“Are you scared?” It is a question she should direct to herself. She smiles sympathetically, but it does not reach her emerald green eyes. Not at first, anyway. Slowly, it suffuses the hue with a certain brightness, like a faint flicker that pulses and then fades away. She brings her hands together, fingers intertwined in a particular shape before she bows her head, as if in prayer. “It’s okay to be, at times. With everything dark and dangerous beasts terrorizing people …. we can run away?”
Vanille has become too fond of that answer. She has suggested it to Hope when they first met, when things were so hard for him as just a young kid. She said the same to Sazh, too, when they were cornered like prey. But in the end …
She perks up, shaking her head of the uncertainty that fills her, reaching forward to grab the other’s hands, swaying them from side to side, as if they were friends from childhood, relishing in each other’s company. But they are strangers! From different worlds, no less!
“Or not! We don’t have to run. We can stand our ground … or help each other? Just know that you’re not alone. I’m scared, but I want to help.”
“Eᴠᴇɴ ɪғ I’ᴍ ᴀғʀᴀɪᴅ, ʀᴜɴɴɪɴɢ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ғʀᴏᴍ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ that’s everywhere won’t do me any good, will it?” Karen asks the question with the faintest tilt of her head, fingers trembling slightly as they clench. She’s afraid-- of course she’s afraid, she’s only so much of an idiot-- but she’s always been good at working around it. Through it. Whether to her benefit or detriment, it didn’t matter, so long as she wasn’t stopped by it. Her eyes trail over the shorter woman, and though she doesn’t quite catch the way her smile doesn’t reach her eyes, there are other things. Body language, verbal tremors. Little things, inconsequential things, that Karen usually uses to gauge weakness in opponents.
Funny how that translates, in a situation like this, huh?
Her hands squeeze hers back, her own smile lopsided, not exactly confident, but assured in herself and in her decisions. For the moment at least. Doubt was a difficult thing to shake entirely, no matter how much you kept pushing forward despite it. Karen’s hands turn, bringing the shorter woman’s hands together between hers, and her smile becomes a grin, reassuring and bright.
“...but it’s alright, if you’re afraid too, you know. Pretending for my sake isn’t good for you either..! In either case, don’t worry! I’m not sure what kind of animals these are, or how tough these beasts are, but...” But, but, but. “...I wouldn’t be much of a hero if I didn’t try my best to save everyone, right?”
