Private Barracks/Imperial Condos The Trenches The Canon

[Asta Dalgaard]

Asta looked over her shoulder in concern at the change in Whisper's tone. Seeing her friend with tears running down their face, the jill felt a pang of concern. She glanced at Caden, noting that the fox's demeanor had changed significantly when he entered. For his part, the jack seemed about to say something, and Asta could see that he would attempt to reassure the little vulpine. Asta's intuition, borne of her own experience with fear and trauma, was enough to cause her to interject.

"Caden, would you mind putting on some tea for us?" she asked, giving him a pointed look as she tilted her head towards Whisper. Caden was quick to catch her intent. He ducked back into the hallway with a quick nod.

"Tea sounds wonderful. Of course."

Once his footpawsteps had receded down the hall, Asta turned back to Whisper and reached out to take their paw. "Whisper, is everything okay? You're safe here, I promise."

 

[Marie "Whisper" Deftclaw]

Whsiper gave a meek smile through tears as their paw was taken. Caden's presence or lack of it mattered little now that they already went through the tipping point. They just really lost any care, fully accepting the hopelessness just like at the Opera.

"No... b-b-but it d-doesn't ma-matter. I-I a-al-already f-f-failed. I m-must se-se-seem like a d-disaster t-to your f-f-father and t-to you. I am ju-just t-t-trying to enjoy t-t-this while i-i-it-it lasts, b-be-because I-I k-know neither of you wi-will want t-to s-see me e-e-ever again. No one w-would."

 

[Asta Dalgaard]

"Whisper, you don't seem like a disaster at all." Asta held their paw gently, trying to think of how to reassure the fox. "Why would I not want to seeing you again? Because you're having a hard time? I have a hard time a lot, too. Not meaning that nobeast wants to see you and be with you."

She rubbed the back of her neck, glancing at the portrait of her father. "If it helping to hear, I get scared with some things, too. I'm afraid of male beasts I don't know and feel frozen and very very scared when they are around. On the ship from Varangia, with all the sailors, it taking me weeks to even talk to them without Caden. One of them was very nice and liking me, but I was so scared I would run away from him and cry in my cabin when he would try talking to me." Asta did not bother to hide her own tears as the recollections of what had happened to her came to the forefront of her mind. "I thinking it is okay to be scared when you having reasons, when beasts say or do things to you that hurting you. It making every day after that harder."

 

[Marie "Whisper" Deftclaw]

Whisper listened carefully yet felt only more and more empty. Here was a beast that had actual reason to be sad. One that lost a father, was traumatised by some other beast and Whisper had some unfortunate ideas on how that could've happened that they wouldn't want to consider normally. All in all, Asta said it the best. It was okay to be scared when one had reasons, when being hurt.

Whisper did not. And since they were already knowing it didn't matter, or maybe because they needed to drop it off, they just spoke. With sad tone, but much more drive than usual.

"Y-you at least h-have a valid r-r-reason to be afraid... I just w-was born t-this way. Weak, s-sickly... I was non-verbal t-till I was s-six. I needed c-constant a-attention and m-medicine... who w-would w-want or love a k-kit like that?! I w-was s-stuck at home, not even a-able to p-play with my s-siblings who were a-afraid of h-hurting me a-all the t-time. I ended up s-spending countless h-hours by the piano as th-that was the o-only thing I c-could actually d-do that wasn't u-useless. I h-hoped that maybe w-with time I will g-get better. Instead I am s-stuck in the body of a t-twelve year old k-kit. Still weak, p-picked on and only approached out of p-pity. I have only my m-music to offer to the w-world. But I h-have f-failed at everything e-else al-already by d-d-default. I will never h-have k-kits, pretty s-sure it would k-kill me. I n-never went through pu-puberty, and n-never had fr-friends outside of my f-family. One that c-cared! But I am sure they ju-just wanted a normal daughter... not a p-problem child I am."

And that exhausted Whisper. They collapsed onto Asta in soundless sobbing again.