[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]beneath the weight of pettiness, she shrinks.

"it was only supposed to be temporary... how would you not get tired of me overstaying my welcome?"

neither of them communicated. they simply danced around each other and the cufant in the room. the consequences rear their ugly heads now.

"it's your place, cian, not mine. why wouldn't i eventually move?"

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]her expression creases with mild petulance.

"doesn't seem fine."

she resists the urge to cross her arms over her chest, to go on the defensive and further solidify the fight, but her reasoning is waning.

"why can't you be honest about this?"

she started it, really, but irritation flares up regardless in the face of her own misstep.

"do you want me to move out or not?"

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]"it's exactly that simple!"

at some point, her arms fold over her chest. the resistance has all but failed.

"i didn't make any sort of decision. i was just considering it and browsing around. that's sooo different than signing a damn lease, cian."

she frowns, then, and a look of mild hurt crosses her features for a second.

"why should what you want not matter? have you even stopped to consider we might want the same thing or?"

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]like a timebomb, she feels herself ticking down toward explosion.

"it's not the same at all!"

she wants to yell, to stomp her heels into the ground, and throw the biggest tantrum rustboro gym has ever seen. she barely keeps herself in check as he claps back at her, as he throws another layer into the fight. her cheeks heat with hot anger and she stalks forward, raising a hand to lightly jab a finger into the center of his chest in time with her words.

"you. don't. either!"

her eye narrows, eyepatch suddenly irritating against her skin.

"you keep throwing all this blame on me for the same exact shit you do. that's so beyond unfair."

she retracts her finger from his chest, seemingly deciding she has jabbed him enough.

"what do you want, cian? for once, just tell me."

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]the rotom have the right idea, perhaps, to escape while they can for the argument grows with his yelling acting as a splash of kerosene on an open flame.

"why the hell would i stop seeing you?"

does he even hear himself?

"do you honestly think i'd just move out and never speak to you again? you really think that lowly of me?"

even now, in the heat of it all, they still seem to dance around the true subject.

CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","giada"]

[attr="class","giada b"]

[attr="class","giada i”]he hits on a wound he, perhaps, doesn't expect. she feels the knife sink in, twist, and the immediate springing of blood where it pierced through skin.

"because you left me first!"

her expression twists with the knife until all she displays is open hurt.

"you left me behind in rocket, got yourself a brand new life with a new girl and new digs, and you wanna talk to me about leaving?"

stubbornly, she swipes an angry hand at her eyes to stop whatever frustrated tears spring up. in the process, a sad sigh escapes.

"i wouldn't leave you, but you've always pushed me away."

finding someone better, someone new... leaving her behind in the dust every time. it's nothing new, but it still stings each time.

CIAN MAHER