Inhale...
And exhale, slow and measured, as your eyes slide closed.
You hold it like that for a moment, choking back your worry and your frustration.
When you open your eyes again, you feel... calmer, if not quite settled. You glance at their Soul Gems - both are fine, the clear Seed doing its job of keeping them both perfectly clean. Nothing to worry about
there.
Your own Soul Gem, then. You detach it from the lapel of your coat, staring at the patina of Grief swirling under the surface. With a curl of your lips, you wipe it away, mottled purple mist swirling away to collapse into marbles.
You look up to find Oriko still glowering sullenly at you.
That's fair.
You've been pushing, and you've been pushing hard.
"I'm sorry," you say. You keep your words slow and even, carefully enunciated. "I'm sorry, Oriko. I've been pretty unfair to you, here."
Oriko stills, and her eyes narrow a hair. She doesn't say anything, unreadable gaze shadowed by her fringe. Her one arm remains wrapped around Kirika in, and the black haired girl, for her part, is practically sitting on her lap. Bright, citrine eyes fix on you in an intense stare.
There's so very much riding on you, isn't there?
"I'm sorry," you sigh. "I just thought that... as painful as it might be, hoping and trying is better than the alternative. And hey. You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take and all that, right?" You smile weakly at them.
Kirika nods slightly, swallowing as she glances at Oriko, whose lips tighten a little.
"Except..." You sigh again. "Ugh, I'm doing it again. I just want you and Kirika to be alive and happy. Except I went about it entirely the wrong way, and I've been pretty inconsiderate."
"N-no," Kirika says, seeming to find the strength from somewhere to straighten a little. "No. You were trying to help, Sabrina." She licks her lips, eyes darting from Oriko to you and back again. "I... I just think..." She breaks off, shaking her head.
You wait for a moment, but she doesn't seem inclined to continue. So you start speaking again, slow and careful, almost meditative as you reflect. "So I'm sorry," you say. Kirika opens her mouth again, but you forestall her with a raised hand. Her mouth clicks shut. "I'm sorry for being inconsiderate and pushy, Oriko, Kirika. I just-"
You choke yourself off. You're pushing. You're always pushing. It's a
habit of yours, and to be honest, you sometimes refer to it internally as Gilgameshing. Like the character. And that's not inaccurate. Not just against Oriko, and in this case... Maybe you shouldn't push her, but... you're honestly not sure how to get her out of these straits apart from
maybe letting her go free.
Which, if you're honest to yourself, has an excellent chance of resulting in a pair mysterious "death by fatal lead poisoning" cases within the week. Homura's
not in the slightest rational about Oriko.
"I'm sorry that I can't seem to do anything more to help you or make things easier," you say, grimacing unhappily. "As much as I want to. All I can say is... I'll try." You meet Oriko's eyes. "I'll try the best I can, even if... even if it doesn't mean anything to you. You deserve it."
Oriko sighs. "I believe you," she says, voice bitter and tired. "And I appreciate it. I just... It's just..." She sighs, glancing away.
Kirika glances up at you. "Sabrina?" she whispers. "C-could I talk to you outside? I-if that's OK, Oriko?"
Oriko nods.
"G-give us a minute, Sabrina?" Kirika asks, looking back at you with a weak smile on her face.
You smile. "Of course," you say, standing and pushing the chair back with a scrape.
The maid outfit dissolves in a flash of light, the cloth reweaving itself around you as you stump out of the room. You pause just out of sight, leaning against the wall for a moment, before pressing on and walking over to the great glass door. Silently, you slide it open and step outside before flopping onto a chair at the outdoor table.
You slump, pillowing your head on your arms, breathing deep of the heavy scent of roses. You're not sure you even want to talk to Mami right now.
Eh, that's ridiculous.
"
Hey, Mami," you reach out.
"
Sabrina!" Mami's voice rings bring and cheerful. "
I think I did well for the test, thank you for your help!"
Despite yourself, you can't help but smile, mood bouyed a little. "
Good to hear!" you respond, sitting up.
"
How are you
, Sabrina?" Mami asks.
"
I'm OK," you respond. "
Checking in on Oriko and Kirika right now, they're... not doing great."
"
Ah," Mami says.
"
Yeah. Doing what I can," you say. Out of the corner of your eye, you spot Kirika, and you wave at her. She waves back as she joins you at the table, smiling weakly.
"Hey, Sabrina," she murmurs.
"
Ah," Mami says. "
Is there anything I can do?"
"Hey, Kirika," you respond, smiling as best as you can at Kirika. "Holding up OK?" To Mami, you respond. "
I... don't know. I'm honestly not entirely certain what
to do in the first place, so..."
"
Well, if there is
anything, tell me, alright?" Mami responds. You can practically see the warm smile on her face, if a bit strained - it's funny, how emotions kind of sort of transmit along telepathy. Not that you're complaining.
"Y-yeah," Kirika says. She licks her lips, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "S-so you were getting at something earlier, right? With the whole... meaning of Oriko's life thing?"
"
Of course, Mami," you respond telepathically. Out loud, you nod. "Yeah, I was."
"Is there... what was it?" Kirika asks. "Is it anything
I can do?"
[] Write-in
=====
Apologies - I meant to get this up earlier, but well. Been a shitty week, plus thesis submission coming up soon and tests. Whoo.
Took the liberty of combining the previous bandwagon with the previous one, since it slotted in nicely.
