It was a weird feeling to keep getting bad news and feel oddly comforted at the same time. One the one hand, hearing her worst fears validated by a detective who was familiar with the reincarnate world was terrifying. To think that Aaron might have gotten mixed up with people like that, Eleanor could hardly bear to consider it. On the other hand? As much as what Spence was telling her happened to be exactly what she didn't want to hear, his honesty was a relief. She didn't need things sugarcoated, and the very last thing she needed was anymore false promises.
Yes, she remembered Boston. At the time that it happened, she was only vaguely aware of the cause behind it, or rather, the people. She never heard anything about specific groups, just the term 'reincarnates' thrown around as a blanket scapegoat whenever something went wrong. She didn't understand much beyond that, and she was more than a little preoccupied anyway. At the time of Boston's destruction, Eleanor was only twenty years old and training hard for regionals. Thinking about that now, it seemed to her like an entire life time ago. In some ways it was.
She loved her brother, he was a good person with a generous heart, but Eleanor wasn't exaggerating about his trust issues. Or rather, his lack of. Eleanor didn't like to use the word 'gullible' because it sounded unkind, but it also wasn't very far from the truth. It wasn't as if she didn't trust other people, she wasn't an island. It was just that all of their lives her twin seemed to be missing that little voice inside of his head that told you when something didn't feel right. A voice that was completely separate from any reincarnate one, as much as Helena liked to try and tell her what to do in the whole month they'd been together.
A whole lot of good it does me when you won't listen. Helena's cranky response almost made Eleanor smile despite herself, if only because after being so suddenly tossed into a situation that felt foreign from all sides, Helena's stubbornness was the only thing that felt at all familiar to her in a world she no longer recognized. Eleanor could be pretty stubborn herself, so while everything else about Helena's life didn't make any sense to her, that was at least some common ground to share. Eleanor wasn't ready yet to try to do things Helena's way.
A crease formed in the middle of her forehead as she let his words sink in. "The way you talk about villains, it's so strange. Villains and heroes, like it's some kind of story book. I read a lot of mysteries as a kid, but people were more... complicated, most of the time. Difficult to put into boxes." Helena's world seemed full of heroes and villains, good and bad, but also a lot of in between. Helena herself seemed to be a good person, at least most of the time. It was complicated. People were usually complicated. And she did feel reassured despite all of the bad news she'd been dealt, as much as she tried not to. He made it too easy to feel hopeful again. Weren't detectives supposed to be more surly?
Opening her mouth to ask another question, she quickly shut it when the there was a soft knocking on the door before Victoria stepped inside with a tray of donuts and two mugs. The minute the sweet and rich aromas of pastry and coffee hit Eleanor's nose, she realized how hungry she was, and it was all she could do not to wrench the tray away from her before Victoria had a chance to set it down. "Coffee's fresh. Eat as many donuts as you want, we've got plenty," the receptionist said mostly to Eleanor as she put the tray down on the desk in between her and Spence, Eleanor murmuring her thanks to her while Victoria looked curiously between the two before disappearing out into the lobby again.
Eleanor reached for one of the mugs of coffee first and held it for a moment in both hands, letting the warmth of it sooth the numbness in her fingers from the cold Chicago morning. "This Dale you mentioned... is he your reincarnate?" Eleanor tilted her head curiously, before laughing under her breath, a little embarrassed. "Sorry, is that a rude question? I'm still new to this. Not sure of the proper etiquette."