xp_logs | log: Sharon & Liam make up

xp_liono posting in

Sharon apologizes in person. No more cat fights.

Sharon had decided to be human for this occasion. People seemed to take it better, and she hadn't shown him this shape since he'd thrown her into the pool. It had been safer. Human form sorely lacked in the areas of fight or flight.

Additionally, after their last encounter showing up in any other form would have been the equivalent of asking for a good-faith conversation while meaningfully stroking the grip of the handgun shoved in your waistband. His slightly restricted movements revealed he had not made out well.

"Kitten. We will talk?"

"We will?" Liam asked, tone frosty as he set his pen down on his notebook. He raised an eyebrow, this was all on her. He didn't really have anything to say right now

The older girl nodded. "We will. Kitten is owed an apology."

That was true. Closing his homework and marking his place, he gestured for her to join him at the table. The other side of the table.

Sharon took her seat on the opposite side of the table, her clawed hands gathered neatly in her lap. Her tail hung over the side of the chair to creep around one leg.

"Sooraya came to speak with me because I am having behavioral issues. She says I am upset by things which cannot easily be quantified or dealt with, and so this is being taken out on others instead. Her words have been considered. Is accurate, I think."

"Ya think?" Liam retorted, managing somehow to not roll his eyes. "You've been horrible to everyone," and sometimes extra horrible. He'd actually discussed it with his new therapist, who had explained that it likely meant that Sharon was dealing with her own stressors, but that didn't really make it better. His body still hurt.

"Yes. Is why I am here to apologize." Despite Liam's clear aggravation Sharon remained unruffled. Now that Sooraya had explained matters in a way Sharon found logical she felt secure in her approach. Somehow just identifying the source of her feelings had made her feel calmer. The crying had probably helped, too.

"I should not have attacked," Sharon continued. "Is true I sensed you approached with intent, but was no need to fight when avenues of escape were open to me. Is only that I was angry still about the pool. At other things, also. Your injuries were not deserved."

"You deserved the pool. Twice," Liam responded, glad to hear that she was acknowledging where she went wrong. "You hurt the people who care about you and that's not okay. Just because we'll forgive you doesn't mean we'll forget it, either."

"Is understood. This is only just." Here Sharon's tail flicked with a hint of uncertainty. "Several steps were suggested by Sooraya. Counseling and special classes, these are some. Is under consideration. But apologies to yourself and husband, these were non-negotiable. Cessation of hostilities with Hope also. There is logic to this. These terms I have agreed to."

"What hostilities with Hope?" Liam's eyes were slits, ears twitching, "What'd you do to her?" he hadn't heard anything about stuff with Hope, though he knew Sharon wasn't a fan. Or hadn't been, he thought she'd calmed down with that. Maybe not.

"I speak of the hostilities within my own head," Sharon replied. The incident with the shell was not Liam's business. Even Sooraya had not been able to convince her to apologize to Hope face-to-face, but Sharon flatly refused to do so when the alleged victim had no idea there had actually been a theft. She had compromised by leaving a note of acknowledgement with the shell upon its return. It had said only "This is yours," but it was still a kind of acknowledgement.

A skeptical eyebrow rose, but Liam didn't press. "I started seeing a counselor. Well. A therapist. Because of what happened in District X. You will probably hate it, but it'll help," he hated it.

"Is maybe." Her tone implied but probably not. Sharon couldn't imagine anything she wanted less than struggling to make herself understood to yet another stranger. That was already the vast majority of her life. Her teeth worried against her lip. "But next time I become angry I am first to speak with Sooraya," she continued. "Together we shall determine if anger is appropriate. Now is clear at such times my judgement is compromised."

"That's a good idea. You should always sit with it for a minute and see if you're hungry or tired or something, too. The snickers commercials are funny, but also true," Liam's voice now was gentler, not as short as before and his shoulders relaxed some.

"This I shall try. Is unpleasant, feeling so unsettled always." Sharon felt her own body relax in response to Liam's. Relieved at the lightening of atmosphere, the older girl leaned over the table and rested her cheek against one crossed forearm. She gazed up at her friend from beneath the unruly strands of purple hair that had fallen across her eyes.

"Forgiveness is not expected, but we are in accord, maybe? Civil relations may recommence?"

"Yeah, yeah," Liam agreed. He was never one to really hold a grudge, even if he possibly should. Sharon was his friend and she was going through stuff too, so he should forgive her. "We're still friends and all that."

"I am glad of this," she said. The corners of Sharon's mouth turned up a fraction in the closest thing to a smile it felt natural for her to display, although her tail gave a playful flick. "After all, you lost to me so badly."

Meeting her eyes, Liam very deliberately flipped her the bird, then slid out a single claw.