A Rumored Troublemaker and A Control Freak's Attempts At Bridge-Rebuilding

Tavish shouldn't have been surprised when William burst into a laughing fit. Really, he probably should have expected it, too. Strange William who was randomly laughing at things if he wasn't being a messy prick of a roommate. It seemed even Warrior and Spirit were weirded out by his attack because even they had moved out of the general vicinity.

He sighed as he took his mug. He took a sip, put it aside and then closed his laptop. He leaned back on the bed and shook his head. "No, Will, you are impossible. I don't even think I want to understand what's funny," he mumbled. He wondered if there had been an unspoken connection between his sister and his roommate in the last few seconds of their conversation. He wondered if William had understood what Tavish didn't when Pauline threw a wink their way before the screen turned black. Wondered if William and his sister were sharing some sort of inside joke they'd spoken about when he'd been making his coffee at the other side of the room.

William still laughed. Tavish stared for a bit before a small smile turned his lips up. He didn't understand it, didn't want to, but William seemed like he's having fun for a change. Looking back at the past few days of barely anything between them, he'd say this somehow makes up for it because there's a gleam in the boy's eyes that Tavish appreciated being there. And he's glad that he's one of the people who put it there.

"Weirdo," Tavish said, losing his smile quickly before William saw it. Sitting here next to the summoner, probably being laughed at in his expense, Tavish decided against the need to get up, gather his laptop and his mug, and make his way back to his side of the room to put them away. This was a rare opportunity, having William easily on his good side, and Tavish wanted to know what it holds.

Because after all the projects and the assignments and reports and write-ups, Tavish realized he still needed this. Companionship and human interactions that didn't result to getting grades in exchange for anybody putting up with anybody else. Relationships that were more like the ones he shared with his family. Only with William (and Spirit and Warrior), of course, it's a little different.

And then the moment was gone as soon as it had come. William may have started laughing, but now he was staring at Tavish with an undiscernable look in his eyes. Tavish could not place what they held now. No anger, not like there usually was. Not irk or annoyance or mischief. Maybe not even anything like that. Those eyes certainly held some sort of self-apprehension. That, or Tavish has had more than enough of his fill of caffeine today and his body is starting to make him overthink again.

"I am weird. Impossible. Aggressive... Violent." William's list reflected truth. His list of adjectives describing himself. Tavish felt like he should have something to say about that, contradict him and make him feel better about himself--that he wasn't just that and that he had good characteristics, too. That would've been the way most people would have gone about this, but Tavish felt it would be wrong. William knew what he was, what was the sense in Tavish telling him otherwise? Especially when it was true. And god, did it drive him up the walls because they were true.

Then William's gaze was different and Tavish felt like he couldn't keep up because William's words made no sense. What was wrong with introducing Pauline to him? "I could have killed us that day."

Right, you could've, Tavish wanted to say with a huff and a roll of the eyes. He wanted to call William out on overreacting and making it too big a deal and exaggerating. But he didn't because William was so serious about his words, like he truly believed he was that dangerous, that he was a threat, that he could have truly, so easily killed Tavish because they'd both been still so tense around each other. He remembered the words they threw at each other. William's were to discourage him from getting him a birthday present and Tavish's questioned William's selfishness.

He remembered seeing William's stare becoming an empty one, then something else entirely. Remembered seeing what he thought was an illusion--black things coming out of William then disappearing in an instant. He remembered how Spirit had whimpered in panic and how Warrior had raised his weapon over William's body. How he had jumped between Warrior--the supposed guardian of William who, now that he thought back on it, probably knows way better at how to fix William than he ever could--and William in the hopes that he could do something to snap William out of it like he'd done a while before that incident.

"Or did you not realize? What could have happened? What was about to happen?"

Well, he certainly does have an inkling of it now. He didn't even want to imagine how easily William could have offed him then--would it be bloody or would he just disappear like those marks did? Turn to dust, maybe? Would his head have twisted the wrong way, his eyes pop out and his heart stop? Would he have vomited his innards and bled out the worst possible way? And by getting killed, would William give him an excruciating one or just off Tavish without him even having an idea about his life having already ended?

Tavish shook his head. It was pretty morbid and bad to think that, worse to imagine himself ending up like that, worst that he still couldn't quite grasp the concept of it becoming a reality. Was that what brought William here to this island for freaks? All this time, Tavish had been living with an unsteady and most likely uncontrollable force (once his trigger was set off, again).

Despite all this, Tavish couldn't bring himself to accuse William or feel hatred towards him. He was still processing it all, after all. All he could really manage was a slow "I don't think I'll be wanting you talking to Pauline anytime soon." He clicked his tongue and stood up, bringing his things with him to put back on his side of the room. He was quiet for a while as he put his things immaculately into their proper positions and then he turned around and looked at William with a bit of a frown. "I wouldn't be able to handle another drama queen around me. You being a messy, stubborn and highly unstable roommate is hard enough. And I wouldn't want Pauline corrupting you any more than she already has."