Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 01: Heroes and Humanity
Chapter 27
Originally Written: Sunday, July 14, 2013 304AM to 357AM
"I just want to scream." Henry looked up at the ceiling. "Everyone is treating me as though I'm the one in the wrong. Even my friend." He shook his head, "But Dr. Iris, I swear, if you asked him why it bothered him so much he wouldn't be able to tell you. Even Susie, my sister sees it." Henry clenched his fists. The lights flickered, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you what she said."
"What was that?" Dr. Iris spoke from behind him.
"Little brat looks at me straight in the eyes and goes, 'Wow you really pissed him off,' and I'm like 'Let him be pissed.' to which she says, 'Give him a chance. Anyone who can get mad at you and not pound your face in is a keeper.'" Henry fumed, picking up and squeezing one of the pillows on the bench tightly, "I could have killed her!" He shouted "It's like no one gives a shit how I feel. It's stupid." He looked up at the flickering lights.
"How do you feel?"
"Everyone's being an idiot. I'm not taking advantage of someone younger than me." He murmured, "Not that we've done anything. I thought that he'd be fine with it 'cause he just pushed me away whenever it came up." Henry scoffed, "Nope. Turns out he's just blind."
"Blind?"
Henry heard the question in her voice. "As a bat. Helpless as a blind bat who can't use echolocation to save their ass even if it means staying alive a bit longer." He rocked his foot back and forth. "He thinks everyone is treating him like a kid. Try to help a guy get on his feet and this is how he says 'thank you'." He laughed bitterly.
"Have you told him how you feel?"
He shook his head, "We don't ever get that far and even if we did, it wouldn't matter. He's sixteen. Sixteen year olds don't give a shit about..." Henry blinked. He so knew Dr. Iris was giving him a look, "Fuck..." He groaned.
"How does he feel? Do you know?"
Henry leaned back into the couch. "He told me that I was being 'Just like them.' I don't know who 'they' are, or were or whatever, but he replied implied 'they considered him 'Just a kid' too. I'm such a jerk."
"Henry?"
"He's really smart you know, my friend. He knows so much about me, without even prodding me too much, but I know nothing about him. I told him he couldn't find out why he felt whatever he was feeling in a book, I mean an encyclopedia, but hell, at least he's trying to. I'm so selfish."
"It's ok to be a little selfish sometimes."
"Not when your friend is walking around stumbling the way he is. You know..." Henry smiled sadly, "Us guys, teens and older, especially these days, we can wake up with erections, do what we do to take care of it and continue 'bout our business." He shook his head, "He treated it like it was the oddest thing in the world. Like, he knew it was natural, just not for him or something." He snuck a glance at Dr. Iris.
She looked back at him, waiting for him to continue. "I'm not a pedophile or anything." Henry held up his hands, "I just...we weren't even doing anything." He lowered his hands, "We were sleeping and he woke up with it."
"It's natural. A male's testosterone levels are highest in the morning."
He turned around. He folded his arms, "I'm not like Trang." He scowled.
"What was that?" Dr. Iris spoke.
"I know you heard me."
"I just want to be sure that I heard correctly, Henry."
"I said I'm not like Trang."
"As long as you know that." She spoke with determination in her soft voice.
Henry's arms dropped to his sides. He turned to look back at her.
"From what you've told me, your friend has a lot of information on you and Trang, but not quite the entire story." She folded her hands on top of her desk, "I think you could give your friend a bit more credit where it's due. He may have not responded to your small advances, but he hasn't pushed you away completely after looking at some pieces of your past."
Henry lowered his eyes, "Yea...sometimes, I don't like when he does it, but I don't think he realizes he's doing it, but...he speaks my inner thoughts about how I'm feeling. Sometimes, my rage." Henry looked up. He focused on the ceiling lights.
"Perhaps he will understand this too..."
Henry shook his head, "I'm not ready for all of that." He laid back on the couch, letting himself sink into it. "Maybe just telling him how I feel would work. He'll probably figure out what I'm referring to anyway."