[she pauses to look Holoway over. considerately, not unkindly, and politely. respectfully, even.]
[what's absent in her gaze is not respect, nor appreciation. simply deference. she respects the wiseness one gains in years - but she does not immediately assume a grown woman can know what's best for her, just because she might.]
[it's the kind of look someone who understands what it's like to have parents but never grew up with the expectation of needing them gives to someone obviously mothering her. like the gesture's something slightly alien, even if it's welcome. her reply is soft-spoken, but firm.]
... I appreciate the thought, Miss. But - [and she swallows, her eye tracking back to the pistol] - as much as I don't want to, either, I'm afraid what either of us want me to avoid doing will matter little to the consequences, if I truly let "I shouldn't" become "I can't", before I know if it's even possible, in the moment, to afford to say "I won't".
Re: arrival
[what's absent in her gaze is not respect, nor appreciation. simply deference. she respects the wiseness one gains in years - but she does not immediately assume a grown woman can know what's best for her, just because she might.]
[it's the kind of look someone who understands what it's like to have parents but never grew up with the expectation of needing them gives to someone obviously mothering her. like the gesture's something slightly alien, even if it's welcome. her reply is soft-spoken, but firm.]
... I appreciate the thought, Miss. But - [and she swallows, her eye tracking back to the pistol] - as much as I don't want to, either, I'm afraid what either of us want me to avoid doing will matter little to the consequences, if I truly let "I shouldn't" become "I can't", before I know if it's even possible, in the moment, to afford to say "I won't".