[spoiler=Terrence/Stella/Raphael/Machine/Redline]
When Terrence graciously brought up her encounter at the bus stop, and asked about her lessons with Yuki, Sophia leaned forward eagerly, but found her words halting. A lot had happened. “Well…” she trailed off, trying to order jumbled thoughts, but finding it was more like moving disorganized crates than rearranging baby blocks. Too silent for too long with the effort of making sense of her inner world, he mistook that for her answer, and proceeded on.
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Sophia frowned sympathetically when Terry mentioned the forgotten test, although she didn’t fear them much. Her parents had banned her from patrols on school nights, and had always insisted that she study or prepare her body on those evenings. The habit mostly stuck.
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“That…sounds really rough, when your team relied on you as their guiding star. But I know you never would have gotten that position if you didn’t know how to think strategically, and they never would have put you there if they didn’t know how to choose the right person. I promise, Terry: you and your team are gonna be perfect.” Sophia answered heartfully, forgetting her own problems for that second.
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Sophia leaned forward a little, the upset at what Drake did this morning like a headache in the back of her mind. She nodded tersely when he declined the email inclusion, and her lip twitched.
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“Oh-my-god, Terry,” Sophia blurted out emphatically, after confirming the two behind here weren’t the most misguided couple in all Iron Station. She lowered her voice, becoming aware she had been sharing with others not immediately beside her to hear the story. But her angry tone kept its edge, at war with the female vocals and smooth jazz in the background, and felt tears coming.
Spoiler: Drake Argument, As Seen By Sophia
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“I swear Drake is secretly an ass. So after he tries to drag me aside and glares down at me like I haven’t broken the jaw of things six times uglier than him, then he decides he’s gonna piss all over Yuki like a stray marking its territory. Implying she’s too clueless to know I was flirting, and that I’m so blind if I saw any connection, and how she gave me her number purely because she’s desperate for friends.” She felt herself becoming upset, her voice rising, even as she remembered trusting a piece of fruit to understand her feelings more than she had the other girl at the end of the bus ride. But she refused to mention that, refused to give Drake any credit.
“It was so triggering. And after I complimented him! Three times! Three. Like, a – normal – person just sorta nudges you and says, ‘Hey, sorry, look, I get you’re really new, but Yuki and I are completely a thing, and I really need you to back off.’ That’s it! Job done. No intimidation; no insinuation. It’s so easy! But not for Our Hero; oooh no.”
Sophia moved up a half step with the line, not caring why it was slow. Big orders ahead of them gave her more time to vent. Stopping, she forced herself to be quieter, not caring to be overheard.
“So, after I stand up for myself, and kinda for Yuki as well in that moment, because we’re way better than what he’s implying, guess what happens? Team Lead over there realizes his attempts to take control of the sitch aren’t going so hot. So of course, out comes the fishing rod! Our Hero can’t intimidate or insinuate his way to the top, so what better time to bait for sympathy? I – I’m not gonna repeat what he said about his relationship,” she made bunny ear quotes marks with her fingers on relationship, but some of the fire had been lost at that point, even as she used the bottom of her tank top to take her tears as fast as they fell, revealing a four pack. It still felt in bad taste to reveal Drake and Yuki didn’t kiss or hold hands, and she suddenly saw just how lonely he had to be to reveal something that personal to her. They had known each other for less than a day. She released her top to clench her fists, the receding tide of her anger still slipping from her grasp.
“But I don’t get him being shocked, if he’s the type to punch down on the new kid, right? Seriously, one of the biggest reasons I literally live and breathe is to look after and protect others, and standing up to people like him. Then,” she stopped and squinted, trying her best to recall what was actually said through the haze of lessons and guilt and unrecognized anger. She didn’t know how much she had hated the whole encounter, and everything from it, until she got to share what really happened. She didn’t do anything wrong. Why did it have to be this way? Another step was taken with the line, although she didn’t care how far off they were from the counter.
“Uhhh, blah blah blah, first lesson’s looming...okay. So, this guy’s drifting into deep water, and we both realize he’s now fishing without a permit. I break out the scope. He wants to make three cute observations about me and Yuki? Great. I leave him three little questions to chew on, and I make sure they’re choice cuts. Then afterwards, they’re walking ahead to our first lesson, and the commander of All Things Going South decides to take his anger out on her. Like, he won’t look at or talk to her. Total stonewall. Who does that? Who starts an argument with the kid with the shiniest shoes, gets a rib removed for it, then takes it out on the one person you chose to be with?”
Sophia looked up at Terrence, lost and frustrated and teary eyed, flickering only for the time it took her to take another step forward. “That’s not even close to love. I would care fifty times more if I dated her, and we only just met. So...to answer your question, instead of Yuki and me sharing our first day together learning and building trust and connecting more, I ate guilt for defending myself, and she’s worried about him. How is this my first day?” she asked, bewildered.
Sophia sighed a long, hard, hot sigh, a massive vent blowing off monumental amounts of stored steam. She whipped away the last of obnoxious tears of frustration, but at the end of it, she stood straighter. There was no longer any question in her heart or mind whether she did fight the good fight. Drake chose an argument. But the price of defending herself could easily be as high as losing at least one person she would be better for. Nothing about this is fair... But it was unclear anyone really knew what to say in the face of that mountain of information, so she gave a shrug.
“Right now…I want the world’s biggest hot chocolate, and a separate cup full of cream, and marshmallows.” She licked her lips at the thought, and wondered what became of that cake Sidney had made last night. “What about you, Terry? As I sorta…dumped everything on you, the least you deserve is whatever you like. And my promise not to bring it up again, too.” Her smile was fully back, and she dabbed at her eyes awkwardly with the small sleeves to ensure nothing remained. She hesitantly glanced behind her as one of the AEGIS staff members gently broke in, and asked why the former quarterback looked familiar. This, while she tried to place where she first saw the guy asking. It was recently, but she hadn't spoken to him.
Originally Posted by JoyWonderLove
Re: Iron Station Savage Masks IC IV
“It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”
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