Their Special Place

Cadence smiled and shook her head at Sasori and Ella, "It's in the past and I'm better n--" she started, tucking wild crimson waves behind her ears, but suddenly Fantine was screaming at her. She flinched back from the other woman's words. "I would rather not surround myself with people who hold no care for the treasure of the life that they've been given," Cadence was staring at her lap again, picking anxiously at her nails. "Sometimes, Fan, mental diseases are just as bad as physical diseases. I'm sorry that you're angry..." She trailed off as Ethan , Ella and Evan all spoke their piece, and Sasori sang his song. She smiled gently and squeezed Evan's hand, finding comfort and possibly bravery in the warmth of his large palm. She stood up abruptly. "Guys. This isn't why I brought you here. To yell at each other and be hateful, no matter what we've been through. It's probable that we've all had pretty shitty times the last few years. And, it's obvious that we've changed. But why does that mean that we can't still be friends? We know the kids we once were, we need to know the adults that we are now. Damn it!" She exclaimed throwing up her arm. She unlaced her fingers gently from Evan's and then moved to a cooler that was on the opposite side of the clearing. She pulled out a beer and popped the top, taking a swig. "Anyone want one? I sure as hell needed one..."

Ella nodded as Evan talked, and watched as Sasori sang, and Cadence talked. She agreed with everyone. It was obvious they weren't the same kids who had been best friends, so they had to get to know each other and become friends all over again, or else it wouldn't work out. "I'll take one," Ella said to Cadence, grabbing a bottle from the cooler. She twisted the top off and took a sip, then set the bottle down on the table and looked at the five other people around her. Her thoughts drifted to her mother, who had recently passed away, and her father, who had passed away just before she left Middle Missouri for California. "So what has everyone been doing since that summer we all left?" She asked. She wanted to catch up with everyone, wanted to know what had been going on in their lives for the past six years. She wanted to know if they'd been successful, or happy, or sad, or busy, or lonely, or heartbroken, or in love, or working hard, or lazy, and whatever else a human can do in six years. She wanted to know what had made each of her friends change so much, and who they were today.

"No thank you I don't drink beer." Sasori said and watched as Ella toke one and asked her question, "I've been drawling and working on a new project. But it's not going well, it keeps acting out or short circuiting." he sighed because he had been working on building a mechanical bird, which was hard for him since he's never worked with mechanical parts or wiring, "I think I put wires in wrong or something, imaimashii (translation: damn) then I am going to make a A.I program for it so it can do thing on it own, imaimashii." it was obvious it angered him if he cursed, Sasori looked in the cooler he found and grabbed a bottle of sake (Japanese rice wine), "Akarui mirai e. (To a bright future)" he said before drinking his sake.

Fantine recoiled from Ethan's words, stiffening and halting in her walk, her fingers curling into fists at her sides.

"As if I would ever want your pity or sympathy, Ethan, even if you were capable of those types of emotions. You're about as sympathetic and caring as a brick wall. And that whole thing about 'You've always thought you were better than all of us', is bullshit and you know it. If anyone here ever thought such a thing, it was you. 'I'm Ethan and I'm the most popular freaking member in this group. I'm so much better than the rest of you and you're lucky to have me around'. Or do you not remember saying those precise words to your other friends from middle school, before we all left? Obviously not, because it's quite a hypocritical thing for you to say that I find myself better than any of you."

In that moment, she didn't really care if she was acting childish. Of course all of them would jump to defend Cadence. Cadence, who could do no wrong. Cadence, who was the perfect little angel. Cadence, who was never caught for anything that she did. Cadence, who was just freaking perfect. Cadence, Cadence, Cadence. Everything had always been about Cadence. No matter what Fantine had done in her life, nothing had ever been just about her, even once. Even when she was at her various doctor appointments, it had always been about her parents and how she was only 'taking up their spare time', and how she had always been 'a pain in the ass'. Well, they could all kiss her ass! She was done with being kind. She was done with trying to help people. She was done with giving all of her spare time to the needy. She was done with everything that she had done with her life so far.

She was done.

"What gives you the right to act like you know everything, Ethan?" she asked, her voice a deathly chill. "Cadence is allowed to break the news that she tried to commit freaking suicide, and everyone reacts with sadness and worry. Something happens to me that I can't control, and as soon as I stand up for living, I'm the bad guy. You're an awful person, Ethan, and I don't know what happened over the years, because at least when we were younger, you acted like you cared. Now? You're just a ... You're a dick."

With that, she moved several more steps away, stopped beside a tree, and dropped down to a sitting position in front of it, her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around her legs.

(OOC @ Kura - so if Fan says no to going back and the cuddle, Evan will give a cuddle anyway, so you are free to rp Evan doing so)