Wonder City Stories II #89
Feb. 7th, 2012 12:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wonder_cityShaking Space Easily From Her Wings
"You've been avoiding me," Sophie said.
Nereid looked up from her computer, ready denials leaping to her lips. The words stopped when she actually saw Sophie's face: determined and sad. She dropped her gaze to her own hands. "I... things haven't been good."
"I know," Sophie said. "I may seem callous and oblivious, but I actually notice these things."
Nereid held herself very still as Sophie sat down next to her in the corner of the Cosmics' "parlor," the one room that was consistently empty during the day.
"You haven't given me a chance to thank you," Sophie said.
"You don't have to," Nereid said, horrified by the turn of the conversation. "Really. Honestly. I'm glad we managed to find you and bring you home and you really don't have to thank me at all. Wire did so much more than I did."
"That's not what she says," Sophie said. "Wire says that the trip was your idea, that you managed to find information about my whereabouts, and you contacted the Equestrian and everything."
"X got the information," Nereid said, still not looking up. "She couldn't go. So I did."
"Why won't you take any credit?" Sophie said, her tone frustrated. "Why do you keep deflecting me like this?"
Nereid kept her eyes locked on her tightly-clasped hands. "I don't deserve any credit."
"Pacifica," Sophie said, turning to her and abducting her hands from her view. "You deserve it all. You went to a different, terrifying world to find me. The right world at the right time with the right companions. It doesn't matter that X found information or Wire went with you; you were the one who made the trip happen."
Nereid trembled like a terrified horse at Sophie's touch. "I also... all sorts of things went wrong because of me. I'm stupid and incompetent and I don't deserve these powers because I can't use them right and..."
"Stop," Sophie said with uncharacteristic gentleness. "I want to say something to you. Look at me?"
With a heroic effort, Nereid raised her gaze to Sophie's face. Sophie's beautifully angular face and her dark eyes and her silly glasses.
"Wire lost her hand," Sophie said, "and I'm going to replace it, with a cyberpart for now, but I'll find another solution soon. It's all right. That's the sort of relationship she and I have. But the thing is, Pacifica, you lost all sorts of things because of this trip, the sorts of things I can't help with or replace." A single tear escaped and raced down her cheek to drip off her chin. She wiped her face irritably on the shoulder of her shirt without letting go Nereid's hands. "I had a lot of time in that damn bell jar to think, and I did think, no matter what the Equestrian says about my state of mind. There are a lot of things I needed to reevaluated. And I realized... I don't want that sort of... of... scorekeeping relationship with you. I want to be able to give you things you can't pay back, like you've already given me. Because I... no matter what's happened, and whether you want to tell me about it or not, no matter what you think of yourself... I love you, Pacifica."
Nereid stared at her, unable to think about anything she said except those last four words that rang in her mind, temporarily banishing other thoughts. She could feel her body shaking hard, and her hands closed tightly on Sophie's. The hard, heavy knot in her belly unloosed and blossomed into something else. She managed to say, thickly through the torrent of tears she was repressing, "I love you too."
Sophie, with more propriety than she had previously evinced, took Nereid off to her apartment, where crying would be both more and less appropriate.
---
Note from the Author:
Posted a little early this week because some of my readers are having rough times and I thought they could use something sweet.
Wonder City has been nominated for the Rose & Bay Crowdfunding Award! Thank you! Now, y'all should go check out all the nominees for fiction, webcomics, art, poetry, patron, and other projects. And VOTE!
And remember to vote for WCS at Top Webfiction!
"You've been avoiding me," Sophie said.
Nereid looked up from her computer, ready denials leaping to her lips. The words stopped when she actually saw Sophie's face: determined and sad. She dropped her gaze to her own hands. "I... things haven't been good."
"I know," Sophie said. "I may seem callous and oblivious, but I actually notice these things."
Nereid held herself very still as Sophie sat down next to her in the corner of the Cosmics' "parlor," the one room that was consistently empty during the day.
"You haven't given me a chance to thank you," Sophie said.
"You don't have to," Nereid said, horrified by the turn of the conversation. "Really. Honestly. I'm glad we managed to find you and bring you home and you really don't have to thank me at all. Wire did so much more than I did."
"That's not what she says," Sophie said. "Wire says that the trip was your idea, that you managed to find information about my whereabouts, and you contacted the Equestrian and everything."
"X got the information," Nereid said, still not looking up. "She couldn't go. So I did."
"Why won't you take any credit?" Sophie said, her tone frustrated. "Why do you keep deflecting me like this?"
Nereid kept her eyes locked on her tightly-clasped hands. "I don't deserve any credit."
"Pacifica," Sophie said, turning to her and abducting her hands from her view. "You deserve it all. You went to a different, terrifying world to find me. The right world at the right time with the right companions. It doesn't matter that X found information or Wire went with you; you were the one who made the trip happen."
Nereid trembled like a terrified horse at Sophie's touch. "I also... all sorts of things went wrong because of me. I'm stupid and incompetent and I don't deserve these powers because I can't use them right and..."
"Stop," Sophie said with uncharacteristic gentleness. "I want to say something to you. Look at me?"
With a heroic effort, Nereid raised her gaze to Sophie's face. Sophie's beautifully angular face and her dark eyes and her silly glasses.
"Wire lost her hand," Sophie said, "and I'm going to replace it, with a cyberpart for now, but I'll find another solution soon. It's all right. That's the sort of relationship she and I have. But the thing is, Pacifica, you lost all sorts of things because of this trip, the sorts of things I can't help with or replace." A single tear escaped and raced down her cheek to drip off her chin. She wiped her face irritably on the shoulder of her shirt without letting go Nereid's hands. "I had a lot of time in that damn bell jar to think, and I did think, no matter what the Equestrian says about my state of mind. There are a lot of things I needed to reevaluated. And I realized... I don't want that sort of... of... scorekeeping relationship with you. I want to be able to give you things you can't pay back, like you've already given me. Because I... no matter what's happened, and whether you want to tell me about it or not, no matter what you think of yourself... I love you, Pacifica."
Nereid stared at her, unable to think about anything she said except those last four words that rang in her mind, temporarily banishing other thoughts. She could feel her body shaking hard, and her hands closed tightly on Sophie's. The hard, heavy knot in her belly unloosed and blossomed into something else. She managed to say, thickly through the torrent of tears she was repressing, "I love you too."
Sophie, with more propriety than she had previously evinced, took Nereid off to her apartment, where crying would be both more and less appropriate.
---
Note from the Author:
Posted a little early this week because some of my readers are having rough times and I thought they could use something sweet.
Wonder City has been nominated for the Rose & Bay Crowdfunding Award! Thank you! Now, y'all should go check out all the nominees for fiction, webcomics, art, poetry, patron, and other projects. And VOTE!
And remember to vote for WCS at Top Webfiction!
