you are such a soft and messy thing, nobody knows how to take care of you
The sensation of being tugged along by something that is water but also isn't water is very strange. Almost ticklish. It makes something similar to laughter and wonder combined fill up the shallow space in the bond they have open. She submits to it readily, trustingly, until it pulls her in at his side. There's a light in her eyes that promises she'll ask about that little trick later, but for now she's more concerned about his state of mind.
"Oh."
It comes out a little stupid, a little gobsmacked. She shouldn't be surprised. She shouldn't. She'd assumed they were together in a distinctly non-business sense, right? But Isla had just seemed so...content. Happy where she was. And Sunjata - not the type to hold his boundaries in the ways he really should. It's startling all around.
As he intertwines their fingers she leans her side into the rough wall instead, ignoring the scrape of it to meet his gaze more fully as she parses slowly through her own emotions to find a better response. "Maybe you did. It can be easy to, in those situations." They'd done it themselves in the early days, hadn't they? It's why she'd kissed him on his wedding day, why they'd suffered through his days with Maea. "Still, I'm proud of you for remaining firm to your feelings. Even if I'm sure it still hurt the both of you." And she may not know Isla, but she knows how badly it can sting to catch feelings and have them go unrequited, so she can say with certainty that neither of them had walked away okay from that goodbye. "But...why now?" Baffled by the suddenness of it all.
"Oh."
It comes out a little stupid, a little gobsmacked. She shouldn't be surprised. She shouldn't. She'd assumed they were together in a distinctly non-business sense, right? But Isla had just seemed so...content. Happy where she was. And Sunjata - not the type to hold his boundaries in the ways he really should. It's startling all around.
As he intertwines their fingers she leans her side into the rough wall instead, ignoring the scrape of it to meet his gaze more fully as she parses slowly through her own emotions to find a better response. "Maybe you did. It can be easy to, in those situations." They'd done it themselves in the early days, hadn't they? It's why she'd kissed him on his wedding day, why they'd suffered through his days with Maea. "Still, I'm proud of you for remaining firm to your feelings. Even if I'm sure it still hurt the both of you." And she may not know Isla, but she knows how badly it can sting to catch feelings and have them go unrequited, so she can say with certainty that neither of them had walked away okay from that goodbye. "But...why now?" Baffled by the suddenness of it all.
