Velocity flinched the second Nickel crossed her arms, then again when she closed the door and said that.
Velocity's lower lip trembled. She wanted so badly to just burst out with the truth, but when she opened her mouth all that came out at first was, "It's- I-" She fumbled for words, and each second she couldn't find them made that mixture of dread and fear and guilt pile up until she felt like it was going to throttle her vents, until her systems overheated and kept right on doing so. But she felt cold. So cold.
She took a step back from Nickel. "I'm sorry," she said. Her hand that held the comm unit dropped back down to her side. "It's- it's not fine. And that wasn't nice. I'm sorry, I-" There went her shoulders inching up again, and this time she couldn't make them stop. "Its not. I know. But it's not something I can talk about, either." Not to Nickel, who was so smart and confident and pretty and good at everything, and who had probably never failed and kept failing over and over again, until it finally boiled over.
Would there ever be any coming back from this last one? She wasn't sure.
She offered Nickel a wobbly smile, and she lied. Again. "I'll be okay."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-05-17 02:00 am (UTC)Velocity's lower lip trembled. She wanted so badly to just burst out with the truth, but when she opened her mouth all that came out at first was, "It's- I-" She fumbled for words, and each second she couldn't find them made that mixture of dread and fear and guilt pile up until she felt like it was going to throttle her vents, until her systems overheated and kept right on doing so. But she felt cold. So cold.
She took a step back from Nickel. "I'm sorry," she said. Her hand that held the comm unit dropped back down to her side. "It's- it's not fine. And that wasn't nice. I'm sorry, I-" There went her shoulders inching up again, and this time she couldn't make them stop. "Its not. I know. But it's not something I can talk about, either." Not to Nickel, who was so smart and confident and pretty and good at everything, and who had probably never failed and kept failing over and over again, until it finally boiled over.
Would there ever be any coming back from this last one? She wasn't sure.
She offered Nickel a wobbly smile, and she lied. Again. "I'll be okay."