howtheyshine: (136)

[personal profile] howtheyshine 2025-03-03 12:21 pm (UTC)(link)
That's an overwhelming number of factors to consider, and he gets the impression that Arthur could keep going. The impression Arthur might get from him is one of a student presented with a pop quiz in a class he's been sleeping through.

"Th-Then how do you know when you know enough?"
Edited 2025-03-03 12:23 (UTC)
howtheyshine: (053)

[personal profile] howtheyshine 2025-03-04 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
He's going slowly red as they talk, a creeping blush that Yellow himself is doing his utmost best to ignore.

"Wh-" He wilts a little after the half-syllable and looks down at his tea again, sipping it even though it's probably still scalding. It is definitely better than making eye contact with his next question. "What if Crichton gets tired of waiting and asks someone else?"

It's clear enough that Yellow has a someone else in mind.
Edited 2025-03-04 20:54 (UTC)
howtheyshine: (232)

[personal profile] howtheyshine 2025-03-05 04:22 pm (UTC)(link)
He stares, nonplussed. That question hadn't even occurred to him. He hadn't factored Crichton into it at all, just his own failure to quickly do what someone wanted him to do.

"That- that's true, but, I meant- I meant what if... what if he needs it, fast? Faster than investigation allows?"

That's definitely what he meant.
howtheyshine: (cpa48)

[personal profile] howtheyshine 2025-03-06 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
Private investigator, he remembers that one at least. Yellow studies Arthur's face, looking for something under the smile or behind the words, a trick or a disappointment or--

But John explained, he'd explained why Arthur acted the way he had then. Which comes back around to the question and the fear: what if Crichton wants to replace me. It's confusing, and aggravating, to be confronted with a variation on something he thought he understood. This is a different kind of replacement, somehow--not being abandoned for someone better, but being abandoned for personal uselessness. Being abandoned because he couldn't serve the purpose someone important found for him. He's not afraid of John taking Crichton from him. He's afraid of losing Crichton for himself.

He growls softly and rubs his temple with the knuckles of his free hand.

And then says what's bubbled up underneath everything else while they've been talking.

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry for calling John your pet, and for trying to make you angry at me when you got here, and for telling you to stay away from me, and for- for being afraid of you at Max's party."

By the end of those apologies Yellow looks a little blindsided by his own small ramble, and increasingly like a person watching an oncoming truck. "And I- I think I might... I might have. Maybe, when we met, I didn't... I could have done... better."
Edited 2025-03-12 13:21 (UTC)