Bad Tad?

Quite a bit happened today. Tad did some limit testing. It won't make Jojo or Tessa happy if/when they find out, but Tad thinks he has a handle on things SO FAR. He knows that control could be lost any time.

The thing about free will is that it's so much easier to rebel against the things that people want from you. In this case, what Jo and Tessa want from Tad is for him to NOT do things. As the roleplayer behind Tad, I can tell you that not doing things gets to be a bit of a grind. Tad thinks it's not a fair ask if the people you know are busy or have made it known they don't WANT to talk to you and everyone else just wants to take you hostage. So he flirted with Kenneth. And he flirted with Yuri. And though he's not serious about making lasting connections with either of them, it is NICE to be wanted. Saini always wants to hang, but Saini also goes to sleep soon after Tad wakes up. 

And he asked about Joshua, whom he's noticed a couple times now, though he doesn't know his name for sure yet. You can only watch someone who knows they're being watched for so long before that person starts recognizing that you're watching him. 

He will likely tell Jojo about his conversations. He will not tell Tessa unless she asks. He won't tell Sneaky at all. In fact, he feels like he doesn't really need a proxy anymore. He's crystal clear on what Tessa is to him. He's fine with not engaging with her unless she approaches him or he needs to warn her. But he's unlikely to warn her about his own actions anymore. I hate to give in to the mother metaphor, because he doesn't actually see her as his mother at all, but most teenagers don't go telling their mother what trouble they're getting into. Tad will eventually get through this stage and everything will be hunky-dory.

Sneaky will either transform into a sort of strained friendship (it didn't start on the best terms) or whatever they're doing will just fall away. It already seems to be starting to.