Re: NM: Cat & Leena
The very warmth and non-medical of the place had been at the top of the list of things Leena looked for. There were no florescent lights in the ceiling, evenly spaced and leeching of thought and color. Surrounded by white on white, or worse, white and that mint green that was supposed to be relieving but actually made her feel sick. No, here was all reds and browns and yellows, speckled with gray and blue and a little orange.
Cat didn't even look that badly out of place there, and Leena paused, her fingertips on the counter as she considered the question. Did she want? Was it acceptable to her? The bottom corner of her lip caught between her teeth as she nodded and stepped forward, hand out slightly, adrift and waiting to close around Cat.
It wasn't the hug of old, where it felt like she was trying to hug a barrel and squeeze the fish out of it, but it was slight and warm and real, and that faint edge of a smile was still there when she stepped back. "It is -- nice. It's good. They're good here." Cat looked more like the Cat she'd met, but she smelled a little different. Like plane air and travel, or maybe some residual Eau du Repose that hadn't been washed off her skin and out of her clothes yet.
"You look good too. It's good to see you," she tacked on quickly because that's what people always said in movies, and right now that felt a little easier. "And I'm glad you came. I can show you around? Some parts are cordoned off, like the therapy rooms, but most of it you can see." The words weren't guarded, even when she took a step back and jammed her hands into the pockets of her hoodie. "And I can show you outside. They have horses, but I've never ridden. They tell me if I want I can have lessons, but I don't know yet." And maybe in some time before that was lost now, she might have known. Bruce wasn't around to ask, and even if he had been, it would have been on the bottom of a very long list.