[amberra]

Well...I guess that's just how some people are. They're just born with attitude. Sometimes your worst weakness can be your biggest strength. Not that having an attitude is a weakness, or anything. I'm just saying... For some reason, Kirye was flustered. You know what I'm trying to say, right?

I know you're not in any way a mean person. I'm not sure you could be really and truly mean if you tried. Kirye giggled, a funny image of Zadar trying to bully a little kid and then ending up apologizing profusely popping into her head. But you remember how I was saying that you were real? That you weren't fake or anything? If someone is real, and they give you a compliment...then you can be sure that they mean it.

Was Kirye making any sense at all? She felt all jumbled up inside. Everything she was trying to say came out twisted, and she couldn't seem to get her point across the way she wanted to. She didn't know why...she was just suddenly flustered, hardly able to even speak.

{30}

[clackno1]

Zadar nodded. "I think having attitude is a weakness. It can feel like a strength, but then you see the worst in people and you don't get the friends you could have. Of course nervousness is just a weakness. I don't really see how it could be a strength." He wondered what his strengths were. Being playful and childish probably wasn't a good strength. Or not his biggest strength at least.

He was sure he couldn't be mean, except to his sister. His father had told him he had made her cry once when they were little. He didn't believe that though. He though his father had been trying to make him feel a bit better about himself. 'Self esteem' and such. But Kirye's next comment confused him. "But all those guys that liked your looks and stuff and they said you were pretty, couldn't you believe them?" Could she? He would, not that he thought (or hoped) it would ever happen to him. That would be just creepy. Of course if his sister had dressed him up in a dress and said he was pretty for a joke that he would have understood even thought he would have been incredibly annoyed. He noticed that Kirye seemed like the nervous one now.

[amberra]

Kirye cocked her head, once again in thought. Hmm...I guess I do agree that attitude is a weakness. But nervousness...I think that's just a character atribute. It's neither a weakness or a strength. It's just....there. Kirye hoped she was making more sense than she had been a moment ago. What was it about talking to Zadar that made her lock up? Perhaps it was the fact that she knew she couldn't control him with her looks, like she could any other guy. Or perhaps it was something different...it was impossible for her to tell.

Kirye sighed, long and tiredly. You'd think I'd be able to believe them, seeing as they're saying the same things as about a dozen other guys. But I don't think they really even know what they're saying while they're complimenting me. It's like it's the line of a play, and they've rehearsed it so many times, that they can say it effortlessly. They say it, but it's only empty, memorized words. It has no significant value or meaning. Am I making any sense at all?

[clackno1]

Zadar didn't see how nervousness could be neither. Nervousness caused him to stutter, he couldn't think straight. He didn't think that would help him with anything, especially a fight. He knew everyone got nervous at least one time in their life, but he got nervous whenever he left the house usually. The thought that he would meet someone always lingered in the back of his head whenever he left the house.

Zadar felt sympathetic. Maybe he had said the wrong thing. Was he asking too personal stuff? He wasn't completely sure what she meant about the play, since he'd never been in one. But he got the memorizing part. "That makes sense. I get what you mean." After a few seconds of silence he said, "Sorry if that was too personal. I have no business with your personal life." He didn't. He really didn't. Kirye had already told him some about that part of her life, and it was her choice if she told him or not. He had no reason to ask. At least, not a good one.

[amberra]

Kirye could tell that Zadar didn't exactly agree with her on the nervousness part. Oh, well. It's not like she could begrudge him for his opinion. Well, she could, but it certainly wouldn't get her anywhere. Besides...she wasn't about to start arguing about something as stupid as that.

No, no. Kirye spoke quickly. It's fine. I actually don't really care what you ask me. The best I can do is answer, and the worst is to simply refuse. Or I suppose if I lied, that would be worse. But you get what I'm saying. You don't need to worry about any questions you ask. If it were too personal, I would tell you.

[clackno1]

It didn't look like she would continue with the nervous thing so he let it drop too. it's not like he wanted to argue with her. He usually lost arguments, especially with his sister. And if they argued and he lost he'd be embarrassed and she'd think she'd done something wrong and then they'd be back at the beginning. He certainly didn't want that. He didn't want it to be awkward between them. That would be weird and hard and confusing. Like either of them needed more of that in their lives.

"Oh, okay. Sorry, I'm used to being screamed at when I ask something that's not my business, so says Zila. But technically it's my business when she's my sister, right? I mean, she's my sister and I care about her so I should know what's going on in my life. Now our dad is just nosy. He still thinks we're little kids." Like he didn't like that. he sometimes liked it when his father treated him like a kid since he could get away with stuff that his sister never could. Those were fun days. But when his father goes around sticking his nose everywhere it gets annoying. "And don't be afraid to yell at me. Just go ahead and let it out I don't really care."

[amberra]

Kirye laughed, and shook her head. Oh, don't worry. I'll scream at you if I need to. But right now, nah, I'm fine. And as to your sister...I agree with you. I mean, if you care about someone, you're gonna ask about their life. Sometimes the questions may be personal...but that's part of being a family, part of caring about someone. She nodded when he spoke about his dad. Yeah, parents can be pretty annoying sometimes. I know that mine are. Always getting in my business...but sometimes its nice, having someone to talk to. And as much as I try to prove this fact wrong...parents very often have some pretty good advice.

[clackno1]

"Finally, someone that understands me!" He said when Kirye first agreed with him. "My dad doesn't. When he hears that I've been asking about Zila's personal life, or just plain life, I lose TV privileges, I lose video game privileges. It's terrible. I like my video games." He said with a sigh. His father had recently threatened to take them away for a month. A week he could handle, but a month?! That was just too much. Which was part of the reason he had left. He couldn't be punished if he wasn't at home.

"I have my sister to talk to. And believe it or not she likes to listen sometimes when something's bothering me. But only when it's important. There are other kuhnas that are sort of like my aunts so I talk to them sometimes. Karma's a good listener too, my half brother. I'll talk to my dad sometimes but usually I don't think it's important enough for him to help. And Zila's chock full of helpful advice. I don't know where she gets it from. I think she reads it somewhere or something." His dad had advice, but he never really explained why that advice would be helpful. Of course Zadar figured it out in the end when he knew the advice would have been super helpful. But it was usually too late to use it then.