IC CONTACT ➛ duplicity.

[bragnificent]

❝ Ｙｏ， ｙｏｕ ｇｏｔ Ｒｅｇｇｉｅ． Ｌｅａｖｅ ｉｔ！ ❞ ( ♪ )




( AS OF REGGIE'S 11/21 CANON UPDATE, PLEASE NOW DIRECT IC INBOX MESSAGES TO HIS NEW INBOX. )

Comments

[occultatum]

That I love him.

[bragnificent]

And you don't. Right?

[ Reggie pauses. ]

Cuz it was just a dream.

[occultatum]

And I don’t.

I like him a lot. But I don’t love him.

It wasn’t just a dream, though.

[bragnificent]

Yeah, but I mean more like... [ An exhale. ] Just cuz I dream about something doesn't mean I want it to happen, you know? Maybe it does sometimes, but, if this isn't one of those 'you are in love with him but just didn't know it yet' situations, then...

[ Ugh, okay. He needs to not feel whatever he's feeling about this right now. It's not the point, and insecurity inevitably only makes him angry. ]

You think he's gonna like, take it seriously or something?

[occultatum]

Reggie, stop.

Stop, sweetheart.

[He sounds cautious, but firm.]

I don’t love him. The problem isn’t that. It’s that he...

It’s that no one loves him.

[bragnificent]

Big deal.

[ Reggie can certainly empathize, but he isn't sympathetic. He's always known love to be conditional, he knows just how much constant work it takes to even come close to being awarded anything real.

Which is no small part of why this whole thing has him bristling a bit. He takes a breath, trying to let go of that clench of tension. ]

Has he ever considered that maybe he's gotta earn it like the rest of us? That's not your fault.

[occultatum]

Do you think he’ll like hearing that?

That I don’t love him?

Because you know I have to tell him.

[bragnificent]

No one likes hearing it. But if it's true, then, what difference does it make?

I don't think you do. Shouldn't he already know that anyway?

[occultatum]

Would you think that?

If I told you I loved you, wouldn’t you think I meant it?

[bragnificent]

Not if I already knew better. [ ... (Debatable.) ] And especially not if you told me that in a dream.

[occultatum]

[There is silence for a moment.]

Okay.

[bragnificent]

Hey.

[ That felt too easy, somehow. ]

If you wanna bring it up, that's your business. I just don't think you have to. It's like if I had a dream about Veronica-- [ (and he did) ] I wouldn't need to hear it from her in person that things were all still exactly the same. You know?

[occultatum]

Did you love her?

[He asks it, and he almost immediately doesn’t want to know the answer.]

[bragnificent]

[ There's a pause. Not even Reggie knows the answer to that question, to be honest, but he does know he can't say that. ]

No.

I just meant like... for example.

[occultatum]

For example.

Okay. Anyway. Be careful with your dreams.

[bragnificent]

Nick. Come on.

[ He exhales. ]

But how am I supposed to do that? I didn't do anything different, they all just kinda happened.

[occultatum]

I don’t know if I have time to teach you.

[He sighs a little.]

I can give you a charm. So you’ll know you’re dreaming.

[bragnificent]

Okay. Sure.

[ It's hard to imagine it getting any worse than it's already been. ]

Is the real reason you're worried about this because you think he's in love with you?

[occultatum]

[There is a long pause.]

I know he’s in love with me.

[bragnificent]

Did he tell you that?

[occultatum]

He did.

[A pause.]

I’m that dream. But I know.

[bragnificent]

It is pretty obvious. Even i know it.

[occultatum]

I don’t-

[Hes quiet again.]

So what the heaven do I do?

[bragnificent]

Well, I could tell ya what we do in Riverdale, but I get the feeling you won't like hearing it.

Look, he's just gonna get mad if you bring it up, so if you don't wanna deal with that, don't say anything.

[occultatum]

Well.

What do you do in Riverdale?