I very softly asked, "Did you lose someone?"
"What?" Her gaze snapped up to me. "No! No..." She trailed
off as her eyes drifted back down to the tabletop. "A ... friendof mine... got changed. He's such a goofy guy, kinda loud and
kinda geeky... and they turned him into some kind of kid Yakuza."She looked back up at me. "It was horrible, he was leading a
gang and breaking windows and scaring the teachers. And all I
could think was, if I can't beat this monster, he might stay that
way. And it would be like Umino -- the real Umino -- had died,
and there was just this mean jerk who looked like him left in his
place. Forever." She choked back a sob. "And it would be all
my fault."
I didn't worry whether it would be appropriate or not -- I
reached out and covered her hand with mine. "No, it wouldn't. It would have been theirs, whoever they are. There's no shame orblame in failing in the fight against evil -- only in running
from the fight. Which you didn't. And you won, too -- it's
pretty obvious that you did."
She gave me a shaky smile, her eyes glistening with unshed tears."Yeah. I kicked its butt." The smile vanished, and the tearsthreatened to spill anyway. "But not fast enough, and I was
still so scared. Again." She rubbed at her eyes with her freehand. "I don't want to be scared."
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
"What?" Her gaze snapped up to me. "No! No..." She trailed
off as her eyes drifted back down to the tabletop. "A ... friendof mine... got changed. He's such a goofy guy, kinda loud and
kinda geeky... and they turned him into some kind of kid Yakuza."She looked back up at me. "It was horrible, he was leading a
gang and breaking windows and scaring the teachers. And all I
could think was, if I can't beat this monster, he might stay that
way. And it would be like Umino -- the real Umino -- had died,
and there was just this mean jerk who looked like him left in his
place. Forever." She choked back a sob. "And it would be all
my fault."
I didn't worry whether it would be appropriate or not -- I
reached out and covered her hand with mine. "No, it wouldn't. It would have been theirs, whoever they are. There's no shame orblame in failing in the fight against evil -- only in running
from the fight. Which you didn't. And you won, too -- it's
pretty obvious that you did."
She gave me a shaky smile, her eyes glistening with unshed tears."Yeah. I kicked its butt." The smile vanished, and the tearsthreatened to spill anyway. "But not fast enough, and I was
still so scared. Again." She rubbed at her eyes with her freehand. "I don't want to be scared."
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.