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[ukan]

This is Lark Tennant, leave a message.

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[ukan]

For a moment he doesn't answer, just watches. He knows. And he isn't prying, just waiting to see if she pushes him further away.

"You're right. And I'm sorry if I've made you feel cornered. I don't want anything you don't want me to know, Anita."

But he is beginning to understand anyway.

[the_executioner]

They end up waiting each other out. It's good that Lark says something first, because she'd have sat there, until she'd worked herself into a good, cold rage.

But he backs off. Apologizes. And that cools her off enough.

"I don't need fixing, Lark." She says it carefully.

[ukan]

A soft sound, almost a chuckle. "If I've given you the impression that I think you need fixing, I'm doing something very wrong. I consider you a friend, not a project."

[the_executioner]

"Good. Just so we don't have any misunderstanding."

And that's the second person who's said they consider her a friend. It's a lot, and it feels too fast.

"I don't make friends this quickly. It's hard to trust it. Especially given everything. Just... give me time."

She says it, because she does like Lark. He's been the most honest person here, and he's trying to shoot straight with her. That at least deserves a little leeway.

[ukan]

"I understand." He really, really does. "I wasn't a different person when I got here. But I didn't have friends. I didn't make them; I made allies. I made pawns. Like an asshole." A small smirk. "Over time I learned to trust my gut a little more. I still suspect most people are opportunists, but around here- it's different. At home, people instinctively fear me or hate me. Or both. So here, it's easier for me to give people the benefit of the doubt."

A pause, a frown. "Which doesn't mean my experience is universal. And I don't expect it to be."