(Sing 2) Emerald Wings

Part 14: Emotions and Angsty Apologies

Disclaimer! mentions of physical, verbal, and mental abuse. and some scenes of panic attacks (you have been warned)

Both Ryan and Zotz had arrived at the dance room pretty early than scheduled, as they sit on the ground, with Ryan leaving the dance room to put his duffle bag in their respective dressing room. As Ryan comes back, he hands a drink to Zotz, he got from one of the vending machines, "Oh! you didn't need to Ry," Zotz says with a soft chuckle. With Ryan smiling at the new nickname, "Nah, it's no problem, also thanks for the new nickname, Ry, no one has ever called me that, since my name is already pretty simple" Ryan teases. As Zotz blushes a bit, "Sorry", "Don't worry! I like it, I guess it's a bit of karma for calling you "Bat-Song" last night." Ryan reassures, as he then sits next to Zotz. "Hey, umm can I talk to you about something?" Ryan says hesitantly, which changes the mood of the room entirely, as Zotz looks at Ryan concerned. "Yeah, of course, you can talk to me about something." Zotz says, then letting Ryan continue to speak. "Ok so, I'm getting pretty worried about Johnny, mostly because of how he'll react in today's dance practice," Ryan confessed, as Zotz gives a sad look, "He should be able to get the moves right, if he just keeps going, I think he can do it" Zotz tries to reassure. Ryan then sighs, "Yeah, but that's not the main worry, It's Klaus, he's going to destroy Johnny emotionally, and mentally." Ryan says saddened as he continues, "I've seen what Klaus had done, before you guys arrived, some members had quit, due to him, some had even harmed themselves, due to Klaus's abuse." Ryan pauses, "So that's why I have to take most of the burden off the rest, take bullets for them, make excuses for them. They've all told me not to, but I can't, not if they're all in trouble." Zotz then notices some tears streaming down Ryan's face, in which, he goes closer to the tiger and hugs him from the side. In an attempt to comfort the usual happy sunshine tiger. Zotz looks at Ryan's face, as they lock eye contact, "It's okay to ask for help, even though I'm not the best example offit, but you, Johnny, and the Theatre Crew are trying so hard to help me fly in front of people, and ye never had given up on me. So, I'm not giving up on yu or Johnny!" Zotz says trying to comfort the tiger, as some Scottish accent had slipped out.

Ryan then looks at Zotz surprised, as Ryan's eyes softens, "Thanks man, good to know. Also, you have an amazing accent" Ryan complimented, in which Zotz's face heats up and as he slightly looks away shyly. Then suddenly, they hear the door opening, as the dancers enter through the door, again surprised to the fact that Ryan, is early to practice. Aster and Mack then come into view, as they then approach both Ryan and Zotz, "Hey Ryan! looks like you're early again. It's rare to see you here this early for multiple days in a row!" Aster said surprised. "Yeah, yeah no need to rub it in." Ryan said sarcastically, as he then laughs and playfully punches Aster's shoulder. "Anyways, who's you're new friend?" Mack asked. As then Ryan started introducing Zotz "Oh! sorry, this is my friend, Zotz, he's-", "Zotz, right? We saw you singing with Johnny and Ryan! And Ryan, took you long enough dude, you wouldn't sing even if we begged." Aster said as he interrupted Ryan as he joked. "Wha-Hey!" Ryan then looked a tad offended but was mostly smiling. "U-um yeah, I'm Zotz, it's n-nice to meet you." Zotz said shyly as he looked towards the smaller animals from his perspective. Suddenly, Mack, who's probably closer to Zotz's height, shakes his hand, "It's nice to meet you as well! And it's nice to meet someone as tall, I mean taller than me." Mack says in a friendly tone.

They then sit there, and start talking about their hobbies, and interest, while Ryan listens as he constantly checks his phone. Zotz notices this and approaches Ryan, "Hey Ry? you still worried about Johnny?" Zotz asked. "Yeah, he should be here by now, practice is almost starting," Ryan said worryingly. "Hmm, ok, what about this, I'll go and get him, just wait for me and Johnny." Zotz says, in which he leaves the dance room in a hurry, as Ryan nods. And as he's running, he comes across, Ash and Meena, "Oh hey Zotz! Why the rush?" Ash asked as Zotz, stops Infront of them. "Have you seen Johnny anywhere?" Zotz asked. "He's back at the hotel. Why-" Meena said as Zotz bolted towards the exit. "Huh, he really must be head over heels, for him, huh?" Ash said, as both Meena and Ash shared a laugh.