standingonmyneck | FOREST COVERED: IC CONTACT

[It got harder here, and it was rather apparent that Riye pushed herself in a situation pretty far.

Alexis was seriously hurting and she had ever reason to. She had every reason to be hurting badly.

Damn caring, damn it all.

She had to think, she had to think hard.]

I can't claim to know what was in your brother's head. I didn't even know your brother. I can't even tell you how to think.

You have every right to be hurt by this. I'm not going to tell you that you have to feel better, that would be really dishonest of me.

[All things considered, Alexis even wondered if it was a good idea to just let it all out. She knew it was a bad thing to just hold everything inside but that was the thing. Everyone had their problems to worry about here. It just felt weird to dump everything onto another person.

She really was dependent on her brother, wasn't she? Whenever he was around, at least she could just tell everything to him. But to somebody else? It just felt...different.]

But it's really not his fault though. I mean, w-whenever the Witch tells him he had to go home, he just had to. I doubt he even had a c-choice either.

[She said in between her sniffles] Which probably sucks even more if you ask me.

It does. It completely sucks.

[How to talk to someone who was so close to a family member that she felt lost without them? Well...there was one way. Hopefully, maybe Alexis would understand.]

We can talk about the why and the how all day long. But it all comes down to how it effects you.

Truth is, you can't change a possible decision your brother or the Witch made. Since it's already been done and he's somewhere else. The only thing you can do is grieve and move on at some point. You have to do what's best for you.

It's the first step to being independent.

[For a moment, Alexis didn't even say anything. She had already forgiven Dipper for leaving when he wanted to go with Ford. It wasn't fair to him if he wanted to a future that's different from hers.

She also forgiven Dipper for leaving her behind here in Koriko. It as her last comment that really hit what Alexis had been feeling all this time]

...What's best for me huh? Even if you don't really know what you really want?

I say this knowing it's not an easy thing to do. Especially if you had one mindset and all of the sudden the rug gets taken from under you. Or having one mindset and have experiences or logic itself challenge it.

[She...would know about all of that.]

In the end of the day, at least you have a couple goals to work to. Even if you aim high and come out short for a while, at least there was always an effort.

I guess. It's just really weird though, Dipper was always somebody I could count on and whenever I was having a bad day? I knew I could talk to him without having him judge me or something.

[But then there was a long pause]

I mean, I know I could probably do the same here too but it's probably not the same.

It's not going to be because it isn't.

[If there was anything Riye knew this conversation needed was that very blunt honesty. The end goal had to be reached here, so it was really for the best. With Alexis' optimistic nature, every now and then, a taste of reality would help. It might not feel nice, even she knew that. But, in a way, she felt like she owed it to her to cut to chase. It was pretty apparent that Alexis but up that optimism as a front, but that won't help her.]

The fact of the matter is, no one is your brother but your brother. As much as it hurts, your brother isn't here to help pick up what you drop. It seems like Dipper would be the type that could feel the same, from how you describe it.

The most you could do that's positive is to respect his decision, as a family member. When you see him again, if you want, you can show no mercy. Until then, having your own circle of trust might not be a bad idea if it helps the medicine go down.

[As much as Alexis really didn't want to hear the truth, she just had to. It hurt a lot to know that with her brother gone, it just wouldn't be the same anymore. While she had her uncle here, it was a little awkward between them. After all, with everything that went down, she still had to wonder just how she was going to be able to talk to him.

But perhaps that was for another time. Right now, she just needed to talk about her brother and how to handle the aftermath]

Yeah, he really wouldn't. I mean, he can be really stupid and just be a total jerk sometimes but I know I can always count on him. I could always know that he'll save the day in the end and help me out.

...Even if I can be a total jerk sometimes too. [But then there was a bit of a pause] But maybe I should do that. You think you wanna be in that circle of trust?

Trust me, I know about jerks. First hand.

[That was completely meant to be as much about her as it would toward anyone else.

So when she heard the other remark, she froze for a moment. Maybe Alexis didn't know how that would strike someone like Riye. She had to think back to when she arrived, on how she lost everything that made her feel safe. Mostly (99%-wise) Jane related. Then to how she seemed to bump into people that seemed to challenge her non-involvement policy that she held in special for this place.

Then how she managed to even get to hang around and actually LIKE people, and that was the scariest thing. But when she looked at Alexis, and thought about how she seemed to really care about her and get on her intuitive level...it got difficult, again.

....]

Um...

Is there some kind of proverb about jerks sticking together?

[...Crap. Non-involvement. Bye-bye. For a few minutes.]

[In that moment, Alexis had to wonder if she had said something wrong. While she knew Ryie was probably someone that wasn't easy to befriend, she knew she wanted to be her friend. Perhaps she had came too strong? Or that she shouldn't have been so blunt? Maybe but as the seconds rolled by, it felt like Alexis just needed to say something.

Although, it did hurt that there was a chance that Ryie might reject her friendship. And honestly, that was fine with her. She knew there were some people who she just possibly couldn't befriend.

However...]

Psh, yeah probably! When a friendship made in jerksville happen, they always need to stay together no matter what! ....Or something like that.

[There was a slight sigh of relief! Whew, for a moment, she really thought this wasn't going to end well...!]

Jerksville: Population Pending.

[For some reason, it just felt right. How many people in her life did she welcome as friends? Once. Maybe twice. In plain admittance. Before here.

Maybe she was growing older. She thought of that for a second. Scary.

She would've hit herself on the head a couple years ago for thinking this. But it just felt right, it REALLY did. It made her feel rather good about. She actually struggled with it, but she did manage to smile after thinking it through.]

Approved. Two residents. On account of proverbs.

Then congrats, Ryie, you and I are officially welcomed into Jerksville! The greatest place in the entire world!

[Well, maybe not about them being jerks but more that it was nice. Perhaps this could be a good start for Alexis to start opening to more people outside of her brother. Even with Candy and Grenda, she had to admit, there were just some things that she couldn't quite talk to them about.

And besides, when she and her brother usually had to depend on each other for comfort, it was a difficult thing to transition off of. But...

For the first thing in a long while, she gave Ryie an actual genuine smile. She didn't know the last time she had a bright of a smile as she had before but it was definitely there now!]

And something tells me we better get a movin' because we sure need to decorate Jerksville for the both of us!

FOREST COVERED: IC CONTACT

late as fuq

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