( Red blinks a bit at the touch - her gaze drops to Hermione's hand and then back up to her face. Her own hand slides over hers, and she gives it a squeeze, and yes. She bites down on her lower lip with a little laugh. )
Can't someone be kind and cynical? But woah, hold up. You think I'm cool? ( Being the hall monitor of Purgatory High made her a lot of things, but cool? )
...the coolest? Well, shit, that is high praise. There's like very cool people rolling around in our group, and you can do magic, which is actually seriously amazing.
( She's amazed any time she does magic, and it has so many different things it can do, which makes it both versatile and wonderful. )
Yeah, that's essentially me. I guess. ( She wrinkles her nose a bit. Cynical of the world, kind to its... people? That's new. Granted, she never gave herself the opportunity to be kind before in the Underworld. )
Ha - me? I'm definitely not cool, I'm a disaster! Do you know how many times I've been flapping in the backgroun with this group, while others were actually solving mysteries?
[It's the trouble with having too many Hermione Granger-types in the group, eventually they overpower each other. And the real slim shady Hermione takes the lead better than she assumes leadership roles. She's a great back-up!]
I'm sorry I couldn't offer better advice, Red. I'm afraid that this is a situation that could be described as either 'a pickle' or 'utterly shitty'.
You are incredibly cool, Hermione, so we'll have to agree to disagree on that. You're magical. You're smart, brave, witty, persistent - you stole some fuckin' books for the greater good.
( And she one hundred percent believes that, but there's a pause after a moment at the rest of what she says. She shakes her head. )
No, I don't know that there's advice for something like that, but it was good to... talk about it, to not let it get all trapped in here, and- Fuckin' hate you know what it's like but it was good to be... understood? Shit. I don't know. ( She swallows, still holding on to her from... up close. ) Uhm, but if you need advice or just want to rant about anything, I'm here too. For you.
[ She's burning up now, faced with so much praise and admiration that she's not so sure she deserves. Red hasn't met her at her lowest. She's still not sure she's been at her lowest, though she's been at pretty low points in this world. It would be an insult to her friend to brush the praise off, even if that's what she wants to do.
It would also be hypocritical, because she'd like Red to take her praise as well.
There's nothing for her to ramble about right away, as far as Hermione can think of. Her mind draws a blank, focus divided between the proximity, the pretty freckles across Red's nose, and the fact that they're still holding.
For someone who likes affectionate touch as much as Hermione does, she sure get starry-eyed when she actually gets it. ]
It does help to be understood, yes. And seen. [ There's a tentative smile here. ] Alright, um...how about, before we devour more cannoli than we're probably meant to - do you want a hug?
( Red smiles softly when she sees the flush on Hermione's face. She wonders if she gets told these things often enough - clearly not, not as much as she should anyway. Her head ducks a bit herself as if she too realizes that they're still holding hands at the moment.
Then she nods. It helps a lot. Being buried under blankets in her room, it was a lot of being swallowed by her emotions. Her chest still aches with it (this tangled knot of contradictions that she is, the reality that she was made for certain things and she never should have left the Underworld - no matter how much she wanted to), but it's lighter in Hermione's presence. It feels like maybe it's okay to want - all the things she wants.
She lifts her head again to meet her gaze. )
Yeah. I do. You give really good hugs - don't know if that's like a fuckin' skill, but I'm saying it's one.
( So it's good that was her first ever experience with one, but Red lifts her hand up to wrap both her arms around Hermione instead, pulling her in close and tight. Her eyes burn a little but in the good way. There's the comforting candlelight of her soul, her aura - that flicker of self doubt she'd like to wipe away. )
[Then it must be one, for it has been declared thusly. She doesn't bite back the smug look, because yes she will preen over the fact that her hugs are 'really good'.
She does, however, deliver on her offer immediately. As soon as Red holds her arms out, Hermione hugs her. It's a bear hug, tight but careful, and caring. If she could take some of the burdens off of Red's shoulders with the hug, she would. She's trying.
And if there's tears in either of their eyes, well, who's going to tell? Grace Three isn't even around to judge them.
She lets it linger, lets it feed her need for affection, for a while.]
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Can't someone be kind and cynical? But woah, hold up. You think I'm cool? ( Being the hall monitor of Purgatory High made her a lot of things, but cool? )
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Definitely - quite possibly the coolest person I know here. [Still holding hands, she leans in and whispers as a conspiratorial secret:]
And you can be cynical of the world and kind to its people, I've seen it happen.
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( She's amazed any time she does magic, and it has so many different things it can do, which makes it both versatile and wonderful. )
Yeah, that's essentially me. I guess. ( She wrinkles her nose a bit. Cynical of the world, kind to its... people? That's new. Granted, she never gave herself the opportunity to be kind before in the Underworld. )
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[It's the trouble with having too many Hermione Granger-types in the group, eventually they overpower each other. And the real
slim shadyHermione takes the lead better than she assumes leadership roles. She's a great back-up!]I'm sorry I couldn't offer better advice, Red. I'm afraid that this is a situation that could be described as either 'a pickle' or 'utterly shitty'.
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( And she one hundred percent believes that, but there's a pause after a moment at the rest of what she says. She shakes her head. )
No, I don't know that there's advice for something like that, but it was good to... talk about it, to not let it get all trapped in here, and- Fuckin' hate you know what it's like but it was good to be... understood? Shit. I don't know. ( She swallows, still holding on to her from... up close. ) Uhm, but if you need advice or just want to rant about anything, I'm here too. For you.
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It would also be hypocritical, because she'd like Red to take her praise as well.
There's nothing for her to ramble about right away, as far as Hermione can think of. Her mind draws a blank, focus divided between the proximity, the pretty freckles across Red's nose, and the fact that they're still holding.
For someone who likes affectionate touch as much as Hermione does, she sure get starry-eyed when she actually gets it. ]
It does help to be understood, yes. And seen. [ There's a tentative smile here. ] Alright, um...how about, before we devour more cannoli than we're probably meant to - do you want a hug?
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Then she nods. It helps a lot. Being buried under blankets in her room, it was a lot of being swallowed by her emotions. Her chest still aches with it (this tangled knot of contradictions that she is, the reality that she was made for certain things and she never should have left the Underworld - no matter how much she wanted to), but it's lighter in Hermione's presence. It feels like maybe it's okay to want - all the things she wants.
She lifts her head again to meet her gaze. )
Yeah. I do. You give really good hugs - don't know if that's like a fuckin' skill, but I'm saying it's one.
( So it's good that was her first ever experience with one, but Red lifts her hand up to wrap both her arms around Hermione instead, pulling her in close and tight. Her eyes burn a little but in the good way. There's the comforting candlelight of her soul, her aura - that flicker of self doubt she'd like to wipe away. )
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She does, however, deliver on her offer immediately. As soon as Red holds her arms out, Hermione hugs her. It's a bear hug, tight but careful, and caring. If she could take some of the burdens off of Red's shoulders with the hug, she would. She's trying.
And if there's tears in either of their eyes, well, who's going to tell? Grace Three isn't even around to judge them.
She lets it linger, lets it feed her need for affection, for a while.]