If only what? Sasha’s brow knitted waiting for the other witch to expand on the statement but instead left it hanging between them. Rubbing her lips together she wrangled some self-control; she’d already overstepped once.
Sasha shook her head, “Uh no, I’m an only child. It’s always just been my dad and me. I use to want the comradery of a sibling when I was kid, but eventually the thoughts of having someone to compete with for his attention or, in general, being compared with isn’t something I find appealing.”
Pursed lips for a brief moment she tried to find a way to connect, “I mean I understand it though. Certain circles won’t even speak my father’s name out loud: the paragon of dark magic he is and then you have me. A music teacher who spends her day with kids pre-k through 8th grade. So I get it on some level.” A hint of a smile before she shared, “My father would tell me when I was trying to find my path-which seemed so far from his: Vsesvit prahne do rivnovahy u vsʹomu. The universe strives for balance in all things.” The words had eventually brought comfort over time.
She’d never really know, then, what it was like to actually being compared, in having to fight for the attention of a parent while an older sibling outshone you. Vinnie smile verged on sad, for a moment, before she lifted a shoulder a bit. “No one finds it appealing,” she confessed.
But, there were things that Sasha would understand--having a parent or family member in one bracket while you were crammed into another, not quite fitting in just right. It felt like she didn’t really belong, sometimes. Her mother reminded her often enough that she was the best of them both, but Vinnie couldn’t see it. The balance Sasha mentioned, it was there, if Mara was to be believed.
Vinnie was still undecided about it.
“My dad was the same way. I mean, about the dark magic. Even now, some people still recall him, though he’s been dead for twenty years. He made waves, supposedly.” Now her smile really was sad. “But I never really knew him and I don’t remember him, so I can’t say. I wish I could.”
She fiddled with her hands, pulling on her fingers, twisting a ring around. “Well, my path is as far from his path as can be. Andy’s walking right into his footsteps so...” The redhead trailed off, shrugging. She tried to muster up another smile. “I’ll go the opposite direction.”