MAIN ATTRACTION.

――― ☆ @bullybon sent : poke. poke. poke. tj continues to softly poke and prod at michael, trying to get his attention. but it seems like he’s busy drawing something. oh well, may as well keep going til he caves and lets him look! “mikeyyyyy, what’re you drawing? c’mon, lemme see!”

――― ☆ hm... no, no, this didn't work... maybe he should...? oh, yeah that made it all come together much better, and now he can--

... the poking became harder and harder to ignore, knees propping up the sketchbook rising to help hide it further. he tries to stay focused -- he knew he was almost done after all, as messy as his sketch was -- but a certain boy certainly knew how to push his buttons.

"... would you believe me if i said nothing? that's definitely what it is." an obvious lie. frankly, he didn't think tj would've noticed him drawing so quickly. he was sorta banking on him being distracted by anything and everything long enough for him to not pay any mind to michael's doodling, but as it seems, the fates had other plans. but if he knew him right, he knew tj would never let it go unless he relented. so... he groans.

"fine. here you go."

he lowers his knees, pushing the sketchbook in tj's direction as he himself looks away. on the page is a messy sketch of a boy, smiling, light hair with black roots lining his features and bringing attention to his face. it looks unfinished, though all his works did, really. there are also smaller scribbles of circles, even a foxy head scratched over.

――― ☆ @bullybon sent : “were you really about to leave without saying goodbye?” HEYO michael

more emotional prompts. / accepting.

――― ☆ hands clench at michael's side as indigo eyes remain looking to the side - anywhere but at his friend's hurt gaze - breathing shallow within his ribcage.

"well, knowing you, you'd try to stop me." he speaks slowly, voice much more meek than it once was. ( it'd almost be hard to believe a man like him once was capable of causing so much terror. )

"i have to do this, tee. father would-" he swallows. "... you know what my father's like. if i don't do this... i would never hear the end of it."

he doesn't want to. and he knows tj wants him away from everything under the 'afton robotics' label. but something about how father spoke... it hadn't felt like a lie. those promises, they were real. was he really gonna get to see elizabeth again?