Irene sat down at the table, nervous to ask her father about Lloyd coming with them. "Hey, father?… Can uh Lloyd um." She took a breath and asked her father a bit quicker than her normal talking speed. "Can Lloyd come with us today? He can't stay here alone and he can't go to his house…" Irene looked down at her food and she pushed in around the plate with her fork. Irene's father looked between Irene and Lloyd. "Rea… you know the rules. Today is special and we can't have other people come with us." Irene sighed, feeling defeated. "But father, he has to come, you don't understand." Irene's father stood up. "I need to make a call, I'll be right back." He left the dining room to make the call. "Of course he's like this and no doubt he's calling my mother…"
Heyyyy //OxO// LGBTQ+???//CLOSED
"You… you can explain to him why I can't be alone, if you want. It might be necessary." Lloyd said softly, looking over at Irene. "Your dad seems like a nice guy. I think he'd understand, right? Again, you do know him better than I do."
"Yeah… I wasn't sure if it was totally okay… I know you said it was okay last night, but I still wasn't sure…" Irene looked over at Lloyd, then down at the ground. "I'm just really nervous about it…"
(Bump??)
(Shit I thought I responded lol like I had a response typed and everything)
"Hey, it's fine… He deserves to know, Rea." Lloyd looked up as Irene's father came back into the kitchen.
(It's ok lol)
Oh shit he's back… "Irene, I know you think it's important that your friend comes with us, but I can't allow it." Irene's father sat back down at the table. "Father, can you please reconsider? Lloyd uh… h-he um…" She looked over to Lloyd then back to her father. "He cuts him… himself a-and… yeah…" Irene looked down at her hands, as they were fidgeting. Irene's father sighs. "Normally I would say it's ok for you to come with us, Lloyd, but this is very important and it's a family thing… I'm very sorry." Irene's head shot up at her father. "Are you serious? Do you understand how serious this is for him?!" Irene paused for a split second. "Either he goes with us or I'm not coming with you! And that's final!" Irene stood up and ran upstairs to the studio.
"I-I'm terribly sorry about all this, sir… I'll… I'll try to talk her down." Lloyd got up nervously and went up to the studio to find Irene. "Rea? Are you… are you okay?" He asked quietly as he pushed open the door.
Irene was sitting on one of the beanbags. She held her head in her hands. "I should have known he would say that… he cares a lot about other people, but when it comes to my mother, he is the most secret and almost selfish person I know. Even when he went to help her escape custody, he was putting himself at risk of injury or even death, which would have left me an orphan." Irene sighed, both sadness and anger evident. "I can't leave you here alone and apparently it's forbidden to help other people when it comes to my mother, at least for my father…"
Lloyd sat beside her. "It's okay, Irene… I can just tie myself up, remember? You need to go see your mother." He picked up his jacket from before and started binding his wrists together with it.
"I am going to stay here… I would feel so bad leaving you and I can't do that." Irene turned to Lloyd and hugged him, this time to comfort herself.
"I don't want you to stay on account of me, Rea…" Lloyd said softly, tightening his bonds with his teeth. "Your father would be furious."
"Honestly, he probably wouldn't care…" Irene, a little calmer, stopped hugging Lloyd and took off his binding.
"Irene, please… I want you to go." Lloyd looked up at Irene, starting to bind himself again.
"I… I can't go now. I'm going to stay here and keep you company. My father can go on his own…" Irene grabbed Lloyd's jacket so that he couldn't tie himself up anymore.
"Please, Rea… I'll manage on my own." Lloyd pleaded softly. "I know what it feels like to have your parents angry. I don't want the same for you."
"Th-they won't mind… probably… hopefully…" Irene flopped back on the beanbag. "You've been alone too much and I don't want you to be."
"Rea, I can manage… I really want you to go. It's important to you, and it's clearly important to your dad."
Irene lightly sighed. "I… there are more chances to see my mother… and my father will go whether I do or not…"
"Irene. Go with him. Please." Lloyd made eye contact with her. "I can manage by myself for a day. I don't want to be the reason your father gets mad at you or you don't get to see your mother."
Irene tried to avoid his eye contact. "I don't think he would get angry with me… he just wants to see my mother and if he does feel something towards me it would probably just be annoyance."
"Either way, visiting your mother is important."
"I… I know…" Irene, once again, placed her head in her hands.
"If you know that, and that I'll manage for a day, then why don't you just go?" Lloyd was getting pretty desperate at this point.
"Because I would feel like I'm leaving something, more like someone, very important behind. I couldn't be happy and enjoy the time with my mother knowing I left you tied up somewhere in my house with the possibility of untieing yourself and doing… not good stuff."
Lloyd sighed. "You can appeal to your father again, but I don't think he'll change his mind. You can explain as much as you want."
"Yeah, he's not one to change his mind much… I'll just stay. I will call my mother on the phone later maybe."
"Please, Irene… at least try to explain to him…" Lloyd said softly, staring guiltily at the ground.
"That is something he would get mad at me for… trying to change his mind. I just have to ask, why do you want me to leave? I would think you would want someone to stay here and be with you."
"Because this is important to your family. I couldn't take that away from you." Lloyd turned his eyes back up to Irene.
Irene made eye contact this time. "I can this once…" She sent a smile to Lloyd.