[ Yes, she responds, automatically, in her head, followed closely by Gotta be and Always am. But those feel like dodges, regardless of how true they might actually be. Yes, she's going to be alright, and yes, she and everyone else has to be. Claire wants to offer him a little more honesty than that. ]
I think so. [ Is the most genuine reply she can offer him. Because she does think so, and she always is, in the end, regardless of how long it takes her to get there. For as much as she's complained about her life and what's happened in it, the unfairness of it all, Claire is proud of what it's made her. Resilient. Strong. A fighter. She's thankful for that much. ] It would be helpful if we weren't voting on how to deal with another threat on top of all of this. And if I could walk into a room by myself without feeling like the room actually hates me.
[ The honest answer is what he's hoping for, anyway, of course. He's not sure he'd believe her if she said any of those other options, and the fact that she manages I think so makes him feel more confident that she actually will be okay. ]
The voting is interesting, isn't it. [ Mild. Severus thinks it's progress, but doesn't have much faith in it. ] What do you mean, the room actually hates you?
I think regardless of what we do, we're going to end up in trouble. We don't know enough about what they're capable of or what they've got in their arsenal to be the aggressors. We can't just sit back and do nothing. Rock and a hard place.
[ Claire shrugs one shoulder and flattens her mouth out into a thin line. Her voice is about as mild as his, her faith lacking as well. After a while on this ship, expecting the worst to happen is just second nature. ]
The room stuff, it's not - you know when you walk into a room full of people and you can just tell by the way the air is that they were just talking trash about you? When I'm alone, it's like I just walked into that room. Only no one is in the room and it's not so much like people were talking about me behind my back as much as it is they're really, really pissed at me. I don't know if it's like that for everyone else.
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[ So, you know. It's fine even if she keeps trodding on him, probably. ]
.. Are you going to be all right?
[ Slowly approached, but blunt. She knows he's not good at gentle emotional diplomacy. Might as well get it out point-blank. ]
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I think so. [ Is the most genuine reply she can offer him. Because she does think so, and she always is, in the end, regardless of how long it takes her to get there. For as much as she's complained about her life and what's happened in it, the unfairness of it all, Claire is proud of what it's made her. Resilient. Strong. A fighter. She's thankful for that much. ] It would be helpful if we weren't voting on how to deal with another threat on top of all of this. And if I could walk into a room by myself without feeling like the room actually hates me.
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The voting is interesting, isn't it. [ Mild. Severus thinks it's progress, but doesn't have much faith in it. ] What do you mean, the room actually hates you?
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[ Claire shrugs one shoulder and flattens her mouth out into a thin line. Her voice is about as mild as his, her faith lacking as well. After a while on this ship, expecting the worst to happen is just second nature. ]
The room stuff, it's not - you know when you walk into a room full of people and you can just tell by the way the air is that they were just talking trash about you? When I'm alone, it's like I just walked into that room. Only no one is in the room and it's not so much like people were talking about me behind my back as much as it is they're really, really pissed at me. I don't know if it's like that for everyone else.