[ voice/action ] please not now

[xelhes]

[It takes Fenimore some time to reach for her journal after they find Shirley missing. But, eventually, she drags herself over and opens it. It's no small matter for Shirley to have made friends in Luceti -- the girl had spent her first fifteen years friendless. She can't just leave that alone. But, even once she opens it, there's silence for a

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[swordsandfans]

[Having heard the message earlier, Sokka was going to reply. But... the message ended. So later, when heading north to the village, he does notice someone by the bridge. Someone who looks like Shirley. But... not Shirley, right?

Standing higher on the slope, he speaks up:]

Hey.

[blessingone]

[She looks up. Oh, it's Su--no, wait. Sokka.

--Drat. Someone who knows Shirley. She should tell him that she's not Shirley, but...awkward.] ...Hey.

[swordsandfans]

[Coming down there to sit down.]

... Fenimore, right?

[blessingone]

--Huh? [She knows that she doesn't act much -- or anything -- like Shirley, but how did he so quickly...?]

Oh. You heard, didn't you?

[swordsandfans]

Yeah. It made the message... kind of weird.

[people don't generally announce going home for themselves.]

[blessingone]

That wasn't my fault. [A grumpy Shirley is an unusual sight.]

[swordsandfans]

[Until now, these faces seemed impossible to him.] I wasn't saying it was! But... sorry. I'll miss her too.

[blessingone]

...It's okay. She's better off at home, anyway. [Though the way that she lets her chin flop down to her knees suggests that she still feels bad about it.]

[swordsandfans]

Yeah, probably. [He doesn't exactly know, but taking her word for it.] A lot of my friends have been sent home.... it sucks, being the one who always stays.

[blessingone]

[She actually doesn't know either, since Shirley was in pretty big danger, but she found out that Shirley at least got past that part.] It feels selfish, thinking like that. ...I don't mean for you -- that's not what I'm talking about. It's just -- with everything Shirley did for me, I should be okay with her...going on ahead for once.

[swordsandfans]

It's not selfish. That's just how it is around here. [He picks up a rock and tosses it at the river. It bounces along the slushy ice on the outer edge.]

[blessingone]

[She watches the rock in silence for a moment.] ...You know, if I had known, back when I first arrived here, that I would be upset when someone got out, I would have been really angry with myself. I would have said that I was getting complacent. [And maybe I am.]

[swordsandfans]

[He lets out a small laugh.] I was positive I was going to be the one to get everyone out of here. After all, we'd done so much already, how bad could this place be?

1/2

[blessingone]

[That briefly gets a small smile out of her -- not big at all, but a smile.] I hadn't thought that I'd find a problem too big for Senel or Walter -- at least, one with a face they could punch.

[blessingone]

[Then the smile fades.] Though, maybe I haven't. They got out.

[swordsandfans]

If they were able to get out of here by punching someone's face, I'd be long gone by now. [Okay, not exactly encouraging, but Sokka had to stand up for himself.]