[ Krouse knows what it looks like when Noelle's lower half pulls her under. It's not quite a puppet with its strings cut, but maybe that's the closest cliche. She slumps, sometimes, the focus drained out of the eyes in her face, her limbs writhing more than she ever allows them to when she's alert.
What Noelle's doing now isn't like that. She's lost in a memory, but it's one she's chosen. A good one. It's how she wants to remember Mars. Doesn't Noelle deserve a nice memory? They all wanted a nice one of her. That's the last thing Luke said to her. That was why he had wanted Noelle to die. So it's only fair, in this life where so little is fair, that Noelle gets to pick a nice memory too.
She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand before she looks back down at Krouse. Just to be safe. ]
She was. [ Was, because this is a memory. ] We used to race each other sometimes, and she always said it was fair that she kicked my ass, because I never went easy on her in Ransack.
[ Mars probably can't skate anymore. She'd melt the ice. But neither can Noelle, so maybe that's another thing that's sort of fair.
That's a dangerous line of thinking, though. Picturing Mars melting the ice on a rink isn't that far off from picturing Mars melting the ice that the heroes used to bind Noelle, which isn't that far off from picturing Mars melting -
A shudder courses through Noelle's body, making it all the way down to the talon Krouse is holding. ]
Sorry. I just - I wanted to choose how I remember her. [ It's a stupid thought, now that Noelle is saying it out loud. ] We can talk about something else.
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What Noelle's doing now isn't like that. She's lost in a memory, but it's one she's chosen. A good one. It's how she wants to remember Mars. Doesn't Noelle deserve a nice memory? They all wanted a nice one of her. That's the last thing Luke said to her. That was why he had wanted Noelle to die. So it's only fair, in this life where so little is fair, that Noelle gets to pick a nice memory too.
She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand before she looks back down at Krouse. Just to be safe. ]
She was. [ Was, because this is a memory. ] We used to race each other sometimes, and she always said it was fair that she kicked my ass, because I never went easy on her in Ransack.
[ Mars probably can't skate anymore. She'd melt the ice. But neither can Noelle, so maybe that's another thing that's sort of fair.
That's a dangerous line of thinking, though. Picturing Mars melting the ice on a rink isn't that far off from picturing Mars melting the ice that the heroes used to bind Noelle, which isn't that far off from picturing Mars melting -
A shudder courses through Noelle's body, making it all the way down to the talon Krouse is holding. ]
Sorry. I just - I wanted to choose how I remember her. [ It's a stupid thought, now that Noelle is saying it out loud. ] We can talk about something else.