"No, you aren't making me feel worse, I'm just a teenage girl Tiger. That's what I tend to do, twist people's words to put offense on me." She whispered reaching over to put a hand on her shoulder. "If you want, I can make the memory go away."
“I understand how that is, I used to do that myself, actually.” Tiger admitted, seeming to have calmed down a little. “I don’t actually know what a teenager is, to be completely honest.”
“Memory..?” She asked, turning around to look at Mal. “What do you mean..?”
“Never mind, it’s not important.” She waved it off. “Can I ask you something?”
“Um…okay.” Tiger wasn’t sure how she felt about a secret relating to manipulating memories, but she would mind her business. “Sure, what is it?”
"Do you do hugs?" She asked softly. "Cause honestly, I think I need one…"
Tiger chuckled softly, not hesitating for an answer, and hugged Mallory. “We do.” She smiled, “I do hugs.”
Mallory hugged her tight, trying not to tear up or get upset. But she hadn't had a good hug in a long time. A long, long time that is.
Well, Tiger was getting a little tearful, but she still smiled. That’s the thing about her, she keeps on smiling. Maybe, she could teach her, maybe she already has, that the least you can do is keep on smiling, even when things go wrong.
Mallory held tight onto the hug, hoping she would never let go. She let silent tears slide down her pale cheeks, stinging her eyes as they left. "Thank you…"
“It’s okay…” She sighed, suddenly realizing that she kind of needed this too. “Its okay to cry…”
Mallory would disagree, but with the tears running down her face, it was rather hard to without sounding dumb. She let the tears come, coming in heavily. She was a mess, her face was red, and she was hiccuping madly.
Tiger just hugged her closer, like the mom friend she was. She couldn’t help it either, but kept it together for Mal, just after this talk alone, she was feeling quite selfless, and found that she’d face Actinolite for her friends.
Tiger didn’t think she sounded dumb, she thought Mal was very, very brave to talk about her problems, something she couldn’t do.
Mallory was rocking some, steadily back and forth, in Tiger's arms. She kept whispering the same words over and over. "…thank you…"
“Maybe you should get some rest a little later, I’m feeling something strange…in myself, I mean. But I’ll stay for now, just for you.” There was, indeed an odd feeling emanating from her, but it wasn’t sinister… But, this moment was about Mallory, not her, Tiger could discover what this was later.
"What's wrong? You can leave if you have to." Mallory replied, pulling out of the hug. She looked at Tiger, worried for her sake. "Is everything OK?"
“I’m…not sure. This is new.” She looked at herself and found that her gem was glowing faintly. Tiger carefully stepped back, hoping whatever this was wouldn’t hurt Mal. She looked curiously at her gem, but felt bad that she ruined the moment.
"Do you need to go fix something?" She asked, wiping her eyes free of her tears. "I understand if you do, really."
“Maybe, you can join me if you want, but that’s your choice… I’m gonna’ go outside and see what’s happening.” She replied, looking worried for Mal, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to leave her alone. Absentmindedly, she got rid of her tears too.
“If you don’t want to follow, I’ll come back, alright? I think whatever’s going on, is going to be quite exciting.”
"I-I think I need some down time." Mallory responded with a soft smile. "I'll be fine."
“Alright, I’ll come back with the news when you’re ready.” She smiled back, “I’ll get Rainbow to check in on you.” Tiger said, approaching the exit, looking back at her before slipping out the door.
Mallory sucked in a shaky breath, falling back into the sheets. "Thank you…"
She nodded affirmingly, waving with a caring face, then gently shut the door.
Mallory curled up, letting the sheets soak up her emotion. Though that wasn't technically possible, she always said that when she was little. She hummed tenderly, thinking things over.
(I just scarfed down an apple in under 15 minutes, help?)