Water is a mirror, reflecting our strengths and weaknesses, our hopes and fears.
Elizabeth is starting to get Iskra's humor, so she doesn't take his words personally, a mock offended expression mixing with her grin as she splashes him lightly with her free hand. Her teasing laughter only starts to die down when his words slow and a seriousness that's raw and tender.
Turning so that her chest is against the edge of the pool, she crosses her arms and rests her head so that she's looking at him sideways. Elizabeth doesn't diminish his experience or his desires, letting them float into the water around them like delicate bubbles that she adds her own to. A softness falls across her face, even as the words suggest humor or jokes, there's an honesty to them that suggests there might have once been wounds where the puckered skin now sits. "I didn't really have any other options. My parents say I'm too nosey to do anything else - not even a library would satisfy me. I have to be talking to people, interrogating them so I might find the secrets to the world." Stubborn, abrasive, and invasive. The words don't hurt like the used to, not now that she's taken time to find who she is.
Her legs swing lazily beneath the water, doing her best to make sure he doesn't see her profession in some rosy idealized light. "But it's not as glamorous as you might think. Not all patients are as willing to take advice or seek help. Some people see talking to me as a weakness or something to be embarrassed of." There have been plenty of times where people have turned away from her because they don't want others to think that they've stooped to such a level, or where people have pretended not to know her in public. It took time for those things not to sting, to let the compassion outweigh any selfish desire for recognition - not that she always succeeds in respecting those boundaries.
"And not everyone likes when my therapist side butts into regular conversations..." Her smile is a little more somber, a self-awareness that can occasionally dampen her personality. Because as much as she tries to separate the role from who she is, there's a reason she became a therapist, and she can't always help herself from investigating or offering assistance to those in need.
The moment breathes, silent in the steamy air as she gives the thoughts space before saying, "You know, there are other ways to help people and fight darkness without bloodshed. Healing others, training others, fueling others, inspiring others." She shrugs her shoulders, letting the warmth of her gaze fall to him again. "You just have to find what works for you."
Turning so that her chest is against the edge of the pool, she crosses her arms and rests her head so that she's looking at him sideways. Elizabeth doesn't diminish his experience or his desires, letting them float into the water around them like delicate bubbles that she adds her own to. A softness falls across her face, even as the words suggest humor or jokes, there's an honesty to them that suggests there might have once been wounds where the puckered skin now sits. "I didn't really have any other options. My parents say I'm too nosey to do anything else - not even a library would satisfy me. I have to be talking to people, interrogating them so I might find the secrets to the world." Stubborn, abrasive, and invasive. The words don't hurt like the used to, not now that she's taken time to find who she is.
Her legs swing lazily beneath the water, doing her best to make sure he doesn't see her profession in some rosy idealized light. "But it's not as glamorous as you might think. Not all patients are as willing to take advice or seek help. Some people see talking to me as a weakness or something to be embarrassed of." There have been plenty of times where people have turned away from her because they don't want others to think that they've stooped to such a level, or where people have pretended not to know her in public. It took time for those things not to sting, to let the compassion outweigh any selfish desire for recognition - not that she always succeeds in respecting those boundaries.
"And not everyone likes when my therapist side butts into regular conversations..." Her smile is a little more somber, a self-awareness that can occasionally dampen her personality. Because as much as she tries to separate the role from who she is, there's a reason she became a therapist, and she can't always help herself from investigating or offering assistance to those in need.
The moment breathes, silent in the steamy air as she gives the thoughts space before saying, "You know, there are other ways to help people and fight darkness without bloodshed. Healing others, training others, fueling others, inspiring others." She shrugs her shoulders, letting the warmth of her gaze fall to him again. "You just have to find what works for you."
Elizabeth
