this too

Sena has spent the previous eight-and-some terms of her life thinking in ors only.

Either I stay true to myself, or I fake it. Either I make myself what I think everyone else wants, or I get left behind. Either they settle for me, or they move on to someone else (better).

Aionios isn't a place where you can have both. You can't be a colony cook and a stand-out attacker, and since Sena's never been really, really good at either, she can't afford to be bad at either; she has to ditch the idea of both.

Not that the City coddles mediocrity, necessarily. Not that Ghondor appreciates people who muck around and get stuck halfway.

But in the City...people understand. People allow. People are people, instead of just soldiers, and they understand that of course you swing your hammer with all you've got, and if your heart's not in it, there's a reason for that. A good reason.

Benefit of the doubt, is what they call it. And again, it's certainly not Ghondor's strong suit, but Sena's discovered that turning pleading eyes on her fellow Attacker nets her actual sympathy - or empathy at least - rather than pity.

It was hard, but Sena's learned to value herself enough to not want pity. More than that, to know that she doesn't deserve it. She deserves a true listening ear.

Better than furry ones, if that listening ear comes with a yearning for a little something else, too.

Ghondor's prickly. Prickly to everyone, and those she's developed a care for most of all.

The perfect challenge for Sena, right?

Sarcasm and sympathy. Ridicule and remorse. Warning and warmth.

Not pleasing Ghondor, or showing her own stripes. One and the same. A test, to see how true she can be.

(To see if she can get Ghondor on the same page, to show a little softness, too. Sweet Sena knows she can get there, eventually.)