bitteraftertaste | ten ♥ video

[Vesper's sitting on a couch in her room - which, for anyone who hasn't seen it, is a very swanky hotel room, which looks somewhere between lived in and waiting for the next guest to come visit, because she's a bit of a neat freak - and looks a little contemplative, like she finds the idea of talking about this to everyone a little ridiculous, which... she does, really.]

When I was about seven, my parents bought me a cat. She was just a cat, nothing special, but she was my closest friend up until she passed away while I was at university.

Maybe that's a bit pathetic. [There's... a lot more to this story than she's letting on, but she's certainly not someone who 1. enjoys revisiting some of the crappier things about her life or 2. feels like sharing much about herself with anyone, so that's a story that's better saved for a truth flood.

Or not at all, really, but we all know how this place works.] But I seriously doubt I'm the only one here who's ever felt like a pet understands them better than most people do. She always seemed to know when I wasn't feeling particularly well, and maybe that's just her wanting something warm to sit with, but I still appreciated having some company when I was feeling low.

Anyway, [Her smile isn't really self-depreciating, but she definitely looks like she thinks it's a little silly that she's telling you all this.] I suppose I was just feeling nostalgic. So if anyone else has any pet stories they feel up to sharing, I certainly wouldn't mind listening.

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[She snuggles closer, not really sure how to answer. Neither one of them could change what had happened, and right now, she isn't particularly interested in doing much other than staying right here, turning over the memories in the safety brought on by distance and time, and bundling them back up again in a place where they couldn't hurt her.]

Not much more than you're already doing, I'm afraid. [She does manage an affectionate smile for him.] But for the record, I really do appreciate this.

[He thinks she's dealt with it better than he has. It may still be there, a painful bundle of memories she can't erase, but she's moved on from it better than he did. James settles his other hand on the arm around his waist; he's never been overly tactile, but he wants to protect her. The best shield is another person - and he knows she's a terrible shield.]

Suppose it would have been simpler to just get you a cat. [But there's a quirk to his lips, and a faint tease in his voice. He can't bring himself to say 'I love you' again, not quite yet.]

[She knows. It's more or less why she's hesitated in saying it again, because she doesn't want to put pressure on him, or make it seems as if she expects this to go anywhere. She knows she lost the right to expect things of him when she lied and after she killed herself, so she doesn't want to make it seem like she's putting pressure on him.

This is alright though, and she lets out a gentle laugh at the comment.]

You're not allergic or anything, are you?

Doubt it. Never kept one. [He toys idly with the fabric of her dress, silent for half a moment before adding, almost without realizing,] We had dogs when I was a boy. Can't remember any sneezing fits.

[It's strange, sharing these facts with each other. She'd known almost within seconds of meeting him that their pasts weren't something they'd be discussing, even if they weren't two professionals on assignment and nothing more (ha), and so that's more than she's ever been told about his childhood before. She's not quite sure what to make of it.]

I suppose it could just live here, even if there was. One of the benefit of having two rooms.

[Accept it, but ask nothing, probably; that would be best. Then he won't have to avoid answering.]

You're seriously considering it? [what has he done.]

I might be. [Hey, this is also Cassel's fault. And Vesper's. And lots of people's.]

[Just have a terribly comical groan.

That's it. Just a groan.

But he's not outright asking her not to, so maybe if it stays in her room he could bear it.

Maybe.]

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