Sophia stayed silent, herself frowning, contrite, while the other girl spoke opposite. Only when she stopped did Sophia begin. “Yuki, sweetie, I’m really sorry this whole mess has you worried. That’s the very last thing I want for you. Promise.” She leaned forward, looking into her eyes earnestly. Placing her hands plainly on the top of the table between them, her frown remained, but she switched to the other girl’s language in an attempt to make her feel more comfortable with the unfamiliar. It wasn’t much, but Sophia hoped it was a good start.
“First, you of all people shouldn’t be apologizing. You sacrificed hours out of your own evening to make sure the new girl belonged. You could have been doing way more important stuff; like studying, or training, or sleeping. But all that was put aside for a total stranger. One that’s not even on your own team.” Sophia couldn’t decide if she meant Team West or preference wise, but leaned her weight on her right elbow, she propped her cheek comfortably on her raised right fist, head tilted a bit, a smile starting. She put the other girl under a gaze as patient and benign as a stone carved saint. The next Zodiac really was a treasure of a person.
“You cared, Yuki. Gave me attention despite managing whatever chronic stress comes from weekly studying and life threatening situations. So when you mentioned your family was already serving the world, in the very same field I wanted to, after I already knew our powers both go back generations...a really big part of me wanted it all to be fate. Then you mentioned you had already travelled the world like I planned to, and it felt right. Sorta written in the stars.”
Even admitting it, the feeling didn’t go away like so many others, staying subtle but sure. Sophia didn’t know what it meant, just that it ran near parallel to the stronger heartbeat of the legacy she tried to live up to. She resisted the urge to place her arms under the table; to hide away somehow. This was about comforting Yuki, not wearing a mask of the well-adjusted, or anything other than what she was. The acquaintances she would lose meant little compared to the gems she would keep, and she could never have guessed how stalwart Terrence was until she had vomited up the worst of her day on him. Sitting up more, hands flat on the table again, she was unapologetic.
“And I really get how dumb and blind that sounds out loud. Drake said you were just being nice to me earlier, but I hated hearing it. Seriously, it’s not your fault I couldn’t spot the gay girl at a San Fran Pride. Let alone how hard I’m failing to manage symptoms for latent U-HAUL syndrome.” A self-depreciating smirk accompanied the realization she had stumbled across one tarot book too many about twin flames and compatibility. Glancing down at her plain fingernails, they were as filed down and unadorned as she had always kept them for the last three years, but it was starting to feel hopeful. Smirk fading, her chin was titled down slightly in mock reproach towards Yuki.
“So don’t apologize just because I hide being clueless better than you, okay? You really helped me feel at home, and Iron Station needs more people like you.”
Re: Iron Station Savage Masks IC IV
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