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It was nearly a year since the breakup and Tallulah was over it. She shrugged off Selena's sympathy, not meaning to be flippant but simply trying to indicate that it wasn't even worth worrying about. "It did at the time?" she said, still pretty passive about the whole thing. "But it was seriously almost a year ago. And how many people wind up with their high school boyfriends, seriously. It was going to happen sooner or later."

All the better that she'd gotten the heartbreak out of the way. Maybe it was the result of growing up with parents who'd each been divorced at least once, but Tallulah was pretty sure the relationship hadn't been meant to go the distance - at least in retrospect. She couldn't properly recall how she'd felt at the time. The breakup had been more embarrassing than tragic, in all honesty.

The silence that followed was just as awkward for Tallulah as it was for Selena, however. The girl realized that she'd pushed too far and made her friend clam up. Only Selena knew how long it had been since she'd henshined up, although Tallulah was willing to bet that Sailor Eos hadn't made an appearance since her departure from Destiny City nearly two years prior.

"We don't have to talk about this now," she conceded, reaching for a napkin. But they did have to talk about it eventually, because if Sailor Eos was back in Destiny City, it meant that sooner or later Sailor Eos would be dragged back into the fight. And Tallulah wanted her to be prepared for when that happened, because the battlefield had changed and she wasn't willing to send one of her allies - team's defunctness notwithstanding - marching off to war unprepared.

This conversation had to happen sooner or later, but that didn't mean it had to happen here and that hadn't been what Tallulah was aiming for. She slouched over her coffee cup and lowered her voice. "This isn't really a good place to get you up to speed," she said quietly, feeling a bit like a spy.

"Things have... escalated," she said, keeping it delicate. "I'm not working with all the same people I was when I left, but I think they're all mostly okay. Some of them had the same idea as you, skipped town-" Still vague. You never knew who might be listening in a public place like this. She'd wouldn't go as far as to describe herself as paranoid, but certainly 'careful' fit the bill.

"I can brief you on everything, but not here," she explained. She needed time to make a powerpoint presentation, maybe cobble together a cork board for old time's sake! "I'm living in an apartment building near the DCU campus right now. One roommate, but she's a confirmed muggle. You should come over a few nights from now. We can order a pizza and go over everything in detail, okay?"

Hopefully that was what Selena had been getting at.

Tallulah's face fell, visions of powerpoints and joyful reunions crashing to a halt. She'd gone too far, said too much too fast - misinterpreted Selena's politeness for genuine interest. "Right," she said, swallowing. Her mouth suddenly tasted acrid - maybe she'd lost her taste for coffee.

Now was not the time or the place, she reminded herself, staring at the table. What Tallulah wanted to do was pursue the issue further - Selena had gotten away from the fight. Family tragedy or not, she hadn't had to come back to Destiny City. Anywhere else in the world, and she could have continued to hide her superhuman identity. But to come back to Destiny City and pretend that you were anything less than a warrior felt like treason.

She ought to have given Selena an earful- but she didn't.

"And I can't make you," she conceded, pushing her half-drunken coffee away. It just wasn't appetizing anymore. "And you can see how that works out for you." At least to Tallulah, simply not Henshining didn't seem like a viable option. But maybe Selena had never taken to roof jumping and magical powers as she had.

"But if you change your mind," she added, suppressing her real feelings on the matter, "You've got my number. The offer stands. Pizza and catch up - there's a lot going on. If you change your mind - you're going to need someone to get you up to speed."

One did not simply return to Destiny City and go un-hassled by youma. It was unheard of. Tallulah was sure that Eos would return sooner or later - it was only a matter of waiting.

So much for this. Tallulah sighed, not having the energy to manage even a weak smile for Selena at the moment. Although she bore no less affection for Selena now than she had half an hour ago, she did feel betrayed and that sting wouldn't go away for a while. "Okay," she said, biting back any slightly selfish urges she may have had over what to finish the sentence with.

Seeking escape, Tallulah checked her watch. "I should get going, actually," she sighed. "I've got a shift at the sports center pool to get ready for." So what if it was february - the indoor pool stayed open all winter long. If she ducked out now, she'd only be, oh, an hour early for work. That was enough time to swim some laps or stop by the weight room or anything really that didn't involve trying to convince a reluctant senshi that she ought to rejoin a war she was hopelessly under-informed about.

She'd still make the powerpoint, though. Just in case.