concoursec | (no subject)

Character(s): Tobias and Marco
Location: Quad, random tree #5
Rating: Probably PG, but possible PG13 depending on Toby
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed
Summary: Tobias gets a straight answer he desperately needs.

The announcement had Tobias in... well, very bad of sorts. He had listened to the announcement as carefully as he could, but only about halfway into it had his mind glazing over in horror and terror, triggering that usual response of 'flight' he seemed to carry. Once he had calmed down a little, however, it had been replaced by pure confusion.

Sure, the Commander wasn't the nicest of people, but she was still their Commander, right? And unless he was completely off on what he'd been listening to it meant that she was supposed to be helping take care of them. But this was the exact opposite of that! Why would someone who had your interests at heart try to send you off to -- what he saw as -- dying?

And that was why the simple PM of "I need help" had been sent to Marco. Not Grell -- he could guess what his Mom would think -- and not Espio -- he already knew what he thought. Marco. Marco, because even through his hazy memories and the fresh ones here, he knew that his Dad could always seem to have an answer to any problem.

So that was why Tobias was here in the Quad, sitting on a branch and trying to whistle to the birds.

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Impossibly, Marco's grin grew even more at that. "Thanks Toby, that gives me a lot of faith and confidence, eh?" he informed him genuinely and ruffled the kid's black hair.

"That is because you are my treasure and protecting you is my strength. So as long I'm keeping you safe I'll always be ten times stronger." Lessons from the strongest man in the world. Other people could keep their gold and jewels, Marco would pick lost boys every time.

"And because I'm trying to help and protect everyone else, I can be strong too! I want to help, even if I don't really know them."

Tobias in a nutshell, though he had certainly never been this out about it. You could almost feel the fire beginning to flicker back alive.

"...Do you think a lot of people are mad at the Commander like Espio?"

"Good," Marco grinned and nodded.

A short pause and he switched back into human form so he could lean against the tree trunk in thought. "Perhaps. I don't think anyone is quite as mad as Espio, or at least they haven't made their objections as vocally known yet, but then Espio tends to be more vocal than a lot of people here in general." Marco shrugged his shoulders. "Don't worry, I'll try to get through to Espio too. In his world I think it was probably a little easier for people to avoid pain if they didn't want to face it." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Actually, I'm not really sure about that either, but I know Espio's job was to mostly make sure that certain people wouldn't have to deal with that kind of pain if they didn't want to. I think he'll understand better when he's had time to settle down though, eh. And if I'm mistaken about that... well, we'll figure something out then." He gave Toby another small grin.

Tobias nodded, smiling back as well, if just for a moment.

"...I kind of want to go tell her... that not everyone's angry at her. It doesn't feel good to have everyone mad or hate you, and even if I don't like it, she's doing it to help us, right?"

Another nod and grin, "That's right. I think she'd really appreciate that, actually. Secretly anyway."

Marco happily ruffled Toby's hair, "You're a good kid, son. I'm proud to know you and even more to call you my own."

If Tobias had been beaming earlier, it just tripled.

"I'm proud and happy you're my Dad, too! You always make it really easy for me to understand things, so I know I can ask you anything. I love Espio and Mom, but they don't explain it like you do."

Marco grinned wryly. He knew he shouldn't be so competitive to be sky-high from that, but he was. "I'm glad I can help then. And you can come to me anytime. I'll try to explain anything you want to know."