Snippet #2576185

Haru listened to the explanations set before him with narrowed eyes. His head cocked forward. Hands on his hips. His first reaction was to shake his head and abruptly blurt, “Wait what?”
It all sounded like so much. Too much to fit into one evening. One forty-five minute wait.
“You have got to be kidding me. Okay you people, everyone but those three: Harper, Tallyho, Kyle. Get out. Go on the dance floor. Don’t get into any trouble. Don’t ask questions. You’re not in trouble. Just go. Bye.”
He opened the door, a rough gesture for the others to go on about their business. Now that he got the issue down to the…basic instruments… it was time for him to fix the problem. He shooed away anyone who dared to linger and when he got everyone out he shut the door once more. But this time with a sigh. His shoulders slumped as he meandered toward the silk lined chair.
“Sit down somewhere,” he hummed, more than willing to yell it at them if they didn’t comply fast enough.
Tallyho took a handful of grapes before sitting on one of the loveseats indifferently.
“Guys… Everything would be so much easier if you didn’t do this,” the redhead began as he leaned forward.
“And I’m not just talking about saving the world or doing the month warrior thing—this is about living your life in a healthy way. And it would be so much easier to live it if you just respected each other. How does infighting solve anything? And don’t interrupt me claiming ‘oh well I respect soinso but they’re the one who is attacking me’ because that’s not true. You might not think I’m watching or that I know a lot about you but I know. I know a lot. I did my research on you for a while before I actually pulled you into Aires. I’ve known about you all for longer than you think and theoretically I could have pulled you into Aires as twelve year olds. But I wanted to wait until you were older because this is a scary…scary place. And you have every right to be frightened and I’m actually scared for you.”
Haru wrinkled his forehead.
“I know a lot about you kids and I’ve seen enough to know that you don’t respect each other. Kyle. You go around picking fights that just aren’t necessary. You had no right to hit Harper and I guarantee you know. I don’t know what kind of mudslinging you did verbally but you have a tendency to be physically overbearing sometimes and you’ve really got to stop that, boy.”

Yes. Haru said boy. Because he was talking to two little boys and a little girl and he was going to address them as such.

“But,” he glanced at Tallyho and Harper, “One thing your peers also need to understand about you is that you only act the way you do because that was your life. When you were a kid you felt like you had to over compensate with your fists. You didn’t do well in school. It was a battle for you in fact. And so you developed this hero complex that, by theory is endearing but can sometimes be misunderstood. You come from a good place. You’re a good person. But you need to understand when you are pushing your limits. And Tallyho,” Haru sighed as he shifted toward her in his seat.

“You have trouble understanding the concept of collaboration and team work. But most importantly communication. You don’t talk to people. Yes, you have like what? Two friends that you talk to? But that doesn’t count. You don’t know how to coexist with the rest of the world. If you don’t like something you just write it off and run way. But in this phase of life—the phase of your life where you have to grow the fuck up and be a part of a team—you’re not in the position to run and you’re cornered so you hold grudges and let them boil over. I don’t know what you said to Harper but whatever it was it was probably unnecessarily venomous, festering for way too long and you were thinking too much about it. Just get over things. And what the hell was with that tone earlier? You try to act like you don’t give any shits and I’ll give it to you—you do a damn good job but at what cost? The way you’re living you’re just going to be alone and die alone. And I know you well enough to know that you don’t want that.”
Haru, continuing the trend, then went on to flip the script.
“But like Kyle and Harper I think you have a hard time conveying your true intentions to others. I think that sometimes your peers don’t consider your feelings simply because you’ve never shown them that you have any. You’ve done a hell of a good job keeping your past a secret but I think that others should know it. I think that you should be humanized. Who knows? You might share experiences with others. All three of you have issues with your fathers by the way so how about you mention that? Mention your mother’s consuming illness. Mention travelling alone as a child. Barely living meal to meal? Never having an actual friend before? I won’t give the whole story away. But I strongly encourage,” he turned to the two boys, “your peers to ask you about it one day and you had better do your part, be open, be social, and let them in to a decent degree. Maybe you can learn about each other.”

“And Harper. I think we know more about your history so I won’t get into that. I know that there is a chance that you will just think I’m personally attacking you. And if you want to believe that then so be it. But just remember this: I’m putting all three of you on the same playing field and I’m giving you all the most genuine advice that I am capable of. Harper. You want to be noticed. I really do believe that you crave that attention because of your situation with your parents. And while that can arguably be a natural human desire you crave it so much that a lot of times you seriously disregard the feelings of others. I mean seriously. You can say how kind you are to Xabier or Skylar or Dorian but you tend to be black and white about it and you can really make people feel like they don’t matter. Especially when you gather all of the attention to yourself and actively neglect others. And you can be very disrespectful even to those who try to help you. Do you think I like my job? I literally break my back for you guys and I’m still routinely disrespected by most of you. That’s all I’m going to say about you over all because I think you’ve been told enough about what you do wrong or this and that and blah blah blah. But let me make a few enlightening connections that might help you and those other two understand why you don’t like each other because I am sensing some serious mixed signals. You don’t know why you hate each other. So let me tell you. You and Kyle don’t get along because—well okay there’s that Skylar thing. There is the fact that you two generally don’t have compatible personalities. Kyle is too angry. You’re self-absorbed. And there is also the fact that Kyle lost a friend and you had something to do with it. He and Xabier hit it off quite well. But after—and yes even I know about that whole ordeal too—a while Xabier, who also exhibits a lack in being able to consider more than one person at a time, stopped talking to Kyle. You see that? This is an easy problem to fix and I really hope you two talk about it some other time. Meanwhile, you and Tallyho don’t get along because as I’ve said before Tallyho wants to be noticed too but she’s too socially inept to know how to do it naturally. Meanwhile, you seem to always be on someone’s mind. Tallyho despite her lack of formal education values her conscience and you value the guidance of the heart. You’re more impulsive. She’s more hesitant in certain circumstances. She probably told you why she doesn’t see eye to eye to you but I guarantee she didn’t mention the fact that she too lost Xabier as a friend and that she felt really crumby back at the falls when she (a person who couldn’t swim at all) ended up jumping alone at the falls and almost drowning while you had your episode. No it’s not your fault that you couldn’t swim at that moment. That’s not the issue. But could you imagine how she might have felt when none of her teammates not even Dorian went to help her because they were too busy helping you? She might have drowned had Kat not stepped in to help. It’s not anything in your control but you were still involved. And you have to understand that. And I think you have the capabilities to understand that. Back in the core when Tallyho slapped you she, like everyone else, was scared to death to be there. And when faced with the issue of being in an all or nothing situation in order to get out she naturally got pretty miffed when you wanted to stay put even as everyone else decided on a plan together. But Tallyho, when you hit him—I mean really what should he think. The issues between you two started as something circumstantial and because you wouldn’t talk about for three years they manifested into something more toxic. Harper, you have a good heart. You love your sister. You’re passionate. Occasionally endearing. And I think you do care about others but you have trouble looking from the perspective of others because you’re too wrapped up in your own.”