Welcome to Gaia! ::

For a few seconds Cybele just blinked as a few things fell into place.

He’d offered her connections the first time they’d talked, back when she was still corrupted, but he’d been vague about it then. Now, he was talking about an agency. Oh.

“I did get something part time lined up. It’s on the education side, doing these acting workshops for kids, but,” the carefully polished smile softened into something more wistful as she said, “I wouldn’t mind getting to be on the boards myself, or even on a poster. That sounds interesting.”

It sounded exciting, even. She’d spent the last few months trying her hardest to rebuild her life, doing everything she could to straighten out what she was feeling, and strengthening her relationships so that she no longer felt so alone. She could probably try a bit harder to get what she actually wanted out of her career, especially if there was someone there to support her.

“It would be a treat if I could get some introductions from you, and I’m not afraid of a bit of competition.” She pressed her lips together for a moment, then nodded. “Tuesday? I’ll be there.”

"I'm taken care of, Alya," she said, and there was no hesitation there, no confused, thousand yard stare, just a bit of a smile.

"I live in a house now. A house. I can see sunlight coming in when I look out the windows." Admittedly the rest of the house was gorgeous, too. It was a place that she'd felt nervous about going inside the first time she'd laid eyes on it, and yet now that she was settled in and comfortable, the sunlight was what stood out to her. The people, though, were probably what stood out to her the most.

"The family's been nothing but kind. I didn't know people could be that kind, Alya." She blinked. "Of course, you've been, but you also knew me. They didn't. They didn't have anything to gain from being kind to me, but they all took me in that very first night when I was a mess, and then they kept doing spa day and everything they could think of to help me settle in, and then paperwork so I have the same last name as them."

She'd never dreamed that she'd be able to have a family after the Negaverse had destroyed her identity. She'd given up on the concept of having the job she really wanted, as well, but now here Alya was offering to help with that.

"You seem to have more of the connections I'm looking for than they do, though. If you can introduce me to some people at this event, I'd be more than grateful."

She took half a step towards him, still smiling, meeting his gaze as she glanced over her shoulder. "But more than any of that, I'm grateful to have you as a friend."

"All right. That settles it," said Cybele, eyes sparkling. "It looks like you are still good at sweet talking, even after all this time." She giggled, once, and then the mischief faded from her voice. "Thank you, though," she said. "For your words, and for everything."

He'd been worried about her, before. Even more than some of the others, he'd been very concerned about her everyday life and if she was being treated well. She hadn't had context to give him a proper answer when she'd been freshly corrupted. With her memories jostled by purification, she only had so much more context now. She thought she was happy, but seeing Alya smile at her words instead of shaking his head or something unraveled a bit of tension in her stomach that she hadn't known she'd been carrying.

Cybele went silent for a moment, turning her attention to the streets around them. She'd seen a single group of teenagers out of the corner of her eye, but that was about it.

"Do you think there are youma around?" she asked. "It might be better if there's not, actually. Just walking like this is jostling my shoulder a bit." She nodded towards the bandages.

"Do you think we should stop?" asked Cybele, voice a bit softer, no hint of annoyance there, just complete trust. She paused and glanced down, as if after all they'd talked about, this was the difficult thing to say, then added, "We can. I'm starting to realize I'm not the best at knowing my own limits."

That much was probably made obvious by the fact that she'd come out to fight while nursing a stab wound, but despite all of that, Alya seemed to trust that she wasn't being reckless more than he likely should have.

Cybele was not really the type to initiate contact, but when he reached out to her, she took a half step forward and leaned into the embrace. He didn't jostle her, and she stayed close to him for a long moment. "I just hate to think that Chaos might be out there hurting more people," she whispered, eyes fluttering shut, "But it seems like things are safe, just for this moment."

His embrace was nice, even comfortable, but Cybele still pulled away when she started feeling like it was drawing on too long. She shot a thin smile at him, instead.

"Oh, if you'd gotten hurt, I'd very much be telling you to go to bed," she said. "It'd be your choice, ultimately, if you wanted to come out anyway, but I'd be telling you all about these new things I'm learning, where you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else."

To be fair to Cybele, she had been trying to take care of herself just by asking for his help on the patrol, but she'd apparently miscalculated just what it was that she needed. With a small nod, she powered down. The sundress she was wearing today was in much better shape than the tattered outdoorsy clothes she'd been wearing at her purification, and she shifted slightly to show it off, to try to show that she was better even if it meant that people were after her.

"I'll go home. Do you want to come see the house?" If he was still worried, maybe that would help him see that she was taken care of.

Brielle beamed at the compliment, fluffing her skirt a bit more. He was more apparently very involved in the world of what looked good, so he would know.

"True, I suppose it's late for visiting," she said, only looking a tiny bit disappointed. After all the walking around they'd done, the best idea probably was just for her to take a quick shower and collapse in bed.
"You should stop by some other time, though. They're all very good hosts."

Maybe he wouldn't end up truly adopted the way she'd been, but it was difficult to walk through that door without feeling welcome.

"Thank you for answering my text, and for always being so kind," she said, and her smile was small, but a bit soft, like perhaps his compliments were getting through. "If you keep saying that, you'll just have to get used to me calling you kind back. Or nice, or sweet. I suppose I can mix it up."

The smile quirked to one side as she stepped away. "I'll text you when I get there, all right?" she said, and turned a corner.