[She nods sharp and deep with a sighing hum at the honest assessment, which Erika wouldn't consider "brutal" anything because it's just how things are and she's grateful to Venus for saying it. This really is the polar opposite of the problem with Hinata. Kind of giving her whiplash.
She resists the easy-but-unpleasant urge to go stock-still and reels Memetan in by the tail instead, piling the stuffed animal on her lap and petting it absently to ease the jitteriness in her hands. And she listens, feeling painfully, refreshingly cracked open to the elements and also stray sappy sentiments.]
... It's my room. [That comes about as matter-of-fact as anything can in a voice that's still doing weird shit because cry.] It's okay because I say it is.
[And that's all that needs to be said about that.
Speaking of things that are okay because she says so, Erika quickly but quietly gives up on sitting up straight and starts moving to lie down. It's a slow process, deliberately so because her word might be law but she still doesn't want to flop. That's kind of undignified.]
I - mm. I'm bad at talking like this. [Safety disclaimer. Hadn't she said something like that the first time they met? Her eyes stay on the ground.] But I don't, I don't think I know either. I wouldn't - hug you if I disliked you, it's not that kind of "I don't know". It's just - I don't - know how I feel about most people. Or I don't know how to talk about it...I guess.
[...]
I'd cry if you disappeared. Probably a lot.
[Not easy to admit, but not so frustratingly vague as to get caught in her throat completely.]
no subject
She resists the easy-but-unpleasant urge to go stock-still and reels Memetan in by the tail instead, piling the stuffed animal on her lap and petting it absently to ease the jitteriness in her hands. And she listens, feeling painfully, refreshingly cracked open to the elements and also stray sappy sentiments.]
... It's my room. [That comes about as matter-of-fact as anything can in a voice that's still doing weird shit because cry.] It's okay because I say it is.
[And that's all that needs to be said about that.
Speaking of things that are okay because she says so, Erika quickly but quietly gives up on sitting up straight and starts moving to lie down. It's a slow process, deliberately so because her word might be law but she still doesn't want to flop. That's kind of undignified.]
I - mm. I'm bad at talking like this. [Safety disclaimer. Hadn't she said something like that the first time they met? Her eyes stay on the ground.] But I don't, I don't think I know either. I wouldn't - hug you if I disliked you, it's not that kind of "I don't know". It's just - I don't - know how I feel about most people. Or I don't know how to talk about it...I guess.
[...]
I'd cry if you disappeared. Probably a lot.
[Not easy to admit, but not so frustratingly vague as to get caught in her throat completely.]