As Far As I Know, Nothing's Wrong.

[kissmeandstopme]

Mandy had just spent some wonderful time with her parents, and Auntie Wall, and the whole Waller clan.

She was making plans for training with Brandon when a thought occurred to her.

How was Henry taking all this? Had Liv even told him?

Henry was Mandy's friend, and she didn't want him completely blindsided. But she didn't want to rub information in his face either, considering how he felt about Brandon.

One of the best ways to get a level-headed view on the issue, she felt, was to call the closest source on Henry one could get outside of Henry's household.

"Hello, Din?"

Comments

[lantern_kid]

Henry doesn't look at the cookie. "Star Sapphires can be wrong sometimes," he replies.

[kissmeandstopme]

"We can be wrong about plenty of things, but I'm perfectly capable of telling when two people are in love. And they are. They're crazy about each other."

[lantern_kid]

"He wants to fuck her," Henry corrects with a snarl.

[kissmeandstopme]

"Oh please, Henry, Brandon's been a perfect gentleman while we were dating. He won't rush her."

[lantern_kid]

"You'll forgive me if I think maybe you were a little biased on this," Henry replies.

[kissmeandstopme]

"Biased?"

Mandy doesn't lose her cool often, but she looks like she's starting to. "Yeah, Henry, I'm really biased in favor of giving up a relationship when I really liked where it was going because he loved someone else. Makes me see it so much less clearly than someone who's had his own Personal Issues with Brandon for ages."

[lantern_kid]

"Personal issues?" Henry replies, losing his own cool a bit more. "How about I'm the only person who notices that Brandon's a massive dick. Or even is apparently the only one who notices when he starts bullying people."

[kissmeandstopme]

"Just because he's into macho posturing doesn't mean he's going to take advantage of Liv. He's waited years to tell her how he feels..."

[lantern_kid]

"Or maybe he got what he wanted from you, and moved on!"

[kissmeandstopme]

Mandy's teeth grit. "Still A Virgin, Henry."

[lantern_kid]

He takes her word for it. "Then maybe he realized he wasn't going to get what he wanted -- thank god -- and moved on!"

[sonoftheatom]

"OKAY!" Dinadan says loudly, putting the cookie back in the tin for now and inserting himself between Mandy and Henry. "Let's not get into lung capacity-testing, shall we?"

He takes a deep breath. "Look, Henry, Mandy just wanted to give you a heads up that this was happening so that you didn't freak out and say something to Liv that you'd regret after the two of you had a great big screaming fight as a result of whatever you said. Once you've gotten over the immediate urge to fly right over there and kick Brandon's ass, you should call Liv and the two of you can talk about how she is an intelligent young woman entirely capable of making her own decisions about her romantic life and you can tell her that you'll beat the crap out of him if he hurts her to your heart's content."

He holds up a hand to forestall any protests. "If you go in there telling her that Brandon is terrible and a bully, no matter how true it is, she is going to get defensive and stubborn and dig in her heels and it's ultimately only going to hurt your friendship. Understand?"

[lantern_kid]

"Yeah, yeah," he says, deflating somewhat at Din's interjection. "I can let my friends make their own mistakes... like I did for Mandy."

[kissmeandstopme]

"Much appreciated," Mandy says quietly.

[sonoftheatom]

"Leave the passive-aggression to those more suited for it, please," Dinadan says dryly, throwing himself backward onto the couch and flapping his hand at the tin again. "Cookies, favorite. Have. Eat."

[lantern_kid]

Henry almost snaps at Din for that comment, but he catches himself. Instead, he takes the cookie and stuffs it in his mouth, chewing in surly annoyance.