[Nebula isn't the only one who thinks, hopes, believes that she would have been able to handle those sorts of haunted shadows on her own, if need be. Hayame wanted to believe that, too. But... She could not be sure, and she would have to live with that.
And Nebula would have to live with her awkwardly, curtly, expressing her gratitude. Briefly acknowledging the debt now created between them before moving onwards.
To something... darker, perhaps, than most women would bring up over a free meal in a lovely cafe surrounded by citizens that admire and look to them for hope after the Harbinger Oracle trial had been broadcast across the city. But they are not most women, are they? This is what they have.
So Hayame listens, quietly, because she was the one who asked. She turns the phrases over in her own head, giving them the weight they deserved. And even though it was a far different life from the one she had led in the sense of... scale, of space... Eventually, she just nods. Having been automatically eating still, she does pause... Long enough to say,]
I see.
[She could end it there. Just acknowledgement, and nothing else, a question asked, then answered. But that does not feel fair, or right, somehow, and having once felt... so alone, in Meridian, thinking that no one else was in position to sympathize with her thoughts or where they came from... and insisting to herself that it would not matter, and if even if not a single other soul supported her she would simply force herself to carry on. Nebula did not deserve that, even if she might not choose to take what she offers.]
My stable master insisted on being called "Lord", though. Not "Father".
[Understanding.]
... And we were meant for the auction block once we finished our training and came of age, not a place at his side.
[A daughter of Thanos and a daughter of Armless breeding stock raised to be an overseer of her own kind sold to the highest bidder.]
no subject
And Nebula would have to live with her awkwardly, curtly, expressing her gratitude. Briefly acknowledging the debt now created between them before moving onwards.
To something... darker, perhaps, than most women would bring up over a free meal in a lovely cafe surrounded by citizens that admire and look to them for hope after the Harbinger Oracle trial had been broadcast across the city. But they are not most women, are they? This is what they have.
So Hayame listens, quietly, because she was the one who asked. She turns the phrases over in her own head, giving them the weight they deserved. And even though it was a far different life from the one she had led in the sense of... scale, of space... Eventually, she just nods. Having been automatically eating still, she does pause... Long enough to say,]
I see.
[She could end it there. Just acknowledgement, and nothing else, a question asked, then answered. But that does not feel fair, or right, somehow, and having once felt... so alone, in Meridian, thinking that no one else was in position to sympathize with her thoughts or where they came from... and insisting to herself that it would not matter, and if even if not a single other soul supported her she would simply force herself to carry on. Nebula did not deserve that, even if she might not choose to take what she offers.]
My stable master insisted on being called "Lord", though. Not "Father".
[Understanding.]
... And we were meant for the auction block once we finished our training and came of age, not a place at his side.
[A daughter of Thanos and a daughter of Armless breeding stock raised to be an overseer of her own kind sold to the highest bidder.]