There are places I'll remember/All my life, though some have changed

[sir_vancelot]

Who| Robbie and Vance
What| Vance has a few things to say to Robbie
Where| Basement of Mount Wundagore in the Habitat Area
When| After Vance comes back from bailing Rich out
Warnings/Notes| Possible mentions of depression, self harm. abuse, child deaths. Will update as necessary


He'd recognized the wall when he caught video of Robbie talking to Brainy. Vance had been intending to give Robbie some space, then go look for him. He HADN'T been expecting Rich to enforce that space by being an idiot, but maybe he should have expected something from that quarter when he hadn't spoken up.

Also, the whole thing with Valeria may have rattled him a bit.

Still, Vance makes his way down to the 'basement' of Mount Wundagore, to a room that doesn't actually exist in the real version. It's not that surprising to Vance that Robbie retreated down here, though some part of him wishes that the room didn't exist at all.

"I thought I'd find you down here."

But, then, Robbie always has been the kind to self-flagellate. And where better to do that than the Stamford memorial?

Comments

[walkingballpit]

"Doesn't have to mean anything?" Robbie asks, so incredulously he almost sounds affronted. The word bullshit might as well be punctuating every word. It's bizarre when a declaration of love is bookended by worries of chickening out and then a complete dismissal of the declaration.

At least, Robbie thinks it's weird. This would be the first time he's been involved with one. When he was a kid, he'd pictured, oh, a 100% completely different scenario, usually involving Heather Locklear.

He's pretty sure it isn't supposed make him so uptight that the emotional awkwardness spills over into physical discomfort, and Robbie is certain that part of him shouldn't be considering going along with it, because that would at least make one person happy.

That would be a shitty thing to do to a friend. "I know you better than that. If it meant you might chicken out, then it meant..."

It's only then that Robbie finally takes a step back, shoving a hand through his hair. After a moment, he mumbles, "I am so not prepared for this conversation. Nobody told me life was going off book today."

He's rehearsed a lot of responses in his life, both quips and explanations, but Robbie hasn't prepped for anything like this.

"I should... go," he says quietly, with an accompanying flinch at how lame he sounds, but it's said now. There's a certain amount of follow-through required, and Robbie takes a few more steps away. He gives Vance one last apologetic look, and turns to go.

[sir_vancelot]

"That's not...I didn't...that came out wrong." Because it's not that Vance thinks that his own feelings don't mean anything or that saying it means nothing. But it was obvious that Robbie is pretty much rejecting him and it's a easy out for them both. "I more meant it doesn't have to lead to anything and..."

He pauses, taking a moment before letting out a breath. "I'll see you later."

Maybe. It's not like Vance is going to track him down. He's already made this awkward enough.

[walkingballpit]

"It's okay, Vance." But Robbie didn't stop making his way out of the memorial park. The arch that marked the entrance framed the stairs into the rest of Mount Wundagore. Once he was there, he'd use his flight ring to get some real distance.

Part of him wants to joke that leading then to shit is still leading somewhere, but Robbie doesn't find it as funny as he thinks he should. "I'll catch you later."

Like when he can look Vance in the face again. When Robbie's officially out of the memorial, he takes off, intending to lose himself in Central Park for a few hours.