Winter shivers when Lily starts to speak again, enough that she knows her partner will feel it. She doesn't really care. "I know. I've... learned that lesson, already. I vividly remember how it felt." Her scar twinges, and a hand goes to her side, but she powers through. "I know now, that I can't just take all of that onto myself and hope for the best. It's... not okay if I'm the only one that doesn't make it out." It's progress; when they'd had this talk previously, Lily hadn't been able to pry that out of her. Slowly but surely, she's getting better about things.
"I don't want to leave you alone, or anyone else. Even as overprotective as I get, though, I know that I have another duty, too. Honestly, we get dealt a lot of bullshit sometimes, but- well. I'm getting used to it. I let Summer get under my skin sometimes, and I see red if something happens to you, but beyond that, I'm putting myself... maybe not first, but it's up there." She knows she's rambling a little, but she doesn't want to give herself time to be pretty about it. She'll use that as an excuse to leave things out, to weasel out of things. And Lily doesn't deserve that.
When she hears the reminder that they're on a team, though, she stills again. "I think some part of me hasn't really... acknowledged that, still. Intellectually, you're there, Jasmine is there, Rakka and Raye and Marina are there, and everyone else. But I don't really process it as a team. It's... I trust you with my life, Precure or not. That was true even before we were, well, us. Jasmine's a good friend that has my back. Before there was a team, it was just me, and sometimes Toushirou, or Bakura, or whoever else we had." It's been a long list, since then. People that fought the darkness, whenever it came to call. It always felt like it happened too often, as far as she's concerned.
"I talk like that because I have a responsibility to myself to take those burdens on, beyond everything else. But I also know that my precious friends will help me shoulder them, whatever happens. If I've got too much, someone will grab what I can't handle, and we'll make things happen together. We're a team on paper, but in my heart, the people around me are more than that. That's why I take things onto myself so often - I can share them, and everything works out."
She can't resist any longer, taking that half-step closer and wrapping her arms around Lily. She knows she's hard to live with, sometimes, but she wants to be someone that can be counted on, and if that means she has to work a little harder than is perhaps sane, so be it. She knows she has a safe place to land, and that gives her the strength to keep going.
"I'm sorry, Lily. I know how I can be, but I'm trying hard to change. I don't want to worry you or anyone else, and I sure as hell don't want to be in the hospital again. So... I'll keep working on it, and until I'm confident I can promise you that and mean it, I'm going to do my best to make it happen anyway." Pulling back a tiny bit, she reaches up to wipe tears away, smiling slightly. "So... please, don't cry? I'm not going anywhere. That, I can promise."
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"I don't want to leave you alone, or anyone else. Even as overprotective as I get, though, I know that I have another duty, too. Honestly, we get dealt a lot of bullshit sometimes, but- well. I'm getting used to it. I let Summer get under my skin sometimes, and I see red if something happens to you, but beyond that, I'm putting myself... maybe not first, but it's up there." She knows she's rambling a little, but she doesn't want to give herself time to be pretty about it. She'll use that as an excuse to leave things out, to weasel out of things. And Lily doesn't deserve that.
When she hears the reminder that they're on a team, though, she stills again. "I think some part of me hasn't really... acknowledged that, still. Intellectually, you're there, Jasmine is there, Rakka and Raye and Marina are there, and everyone else. But I don't really process it as a team. It's... I trust you with my life, Precure or not. That was true even before we were, well, us. Jasmine's a good friend that has my back. Before there was a team, it was just me, and sometimes Toushirou, or Bakura, or whoever else we had." It's been a long list, since then. People that fought the darkness, whenever it came to call. It always felt like it happened too often, as far as she's concerned.
"I talk like that because I have a responsibility to myself to take those burdens on, beyond everything else. But I also know that my precious friends will help me shoulder them, whatever happens. If I've got too much, someone will grab what I can't handle, and we'll make things happen together. We're a team on paper, but in my heart, the people around me are more than that. That's why I take things onto myself so often - I can share them, and everything works out."
She can't resist any longer, taking that half-step closer and wrapping her arms around Lily. She knows she's hard to live with, sometimes, but she wants to be someone that can be counted on, and if that means she has to work a little harder than is perhaps sane, so be it. She knows she has a safe place to land, and that gives her the strength to keep going.
"I'm sorry, Lily. I know how I can be, but I'm trying hard to change. I don't want to worry you or anyone else, and I sure as hell don't want to be in the hospital again. So... I'll keep working on it, and until I'm confident I can promise you that and mean it, I'm going to do my best to make it happen anyway." Pulling back a tiny bit, she reaches up to wipe tears away, smiling slightly. "So... please, don't cry? I'm not going anywhere. That, I can promise."