“Heard a lot of optimists say that,” she responded, not in a critical tone. “Good words to live by, I suppose, even though it's hard to remember that when things get shitty.” The smile quirked a little more. “And even if those words are for more serious things than almost hitting someone with a door.” Either way, she got his point. Profuse apologies had never been her forte.
“I'd hope so. I've met some people with some very touchy egos.” A couple years ago, she might've been one of them. It was hard to say. She'd been very boastful of the things she could do. Now, it was all about Marigold. Raising one shoulder in a shrug, Leah didn't let his agreement ruffle her. She knew she needed to do better about taking things easy. “Downside to being someone who constantly likes doing things herself, I guess.”
Lilah was almost always busy these days. The rest of the Stones didn't see as much of her as they did each other, which was sad in a way, but truth be told, Leah was proud of her sister. Proud that she was able to contribute to the good of the compound, instead of wasting away her talents trapped in a government safehouse. “She talks pretty highly of you, my sister does,” Leah told him. “She talks highly of a lot of people, but especially those she works with. How's that new lab going, by the way?” The Stones had asked that Lilah be kept as minimally involved with the new lab as possible, at least while they were doing tests with the infected, but that didn't mean Lilah was completely out of the loop. And Leah was curious as to what was going on out there.
“The reputation I earned back in the city probably makes people leery about offering to help me.” Spoken offhandedly enough, like it didn't matter, but it did bother her sometimes. That she couldn't completely escape the person she used to be. She appreciated that Miah was helping without nagging or insisting that she rest while he did all the work. “I won't say that's the definite reason – for all I know, people just weren't paying attention, like I wasn't paying attention when I opened the door. Some people are just more helpful than others.”
Leah shifted the weight of the heavier bag to carry it with both hands and fell into step beside him. A smirk came at what he said. “Every once in a while,” she echoed. “The trick is knowing when to ask. Or almost bumping into someone who offers and saves you the trouble of asking.”