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Zenith hesitates a moment, trying to figure out what to say. He falls back on something he used to say a long time ago- "I'm not human. I don't have feelings."
Upon hearing the words come out of his own mouth, he falls right back down and is d*mn near crying.
"Yes you do. You are as human as I am." She pulls him close to her, rubbing his back. "Shhhh…it's alright. Just breath. It's okay. Let it all out. You'll be okay."
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Zenith takes a deep breath. "I-" He's not sure what to say. It's been a long time since he's freaked out like this, and even longer since someone has seen through and dealt with his bullsh*t. He takes another breath. Has anyone ever really put up with him like this?
A small voice in the back of his head tells him that people shouldn't have to put up with him, and look at him, he wanted a friend, not a therapist, maybe he should actually do something rather than just sit there and be- well, be him.
"I'm sorry." The boy whispers. "I- I'm sorry." He doesn't know what else to say.
"Don't be. I'm here for you, okay? Always." She kissed his head, and pulled him into her lap, holding him to her, petting his head and rubbing his back. She began to rock back and forth and hum a bit. (You have activated mom mode Evelyn. She'll give you weed and a yelling at in the same hour)
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Zenith flinches at the touch, but forces himself to relax. He's fine. This is fine. It's all perfectly fine-
The boy whimpers a little. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry-" He whispers the words like a mantra, curling up into a ball. He doesn't know what else to do. But after a moment, he cuts himself off. "I'm not Theta anymore." He whispers, more to himself than anything. "I'm not an 'it'. I am human. I am allowed to have emotions."
She nodded. "You are Zenith. And you are cared about, even if we just met. Everyone deserves love, and care, and attention and to be held and kissed and adored. Even if you don't end up dating me, you still deserve it. You are amazing, and have some REALLY cool ass powers! That could help a lot of the world as well! And your adventurous, and kinda a doof but really adorable. And charming, and silly, but kind. You. Are a rare person."
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Zenith gives a small smile. "I- thank you." He doesn't know what else to say.
Hmm. This lack of knowing what to say has been happening a lot recently…
"Do you have powers? Because I think you have powers." He blurts out.
"What? Oh just super strength, and super stupidity." She laughs at her own little depressive joke. "Mostly all the stuff I have is engineered and such."
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Zenith sits up. "You sure you can't mess with emotions? 'Cause you seem pretty good at controlling mine." He smiles. There's still tension and sadness in his eyes, but he's definitely doing a lot better.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm just good with people that's all." She shrugged and held him close. "Anyone can be good with people."
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Zenith frowns, leaning into the hug. "Nope, pretty sure its a superpower. I'd ask if we could form a superhero team, but a little under half my friends work on the black market and would get mad at me."
"Let them be angry." She sighed, rubbing his back. "Not a super power though. It's called Caring."
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Zenith smiles, but its kinda a sad smile. "If everyone could teleport, it wouldn't be considered a power. But because of the fact that little to none can, it's a superpower." He looks up at her.
"Hm. Good point. But everyone can care. Everyone cares about something. And. I care about you. I care about everyone." She tapped his nose with her finger and giggled as she watched it scrunch up at her pushing it. She pushed on his nose again and laughed more.
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Zenith's head goes back a little, like a cat when you throw cheese on its face. (yes I used that as a metaphor.) "Emotions are hard." He complains, attempting to bat her hand away.
"Yeah they are. But you get control of them, eventually." She sighed and stretched a bit.
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Zenith sighs. "Can I just get control right now without doing any work? That'd be nice." He taps her nose back, smirking.
She squeaks and giggles. "No, ya gotta work or else they run rampant and ruin you, like they did mine. I don't bother controlling them. It makes life more interesting."
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Zenith mock-groans. "But I'm lazy and emotions are work." He whines in a playful tone. He repeats the boop. "There. Now we're even."
She boops him back, with her nose this time. "Well whatever. You're on a dating app, you're the one looking for love so you gotta put in the work."
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Zenith decides not to mention the only reason he has a profile is because Katsumi dared him to make one. "Eh, that's fair."
She nodded and finally let him out of her hugs and boops, and went back to sitting on his couch, all curled up and wrapping herself in a blanket.
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Zenith hesitates. After a moment he says, "I've got Mario Kart, if you want." He gestures to the TV.
"Ah yis. Get ready to get your ass kicked." She smiled evilly.
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Zenith picks up the controllers, and turns on the Wii. After a few minutes, he's made it to the menu. "Ready?" He asks, sitting down next to her and passing over a controller.
"Always." She smiled and began to play.
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*half an hour of playing later *
Zenith hasn't said a word, not even after he wins- or the few times he's lost. He stares at the screen like it's an opponent in a game of chess and he's trying to make them back down. His eyes are narrowed and he grits his teeth, practically growling at the screen when his vehicle is knocked into an obstacle by an NPC.
Evelyn just played, happy when she won, angry when she lost. When she got tired of playing she set it down and cracked her knuckles. "I forgot how much wii remotes tire your arms out."
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Zenith's eyes clear. He blinks a few times. "Heh, yeah." He doesn't mention that the pain and discomfort is barely noticable to him. He's been through so much, its like crying over a paper cut when you got stabbed the day before.
She wiggled out her hands and sighed a bit, then leaned on him. "You're really good at Mario Kart. I play it all the time at home."
