Re: Live and Breathe: Derek / Marta
Awareness of others was a skill that came not at all naturally to Derek. She'd had to learn hard over the years, and she stopped when that breath rattled into Marta like she was forcing it. Hmm, panic. It was an emotion, a whirlwind of emotional and physical responses that she wasn't accustomed to. And whenever she felt the bare beginnings of it, her entire system kicked into overdrive to settle it before it became something larger than she could handle.
Marta was anxious. Of her? Of what she was saying? Her head tilted ever slightly and then she was leading her over to one of the stools at the bar, one hand still held, her free hand reaching for the oxygen tubing that hung from the ceiling.
"You're going to need this," she said, almost quietly as she fixed the nostril's and held it out for Marta to take. Derek was not a fixer, and there was still the deeply held belief that while she couldnt fix anyone, she could help them to fix themselves. Marta probably needed that and she sat downon the stool nearest and crossed her legs. "The thing about a mess is that it can always be cleaned up. Things can be straightened and made right again, as long as you don't let them get so far that they've changed," she mused, almost quietly.
"Now, I want to know what's made you almost panic, krĂștt."