Of course, there was a difference between recognizing what she needed to do, and actually being able to get up and make herself do the thing. Thankfully, Mila’s friends helped further bolster her for the terrifying journey up the stairs where Rora was apparently in her room, reiterating that the best thing to do was talk with and listen to Rora, fully.
That they were also Rora’s friends, and so also wanted the best for her, helped solidify that advice by leaps and bounds.
With that lighting a fire under her rear and the knowledge that and retreat would need to be either through them or out a window, Mila scampered up the steps, hardly slowed by the exaggerated height of the human-scale architecture. She even took the corners fast, in the mad dash hopes that she could get to Rora’s door before her courage fled her entirely and that nobody was rounding the turns fast enough that she could not dodge. Her luck held strong on both accounts and her fist rapped against the door to her friend’s room in a flurry before she stepped back.
And then stepped back a second time, gulping down sudden concerns that whispered to run away. That jumping out a second story window was absolutely a viable option.
The door opened right as Mila was nervously rubbing around her eyes, paranoid about them being conspicuously red, but her friend’s warm, “Mila, good afternoon! How are you doing?” meant that her earlier, more volatile upset state did not show, or at least would go uncommented on.
“Hey, Rora…,” Mila gulped, really landing the opening to a potentially awful conversation. “Do you mind if we talk for a bit?” Less presumptuous than asking if she could come in, all things considered, but also harder to outright say no to. “About a few weeks ago….”
And she could see the mild blush that played across Rora’s face, but there was none of the distress or shame or anger that she had feared there. Not that Mila not seeing it meant much of anything, but Rora swept back, extending an arm to sweep the bedroom behind her, her sundress dancing with the movement. “Of course, please, enter!”
And enter Mila did, uncomfortably waddling into the middle of the room and just standing there, until Rora pulled herself up onto the bed and motioned for Mila to join her. And she did, even if she did so like she was clambering up a mountain, forgoing her usual bouncing enthusiasm, before she folded her legs before her and faced the golden sun.
Mila had considered ways to best start into the actual meat of the conversation, but all her workshopped words fled her. Instead, things just tumbled out of her mouth, a stream of thoughts and worries launched directly at the person who, by all accounts she cared to measure by, Mila had wronged. The thumping in her ears was overwhelming.
“I am so sorry but I drank way too much on an empty stomach and I can’t hardly remember anything, but then the others mentioned what happened and fuck, I am so sorry!”
“I am super worried that I’ve screwed everything up between us, which I had a lot of hopes around that, maybe, if you were interested, but I’m way more worried that I hurt you or something, anything. Because I really don’t want to do that, in any way, but that just makes me-“
The faucet of jumbled words and fragmented thoughts was opened fully and Mila’s eyes wheeled as they tried to track what she was saying, which meant she did not register the solid golden fingertip until it was at the end of her snout, pressing against her lips to pause her.
“I… I can leave, if you need time or… or if you need me to go,” Mila finished, limping across the finish line as her words slipped past the finger..
The answer was an immediate, “No.” And Rora’s face was… complicated. Too complicated. There was some hurt there, but all muddled up with embarrassment and thoughtfulness and maybe a smidgeon of relief. Mila did not know, but it was also not her place to demand answers here.
So instead she just sat and waited, growing increasingly conscious of the index finger still pressed against her, but not moving to break the contact. The fingertip, claw kept away from her nose, was warm enough to almost be uncomfortable. Were she not tense enough to serve as a piano wire, it would likely be very distracting.
Eons spun into seconds before the silence was broken, Rora having had the time she needed. “I… uh, after, realized something might have been wrong. And I should have figured that out beforehand. My apologies.”
Which, all things considered, was about the last thing Mila was expecting to hear, and threw a monkey wrench into her already-sketchy thought engine, swiftly followed by the rest of the toolbox. The stuttering refutation of the apology, that it was not needed and all was Mila’s fault, was caught by a small shake of Rora’s head as she readied herself to continue.
“We both drank quite a bit, but I should have known you were hit harder. You really did not take well to the snacks of the evening. And with that in mind, you were in no state to be admitting to, well, much of anything outside of sleeping it off. Especially if you cannot remember any of it. I… did not know that.”
Rora sighed deeply and her hand started to slip away from Mila, but the pink kobold instead leaned forward to follow it minutely. A nice reminder to shut the fuck up and listen was going a long ways right now, and it was clear Rora had more to say, and was saying her piece much better than Mila had said hers.
“That morning, you were sleeping harder than usual, so I got you some water and something to eat, but left it at that.” Another big sigh, or as big as a three foot talk woman can be with her sighs. “I thought it best to let you rest, and we could talk about things later. But when you seemed to have ignored what happened, I grew concerned but was unsure how to… help. Or if you wanted help.”
Another pause, this time the eloquent Rora’s words vanishing on her for a second. “As more time passed, it got harder to figure out a way to broach the topic. And much like your own concerns, I feared that I had taken things too far and perhaps taken advantage of you and… what I would have liked for us to have someday. That you were still you around me was a bit confusing, but you are very kind, and I was worried that perhaps you were just keeping up appearances, either for my sake or the team’s.”
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The accusation of being kind yanked up a dark chuckle from Mila that rushed against the quieting finger, but tidbits of tension began to eek from her body. There was a lot there to figure out, a lot of details Mila felt the need to analyze, but first was the here and now.
Once she was certain Rora had said her piece, Mila cleared her throat softly. “Let’s have two discussions then? We should talk about our feelings on what happened, and on how we feel ‘us’ should move forward.” Just crack open those two tangles of emotions, share them open and honestly without reservation, talk it over. Real easy stuff. No problem.
That Mila then immediately punted the follow up was no surprise, then, mouth opening and closing. A short time spiraled into a long time, but Rora was there, watching her intently. Eventually, she managed to get the words moving like molasses through her throat, threatening to choke her out again.
“My biggest concern, far and away, is that I forced you into anything, drunken as I was. I guess that ties into the second conversation. All of this does, obviously. Duh. Um. I want to respect your boundaries and since finding out that… stuff happened, I was panicking, assuming I had done exactly that. And even barring that having happened, not remembering… feels really shitty. I haven’t had much time to think through everything there, mostly ‘cause that first stuff is bigger to me, but I kinda feel like I let us both down maybe.”
“You do not have to worry yourself with my participation. I am quite a bit stronger than you, not that that is the end all, be all for being able to enforce my willingness, but you have never made me feel unsafe, in that way or otherwise. No, you did not take any liberties that were not freely given, Mila. You were sweet and, ahem, very attentive. When there was no progression afterwards, I feared that perhaps I might have been overly enthusiastic, or maybe not attentive enough in my reciprocations. That you needed room and that I needed to give that to you. Or perhaps that I had read more into things than you wanted.”
“… Which then festered on your end, I guess. Fuck. And I found out just now and…. Here we are.”
“And here we are,” Rora confirmed with a nod, her finger trailing down to then push up on the bottom of Mila’s chin just so. “And, before we talk about going forward, I think it’s best to consider where that puts us right now.”
Made sense to Mila. “I know I’m mostly worried about how you’re feeling, and am kicking myself a good bit. And it sounds like you have been worried about me, and maybe kicking yourself a bit too, giving me space as a result.” It was clear to both of them how Rora’s soft-handed approach and Mila’s lack of memory had fed into each other to exacerbate the brewing situation for Rora, but that was something to address on moving forward, Mila felt. And it would be important.
Rora picked up the thread easily enough, finding the back and forth bounce of the conversation to be very much like when the group was planning a job. “So now, I am certainly feeling a bit better, with some regrets on how I handled things. Just ways that I should have handled it better, for the both of us. And the same for yourself?”
She had to press down onto the fingertip holding her head up a bit to give her nod, but Mila gave it anyway. And with that confirmation, the bulk of the tension drained out of both of them, the frantic tornado of concern that Mila’s entrance had brought sweeping out and away. In its wake, fatigue loomed, but they still had that warmth of moving forward that kept the two from collapsing wholesale. “I am kind of very embarrassed that my drinking got that bad. That’s… that feels like something to work on too, for myself.”
A glimmer shined in Rora’s eye as she continued, taking that first step. “I would not be against picking off where we left off, or a tad earlier than that,” she said with a smirk that got Mila’s heart pounding more than it had any right to, “but with the rockiness there, maybe moving a bit slower this time. That’s not a must, but that I thought I had messed things up was very worrying, and I don’t want that again.”
“Which is part of why we’re talking this out here, right? We hash this out, communicate what we want, help prevent any worries. And I’m fine with not, uh, immediately jumping into your bed.” Mila took a moment to glance down at Rora’s bed that they were both sitting upon. “Metaphorically. But I do not want a… traditional courting either.”
Both women looked like they had eaten lemons, or something even worse - Mila happened to like lemons quite a bit. She pushed on, suppressing the shiver at considering the scripted ‘steps’ of such a relationship. If anything, she had undersold the process to the others downstairs.
“I am interested in a relationship though,” Mila said, and a quirk of an eye ridge led to Rora nodding deeply, sparking warm fluffies in the pink woman’s stomach. “And dates, just the two of us. It doesn’t always have to be big things, and I’m not even sure what a big thing would be around here, but it can be big stuff too. Small things will be good, though. I would have a lot of fun.”
“That sounds delightful, Mila. I would love a date or two, and a relationship to boot,” was Rora’s answer to the question that was not actually asked, a wink buoying up the playful response. “It’ll be a few weeks, but I think I even have a big date in mind - a party that would be an easy excuse to wear some of those nice clothes you ordered and do some dancing, maybe?”
And that… seemed like a perfect thing to do. Mila was giddy at the idea. Even if formal events were not her preferred environment, attending such a shindig as Rora’s plus one felt like it would be something she could handle just fine, and enjoy even more than that. Being the plus one for the dazzling jewel of an event was its own fun.
“Before then, we should still-“ Mila spoke, picking up speed to plan out a series of preceding, smaller dates, when she was interrupted by a solid knock against the door. Just two strikes, but sharp enough to shatter the cozy mood of the room and set both kobolds to straightening up in their spots, throwing looks at each other. Not that they had any reason to be guilty over anything!
Aluca, for his part in the surprise, at least sounded apologetic when he said, “Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got another job and it’s looking like it’s a rush. Telit’s downstairs, and there’s… circumstances, apparently. Come down when you can, please.”
The faint thumps of heavy human footsteps sounded as the man headed away, back towards the stairs he had come from. The two women looked at the door for a beat before moving back, both concerned enough to know they had to wrap their discussion quickly.
Mila struck first, an uncharacteristic bubbly smile shining. “After this job, then. A few small dates, coffee or books or the like, before we go to your fancy party and really show off. Just to see if we’re compatible, of course.” She slid off the bed and turned to offer up a hand to guide Rora down safely.
Rora took the hand but did not let it go immediately once she had her feet on the floor. “Why, how did you know I like books and coffee!?” she joked, before her grin grew sly, devious. “And I have it on good authority we are quite compatible, Mila. Your tail is… enough to make a lady blush.”
Mila did blush at that but waggled her eye ridges, shimmying her tail as she turned and drawing up a blush of her own on Rora as she opened up the door, letting them spill the cheery, secretive little atmosphere of their development into the hall before they began to put their game faces on. They had a job waiting on them, after all, and only after that would they be able to explore what they had properly.