Work Text:
“Don’t take that tone with me.”
Reza doesn't mean to use a ‘tone’ most of the time.
Hell, half the time he doesn’t even realize he’s using a ‘tone’— though of course no one ever cares for his excuses whenever he tries to tell them that. So he had long since learned to stop trying to explain himself to people.
Had long since learned to just stop talking whenever someone pulled out that line and to keep his head down until they were no longer irritated or angry with him and to never, under any circumstances, be within swinging distance.
(Reza had unfortunately learned that last point the hard way long before he’d learned how to tie his shoes).
Had long since learned to cease to exist whenever he’d fucked up and gotten a ‘tone’ with someone on accident—even if he still didn’t understand what people where talking about most of the time when they pulled out the line he was starting to hate more than any other.
“Don’t take that tone with me.”
Tone, what was a tone?
Why did he always have one?
Why did people always hate it?
Why did everyone always hate him?
What was wrong with him that wasn’t wrong with everybody else?
“Don’t take that tone with me, Reza!”
“Don’t take that tone with me, young man!”
“REZA! DON’T YOU DARE USE THAT TONE WITH ME!”
“Tone—Sound: The quality of a sound, such as its pitch, strength, or source. For example, you might describe a sound as shrill.”
“Tone—Voice: The quality of a person's voice, especially when it expresses a feeling/ meaning. For example, you might describe someone's tone as apologetic or moody.”
“Tone—Writing: The attitude of the writer/narrator towards the subject or reader—for example, you might describe an essay as having a sad or happy tone.”
“Tone—Mood: The general feeling of something, like a meeting.”
Those were the definitions that Reza could find that were related to speaking and yet, the astronomer and detective in all his thirteen years had not, for the life of him, been able to figure out which ones people were referring to when they used that line on him.
Did they not like the sound of his voice? Did he need to change the pitch and strength of it— could he even do that?
Was it the way he wrote things? No, that couldn’t be it all the time; most of the time people only told him not to take that tone with them when he was speaking, though Yen Sid had used it at least once or twice when he’d had to write an apology letter or essay or lines for detention.
Was it the quality or mood of his voice? Did he speak with too much or too little emotion?
What normal everyday words could Reza avoid using to prevent people from accusing him of having taken a tone with them?
“Don’t take that tone with me.”
“Don’t talk to me like that.”
Why did he always say the wrong thing?
Why was he always using a tone?
Why was he irritating to be around and how could he stop being like that?
“Don’t take that tone with me.”
Yet another thing Reza had to add to his ever going ‘self-improvement’ list so that he could get more people to start liking him.
# 97. “Don’t take that tone with me.”
Would he ever stop having to add things to his self-improvement list? Would he ever stop having to earn other people’s love and respect? Was loving him really that much of a chore?
“Don’t take that tone with me.”
“Why can’t you speak like a normal person?”
“Why are you like this?”
“Don’t talk crazy to me!”
“Behave yourself!”
Would he ever be good enough for anyone?
Would he ever not be a disappointment?