Re: Audrey/Hannah: Tea
She smiled, glad that Hugh had helped. It made her feel better, knowing Audrey had someone who would come, someone who would be there, and she knew she'd made things bad before, bad for Audrey, and she was glad she had some part in fixing it. So, she smiled, warm and bright in the room crowded and warmed by tapestries and pictures of people she'd never met.
She tipped her head, and she listened, cornflower blue bright and attentive, and it was hard sometimes. It was hard to talk how people expected, and to live how people expected, and she'd been bad at it since Mom, and some days it was harder than others. "I'm not like you, Audrey," she finally said, voice kindly. "I'm not bright days and clear skies, and sometimes I wander." And that was putting it mildly, and she didn't know how to explain that she didn't actually belong to herself, and the day might come when she wasn't here at all. But she didn't think Audrey could handle that, and so she kept shhhh about it. She smiled instead. "But you don't ever need to worry. I promise." Because that was true enough. "You don't get things wrong, and it's okay to be uncomfortable around me. But I don't want to be saved." When she'd needed it, no one had come, and now it was beyond that. Saving was a thing in her rearview.
"It's okay to ask. It's always okay to ask. Is there anything else you want to ask?" She took a sip of her tea.