[She's shaking. Is she angry? Upset? Scared? He can't tell. Didn't he have an easier time reading her years ago? Or did he just delude himself into thinking he understood her better than he did? After all, he never would have imagined that she'd leave everything and everyone behind so suddenly, for a reason he can't see. She's given him another piece to the puzzle, but it's about as clear as anything without his glasses on: which is to say, it isn't clear at all.
Corbeau moves to block the stairs, reaching to call out Scolipede to ensure that she won't be getting past. The giant bug looks at Jacinthe with an expression that can best be summed up as !!! both because he likes her quite a bit and because this can only be a good thing for his trainer to have found her so soon, right?? Meowstic also stands beside him, but she's a willowy little thing who is not exactly great at blocking the stairs. She's doing her best!! But she'd be more useful if she was using her psychic powers and Corbeau's already told her not to.]
I still don't understand. What happened that day?
[He exhales, frustrated, and tries again.]
...I thought it was the sort of thing we'd talk about in a day or so, after the adrenaline wore off and things were taken care of with our respective groups. I didn't think it was all that big a deal. I didn't know how to feel about it in the moment, and when you took off, I assumed you just needed some time to calm down.
Is that what drove you away? My reaction to it?
[Is he the reason why she left? Why she never got to see her parents again? Things were complicated with them, sure, but...]
[Something in Jacinthe tenses when she realizes that oh. Corbeau is very serious about this, actually. There's a brief moment where her posture seems to tighten, and she can feel Altaria's worried eyes on her; Dragalge has seemingly tensed in kind, looking at Jacinthe like she's waiting for marching orders. Jacinthe could just force her way, as she always has. She wants to. She wants to so badly.
Of all of the things that get her to hesitate, it's the genuine joy that Scolipede looks at her with that actually gets her to consider against it. Because somehow, harming a creature that's looking at her with such joy feels...cruel, almost.
Her shaking hasn't stopped, but Jacinthe finally speaks up after a moment, closing her eyes.]
Zut alors...yes. Fine! It was your reaction that drove me away that day, at least in part; knowing just how little the SBC as a whole actually respects me contributed to such a factor as well. But I let myself get consumed by a flight of fancy that I still do not understand to this day, and I have put it out of my mind for years because I had assumed it was fairly cut and dry! I am still terribly sorry for springing such a thing upon you, but answer me this much:
Are you aware that I cannot tell what you are thinking, Corbeau?
[Something in Jacinthe finally starts to actually anger at this, at the realization that. Oh, she's. Actually a lot madder about this than she thought--]
And do you know how demoralizing it is to have you have implied that I have been simply thinking too much, feeling as if I have been considered stupid for such a thing, only to have those events transpire with one of the few people who have shown me any sort of care without condition?
I am not considering myself entitled to you in the slightest, because I am not. You are your own man, and even though I have struggled with it, I am now my own woman, and...
[Maybe this much will get him to go away. Maybe this much will get him angry enough to fight back, and the bridge will fully burn away into nothing. Because she simply isn't good enough yet, not for him, not for anyone. All she wanted was to become strong, strong enough to surpass him so maybe he'd finally--]
...It was the motivation I needed, really. With nothing else to lose, what was stopping me from finally breaking out of the shell of some weak, delicate little damsel in need of protecting that you all see me as?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clefablite) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
sranks2025-10-22 06:33 pm
no subject
Corbeau moves to block the stairs, reaching to call out Scolipede to ensure that she won't be getting past. The giant bug looks at Jacinthe with an expression that can best be summed up as !!! both because he likes her quite a bit and because this can only be a good thing for his trainer to have found her so soon, right?? Meowstic also stands beside him, but she's a willowy little thing who is not exactly great at blocking the stairs. She's doing her best!! But she'd be more useful if she was using her psychic powers and Corbeau's already told her not to.]
I still don't understand. What happened that day?
[He exhales, frustrated, and tries again.]
...I thought it was the sort of thing we'd talk about in a day or so, after the adrenaline wore off and things were taken care of with our respective groups. I didn't think it was all that big a deal. I didn't know how to feel about it in the moment, and when you took off, I assumed you just needed some time to calm down.
Is that what drove you away? My reaction to it?
[Is he the reason why she left? Why she never got to see her parents again? Things were complicated with them, sure, but...]
no subject
Of all of the things that get her to hesitate, it's the genuine joy that Scolipede looks at her with that actually gets her to consider against it. Because somehow, harming a creature that's looking at her with such joy feels...cruel, almost.
Her shaking hasn't stopped, but Jacinthe finally speaks up after a moment, closing her eyes.]
Zut alors...yes. Fine! It was your reaction that drove me away that day, at least in part; knowing just how little the SBC as a whole actually respects me contributed to such a factor as well. But I let myself get consumed by a flight of fancy that I still do not understand to this day, and I have put it out of my mind for years because I had assumed it was fairly cut and dry! I am still terribly sorry for springing such a thing upon you, but answer me this much:
Are you aware that I cannot tell what you are thinking, Corbeau?
[Something in Jacinthe finally starts to actually anger at this, at the realization that. Oh, she's. Actually a lot madder about this than she thought--]
And do you know how demoralizing it is to have you have implied that I have been simply thinking too much, feeling as if I have been considered stupid for such a thing, only to have those events transpire with one of the few people who have shown me any sort of care without condition?
I am not considering myself entitled to you in the slightest, because I am not. You are your own man, and even though I have struggled with it, I am now my own woman, and...
[Maybe this much will get him to go away. Maybe this much will get him angry enough to fight back, and the bridge will fully burn away into nothing. Because she simply isn't good enough yet, not for him, not for anyone. All she wanted was to become strong, strong enough to surpass him so maybe he'd finally--]
...It was the motivation I needed, really. With nothing else to lose, what was stopping me from finally breaking out of the shell of some weak, delicate little damsel in need of protecting that you all see me as?