In Svetlana's defense, Florence was pretty good at reading people in general. She'd spent a long time as a young immigrant just watching people, learning ways to fit in. Her mother had never wanted her to stand out, for the world to have anything they could use against her. So she'd watched. Gotten to know the way people talked, the way the London children had interacted with each other. Before long, she was able to slide herself into the fray. It had come with some knowledge about how people worked, however, and that included paying attention.
So she knew when the blonde woman was angry, even when she was quietly seething. And she knew when she was being kind and considerate. And at that moment, she was being more genuine than Florence thought she'd ever seen her. And it helped.
She hesitated, though. Not that she didn't trust Svetlana. Just that her own situation was so difficult and strange to explain. Everyone knew she'd been close to Andy previously. Most knew he looked at her as the only maternal figure he'd ever really had. But that young man was gone and the one in his place didn't even know her. All she could do was watch from a distance. Oh, she'd worked on being friendly with the boy. But a game of chess and a few kind talks, plus helping Charlie bring him home once blinded? That still paled in comparison to the long, in-depth conversations she used to have with him. The talks about his brother, his father, the demon who'd cursed him with his 'gift'.
It was hard. But it was appreciated that the difficulty was being acknowledged. Svetlana had lost her own children once, she could have easily written off Florence's pain. But she hadn't. And it meant more to her than she knew how to say.
"Relaxing sounds easier than it probably is right now," Florence admitted, sipping at the glass. "I hate feeling helpless. I always have and in this place? It feels like all I can do. I've learned to fire a gun, but what good is that going to do in the face of magic? Or even demons?"
No, she was much better on the sidelines. Bringing food to the fighters during the demon attacks, making sure they got as much rest as possible considering. She could defend herself well enough, thanks to Jo, but her life was much better spent helping others rather than joining in on an active attack. "There's not much I can do except be there for others when I'm needed."