No hesitation could have been found in her response to that question. Her spine straightened with indignation, as though something offense had been implied.
"Yes."
That ... if nothing else ... was one thing that she was absolutely certain of. Before she had arrived in the city of Siren's Port, she had been looking for something -- someone -- very specific, and he had been the very ... first ...
... Aqua's blood ran cold as ice.
"... You were the one I spoke with the day I arrived." And then once more under the ambiguous guise of text messages two instances since then. And she had never put it together!
Stupid ... Stupid!
At last, she tore her focus from him, his familiar face, his familiar stance, to shut her eyes in an intense and shuddering wave of shame. It felt exactly as it was, in reality -- like she had been the victim of an elaborate and humorless ruse; This, the grand unveiling of her ignorance and naivety.
"... Why?"
But she was still suspended in the sensation of free-falling. The impact of hitting the ground ... that was still to come, wasn't it?
"Why did you try to trick me? Why did you ... continue to ..."
She chose to expend her self-control to vanquish her anger, which allowed that gnawing dread to grow and slither up beyond the reach of her supervision. This ... would be the second time that she realized that anger was much easier an emotion to sit with than fear, and now it was that fear that overcame her features, unabashed.
no subject
"Yes."
That ... if nothing else ... was one thing that she was absolutely certain of. Before she had arrived in the city of Siren's Port, she had been looking for something -- someone -- very specific, and he had been the very ... first ...
... Aqua's blood ran cold as ice.
"... You were the one I spoke with the day I arrived." And then once more under the ambiguous guise of text messages two instances since then. And she had never put it together!
Stupid ... Stupid!
At last, she tore her focus from him, his familiar face, his familiar stance, to shut her eyes in an intense and shuddering wave of shame. It felt exactly as it was, in reality -- like she had been the victim of an elaborate and humorless ruse; This, the grand unveiling of her ignorance and naivety.
"... Why?"
But she was still suspended in the sensation of free-falling. The impact of hitting the ground ... that was still to come, wasn't it?
"Why did you try to trick me? Why did you ... continue to ..."
She chose to expend her self-control to vanquish her anger, which allowed that gnawing dread to grow and slither up beyond the reach of her supervision. This ... would be the second time that she realized that anger was much easier an emotion to sit with than fear, and now it was that fear that overcame her features, unabashed.
"Who are you?"