#bergen_county

She accompanies him, quietly stripping down as well.

While he seeks her touch, it's for the warmth and contentment of it vs. any sexual satisfaction.

And she grants this willingly. The water turned on, she waits until he has the temperature to his liking and the stream washing over him, and she joins him, with soft touches, a gentle soaped cloth, a light rub against tense muscles, helping the heat and the water to try to drain away some of the tension.

"You ok?" He asks quietly. "This shit hit you, too."

"I'm on the outside, you're in the center. I'm fine, honest." Running a hand through his hair.

He does the same to her, and kisses her briefly.

She returns the kiss, leaning against him for skin to skin contact.

"Kay." And they finish up, clean, and he helps her towel off.

It takes a little longer for her, drying the short honey-colored fur along her legs, but she gets there faster with his help.

And help he does.

"Feeling a little better?" Reaching up to towel dry his hair as he helps with her legs.

"A little? Physically, anyway. Still kinda .... tangled up inside."

He looks at her. "Is this how satyrs feel?"

"Do you want to tell me about what happened? Sometimes talking it out might help. I heard a little, and saw.. part of what went on in the practice grounds. But I couldn't hear most of it, and I didn't want to intrude." She thinks for a moment. "I.. don't know? I've never been anything else. No partway..."

"I.... I hurt Dagmar and I couldn't fix it. We're supposed to talk later. I don't know if I should call her or wait but... "

"Can you tell me about it?"

"I don't know if I should." apologetically "Chief was pretty.... definite about what I should say about it."

"I want to. I would.... I will, if I can figure out if I can?"

"She said you can't talk about it?" She looks surprised, and a little offput. "But it's your life and what happened. If you want to talk you should be able to."

"She said I should say I caused her pain and could not fix it. And that's true. And that's all that matters, really. I hurt her." sadly.

"That's not all that matters, though. You're hurt too."

He sighs, wrapping a towel around himself and offering her one. "I'm hurt because -she- hurts, which I caused, so I hurt myself and that feels like one reason it's all tangled up."

"Is this all over your breakup? Or did something else happen?" Gently.

She takes the towel, slinging it around and giving it a twist like a toga.

Adam shrugs uncomfortably. "You saw. Chief wanted to be sure we could work together."

"Do you think this helped?"

A sad laugh. "I don't know....."

"I mean, sometimes, sure. A big blow-out clears the air but.... I don't know."

She nods slowly. "I'm glad I didn't have to punch the chief to talk to you though. ...do you think our talk earlier helped?"

"Yeah." softly. "I kept thinking about what you said, trying to remember and figure out if... how... it would apply there. Like.... is it like seeing someone else's point of view. Walking in their shoes?"

A small nod. "Seeing not just that I was unhappy, but to find out why. What action caused that, and why did it make me feel that way? And that... sorry doesn't fix that. Saying sorry, that is. It's more to understand why it hurt - and having remorse for that action, and not just for the consequences." A sigh. "The difference between 'I'm sorry I did that' and 'I'm sorry you're upset'."

Adam's quiet a moment, then opens the bathroom door and walks with her back to his room. Steam follows them.

Accompanying.

She risks a small glance over at her mirrormoth - lips pursing a little - and away again.

Inside his room again "Maybe if sh.... if someone feels .... bad. Like, about themselves. Can... do you think everything can get.... reflected off that? Like.... the monster is always in the mirror?"

She flinches away at that analogy.

A few moments pass as she thinks on the question, though.

"I.. could see that." She says, a bit guardedly.

"I mean....." he ditches his towel, tossing it over a chair "No excuses, right, That's not it. But. Like, if someone was told they were a screw up from day one, they'd never amount to anything, they didn't deserve the stuff people around them had.... they might believe it? I mean, all of therapy is built on that, right?"

He sighs. "No. That's not it."

"Well, yeah. It's negative reinforcement. I went to counseling when I was a kid... it was part of being adopted and finding out I was. A lot of the kids in the system are really messed up. Through no fault of their own, but... some of them ended on dark paths." a frown. "Is this Dagmar? She seems so happy, though. Who would call her a screw up?"

Adam shakes his head. "Nevermind." Then looks at her apologetically. "Sorry. I was just... untangling outloud."

She looks thoughtful, though.

"Don't apologize, I'm here to listen."

He shoves some debris off his bed to make room for two, and stops. "Uh. Sorry. Do you want to stay? I can take you home. Or call a ride." He offers.

"Would you like me to stay?"

"Yeah, but you should stay because you want to." He hesitates and looks confused. "Right?"

She gives him a smile. "I enjoy your company, and I have nothing else going on tonight. Of course I'd like to stay... but you're the one who had a whole DAY, and all. And it's your house. So, really, it's up to you."

"And I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to."

He nods, satisfied. "I'd like you to stay, then."