*Determination

“what happened Mark? What happened?”

“Just--- Tired. That’s all. Sorry if I worried you, Val. I’m alright.”

“You really don’t look too good, Speedy. Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to the infirmary? At least let me make you some hot cocoa or something. Extra marshmallows, I promise. The mini kind, even!”

“Nah, I don’t need to go to the infirmary. Just stayed up way too long playing games. I would love some hot cocoa with marshmallows though. They’re my favorites.”

“Alright, just so long as you say so. Can’t be having you going crazy while you’re strapped to a wall on me now. I’ll try for sure, but again, no promises if she happens to ask. It’s Mini, I don’t think that she can get pissed at you. She might be a little worried that you’re doing it on your own, but I don’t think she would be mad at you.”

“Eh, just figuring out. When you put it that way I sound like a lunatic... Yeah, I know it’s just Mini but she gets worried too. I think I just have a tendency to piss her off when I do stuff like this on my own. It’s whatever. She find out, she finds out.”

“Handcuffed to the wall? Mark, that can’t be good for you. Is that what you normally do when you’re training? I mean that’s a good that it hasn’t gotten too bad, and I’m happy that you’ve been doing better with it, but still. I’ll keep it on the down low for you, but if she asks me what’s been up I can’t just flat out lie to her like that. Like you said, she’s understanding so I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

“Just when it gets bad. It’s a beta blocker handcuff so it stops Nega from doing anything. When I’m human it just slips right off. It’s safe. Just a way of keep me away from people. Hey, as long as you try, I’m chill. What comes out, comes out but I’d love it if she wasn’t pissed at me for making a decision for her.”

“So you can control when he comes out then? Mission, that’s what I like to hear. No, I get you. But I think that she, of all people, would be understanding of it. Or even if you ever don’t want to be by yourself, I’m willing to help you train.”

“I can try to control when he comes out. I can feel him messing with my code and I fight back while I still can. I push him too much and he’s got control. I’ve blacked out a couple times but every time I do I’m still chained to the wall by wrist so that’s good. She’s extremely understanding. I’m just the worried one. Keep it on the down low that I’ve been training a little without her.”

“Wow and you’ve gotten it up to that long now? Mark, that’s awesome! Really, I’m proud of you. Did that often? That you hurt her?”

“Yeah! It’s taken me forever but now I can use it in dire emergencies. All part of the mission to better myself. Nah, just that once... I don’t want to scare her though so I stay away when I’m training. Ya know?”

“Anytime bud. Oh? Shit that sounds pretty good. How long were you able to do it before?”

“Maybe 10 minutes at most. Mini was timing me way back when but I wanted to practice this stuff on my own. No hurting her when I’m on my own.”

“No offense, but you kinda look like shit. What the hell happened?”

“Thanks, fam. I’ve been working on my glitch. I’ve gotten up to a full half and hour that I can use my mallet without going Nega.”