable.
Body language, at least, she could interpret. Unfortunately knowing a friend was upset did not impart any idea of what to do about it. Sharon gnawed her lip uncertainly.
"He was special to you," Sharon said at last. "You to him, also. Parting, this is not easy, but still you may speak. Messaging apps and video calls also. Before coming here I maintained many friendships in such a way."
Rictor peaked at the remaining beers, considering if this conversation made him want another or if that would just make him look like a sad sack. He opted to pass for now, but the probability was growing that the 6-pack would not see the sun rise tomorrow.
"And we do every day, but he's not here. What is the point of dating if you don't see each other in real life and everything is done on a screen? That's not romance."
"Many couples did I know whose relationships were virtual only. But is different, maybe, to go from near to far than far to near." Sharon's tail swept the floor as she contemplated why this might be so. "Now that I am here, some of this I understand. To have someone beside you, to speak to and to pet you, is different than words only. This I did not appreciate until it was experienced. This is what you mean?"
He grunted in agreement. "Those relationships people have online are not for me," he said softly. "For me, I need to have something physical. Something real. Words in a DM bubble or a face on a video call are for friends and not the people you're in love with. Maybe Star can survive on that but I cannot."
Sharon frowned. "So you will break up?"
Even though he already knew the answer, Rictor hesitated before telling her. "I think we have to."
The frown deepened.
"What is wanted and needed from a relationship I do not understand," Sharon said, carefully feeling out untread waters, "but this logic is for you, not for me. And cruel, maybe, if is not communicated to Shatterstar. For him this is maybe acceptable, and assumes is same for you. I know he would not wish you pain. If this relationship does not serve, decision is simple. "
"You say you do not understand but everything you say is logical," Rictor retorted, a small smile growing on his lips despite the heaviness of the topic. "Maybe you can break up with Star for me."
"You wish this?" Sharon inquired, leaning forward. "Never have I broken up with someone, but with Shatterstar, this would be easy. He is logical also. I would ensure no ambiguity remains."
His jaw dropped, he was so taken aback by her frank offer. Not that it was entirely unexpected coming from her of all people. She would do anything for her chosen few, especially when she could get something favorable to herself out of it. He shook himself out of that shock, though, when he actually thought through this scenario.
"Star would hate me if I had you do that for me. Even if he accepted the reason for the end, he's not a robot. He feels things as keenly as anyone. So I wouldn't do that to him. But thank you, anyway." The small smile returned, grateful to his friend, though the sadness remained in his eyes.
"You are welcome. Is this not the way of friends?" Sharon wasn't actually positive about the last part, but it was probably something like that. She sat back in her seat. "When conversation is had you tell me, yes? I will not speak of it to him unless you have already done so. This is Boundaries."
He nodded. "Thank you. I'll tell you when it happens. Though I'm sure you'll know before I say anything, since you're so perceptive." His grin widened, now finally reaching his whole face, as he acknowledged his gratitude for having a friend like her in these dark days.
"I am the most perceptive," Sharon agreed. Satisfied, she lifted her second taco and gave him a questioning look. "The social contract is now concluded? Lunch may resume?"
His own appetite returning now that he'd gotten this out of his system, Rictor mirrored her and picked up his own. "Yes. Enough about me and my feelings. We can talk about your favorite subject instead: you."
