There he was. Back to his old self for just a moment, in the briefest smile, and then it was gone again. You don’t know that. He was right, the bite behind that statement almost making him grimace, but he knew where Ara was coming from. This was heavy, he was young, it was all a very delicate subject. “Ara, it’s not a problem. I’m glad you came to me.” Everything was even, everything was calm, every word was as rational as he could be about all of this.
He could panic about it when Ara left, and he did indeed plan to.
“I agree completely, you’re the one who has to tell her.” Which felt controversial to say, Leighton had half a mind to offer to tell her if he really felt he couldn’t do it, but he doubted it would help. That’s not what this was, Ara wasn’t coming to him to ask him to fix things for him and he didn’t think he really felt comfortable involving himself in such a personal matter. No, Ara had to do this for himself, Lia deserved to hear it from him, this wasn’t something he was about to walk into the middle of. “It’ll be best coming from you. She might not appreciate it in the moment, but I think she’ll come around.”
It all felt too familiar, like some kind of deja vu that he’d rather not think about. Saying words he’d parrot to himself after he’d made his decisions. She’ll come around, yes he was always hoping someone would come around.
Now wasn’t the time to tell the other that he could sympathize with him over a broken family. Not when he was holding onto hope that this could still be fixed. At least between brother and sister, the pack was…He actually was more than a little disappointed in them. Lia needed help, she was one of them, why weren’t they helping her? “But you’re not on your own with this. Not this part at least.”
Ara’s logic made sense, not wanting to tell her until he could offer her a solution. It was some kind of curse, curses could be broken. “Good news is Corinth is certainly the right place to find someone to undo it.” Neither of the two of them had any means of doing so on their own, which meant they needed to bring someone else into this. It was his turn to sigh, reach to run his fingers through the front of his hair out of habit.
“Can I ask why they’re not helping her?” It almost sounded like a hesitant plea, he didn’t know if he wanted to know.
In his flawed, fucked up and self-sacrificing way, he tried to do what he thought was right. For the first time in his life now, he questioned if, perhaps, his acts of selflessness were, in reality, completely selfish? Even when trying to find penitence, he was burdening someone else. But, he was cooling down, the fire of dread he’d felt earlier had lowered to a small simmer in the pit of his stomach. Leighton was a friend, he should of known he’d react the way he did, “Thanks Leighton, I really appreciate it.” he rubbed the back of his neck, letting out a heavy sigh, releasing the breath he’d been holding, trying to relax at last.
Ara definitely had to be the one to tell her, he’d been the one who decided to keep her in the dark. The one who had been giving her the cold shoulder, it would only make sense that he told her that he was the one who ruined her life. “Yeah.” However, tempting it was to ask someone to do it for him, he knew it wasn’t right, and he might even loathe himself more should it ever come to that. “This is more than some petty sibling rivalry, as much as I want to agree with you Leighton,” he took a deep sigh, “I don’t think she’ll ever come around.” had he been in her position, he wouldn’t be able to forgive that.
There was a kindness in Leighton’s voice, a gentleness like the surface of water, a voice of one who laughed with ease and saw people under their behavior; a soul-connector. But Leighton was like the ocean, a calmness brushing like tides on the shore, and Ara couldn’t help but wonder what lurks beneath those waves. You’re not on your own. No, he supposed he wasn’t, not anymore. He offered a half-hearted smile towards his friend, rubbing the back of his neck, “You’re right; but I don’t even know where to begin...Corinth Bay is big. It’s like looking for a needle in a hay stack.”
A long time ago, the pack explained why they couldn’t find a cure for the curse laid on Lia, they weighed the pros and cons and decided it was a risk they couldn’t take. “It’s complicated --” he trailed off trying to figure out the right words. “-- It’s not that don’t want to help. Just the risk of Lia dying during the process is too great.” he let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t want Lia to die, but I think we have to at least try.”
Ara stood up, about ready to take his leave. He felt a little better, and he certainly didn’t want to burden Leighton even more than he had already. Leighton was a good friend, perhaps one of his best friends, suddenly looking forward for the next long hike they would undoubtedly take together again, “If I could, I would take the curse for her. It was mine in the first place, I just want her to be happy again.”