Get Out, If You Can

The Payoff of a Risk

 "You know what you have to do right?" Eiji asks quietly to TJ as he lights a cigarette and pockets his lighter in his pocket. TJ's eyes shift to his friend taking the cigarette from between his lips with his two fingers and exhaling the plume of smoke up and over their heads to the night sky.

"Get the bartender, 'Grace', and smash her face into a wall?" TJ responds plainly bringing the smoke to his lips again, holding it there as he pulls up his sleeves to his elbows.

Eiji laughs and shakes his head. TJ raises an eyebrow looking to his friend not understanding why he's laughing at his serious statement.

"No, no. I meant about your doll and your roommate. Their friendship? Doesn't it bother you?" Eiji provokes poking TJ's cheek a little forcefully to make him turn away from the prodding hand.

Giving his friend the time to right himself he watches TJ's eyebrows furrow slightly with a tilt of his head. He shrugs and stuffs his right hand into his pocket, choosing to take the smoke from between his lips with his left hand and flick off the ash. He closes one eye and blows out the smoke lethargically, remaining silent in anticipation of Eiji to speak up. Eiji looks unamused with TJ's display of ignoring the question in an attempt to side skirt the issue, his laziness getting the better of him of not wanting to do anything at all.

"Is dropping it an option?" TJ asks with a hint of uplifted hope in his voice, his lips spreading into a smile that was intended to win Eiji over in his favor.

"No. Then what are we going to do?" Eiji rolls his eyes looking to the side in his sigh of exasperation with his lazy counterpart. "You have to claim her, and assert yourself so she doesn't feel the need for him."

"That sounds like a lot of work..." TJ comments plainly in his argument. He taps the toe of his shoe down against the sidewalk, his eyes watching his foot not wanting to meet Eiji's gaze, knowing what he was going to see anyways.

Eiji looks to TJ, his eyes narrowed though understanding why he wouldn't want to make the extra effort. He could see his friend already beating himself up inside about having let this happen and felt partially at fault for having had this be an effect from his cause to force him to introduce Cyren. It was unintentional, but they were already too deep in to turn back now or it would be a waste of their time. And he truly wanted to see the turn of this girl from the meek shell of a person to the dark vision that TJ held for her. He wanted the proof of all of their efforts rather than abandoning it. This was a change of pace, and to be honest he was enthralled in it. Not that he knew what would happen afterwards which tended to bother him, he wanted to know, the unknown would be something that would bother both of them if they didn't complete this. And he knew that TJ knew that as well. Their activities would only go so far before they became bored with that and would have to find something else to entertain themselves with, the hypothetical already bothering him at the thought of it. What would they do? Go back to their daily lives of just flowing along with the tide of the life that was given to them? That wasn't possible anymore, and it seemed depressing and grim. Would they even talk anymore? Would they still be connected if they just stopped? No, probably not, and Eiji wasn't going to let that happen either.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the unpleasant thought he drops his gaze to the ground and pulls his lips to the side in a thoughtful purse. Trying to think of something to help TJ considering he was pulling all of the weight, even if this was his project for the girl, he still wanted to help out. He didn't want to be excluded.

"You're leaving....?" He remembers from his nightmare. 

Eiji looks up to the street as a lone car passes by, the headlights illuminating them standing outside of the loud bar for just a moment. TJ elbows him in the ribs and nods his chin up at him in question before putting out his cigarette butt with the heel of his shoe. Eiji shakes his head as if to say it's nothing and shrugs.