[SE] i wanna be your last first kiss

All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life

As she listened, Soh's hand drifted to Zavien's knee, tracing idle, swirling patterns meant to offer the same support he'd shown her, should he need it. Fortunately, his story wasn't quite the same as hers. Though his mother's murder was tragic, it sounded like he'd had the community she'd sorely lacked. It was one of the things she'd always appreciated about Stormbreak. In the Grounds, most people had seemed like they were only interested in fending for themselves. But in Stormbreak, she'd seen how neighbors looked after one another. The city had had its flaws, of course, but that willingness to help had never faltered, not until its dying breath.

What surprised her the most was the lack of bitterness in Zavien. At least her parents had died of natural causes, but to have the most important person in one's life murdered? She wasn't sure she'd have survived it. She could hear the shadows in his voice that spoke of a pain that lingered, but he didn't even seem angry. Just... resigned.

It struck Soh that her story might have ended the same way as Zavien's mother's, if she hadn't gotten lucky when she'd been assaulted in the Silk Houses. She'd never quite been able to love the area as much as the rest of Stormbreak after that, but if Zavien had grown up there... well, maybe it hadn't been as bad as she'd imagined. it certainly had at least one redeeming quality, at least.

But the mood lightened as he joked about Erika, inviting Soh to join in. "I mean, no offense, but can you blame her?" she asked, silent laughter in her voice as she teased Zavien. "I've seen what you keep in your pantry, remember?" Then, as she ran over the details of his story in her mind, she sobered. "Thank you for telling me. You're very strong, to have made it through that and still be so positive."

Got a feelin' your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life