[ti]closed[/ti]The Road To Happiness Is Filled With Tears

There were very few things Orion hated.

Sure, there was a bunch of stuff he would talk shit about, and things he disliked, after all he was only human.  But Hate?  He did his best to not leave room in his heart for hate, it was a dangerous and spiteful emotion that turned your blood into poison, clouded the mind and withered the soul.  An insidious disease that could turn the most gentle of men into monsters, the sweetest of children into imps.

Yet.

He wasn't a saint, free from such imperfect feelings.  It lingered, buried deep beneath the emotional Alcatraz he'd constructed to keep it at bay.  Lurking, waiting, for the day in which something so heinous would flash before his eyes that his heart would cave, and his brain would relent, and the most primordial of howls would erupt from his lips.  It say patiently waiting for the day that some poor fool would ignite the hellish inferno and unlock it's Cayge.  Fortunately for most, there were

VERY

FEW 

THINGS

That could trigger such an emotional response from him.  He'd spent a lot of years cayging that beast, reining it in under the love and care of friends and family.  Over long conversations spent cuddled in the arms of Rin, the only woman he'd ever loved in his life up until recently.  Sweet nothings whispered into his ears, gentle pets and pats calming his trembling form down as he seethed.  It had taken years, and countless setbacks, but Orion had kept himself on the wagon through sheer force of will and had kept himself from having a true episode in five years.  Five years on the wagon, sober from such sour emotions.

And yet, Orion HATED the sobs of children.

Now, kids cry all the time, and sometimes the little shits deserve it.  Orion is far from the type of person to believe that children are free from sin.  Sometimes the little shits are assholes and sociopaths and need to get a bit of comeuppance to learn not to be little shitty asshole sociopaths, it's called growing up.  But sobbing?  To drown in such despair at that age that hope seems like a foregone conclusion? 


The echoes of Rose's tears on the concrete caused Orion's blood to boil, and his jaw clenched to tightly he was certain his molars would shatter under the weight.  His glove bound fingers curled tightly into a fist, the resulting tension shaking through his body ready to snap at any moment.  He knew the owner of those tears, and he knew that she was the sweetest person in all of UNOVR, who most certainly did not deserve to sob so.

Eight million thoughts ran through his head, but first things first, he needed to ensure that the source of the sobs ceased immediately.  With a deep breath, he forced some semblance of composure back onto his face, and opened his UI.  Once upon a time, a young little Rion had been quite the boy scout and if he'd retained any of the many life lessons spoonfed to him inbetween the chaos that thirty or so young men got up to camping it was to always be prepared.  Scanning through his inventory he found what he was looking for nodded.  With his attack plan formulated, the fighter took off onto a light jog in the direction of the sobs.  

When he turned a winding corner and spotted the Jeep and the Jeepette sitting upon it's roof, weeping.  His heart ached as the distance closed, resonating with her despair.  It wasn't fair.  Children like her didn't deserve to be sad.  They deserved to be running around laughing, or sitting at the dinner table surrounded by loved ones eating spaghetti and covering their face in sauce. 

They deserved to not sit up at night wondering where there mother was, or why she didn't love him enough to come home.  

"Rosie!"  Orion called out in a singsong voice as he grew closer, seeking her attention as he casually placed his foot on the bumper of her car and stepped up the jeep in stride, plonking down atop the roof next to her.  "Hate to be the bearer of bad news hun, but this city actually has rules about adorable little girls cryin."  He'd motion over to a rusted sign that was pointing away from them.  "Says it over there, and the fine."  He'd flourish his hands and pull out two outrageously blue popsicles from his UI.  "Is to chow down on a popsicle and tell Big Brother Orion what's got you down in the dumps."

"You don't cry like that if you're okay."  Orion replied with a tut, waggling the popsicle once again.  "And this popsicle won't eat itself hun, and if we don't pay the fine quick it might double and then we'll have to eat two of em and spoil our dinner."  Orion shook his head, feigning disapproval for but a moment.  "But if you're not hungry I'll chow down and just listen to you talk, kay?"  With that he'd take a bite of the popsicle, letting out a happy hum as he did so his feet playfully kicking over the side.

Plan A had biffed it pretty hard, though he wasn't expecting tears like that to just evaporate with just a waggle of a treat and chin.  Still, it wasn't like he was just going to roll over and let the little girl sulk.  He remembered what it was like all too well, teary eyes sitting on a comfy couch being told it was okay to be sad.  Being coached through an ocean of grief and anger.  It wasn't easy, and it certainly wasn't something a child should ever have to do, yet here they were.

"You don't gotta be sorry bout bein sad, silly."  With a flick of his other hand, the popsicle vanished back to the hammer space of his inventory and his newly freed hand would ruffle her hair.  "But I am worried boutcha."  He'd continue, gently jostling her playfully as he spoke.  "So why don't you take your time and find you words to tell me what it was your were about to say you wanted.  I've got nowhere to go and all day to get there."

Retracting his hand from her head he would simply sit there, feet kicking, eyes gently watching her as he nibbled at his popsicle and let her find her words to talk about what was going on behind those sad eyes. So she could paint the storm in her heart with her words.

 

Grief and rage flashed through Orion's heart in equal measure, his jaw snapping shut as he fought the urge to tee off and talk mad shit.  The poor little girl deserved to not have to listen to anyone shittalk her parent's regardless of how shitty they were.  He forced in a deep breath through his nose, and then let out a loud exhale as he took another bite of popsicle.  How could he reach this child?  Should he even be trying?  From the outside looking in this could be hella sus lookin, some real stranger danger hours.  But part of him refused to let this little girl sit alone and sob, and he would be damned if he didn't do at least something.  No, he would get on her level, and hopefully her heart would resonate with his.

"Ya know..." he mused aloud, kicking his feet. "I used to wait for my dad a lot too."  He'd give her a knowing look, one that echoed countless afternoons abandoned at soccer practice.  "I know how it goes hun."  He hand on her head continued to ruffle her hair affectionately.  "I lost my mom when I was probably just about your age...and dad didn't take it very well..."  Chewing his lips slightly, he would continue.  "My uncles had to step in a lot, make sure I ate, make sure I got to and from school.  I would come home and dad would just..." he's pantomime holding a remote in front of him, slumping over as if reclining on a chair.  "I swear I must have only heard a fistful of words from him when I was eleven..."  A long sigh would escape his lips, and he would correct his posture, cracking his neck.

"It really sucks, like...really sucks.  But Im not gonna let you sit alone."