[ it's no pants time ]

[powerisyours]

[ continued from here ]

Anything Shan Shan wants.

Comments

[ridestherider]

Ruuuude.

[powerisyours]

I'll never believe a word you say against yourself. Mostly.

[ridestherider]

Only mostly?

[powerisyours]

Well, sometimes the things you say are true. Like when you say you can be bossy.

[ matter-of-factly, but also said in good nature ]

[ridestherider]

The rest of it is true, too.

[powerisyours]

You're not a mean person, either.

[ridestherider]

Now, we both know that's a lie.

[powerisyours]

There's a difference between "being" mean and "getting" mean.

[ridestherider]

I'm certainly not nice.

[powerisyours]

You're nice to me.

[ridestherider]

The exception that proves the rule.

[powerisyours]

You're nice to Alvis, too. And Tao Hua.

[ridestherider]

And anyway, that's not all of what makes you nice or not. I'm short-tempered and jealous, and selfish. Not to mention bitter.

[powerisyours]

You have reasons to be bitter. And other than your temper, I don't see the rest all that often.

[ridestherider]

The point is, I'm not everything you think am. Sometimes it's hard, trying to live up to that.

[powerisyours]

Don't you know? I'm not everything you think I am, either.

[ridestherider]

What, you mean you're not a very affectionate dweeb?

[powerisyours]

I'm childish. I'm not as smart, or as strong, or as nice, or as brave as people think I am. I can barely take care of myself, let alone the people I'm supposed to be protecting.

[ridestherider]

We're a strange pair, aren't we.

[powerisyours]

That's what makes us, us, isn't it? We just cope differently.

[ridestherider]

Poorly, in my case.

[powerisyours]

Making jokes doesn't ever seem to work much better.

[ridestherider]

It's more mature than what I did.

[powerisyours]

What was that?

[ He seems genuinely curious ]

[ridestherider]

Yelled a lot and started making terrible decisions.

[Like Ting Yu. ... in general.]