Scene #9246: Ice Cream Night And Nothing Else

Owner	Pose
Audrey Basque	Mercifully, Petra knows how to get here. Not-so-mercifully, Audrey has forgotten that her showing up might not, be, a great, idea. But, okay, that's easy to solve. A hoodie or a blanket or... it's not a long way! It's saturday, it's dinner time, there's not that much movement around the dorms of Nova Heliosanctus. And so, through Some Type Of Sorcery, Audrey will have snuck Petra into her room. It didn't have to be more complicated than that, and most people don't come bother her at her room directly. Not on saturdays, anyway, and if her friends want anything they'll text first. AUDREY'S DORM ROOM, NOVA HELIOSANCTUS, PHANTOM CIRCLE The room is bigger on the inside. It's frilly, the ceiling's unusually dark, the bed is large and comfy and has those big curtains you can pull around it. There's a corner with a piano and a violin case, several bookshelves full of reference manuals and astrology studies, but also some astronomy and physics textbooks. There's, notably, no TV. Fitting Audrey's image, this is the dorm room of the Top Student, who must certainly have no time to watch anime. The oddest thing is there not being a mirror at all though. There's plenty of makeup and beauty accessories, but no mirror to use them in front of. Of notable interest is the fridge, which once the two of them are settled in and the door is locked, Audrey immediatly moves towards to pull an ice cream tub out of, along with two spoons. We're skipping the bowls, that's the full experience. ... to Petra's chagrin no doubt, Audrey is wearing her uniform, but her blazer is undone, so it's like. Relaxed! A slight improvement. "I apologize for the mess. I wasn't expecting visitors today." There is no mess. There's a table and her books and charts are still open on it, and maybe she means that. There's a small couch and one of the cushions is a bit astray, so maybe she means that. She seems the type to mean that.
Petra Soroka	<B-anter> Lilian Rook says, "Besides. You can't leave the Library, and Soroka is too busy seething about no one wanting to use her as a horrid little baby factory." When was the last time she said that? Not the arbitrary insults that are just meant to make her feel violated and miserable; there was a year or so where she stopped those, but they've eventually crept their way back into the dynamic, for reasons Petra can't possible understand. Maybe that's part of the problem. Maybe even before Lobotomy Corporation, the growing sense of Petra's perverse parasitism on Lilian was too much to tolerate, and she'd been pushing her away this whole time. It had to have been during their duel in Indus, right? Where Lilian stopped calling her 'Soroka' for good? She remembers 'Petra', spat at her face while her arm was pinned to the wall by Lilian's, Winter Crow pressed between her eyes. That wasn't the very first time that Lilian called her by her name, but ever since then, she's never stopped. Not through the murder and arrest, not through the torture, not through the years that came after, even when Petra scrambled after her trying to help and failing occasionally. And what kind of a basis for anything is that? To have that defining point in their relationship be one where Lilian also had her hands wrapped around Petra's neck to crush her throat, so incoherently disgusted with her that she had to beg Tamamo to pry her fingers away so that she wouldn't murder her? It was doomed from the start. Just like everything Petra touches. Saving Cinder from Schadenfreude entirely by coincidence because she was there for another woman. Mutually promising to lie with Rita about who they both were because they would never be close otherwise. In the end, it all was dragged back to Petra's 'normal'. Reviled, embittered, repulsed, alone. She feels ridiculous for having felt proud of the little pieces of a life she'd built ever since it seemed like she'd finally pulled it back together, forgetting, somehow, what happened every time she ever found somewhere to call home. She regrets not being murdered back when Lilian would've cared. This is the state in which Petra finds herself on the campus of Nova Heliosanctus, again. Grey hoodie drawn up with black sweatpants, bloodshot golden eyes downturned and avoidant, no need for the mask she smuggled in last time just to breathe in the magic-thick air, Petra is essentially unrecognizable as the same girl that made a scene on campus two years ago even if someone got a direct look at her face. She slinks after Audrey into the dorm room, and like just the effort of getting there put her on her last legs, she wavers her way to the floor next to the coffee table and collapses cross-legged on the ground rather than successfully making it to any of the seating. Head drooping down, she dully shakes her head to signal not minding the mess. She shudders and takes a breath, and her voice is phlegmy and unstable when she talks. "I-I'm really, really sorry. I w-wanted to... to make it easier f-for... to g-give you a better intr-- introduction t-to stuff, a-and instead I-I'm... b-being a, a weepy little loser ab-bout everything. Sorry. Thanks f-for inviting me over."
Audrey Basque	Petra sits on the floor, without fanfare. Audrey considers, and decides to simply sit down next to her on the floor. This is fine too, it's clean. She holds a spoon out for her, opening the tub of (sadly, vanilla) ice cream and placing it between them. "Despite my protests, I want to assure you I appreciate the effort. I think it would be worse if you weren't there to ground me. It's... no, really, I appreciate it. Considering how we met, and all of that, it's... well, I didn't... expect this. But I don't hate it." You'll regret this, for sure, you know? I'll deal with that when it's time, then. "I'm sorry, vanilla is all I have. I hope that's fine with you. I might have some caramel or chocolate you can pour on if you'd prefer." A brief silence. Audrey finds it awkward, but isn't entirely sure what to say. There's... a lot she WANTS to say. Oh, is there so much. She should just dump that freak. Yes well we can't say that. But it'd be so easy. "Is there anything you'd like to talk about? You've been talking a lot about..." Audrey stops. She realizes there's no easy, tactful way to bring the dead girlfriend matter up now. Especially in Petra's state. "W-Well. No, sorry, this might not be the time. Is there anything you'd like to do?" She's so certain that she only knows a tiny fraction of what's bothering Petra, too. This isn't just some breakup consoling, Petra's life is a whirlwind she can't even begin to understand in full.
Petra Soroka	Petra takes the spoon and carves off a small curl of ice cream with it gratefully. She understands the ritual, with the ice cream bucket and the sweatpants and hanging out after a 'breakup', and it's sort of comforting in how mundanely stereotypical it is. The gentle cooperative femininity that comes from being peers and having each other's backs and the sign-countersign of cultural communication is something she's been bereft of ever since vowing to go to war with 'culture, broadly'. She can think of some girls' nights in the dorms with Cinder and Yuri before Yuri was hauled off for being a traitor and Cinder fucking died. Before that? With Hibiki, maybe? Petra folds her knees up to her chest and sinks into them. "I'm g-glad. I'd get it if you hated me anyways still. Everyone d-does. But if I c-can still help, then... then I'm glad." She shakes her head, eyes closed. Each spoon of ice cream she takes is practically infantile, less than a quarter the size of a 'spoonful', but since she keeps chugging away at it it doesn't seem to be because she dislikes it. "I don't mind. I haven't actually had ice c-cream for a million years, haha. I mean, I had it before that; I'm not bad off like Angela. But I d-dhon't mind anything I can get." "'Talk about'..." Petra mumurs in repetition, eyes sliding to look sideways at the ground. There's a thousand things she could, that no one's ever asked about before. The more she thinks about it, the more the list grows, and the more the creeping edges of oblivion throb on the outskirts of her retrospection and emotional interrogation. Anything she feels like she needs to get off her chest would seem practically abusive and manipulative to dump on this girl she met a week ago, and anything positive she could talk about feels brittle and stained by the fragility of her grip on existence. She wonders, when did she become like this? Wasn't she the one with nothing to talk about, and anytime something did, she'd be desperate to launder it into lore? Where along the line did enough parts break that the engine gutters instead of starting? "... Do you have, um... TV, or movies, or... anything? I, uh," Petra takes a shuddering breath. "I-I mean, I promise this isn't what Lilian's normally like. Like-- y-you know that, obviously, look at where we are. S-so I-- she's not normally like this, so I don't want to talk about h-how I feel about-- I don't want to talk about her, because I'd give you a worse impression of her than she deserves, and it's m-my fault, anyways. You'll understand when you get to know her better. She's a r-really good person, I promise."
Audrey Basque	She's eating. That's good. At least the ice cream wasn't a misjudgment, bless. Audrey was concerned she might not have any Petra would enjoy, and then this would be even more awkward. There's a lot of hesitation, and she gets it. It's a lot. Petra doesn't have to say it, it's obvious. It just makes it harder for Audrey to find the words, since she... can't relate, exactly. She has her own life woes, but none of them probably compare. "We don't have to talk if you don't want to. But the offer's there. And ah... I promise you that nothing you tell me can meaningfully impact my opinion of Miss Rook." She's not lying. A TV though? "Oh... erm... no. I have a laptop we can use to watch things, or..." Or... well, what's the harm. "... don't tell anyone, okay?" Audrey reaches into the pockets of her blazer, and pulls out a Playbrick. And another one. And a few dozen games. And a link cable. None of that fits in her pockets, but Petra can probably piece together the fact if she can manipulate rooms, she can manipulate her pockets. "People think I spend all my time studying, or practicing, or playing the piano or dancing or going to fancy dinners but... I find my moments to relax a bit, when I can."
Petra Soroka	"... Oh! A Playbrick!" Petra hasn't actually used a Playbrick since their short stint of popularity on Io. Despite their relative multiversal proliferation compared to some other consoles, Petra, whose entire life has been in the context of the multiverse, has mostly stuck to world-limited gaming devices like the DS that she uses to play with Nika, for the simple fact that ever since becoming an Elite and for the most part before that, she just hasn't played a ton of video games. But she's still familiar with it. "That's really cute, actually...." Dragged a fraction of the way out of her misery, Petra scoots around on the floor to swivel in Audrey's direction, shoulders hunched over her knees. "Don't worry, I w-won't tell anyone. I get it." Her fingers drift over the Playbrick without touching it until it's handed to her, almost reverently gentle with the little object as if she's afraid that it's too fragile for her to touch. She was hesitant to talk, but the feelings bubble out of her throat unbidden the moment that she's not so choked up that they're locked away. "I don't play that much, because of how busy everything is, but I do sometimes, since it's... one of Lilian's friends. O-or... 'friends' isn't the best way to put it. One of the most important people in this world, and someone Lilian is... prophetically close to, I guess; she's younger than me, and she's... genuinely, one of the sweetest people I've ever known. Most people don't get along with her that well, and I didn't at first, but now I'd like to think I'm maybe her closest friend besides the girl she lives with now, and she really really needs someone like that." Petra grips the spoon anxiously, twiddling it between two fingers in her closed fist, nauseously over-energized and exhausted and so emotionally worn-thin that the almost-irrelevant words spill out of her. "And... she's got a thing about talking to people. She finds it easiest when it's through a game. So I do, because I care about her, and she's important to Lilian. Weekly, at least, for basically two years; I knew she'd be worried, so I even made sure to check in during the war, just because it's a ritual to do it and the ritual's important. It's like a little language. A-and..." She swallows. It's the tiniest thing, one out of a thousand thousand others, of knots between her and Lilian made from the catastrophic collision of their narrative impact. "Abnd if Lilian doesn't want me around anymore, then I just won't be. E-even if I don't kill myself. If she can't stand having me around, then I'm a tac-tactical liability, so I'll be cut off, a-and that's the... right thing to do. I-I...." Petra trails off, starting to get teary and not knowing how to vent it and not wanting to let it spill down her cheeks, hot and strangling in her throat. She takes a big spoonful of icecream and swallows it, hugging her knees. "I-I guess I thought... I made myself useful enough to n-not... b-be disposable, for once. But I-I had it backwards. S-since everyone hates m-me... now, I-I, I've j-just outlived my usefulness. I g-got... I was a pr-prosthetic put in place t-to solve a problem. Dr-dragged along resentfully until I was needed, then st-struck like a match and left to b-burn all my bridges away and turn to ash. Just like... just l-like Cinder. I won th-the war, I saved A-Angela, just like L-Lilian wanted, and n-now I should just disappear."
Audrey Basque	"I've got a few others in here, but the Playbrick is so versatile I've just kept coming back to it. Games from other worlds has been most of my exposure to the Multiverse until... well, now. And you see how that's going." Audrey laughs, because if she doesn't, she might momentarily blurt out something she doesn't mean, or just have a fit of tears to vent out the frustration from the last few days. A good cry and then it's done. A far cry from what Petra needs or is going through. "... I'm sorry, one of the most important people in this world? ... you're going to have to explain that one to me sometime. Not now. It's alright. She's sounds nice. It must be a good connection to have." This is brainwashing if I've ever seen it. Maybe you're overthinking it? Am I? She's done it to the school. Staff, students. This girl is where I'm supposed to draw the line, really? Mmm. Can't always be the nice thoughts in charge. "And it's so nice of you not to forget to check in on her. You think you're awful? Would an awful person do that for someone else?" Audrey's not exactly hiding that she's avoiding replying to the Lilian bits; this most important people in the world business has her more than curious now, because that's a very bold thing to hear about your own world. Maybe she's a bit let down she's not one of those people, evidently? Or she'd be in the know. "Maybe... you should focus on the people who do need you, then. When people throw you away, that says more about them than you. It sounds like you know a lot of the people in the Concord already, not to mention Angela, and this friend you play games with. That's good, right? It's..." Audrey clears her throat. It's a transparent attempt to keep her tone and not start... no... no hang on... She's guarded. I just need to drop mine and she'll drop hers. I think? Maybe just... there's no one to see or judge. Audrey takes a risk by reaching for Petra and just, hugging her. Tightly. She's not crying, not like Petra is at least; she's got a shaky voice, a bit of water in her eyes, mostly from the evidently overwhelming sadness Petra is communicating. "It's okay. It's just us here, alright?"
Petra Soroka	"Games from other worlds has been most of my exposure to the Multiverse until... well, now. And you see how that's going." Petra snorts. "Oh, believe me I see. When I first joined the Watch, like, first week, I got slammed into the ground by Hiromi and broke half my bones. You--" She blinks and tilts her head, thinking about the earlier radio conversation with Hiromi. "... Well, you're a lot more capable than I was when I joined. And the Concord's got healing facilities, the Watch doesn't." "But..." Petra laces her fingers over her knees, awkwardly twisting them together and hiding her mouth behind them. "It's been a really long time, but I remember how that felt. I wasn't ever stuck on one world, but I used to... only be familiar with people who were familiar with stuff like this all, two steps removed. And it was sort of, um, dizzying. ... Sorry. I think I might have forgotten how that felt back then." "... you're going to have to explain that one to me sometime." "Oh. I-I'd be executed, probably." For all her talk about Lilian not killing people, she seems completely serious about that one. "I'm not... a-allowed to make decisions like that. But there's a bunch of Elites in the loop, so y-you'd just... have to ask Lilian. D-don't mention me when you do, please. She might get angry that I even said that much." Petra cringes at herself when saying that, tensing up with the anticipated retaliation. No matter what's happened now or any time in the future, Lilian's entrusted her with too many things that could genuinely ruin her life if Petra went nuclear and revealed them haphazardly. The temptation to do so is an intrusive thought, not a serious consideration, but even having the ghost of the idea enter her mind makes her flinch like she needs to go be put down like a rabid dog before the devil takes control and uses the leverage she's been given to prove that Lilian was right about her all along. She would rather die than do that, no matter what else she might want to do. The thought crosses her mind to ask Bond about cyanide pills. "When people throw you away, that says more about them than you." Petra mutely shakes her head and draws her shoulders together tighter. The sense that she's taking advantage of Audrey spikes suddenly in response to that, because who else besides someone she'd just met would fail to be aware of the ultimate and immovable maxim of Petra's utter unforgivability and evil? Audrey might have had glancing familiarity with one awful thing Petra's done, but that's not an honest view of her as a person-- not because it's one negative first impression, but because there should be a thousand others besides. "I-- i-it's not.. not like that. I-I'm-- the thing that, that makes me, worth k-keeping around, it's b-because I'm useful. What fucking good am I if having me around hurts? I al--... already k-know I'm...." While Petra is in the middle of stiffly stumbling over her words and feeling like she's twisting up her insides until they snap, Audrey reaches over to squeeze her. And-- and Angela hugs her all the time, but who else does? Kukuru, who forces them on her at the worst times possible? Rita, who wants her dead? Lilian used to. When did she stop? How long ago-- After a moment where she shudders and tenses up, Petra suddenly tightly squeezes Audrey back like a drowning person struggling for air. The sniffles shatter into full-on sobs, shaking through her shoulders and back, and through gasping breaths Petra babbles nearby Audrey's ear.
Petra Soroka	"S-sorry, I'm... s-sorry, I-I-- I don't-- I-I'm n... not a g-hood person. I'm really, re-really... n-not. L-Lilian, sh-she, she understands that b-better than anyone, so... s-so that's why, as long a-as she keeps me arou-hound, I know i-it's okay, b-but..." She swallows, then makes a low moan and squeezes Audrey again, head ducked over her shoulder. "I-I'm scared. There's p-people I care about and some who e-even tolerate me back, b-but... I-I'm not worth it without her. I a-already kept Angela alive. Sh-she'd be sad, but she'd be... o-okay, eventually. E-everyone else? Th-they wouldn't even blink after... a-after one day, where th-they all pat each other on th-the back ab-about how sad it... it is, and th-then never talk about m-me again. They'd all b-be able t-to breathe a sigh of r-relief, knowing I'm... g-gone. I'm a b-ball of shrapnel. Everyone knows it. I-I know it. A-and I know they wouldn't bother, be-because they won't even talk about my girlfriend without m-making fun of me!"
Audrey Basque	The idea that Audrey is 'more capable' is simultaneously expected and not. The nasty part of her would brag and agree. The currently emotionally wrangled side of her can't see it, though. "I, will, endeavor NOT to need those healing facilities," she manages to stammer out. E-Executed, though?! Ugh, having to ask Lilian about it. Is she really going to have to swallow her pride and suck up to Lilian just to get the world-concerning scoop? Audrey's mood would be soured a thousand times over if she wasn't gripping with Petra's floodgates opening. With Petra hugging back-- Audrey makes sure to keep her arms around her tightly too. "I can't speak for others. Certainly not for Miss Rook. But if people only keep you around because you're useful... that's not healthy." Staggering lack of self-awareness there. It's a lot to take in for Audrey; she doesn't know these people, and the ones she does, not well. And Lilian is Lilian. She'd have to make a whole lot of assumptions. "I... d-don't think that's true. That people don't care. I mean. I would care, and we barely... you've made an impression, Petra. I..." Just say it. That's vulnerability. To Lilian's closest friend. Right... safe, then. "I think, if you've made that much of an impression on me, you must have made an even greater one on others. Do you know how many people hate me for my grades? For something that petty? I used to have to pick gum out of my hair. You're an Elite. You operate on such a grander scale. I think... being hated probably comes with the territory. Wouldn't it?" "S-So..." "I just think... you should focus on the people who don't hate you. I'm not saying it'll be easy. I don't know what it'll be like, for you. But this... thing you have going, doesn't look healthy for you." Audrey gets an idea. "Hey. You liked my blazer, right? Want to see something cool?" She doesn't need to break the hug for this. She reaches into her pocket, pulls her phone out, and taps an app. The lights in her room go out, and after a few seconds, the ceiling illuminates the room instead. A perfect recreation of the Phantom Circle's night sky. Unpolluted by city lights, you can see the strands of cosmic matter between the stars, the arms of the galaxy, the scintillating of individual stars as if they were real. "I always find this relaxing."
Petra Soroka	After a couple minutes of sobbing, Petra eases off into just sniffling while tears roll down her cheeks. One arm slips off of Audrey for a moment to tap the Silver bottle stuffed in the kangaroo pocket on her hoodie, and a drip of morphmetal darts out to wipe her tears away before they make a mess on Audrey's blazer. She shifts how she's seated on the ground so that her head is leaning on Audrey's shoulder, slumped into the hug rather than shivering and clinging. "I th-think... it's a l-little different. It's not just that other people only keep me around because I'm useful. I-- I only k-keep me around because I'm useful. Y-you know?" Crying it out has given Petra the ability to talk more coherently, albeit breathy and wounded-sounding, creaking at the back of her throat with the edges of nausea. She pushes her hood back down and brushes her hair behind her ear, smearing tears off the corner of her eye with the heel of her hand. "It's like... imagine h-having a debt with the world, from th-the moment you're born. The... the things y-you're given, the things other p-people aren't... the way all the l-little molecules in your body line up, s-somehow, they're all lined up in a w-way no one else is, and no one else sh-should be. The things th-that make other people happy d-don't make you happy, and e-everything you do and w-want, just by trying to have it, you ruin everything y-you touch. S-so... b-built wrong... the correct thing to do would be to stop existing, right? The b-best time to cut a tree down was ten years ago, the s-second best time is now, haha." "So... I-I know there's something wrong with me. Everyone's always told me my whole life." Petra's almost forgotten, in this moment, that 'being gay' is one of those things. The aftermath of Cinder's death jarred her out of even thinking of things that way, because 'dead girlfriend' takes precedence over 'significant other'. It's just, pervasively, everything else. "It's a-- a m-moral impos-position for me to stick around. So, I m-make up for it by being useful. I t-try and balance the scales, d-do the math. If I-I didn't, I'd be a parasite. A-a freak. Th-that's why...." "I would care, and we barely... you've made an impression, Petra." Petra weakly laughs and covers her eyes with a forearm, groaning noise coming from her chest. "I r-really hate that you've h-heard so... so much about me wanting to commit suicide a-after not even knowing me f-for a week. Why does a-anyone even like me? I-I used to hate wh-when people w-were a-attention seeking wrecks l-like this. I-I used to...." "Do you know how many people hate me for my grades? For something that petty?" "Sk-skill issue, frankly." Petra sags a little more into the hug, sliding down further to squish her cheek on Audrey's shoulder. At first, it seems like she's telekinetically bringing the spoon up to her mouth for another mouthful of slightly melty ice cream, but the droplet of Silver coated the handle of the spoon to carry it. "I think anyone who... hates on p-people for being better than them... sh-should be ground under my heel. You're right, that p-people aren't any different when you're an Elite. Honestly, I'd be... s-surprised, if you never ended up being a target for it here, too." "A-and... I'm sure you can take care of yourself, but I'd punch anyone who tried to talk shit. I..." Petra sighs, deflating even more. "... I think I don't know how to show appreciation any other way. I think th-that's part of the problem."
Petra Soroka	"Want to see something cool?" Petra blinks curiously, taking a bit more ice cream. She scrubs at one cheek with her knuckle, trying to clear her eyes so that she can see clearly, rather than through the bleary bloodshot haze of tears. When the ceiling lights up, she gasps, turning her chin up and letting the stars reflect off of her eyes. "Th-that's... b-beautiful, I..." Petra sniffs and covers her mouth with a hand, teary again. "I-I really d-do like it. Thank you. I..." "B-back when I was... living out of my mech, for a while... I-I used to sleep with th-the stars on the screen every day. Because I..." She lifts up her hand and wavers her pointer finger around for a bit, squinting at the stellar display. Eventually, she lands on pointing at the faint glow of Jupiter on the ceiling. "... Used to live there. On Io. It was my favorite p-place in the entire universe, a-and... it still is. I c-can't ever go back, now. I'm n-not... welcome there anymore. But... I still love it, a lot, and so looking is...." "... Sorry. Thank you a lot, Audrey. I-I... hope I can make it up to you."
Audrey Basque	It's like... imagine h-having a debt with the world, from th-the moment you're born. The... the things y-you're given, the things other p-people aren't... the way all the l-little molecules in your body line up, s-somehow, they're all lined up in a w-way no one else is, and no one else sh-should be. The things th-that make other people happy d-don't make you happy, and e-everything you do and w-want, just by trying to have it, you ruin everything y-you touch. "... yeah. I think I understand. I ended up taking those parts of me and putting them deep inside. I'm happy now," Liar. "But that's not for everyone. It's probably not for you. The only advice I can really think of, comes down to... just change. Just don't do the bad thing anymore." She smiles faintly. "It's not great advice on its own. I think you're holding yourself hostage," You'd know. "And that's bad. I apo... sorry. My wisdom's not really book-worthy." She takes a moment, to let Petra take in the view, and collect herself. She notices the silvery metal moving about, and while it's surprising, she doesn't make a deal of it. Maybe she'll ask later. I think anyone who... hates on p-people for being better than them... sh-should be ground under my heel. Worried? No. I'm better. They just don't see it. "W-Well... please don't hurt anyone on my behalf. I can handle a few mean words. You've burdened so much worse, don't lower yourself to resolving schoolyard disputes I might get into." Yeah. That's all they'll be. ... Sorry. Thank you a lot, Audrey. I-I... hope I can make it up to you. "You don't have to. This isn't a transaction. Besides, you're helping me settle in. That's... already more than I provide." B-back when I was... living out of my mech, for a while... I-I used to sleep with th-the stars on the screen every day. "Io? It must be really pretty if you say so. I'd love to see it someday. If not yours, maybe we can find another one, similar enough, to drop by." She pauses, considering. "Do you want to spend the night? I'll get you spare pajamas and you can look at the stars until you fall asleep. I can sleep on the couch, or... I guess the bed is large eno..." She stops. Good thing it's dark, Petra can't see her fluster. "Yeah, I'll sleep on the couch. It's fine. You sound like you need some real rest."
Petra Soroka	"The only advice I can really think of, comes down to... just change. Just don't do the bad thing anymore." It's the kind of advice that's almost laughably out of touch and blandly 'wrong' sounding, that anyone normal would shrug off or even be offended or irritated by. 'Just change' falls south of even being clumsy but earnest, practically hostile, and deeply unsympathetic to the core issues at play. But... This is Petra Soroka. 'Just change' is miles better to her than the thousands of times she's heard that it's better to 'be yourself'. The suddeness of it makes her laugh, weakly. "Yeah. Yeah! Right? I've basically dedicated my life to doing that." "That's what I was talking about in the radio before. I know there's something wrong with me. So I... I cut and I cut and I cut, and I try and shove it away and be normal and nice, and I... try and 'shatter' the whole frame and build something from scratch, and then..." "I look behind myself, and it's all the same. It's just absolute ruin in my wake, every time. Every home I build, every... family I find, every friend I make... no matter what I do to try and stop it. If it works for you, to hide it, then... I'm glad, really. But I'm worse than you." "You've burdened so much worse, don't lower yourself to resolving schoolyard disputes I might get into." "Mmm." Petra nods, cried-out and losing energy. She almost echoes Audrey's internal thoughts, coincidentally. "It won't just be that. I wasn't around these circles for a month before someone threatened to hunt me down and kill me in my sleep, and threatened to wear my clothes as a trophy about it." "If I can help, then rely on me." More meaningfully than the one word alone implies, heavy with the weight of all the outpouring earlier, especially 'the only way she knows how to care', "Please." "If not yours, maybe we can find another one, similar enough, to drop by." "There... aren't any similar. 'Mine' doesn't even exist anymore, really... it's been years and years since I belonged in space. The thing that grew past it is barely even recognizable to me, and no one wants me there. ... I have pictures, though. Some." "Do you want to spend the night?" "O-oh..." On cue, Petra yawns, wobbly. In a warm room with the stars overhead and someone 'safe' feeling beside her, her exhaustion from the past weeks all seems to catch up with her at once, like she hasn't slept properly since the night before the war. Didn't she sleep in Lilian's manor that night? Maybe Tamamo's right about her. A freak, tourist, pervert, creep, parasite, squelching away when demanded to be better than the rotten thing she is and latching on to the next poor, innocent girl that comes along. The only cure for mistrust of Petra is to kill her. "I don't... mind... wherever." Petra's slow sigh comes with sinking her head onto her folded arms on the coffee table. She scrubs her face into her sleeves tiredly. If she's not poked, she won't even make it to the couch before dozing off.
Audrey Basque	Petra dozes off. It's a welcome sight for Audrey, who just smiles, genuinely, for a change. Maybe it'll last. She's... so different, isn't she? From? From who I thought she was. She's a freak. She said so. Yeah but... you know. Shut up. Don't even imply it. Audrey snaps herself out of her inner dialogue. Making sure Petra is asleep, she lifts her hands, reaching for an invisible strand of mirrored light in the air, severing it, connecting it to another one-- Petra is now on the bed. Audrey moves over to tuck her in, and then withdraws to the couch. It's not that odd, she's fallen asleep studying on it so many times. It's her second bed.