Leah falls silent, a few rogue, quiet tears following the trail down her cheek. She watches Tara for a moment before her gaze eventually turns to the coffee table, hand remaining on Tara's back as a few sniffles slip out. The response doesn't surprise her. It's practically expected. Whatever it was that happened, Leah wasn't there for it. How could her words possibly carry any weight? She sucks in her lips, gaze remaining fixed to
#Leah'sHouse – February 14, 2021
the coffee table, Christmas lights dancing off of it in the otherwise dark room as they change colors every few seconds. "My friend-..." she eventually cuts through the silence, her eyes flutter and she gives a small shake of her head, sigh slipping out. "...The reason I was on Omega in the first place. Damien...?" she hazards a glance Tara's way, unsure of what she knows. While Tara was a great springboard for her to bounce
ideas off of during her time on Omega hunting Cerberus, what exactly happened to the man that caused her to launch her crusade was avoided like the plague. Still, Tara is a smart girl. Between Leah's many rambles on Omega, calls with Adam and Halisi, and their conversation after the wedding, it's not unlikely that she could've pieced some of it together. "He didn't just-... die, Tara. I-..." she stammers, her gaze
falling back to the table. "...It was my fault." The admission comes quieter and heavier than intended.
Tara 's frown changes nature, softer as her attention returns to Leah, but there's no surprise in her face, and she nods faintly. "The angry man... Adam. He said so. It's... true?" she asks quietly. There's no trace of accusation in her voice, just worry for Leah. Her reactions whenever Damien has been brought up certainly haven't been lost on her.
Leah hesitates answering. The question alone prompting her to swallow at the lump in her throat. She blinks her eyes closed as she reluctantly nods, a few more tears defying her wishes and slipping free as she does. But she's quick to reign it in with a heavy sniffle, blinking away the wetness from her eyelashes. "And-..." she sniffles again, still avoiding Tara's gaze as she focuses on the well-used, beat up old coffee table.
"Everyone keeps telling me that it wasn't my fault, that I-..." she bites down, reigning herself in with a breath before her words can get away from her. This isn't about her and the details don't matter. No, that's just not true. The details matter more than anything else. The helplessness of being under Cerberus' thumb as everything crumbled around her. The tightness in her chest in Damien's final moments. That sickening
sound that will haunt her for the rest of her life. The truth is, she just doesn't want to talk about it. She wants to block it out. Hide it from the world. The thought alone causes her to reach up and rub at her eye. A reflexive motion that she tries to mask by wiping her tears away. The scar has healed, relegated to little more than a line of lighter skin that would go unnoticed by most people. But she sees it everytime she
looks in the mirror. "...I know that they mean well. I do." she assures, a hint of a small, sad smile threatening to breach the surface of her features, though it never fully materializes, crushed under its own weight. "But-..." she swallows, offering a small shrug of her shoulders as she continues to stare at the knicked up old coffee table. Through the coffee table. "...But they just weren't there..." They didn't see the
life leave his body. She seems to realize that she's turned a bit distant and she conjures up a little more energy by drawing in a deep breath and tearing her big green eyes from the table, finally looking back to Tara. "And... now I'm doing the same thing to you." Her words are soft. Quiet. "I'm sorry, Tara. Sorry that you had to go through all of that. Sorry that I-..." she swallows, trailing off with a small shake of her
Tara is listening closely, gaze fixed on Leah's face, studying the messy emotions spilling out. The tears are clearly getting to her, and she swallows, frown deepening a little, but she remains silent. The final words make her gaze fall, and she seems unsure how to respond. She's still struggling when Zoe stirs to life. The gzzk fidgets in her lap, making her shift her arms to let it go.
Zoe goes right for Leah, the small creature stretching up as tall as it can and pawing at her shoulder with a worried whine.
Leah's green eyes fall to the blue furball that approaches. Even in her current state she's unable to keep a small, tired smile from cropping up as it shows its concern, a sniffled, quiet snort slipping out. Both of her hands turn to the creature, cupping its small face in her palms as she dips her forehead down to nuzzle with it, thumbs gently stroking its fur. But the smile- heavy as it is- is short lived. Soon enough a deep
sigh emanates from her chest and her eyes slip closed as she wishes she had the right words to steal away Tara's pain. Unfortunately, try as you might, there's some things that words just can't fix. But maybe that's okay. Maybe just putting it out there, letting someone else share that burden with you, is enough. "It sounds like Zoe was a good friend..." she says, eyes turning to Tara once more as something Halisi said
fills her thoughts. About Damien. "And I'm sure she would be happy to know that you're safe now. That you're loved. That you won't forget her." She emphasizes her last point by briefly dipping her head down and planting a peck against the top of the gzzk's head. She forces a heavy smile into place as she looks back to Tara. "She would want you to be happy." You don't honor those you've lost by allowing their memory to
become a burden. That's what Halisi was trying to tell her. "I think-... umm-..." she blinks hard to fight back the threat of another round of tears, "...I think that's what Damien would want, too. I think we owe it to them to live the best lives that we can."
Tara watches Leah and the gzzk, a bit of wetness in her own eyes, but she keeps the tears at bay this time, even echoing the short-lived smile for a moment. As Leah speaks she sucks in her lips a little, looking past her as she listens. She draws in a long, slightly shaky breath, and nods, before meeting Leah's gaze again. She nods again, firmer this time, in lieu of words that she can't quite find. It's not hard to tell that Leah's
Zoe gives Leah's cheek a lick before settling into her lap, fluffy blue tail sweeping slowly back and forth.
Leah returns the nod with one of her own. A silent promise to each other as much as those lost that they'll keep going. Keep their memories alive. She suddenly scrunches up her nose, gaze leaving Tara as Zoe licks her cheek, causing a small smile to make a reappearance. Another sniffle slips out as she idly strokes the blue creature's fur once Zoe has settled down. It's obvious there's a lot on her mind, but she does her best to
push those nagging thoughts aside. The ones that keep replaying Damien's last moments over and over in her head. The ones that remind her of everything Tara must have gone through. Everything those evil, cruel people put her through. "I'm glad that you're here, Tara." she says as her green eyes flick back to the girl beside her, the sincerity heavy in her voice.
Tara briefly gains a faint shadow of a smile, but it falls away as quickly as it appeared. Still, she nods once more, and her eyebrows furrow as she tries to get herself to speak. "I-... me too." she says, just as honestly. If there's one thing she knows, it's that coming here is the best thing that's ever happened to her. Her gaze falls to the gzzk, and she reaches out to scratch behind its ear, receiving a quiet, pleased purr in
response. "...I wish Zoe could be here too." she admits, voice breaking a little, closing her eyes hard, face twisting as she finds herself crying after all. She sucks in her lips, tasting the salt. There's a long sniffle before she adds "She would have liked it here." in a choked half-whisper, a sad smile competing with the grimace on her face even as the tears keep rolling. She can't seem to bring herself to meet Leah's gaze
Leah's frown slowly returns as Tara's emotions get the best of her. "...Me too, sweetheart." she agrees with Tara's initial comment about Zoe, her own voice quiet in the face of heavy emotions. The sound of Tara's voice breaking cuts right through her, bringing the glassiness right back to her green eyes. Reaching out, she wordlessly brings an arm around Tara's shoulders, urging her in close for a sidehug since she can't exactly
Tara only needs the slightest of nudging before she leans against Leah, curling up into a ball as she buries her face against her shoulder. She tries to rein her tears in to no avail, a small shake accompanying each muffled sob.
Leah gently strokes Tara's shoulder with one hand, her other idly petting Zoe. With a heavy sniffle, she leans her head against the top of Tara's. "It's okay, sweetheart. I'm right here." she says, doing her best to let Tara know that it's okay to let it all out. "I'm not going anywhere."