[ for a moment, alina looks very young, very surprised that nina had gleaned that discomfort from her willingness to admire a good strategy. perhaps that did make her naive, as baghra had said. ]
I didn't mean to make it sound like I want to stop wearing it. [ she drops her chin, embarrassed. but there's something else there. discomfort simmers under the surface, quickens her pulse. it's not quite fear, but it's a close cousin. ] Just that it's smarter.
[ she needs to commit to this. she needs to stop hedging, stop feeling sorry for herself. she takes a deep breath, smoothing her hands down the front of it. they hadn't exactly been hiding it, back at the little palace.
there's something deeply disingenuous about her flirtatious confidence as she says, ] But I think the General likes seeing me in it. [ she seems to notice that it's not quite convincing, so she tacks something more honest on quickly, matter of factly, as if she were brushing past the subject. ] It doesn't hurt that it's bulletproof.
cw: just ... darklina ... idek how to describe. grooming??????
I didn't mean to make it sound like I want to stop wearing it. [ she drops her chin, embarrassed. but there's something else there. discomfort simmers under the surface, quickens her pulse. it's not quite fear, but it's a close cousin. ] Just that it's smarter.
[ she needs to commit to this. she needs to stop hedging, stop feeling sorry for herself. she takes a deep breath, smoothing her hands down the front of it. they hadn't exactly been hiding it, back at the little palace.
there's something deeply disingenuous about her flirtatious confidence as she says, ] But I think the General likes seeing me in it. [ she seems to notice that it's not quite convincing, so she tacks something more honest on quickly, matter of factly, as if she were brushing past the subject. ] It doesn't hurt that it's bulletproof.