Something occured to Isaac. He paused in what he was typing, thought about it for a few minutes, then stood and made his way to Taylor's room. He was probably just not remembering correctly, but Isaac wanted to make sure.
He knocked on Taylor's door.
"Tay? It's Ike."
Taylor
"Come on in," Taylor murmured, loud enough for his brother to hear.
As usual, he was writing at his desk.
Isaac
Isaac entered Taylor's room and closed the door behind him.
"I just was wondering... did you end up going for your treatment last month? I guess with the holiday season and Tad and Wayne and everything it's been so mixed up, but I just can't remember you going..."
Taylor
Taylor hesitated, his face starting to go red.
He had hoped that with everything going on that no one would have noticed.
"Maybe, maybe not..." he said finally.
Isaac
Isaac gave Taylor a long look.
"In other words, no," he sighed. "Taylor, I'm sure I don't need to be telling you that it's important. You're not doing yourself any favours by skipping."
Taylor
Taylor just shook his head.
"You don't understand," he insisted.
"It's not the treatment I'm avoiding."
Isaac
"Oh?" Isaac inquired. "What then? What could possibly be more important than your mental health?"
Taylor
Taylor hesitated, fiddling with the pen in his hand.
"It's going to sound stupid," he shook his head, finally putting it down.
He stole a glance at his brother before returning his gaze to the desk.
"It's the Adige I'm avoiding."
Isaac
Isaac blinked. Insert momentary confusion here.
"The Adige," he repeated. "Okay... may I ask why?"
Taylor
Taylor shrugged.
"I don't know," he admitted a little sheepishly.
"Whenever I go near one I get vertigo and almost fall over."
Isaac
"Vertigo?" Isaac frowned. "Umm, okay... have you mentioned this to anyone? Tanya? A healer?"
Taylor
"Yes! Yes," Taylor defended.
"I told Tanya about it. I swear I've learnt my lesson about not telling people these things."
Isaac
Isaac cracked a smile and chuckled.
"Okay, cool," Isaac said. "Just wanted to check. But seriously, Tay, you can't skip treatments."
Then a thought occured to him.
"You'll be getting an escort now... if you pass by any Adige they'll notice..."
Taylor
"Yes, I know," Taylor held back a moan.
"Yet another deterrent. It's got nothing to do with shapeshifting either."
Isaac
"Yeah, but why would it be a bad thing if they found out?" Isaac asked. "It might be completely unrelated to your other problems. Or maybe it is. Does it really matter? Tay, you need to have the treatments and if this is agitating the problem, then I'm sure it'll be easier to find a work around if people know. And what if it's not related? I think we need to find out what's causing it. And you know what? Tanya does not know everything. Maybe other people are being affected like this too."
Taylor
"Because as secretive as we've had to be lately, I still don't like people knowing my business," Taylor finally looked up.
He sighed and scratched his head.
"Last time, Tanya did mention that something up here was different," he shook his head, showing his confusion, "but she couldn't tell what."
He hesitated.
"She said it wasn't damaging. I guess I'm just afraid to find out."
Isaac
"I don't like people knowing mine either. Nonetheless, sometimes you have to say something. The solution might be quite simple - and it would keep you from suffering in silence," Isaac paused, "and hopefully stop you from missing treatments."
Taylor
Taylor just leant his head in his hand, the respective elbow on the desk, trying to think.
"I can't help but get the feeling there's no short term solution," he said finally.
Isaac
"There probably isn't," Isaac said. "A lot of your, uhh, health problems have been the kind that can't be fixed in the short term."
Taylor
Taylor just glared up at him in silence for a moment.
"Thankyou for reminding me," he said sarcastically.
"I know I'll have to go back eventually, I just... I'd rather it be later than sooner. Like when I have a better idea of what's going on."
Isaac
Isaac raised an eyebrow.
"And how exactly, were you planning on acquiring this 'better idea'?" he asked. "No, really, I'd like to know."
Taylor
"I don't know," Taylor almost whined, hiding his face in his hands.
"I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I just know that I don't want to go back and face those... things."
Isaac
"Well, Taylor," Isaac frowned. "Firstly, I'm sure the Adige would resent that particular description. Secondly, you're going to have to go through them to get to Tanya and your treatments, and unless other people - yes, other people - understand the extent of the problem, not one thing is going to be done about it. You're only doing yourself a disservice. And what's more, you're making things harder for Tanya I'm sure, but insisting on being so secretive. Yes, I understand completely the desire to keep things private, but you shouldn't tie Tanya's hands if she thinks that someone else might be able to help - I doubt that she has all the resources of the YIRAAS at her fingertips, and I imagine that Wayne's probably been talking to her at that too."
Taylor
"I have never once forced Tanya to keep this secret," Taylor scorned, "she thought it was best for me. And personally, I don't have any gripe with that. That's all."
Isaac
"Well, I can't dispute that, because you've seen her more than me," Isaac conceeded. "Nonetheless, Tay, my point still stands. Take Nat for example - she was let in because we thought she could help - and it appears she is helping. If no one knows there's a problem - or the right people don't know there's a problem, nothing can be done about it."
Taylor
"I'm the one that brought Natalie into it," Taylor mentally berated himself.
"But..."
He sighed and hit himself softly on the head.
"I know what you mean. I do know what you're trying to say. It just doesn't make me any braver, that's all."
Isaac
Isaac smiled and put his hand on Taylor's shoulder.
"I know," he said. "But you can't let fear rule your life, okay? Otherwise you'd never get out of the house. Oh... wait..."
He gave Taylor a wink.
Taylor
Taylor looked up at him again.
"Do you want me to hit you?" he asked, only half sincerely.
Isaac
Isaac chuckled.
"Yeah, that was a bit of a Zac joke, isn't it? I think we were crashing at his place too long."
Taylor
"Way too long," Taylor agreed, glad the subject had been changed.
"Speaking of Zac... he should be here soon, right?"
Isaac
Isaac checked his watch.
"Oh yeah," he said. "Wow, I can't believe I forgot about band practice."
He shook his head incredulously.
Taylor
Taylor gave him an awkward sideways glance before standing up from the desk and grabbing his notepad and pen.
"Guess we'd better get ready," he suggested, before making to leave the room.
Isaac
"Yeah," he agreed.
Isaac left the room, suddenly realising that Taylor had gone and changed the subject. He shook his head, and chuckled to himself. Well, he'd make sure that Taylor went to his treatment this month anyway.