the PHONE HELL meme

[megido_flame]

t h e PHONE HELL m e m e

So. Cellular phones. They're supposed to make our lives easier. But sometimes? It just doesn't work that way.

1) Texts From Last Night
2) Damn you, Autocorrect
3) Recipient Misfire
4) Mix & Match
5) Wildcard

Option One:
Texts From Last Night
You should know how to do this by now. RNG or pick something. You can post a blank comment and let others text you about last night, or you can send a mass text for anyone to reply to.

Option Two:
Damn You Autocorrect
Fuck you, iPhone. Fuck you Android Swipe. Either sit and and wait for others to post to you from a blank tag, or just send this shit out to everyone by posting an autocorrect error.

Option Three:
Recipient Misfire
Uhh, wait. You didn't mean to send that to whoever you just sent that to. Oh crap!

Option Four:
Mix & Match!
You know what? Let autocorrect fuck up that TLFN you're sending to the wrong person, or hell your entire contact list!

Option Five:
Do Whatever The Fuck You Want
And none of this shit tickles your fancy, come up with one of your own. I'm sure no one gives a shit.


[copied from erre-where.]

Comments

[philosophique]

[ and that — that statement gives combeferre pause for another reason entirely, because it is so far from the truth that even enjolras cannot mean it. they have talked about this at length — for enjolras now to say that it is the first time the matter is addressed seems either entirely unreasonable, or means that they are not talking about the same thing.

though considering the conversation, combeferre cannot imagine any other way his words could be taken than as worry for enjolras' well-being, something he has displayed frequently.

the second text is a relief and another reason to worry both — mostly a relief because it will be good to look at enjolras while they talk about this. even if it may hurt.

(it already hurts.) ]

I'll be there in ten minutes.

[runarevolution]

[ Enjolras is not inclined to say things he does not mean, even when they are cruel. One need only look as far as the things he says to Grantaire for the truth of this.

There is something incredibly off about this whole exchange; but Enjolras doesn't have the first clue about guessing, grasping what it is. All that he can do is hope that having the other face to face will shed some light on this matter. Even though the thought of talking to the other about his masturbatory habits face to face has Enjolras colouring all over again, worse than before.

He doesn't even respond to the other's text. Just paces the floor as he waits for the other's presence. Puts on the kettle more out of habit than conscious thought, his mind wrapped too heavily around this misunderstanding, trying to puzzle out where it had come from, and why Combeferre was so hurt. Why he didn't understand. ]

[philosophique]

[ the trip does not take long at all, and yet combeferre feels as though for the entirety of the walk between their apartments, he is fretting with his mind turning in circles, repeating the exchange silently in his head over and over and finding no fault with what he had said.

(it doesn't occur to him to check his phone to make sure that it had gotten his dictation right. he's had only good experiences with dictating his texts until now.)

nine minutes later, he is there and knocking on enjolras' door. he has a key, of course, but after this conversation he does not feel so certain of his welcome - something he has never had cause to question before - as to use it. ]

[runarevolution]

[ That the other knocks lances through him. Twists pain in his stomach and heart and Enjolras sucks in a breath, holds it and stares at the door as though it is a foreign entity. As though he doesn't know what to do with it at all. He stands frozen for several moments too long, and by the time he moves the kettle is well into whistling, breaking him out of his stupor as, abashed he moves and pulls open the door.

He half hopes it's not Combeferre. Combeferre doesn't knock- Combeferre doesn't have to. ]

Combeferre. [ Enjolras' voice is unintentionally distant, aloof. Simply because he doesn't know how to handle whatever the situation is that they are facing, he's fallen into such familiarity, such easy camaraderie for as long as he can remember that trying to treat the other as a guest is like trying to forget how to breath. ]

Come in, please. [ He tugs the door open a fraction wider and moves aside to invite the other in, staring at the other with his features set to neutral. Studying every inch, trying to find answers, trying not to let his own confusion show. ]

[philosophique]

[ combeferre has seen enjolras aloof and removed. he understands it can be as much a defensive mechanism as actual distance and it's hard to tell from the outside which is which. he's never been on the outside, he hasn't ever had to consider what the aloofness means directed at him because it never has been.

now it is and it feels like something crumbling that combeferre had thought to be built on solid foundations.

he looks down and away, because considering enjolras' features is as painful as considering this: that something might have changed in their friendship, that enjolras no longer welcomes the level of involvement that combeferre considers vital, part of who they, as a unit, are.

(maybe that unit is not as solid as he thought. he tries to push the sting of that down, to keep it from showing on his face. he knows he doesn't quite succeed, that it's there in the tightness around his mouth, the pull of his eyebrows, the way his hands aren't quite still.) ]

Thank you. [ the formality feels wrong, awful and forced. ]

[runarevolution]

[ It seems that they are at an impasse; frozen in misunderstanding and Enjolras doesn't see the way forward. He's never meant to hurt Combeferre, but then again he's never had Combeferre misunderstand him so thoroughly. Of everyone in the world, there was no one who could decipher him like Combeferre. He doesn't even know how to deal with the situation they are facing now, because he had never even considered in his worst nightmares that it was a possibility. ]

I made tea. [ The offer is a weak one, but right now it's all Enjolras has. He reaches out- wants to put his hand upon the other's bicep and catches himself; recoils before he can touch him and turns away, moving to busy himself with pouring the hot water into a teapot to steep.

The tea is one of Combeferre's favourites; a decision he made subconsciously but now almost regrets as the smell of it hits him- makes him glance over his shoulder at where the other, his best friend still lingers. ]

[philosophique]

[ if only they knew of the misunderstanding, it would be possible to eradicate it and for their usual ease of communication to return — but combeferre does not know what he might have said (or rather: what his phone might have made of it) that enjolras has taken so badly and to think that his best friend no longer wants his concern — it hurts.

what hurts worse is the way in which enjolras catches himself and checks himself before he can touch combeferre. it doesn't go unnoticed, and it brings another sharp sting of pain. have things between them really changed so rapidly, or has combeferre misread their past dynamic so badly? he doesn't know and it worries him, it makes him second-guess himself in a way that he is very rarely prone to doing. ]

Yeah. [ he follows enjolras into the kitchen and watches him pour the water. his favourite tea — he recognises the smell and it brings a smile to his face, bittersweet and tinged with sadness now because he cannot read what it means. yesterday, he would have known still, but now he no longer knows whether he is not misreading things.

the insecurity is stifling, though it does not compare to the worry, the pain. ] I — [ tongue darting out to wet dry lips. ] I apologise for overstepping boundaries. I was not aware that you no longer wish for me to consider such things.

[ he hates how hesitant his own voice sounds, how it almost breaks. ]

[runarevolution]

[ He turns properly at the other's words, kettle still clutched awkwardly in hand. It feels as though they are on separate sides of a bottomless ravine, not simply separated by the expanse of his kitchen. He draws in a breath, puzzling over it again and again in silence as the other speaks and finishes and even still Enjolras remains silent, his frustrations growing. It is not Combeferre he finds frustration with but himself. How could this have happened? Combeferre is only ever concerned with his well-being- surely it is his own fault that he is embarrassed, that he cannot simply speak of this in plain terms as the other can.

He exhales a breath he did not even know he was holding, a frown forming despite himself as the silence stretches on between them. He sets the kettle down, and moves to place the teapot upon the table, going round and round in his head and saying nothing. Not even realizing that his silence probably only serves to make things worse. ]

You know me better than this. [ The frustration carries into his tone now, and Enjolras feels as though he is fit to burst- he sounds angry, though the last thing he wants is for Combeferre to interpret this as anger directed at him. ]

Combeferre- [ He flexes his fingers uselessly, as though trying to physically grasp the words that are so intent on escaping him. So he stands, flexing and unflexing his fingers, his cheeks going just a little bit red and his lips pursed into a thin line as his eyes spark.

But the words remain strangled. ]

[philosophique]

[ combeferre knows — or knew, once, because he is not so certain anymore, as though the basis, some fundamental structure, had crumbled underneath his feet — to tell when enjolras is angry with him or with something else: the circumstances, the world, injustice, some other person. he knows, even know, but he is also questioning that knowledge for the first time and it leaves him in a state of confusion and that, that hurts.

he should not need to question his understanding of his best friend. ]

I thought that I did. [ the implication is there: perhaps i have been wrong, perhaps i do not know you as well as i once thought i did.

seeing enjolras like this is another sting added to the bundle of pain that sits heavy in his chest. he wants to soothe enjolras — to take care of him.

he's no longer so certain he's allowed that. ]