Re: Ice cream: Cat & Reece
Cat was dishonest about honesty. We know. It's okay. Reece didn't hold that against her. He wasn't precisely the prince of probity himself.
He laughed about Matt, just briefly, before that sigh came. Then, it got kind of... sad. Not like he hadn't realized it was sad. Just—well, it wasn't something he could joke about now. He listened, quietly, looking over at Cat as she spoke. His ECHO eye was dark, its hardware essentially asleep, but that didn't stop it from making the boy's gaze appear any less jarring, though if anyone was used to it by now, it'd be Cat.—And whatever his fears and whatever about being locked up, clearly they had nothing on the dacha, on any of that. He frowned at the description of the little girl. "If you did, Cat, I mean, it's not your fault." Reece meant that. Earnestness could look stranger than two mismatched eyes on his face, but it was apparent. He took a deep breath. "I know that doesn't diminish it for you. But, in case you don't go around confessing these things to people, so you don't get any perspective other than your own. It isn't your fault. That's kind of the idea behind brainwashing." The frown deepened on youthful features. "And I'm sorry, uh, because, wow, that..." Er. "...blows." He wasn't great at these things, but he was trying.
It was hard to shift gears, but he tried that too. It was easier, a shorter climb, when Cat's voice took on its serious tone. The boy half-shrugged. "Pretty much. I didn't know she had the dominatrix thing, but, uh, I mean, yeah, pretty much I dated her because she was my boss, yep. She liked me, I think. A little, anyway."