He'll get a small - and just a bit self-deprecating, is it? - giggle out of her there.]
Honestly? Not at all. I shouldn't deserve time-off like this in the first place, and I don't even have actual important work assigned here to cover me up like it has back in Japan. But it's all that I have, here and now. So... what else can I do?
[It's a rhetorical question. (These seem to happen a lot, huh...) She doesn't expect an answer from anyone, but even a blind person can hear the mild satisfaction in her tone.] I'll just owe up to the tab in the end, once it comes. That's all.
[She quietly watches his reaction without moving. Even if he struck out, she wouldn't have resisted. After all, she knows it's due to the lack of any other tangible target, he doesn't know how to let it out any other way. Her body can take any amount of bruising, but no human heart she knows can remain that stout. That's why...
The pause did come as a light surprise. A good one though, and she finds her own smile growing softer as a result. Charles...]
And you're trying too hard to act tough again, sheesh... How long do you think you can really keep this up? There's no shame in admitting to that, Charles. [Her hand moves a bit to give a small rub, while she leans over and drops to her knees so that they're on even eye level.] I stopped crying during the second week, but immunity to pain isn't something that the human nervous system can develop. Aha... Don't tell me that the Chiropterans managed to overcome that?
[Her tone might be fainter, but ever last word is uttered with her clear blue eyes looking straight into his. Her shoulders are relaxed, so is her face - which is wearing that sheepish and vaguely cheeky smile he must be sick of seeing at this point. But... Well. That's just the sort of expression she's in the habit of showing. It can't be helped...!]
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He'll get a small - and just a bit self-deprecating, is it? - giggle out of her there.]
Honestly? Not at all. I shouldn't deserve time-off like this in the first place, and I don't even have actual important work assigned here to cover me up like it has back in Japan. But it's all that I have, here and now. So... what else can I do?
[It's a rhetorical question. (These seem to happen a lot, huh...) She doesn't expect an answer from anyone, but even a blind person can hear the mild satisfaction in her tone.] I'll just owe up to the tab in the end, once it comes. That's all.
[She quietly watches his reaction without moving. Even if he struck out, she wouldn't have resisted. After all, she knows it's due to the lack of any other tangible target, he doesn't know how to let it out any other way. Her body can take any amount of bruising, but no human heart she knows can remain that stout. That's why...
The pause did come as a light surprise. A good one though, and she finds her own smile growing softer as a result. Charles...]
And you're trying too hard to act tough again, sheesh... How long do you think you can really keep this up? There's no shame in admitting to that, Charles. [Her hand moves a bit to give a small rub, while she leans over and drops to her knees so that they're on even eye level.] I stopped crying during the second week, but immunity to pain isn't something that the human nervous system can develop. Aha... Don't tell me that the Chiropterans managed to overcome that?
[Her tone might be fainter, but ever last word is uttered with her clear blue eyes looking straight into his. Her shoulders are relaxed, so is her face - which is wearing that sheepish and vaguely cheeky smile he must be sick of seeing at this point. But... Well. That's just the sort of expression she's in the habit of showing. It can't be helped...!]