October, November, Memories and Regrets | Vinzent + Fenna | Furniture Car

Vinzent Mayer

It wasn’t long after his fight with Asuka that Vinzent ran away from the storage, in a panic.

Miraculously, he was still physically unscathed. Save for the dark bruise that progressed on his knuckle (that one was still at least a few days old). But… He can’t say the same for his emotional state.

People might link his current state to Asuka’s physical state not too long ago if they saw that… But they may not. And yet, it didn’t make him feel better either way.

The breathing was still difficult.

“…”

He was quite terrified of the past coming back to haunt him again, and being powerless again. That was why he fought. But, was it really better?

Wasn’t he just as bad? Or was it because of survival? Vinzent doesn’t know anymore.

He just curled up on himself on one of the beds, as far as possible from people. He was still afraid. What if they find out? Can he confide to someone? And can that someone keep it private? He had no idea. Asuka… Might start talking about it once (and hopefully not if) she woke up… So maybe… He needs to tell someone. But not just anyone.

Not like he can sleep his troubles away now anyway.

Fenna Van Daalen

So far, Fenna had come across Abel punching a hole in a wall and Viper giving herself a concussion after (reportedly) falling off of a pile of furniture– she’d heard about some other fights, too, and a fire?? Was there something in the meatballs driving people to violence? Or was it… She’d been trying not to think about that awful Neko-Neko and their farce of a game, but with everyone acting like this already…

And now there was a lump on the bed, a lump with fluffy brown hair and a purple scarf. Vinzent, too…? Well, he didn’t look injured at least (aside from the earlier bruise,) but he was obviously having a bad time. Fenna wasn’t sure if he would want her there or not, so she kept her distance as she walked over to the edge of the bed, stumbling a little on the display room’s shag carpet.

“'Ey Vinzent… What’s a matter?”

Vinzent Mayer

Fenna Van Daalen

Vinzent had to try to breathe normally. Inhale, exhale… He couldn’t keep going like this-

“Ah-”

Certainly, he did jump a bit at the voice… Turning around warily in the bed to face the other… Hey, it was someone he already talked to. Still… What was Fenna going to think of him? What should he tell her? Or rather, how?

Fenna Van Daalen “'Ey Vinzent… What’s a matter?”

“I… I…”

Breathe. Inhale, exhale…

“… I got in a fight with. Asuka. And I.. Uh… Actually I… She…”

He curled up on the bed again, looking away from the woman.

“She… I… I thought I w-was going to be beaten up, just like before… Because she… Provoked me enough for me to lose my cool. But I… Don’t… I think… I fucked up. I just wanted her to q-quit picking on me with her stupid comments… And then she looked so WILLING to fight me! But. I think I knocked her out at s-some point, and I…”

Despite the attempts, it was clear that Vinzent was already crying.

“It won’t change..! I’m not better! I just.. I just didn’t want to be beaten up again like some piece of trash- Like it happened so many times years ago! I don’t… I don’t….”

More sobs could be heard afterwards as he was hiding his face in his hands. He couldn’t really keep his cool after all… Fenna is going to think badly of him, he’s certain. He’s ashamed. Ashamed to have given in the exact same methods that caused him trouble all the time. There’s simply nothing to be proud of. He could have added that he was trying to defend himself but, was it really the case? When he threw the first punch in rage?

Fenna Van Daalen

“Whoa whoa whoa! Take it easy, I’m naht ganna tell anyone…”

Fenna puts her hands up disarmingly and scoots a little closer. Talk about a 180 from their previous conversation– though in retrospect, maybe she should have expected this boy who so resembled her son to have some baggage, too.

Vinzent Mayer “She… I… I thought I w-was going to be beaten up, just like before…

“I mean… I wasn’t there, yeah. But it sounds like self-defense ta me? Wouldn’t be the first time I saw that kid throwin’ hands.”

She remembers back to the car they woke up on– feels like ages ago already– and the sounds of the scuffle that girl and Jack got into that sent cracks through the ice.

Vinzent Mayer “It won’t change..! I’m not better! I just.. I just didn’t want to be beaten up again like some piece of trash- Like it happened so many times years ago! I don’t… I don’t….”

Back to the present. Sounds like Vinzent’s issue here ran deeper than she’d bargained for, certainly a lot deeper than a single fisticuffs mishap. She didn’t really know what to say, not without more information. But if there was one thing she knew how to do, aside from mixing a mean Chicago Fizz or posing for a pin-up, it was listen.

“…If ya need ta talk, y’can. I won’t make ya, though. Sounds like ya feel bad enough already.” She pauses for a second. “But if ya knocked her out fer real, uh– should I go check on her?”

Vinzent Mayer

Self-defense… Maybe. He wasn’t sure, really. But if Asuka liked to get in fights…

… Yeah. So she did it with him just for her own definition of fun, huh. Except she had it coming. Quite frankly. That didn’t make him feel better per se but, you reap what you sow.

At Fenna’s offer to listen, Vinzent was debating on how much he’d tell her. Because he wants to and she seems trustful enough. A second mother, really. He figured he’d first answer to her question.

“I… Yeah… I’m not sure, I think. But yeah, you can check on her, it’s not a bad idea.”

… While he won’t pour his entire life story on her, Vinzent thought that maybe Fenna can know a little more, he trusts her some more than some of the other people here.

… He looked up at her, even with stained tears, it looked like he has stopped crying for now.

“Um… Actually, before that… Can you stay a little longer? I don’t know why, but I just… Want to talk. A bit. Or… You can just check on her first and talk to me after, I don’t really care…”

Vinzent would have preferred that Fenna stayed, but at some point someone has to check on Asuka, and that’s certainly not the artist himself.

Fenna Van Daalen

Vinzent Mayer “Um… Actually, before that… Can you stay a little longer? I don’t know why, but I just… Want to talk. A bit."

At first it seemed as if she was going to leave to check on Asuka, but one look back at Vinzent’s sad little puppy dog eyes changed her mind. Mom mode activated.

“Of course, dear, talk as much as you like.”

She sat down next to him on the edge of the bed, maybe a little closer than one typically would to someone they’d met less than a day ago… it was just automatic, after consoling a similar young man the same way so many times over the years. She sighed and offered him an arm around the shoulder.

“Ya need a hug?”

Vinzent Mayer

Fenna Van Daalen

[summary mode, suicide implication cw]

Vinzent was feeling a bit bad for holding her back, but he’d try to make it short. At Fenna’s offer to hug him, he nodded, leaning his head on her shoulder, if she didn’t mind much.

Then… Since this’d come up in the later car, Vinzent did tell her a bit about the bullying he got back in highschool, and the many attempts he made to fight back with little success. And how it repeated oh so often… While he didn’t state the awful details that marked his memory, it was pretty easy to imagine that uh. Vinzent had it really rough, and fighting back was not easy because he was always overpowered.

All in all, while he won’t mention the more sensitive details (such as the more grim details or not even his attempt) to Fenna right now, Vinzent did feel a tad better to confide in her what was eating him away. It has come back to haunt him and it wouldn’t go away if he just kept it all… So he was relieved he could talk about it with someone he trusts.