Iron Station Savage Masks IC IV

[JoyWonderLove]

Doubt flickered in her eyes at claiming the flirting was entirely Sophia’s imagination, but she cast it from the coffee table she still looked down at, to the white hot chocolate, as though seeing her order wasn’t completely correct for the first time. She was reminded again of the bus conversation with the half-eaten apple, and made herself accept the truth of it. Lips pursed as she listened, her eyes drifted up to, and stayed on, Yuki. She nodded when the Japanese heroine shared that cultural differences really were a barrier to her relationship, and Sophia let the ember of envy burn in her heart when Yuki blushed over her boyfriend. A tiny pain to the scorn that never arrived.

A single marshmallow was popped into Sophia's mouth, the chewy softness somehow less sweet than the way the next Zodiac girl talked about her very slow burn of a romance. Okay, kittens adore balls of yarn less than you do him, I get it. Stop. It was a strange test of fate – she couldn’t get what she wanted without breaking them up, but that meant failing everything that she was, and insulting all that her legacy stood for. But Yuki and her had the world in common. Don't we? Are we really just meant to be friends? Drake didn’t even have the decency to make it easier to hate him, instead being a good guy. She mirrored Yuki's smile when thanked for the apology offer.

“He was sorta nice last night,” Sophia conceded reluctantly, when it was mentioned the VIP boyfriend rarely held grudges. “But I’ll remember he prefers actions over words. Any likes or dislikes I should know before apologizing?” she asked.

Sophia sampled the next marshmallow, this one pink to the previous one’s brown, but the flavour and texture were identical twins. “And while we’re talking feelings and figuring out how to turn it around...I’d like to suggest where to start. You’re nervous talking to him about how you feel, but you can’t really get better at something you don’t practice, Yuki. And Hannah taught me it’s hard to have a deep connection without it. So what about starting somewhere low stakes? If it doesn’t go perfectly, or you burn a bridge, no problem. You haven’t lost anything too important.”

Sophia looked at her dead on. “So start with me.”

Sophia had no choice but to admit she understandably meant little to the other legacy girl. They met one night ago, and had what felt like important things in common, but they were barely colleagues in a very important mission, acquaintances in class, and relative strangers that would sometimes share a bus ride. Nothing said would stop any of that, but improving beyond it would all take time.

“You said I just grabbed a couple months of progress with your VIP, and stuck it into a dumpster fire. And that’s way past okay. So why aren’t you angrier with me? How do you feel about it?”