Re: NM: Cat & Leena
Cat knew her own coping mechanisms weren't perfect. Well, in truth, she knew they were dreadful, but they worked for her. At the end of the day? That was all that mattered. And the kitten needed to find her own coping mechanisms, and Cat was hopeful this place was helping her to do that. Of course, that description of being in a sea of shit didn't sound positive, but it made sense. Cat knew a thing or two about dealing with hard situations, and she'd felt a lot like Helena described once, after Russia, and when she'd tried to find a reason to live after all those years. She considered whether it would help to impart that. In the end, she thought it wouldn't hurt for Helena to know she wasn't alone, so she gave her daughter a warm and lined smile. "I was in Russia for testing for twenty years. Well, testing, brainwashing, all kinds of things. When the government got me out? My memory was nothing, and I didn't know what to do. Or, rather, I didn't want to do anything. All I remembered was Russia and what happened there. It felt like shoveling shit for years." She left it there. A story shared, nothing too personal or descriptive, and no comparison unless Helena wanted to draw it herself.
She moved easily into nodding about Stephanie and needing time. "I know, kitten. I understand about needing time. I have a friend who loves to interrogate. He does it constantly, and he's done it since the first time we met, and it always gets my hackles up. Closeness, secrets, sharing, those things come with time. They don't come with a handshake and a hello, and to you that's what Stephanie is right now. It'll change with time." Eddie, Eddie made Cat sadder. It was safe to say he was her oldest friend, and she was sad things had gone sour with him and Helena. She understood why Helena didn't want anything to do with him, but it still saddened her, especially since there was a time when Helena confided in Eddie much more than she confided in anyone else. But, here and now wasn't the time for that commentary, and Helena had a right to feel how she did, so Cat just inclined her head. Cruel men and their behaviors, that comment was one Cat wouldn't disagree with.
And Stephanie's wording was awful. Of course it triggered Helena, even if Stephanie hadn't meant it that way. "Don't worry about what Stephanie thinks. Damian was right. You don't have to talk to anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable." That was easy enough to say, and Cat believed it wholeheartedly. Cat waved a hand, long fingers and elegant wrist, as if she was waving away the anger of these people Helena was talking about. "If they want to be angry? That's their problem. Kitten, you want people in your life who respect you, who accept you as you are. The others? You don't need them." It was advice Cat had trouble following herself, but she very much wanted her daughter to adopt the advice and really put it into practice. Living to please other people, it was no way to live.
Outside was warmer, Cat reached out and rubbed Helena's arm once, just briefly. "You take care of Helena, and worry about the rest of the world later. If anyone gets upset? Just send them my way. I'm very good at clawing people, and I haven't done it in ages."