#goldfinchfreehold

A frown.

"And ignoring her is better?"

"Better than pretending like... like it's not already over, she just hasn't figured it out yet."

"No. It's not better than that. You're her mentor, Dagmar. You have to be the strong one."

"Even when it's hard and it hurts."

"But just abandoning her is not the way to do it. She'll turn into a plaything for somebody who doesn't care about her."

"So, the best thing for her is to get her a mentor."

"If you say so. But it needs to be the right mentor." A pause. "Would you let me read the letters?"

"No." She folds her arms around herself.

A blink. "Dagmar...they might just be happy messages...or she might need help."

Her jaw juts.

"Even if you won't reply, why won't you read them?"

"It's too late."

"Too late for what?"

"What if there's something? They're old letters."

"Oh, gee, May, your Homecoming sounds like it was swell!"

"And assuming those what-ifs are facts just takes a whole lot of responsibility off your shoulders." Sylvi folds her arms. "You know what you're being, right?"

"What?"

"A coward."

Dagmar's eyes flash dangerously. "I would think hard before venturing on that path."

"I have been thinking hard about it, finally. Dammit, I should have realized so much earlier. You kept shoving those letters in your pocket or whatever, but I just assumed you were actually reading them in private!"

"And you tell me if you think I'm wrong. You're a big brave badass about a lot of things, but about this? You're taking the coward's way out."

"You're ghosting her, like a guy who doesn't want to be bothered with an uncomfortable break-up conversation."

A puff of air from her nostrils. "Shut up."

"Why should I? I'm right. And there are ways to recover from this, but you're refusing to try them. Because you're scared."

"It's not your problem. I'll find her a fucking "mentor" or whatever. I wasn't her mentor, that's not... you don't know anything!"

"Like hell you weren't! She's a whole continent away, and she's writing to you. She's reaching out to you. Not to me, to you."

"She made chimera without me, I didn't do that."

"But you encouraged her with a good, solid friendship. She had that secure base to hang on to, and her chimera were mostly positive. She was Dreaming up beauty, and part of that is because you were one of the people who made her feel safe."

"I can't DO that anymore!"

"Of course you can!"

"You don't have to be right there in person."

"She's gone, and when people are gone, they're gone, and pretending otherwise just makes it worse."

"Like...geez...some of the most amazing friendships in history have happened entirely through letters! I had to study a bunch of them in Freshman Comp."

"She moved. She's not gone."

"It's the same thing!"

"It's not the same. And just because you came from a life where people ditched you completely doesn't mean that everybody's that way, and it doesn't mean you should do it to her."

Sylvi's voice is definitely louder with her growing frustration.

She balls up her hands, releases them, then balls them up again. "Shut up. Like you know anything, about anything."

Her jaw set, she glances at Dagmar's fists, then lifts her chin defiantly. "If I shut up now, it's only going to be if you swear you're going to go home and read the letters."

"TODAY."

"Mind your own business." She growls.

"I can't. Because my friend, who I thought was brave, has abandoned a powerful Dreamer. What, just because you got abandoned, it's okay to do it to somebody else?"

A clean right hook, fast and powerful, flies at Sylvi's face.

Footsteps are coming nearby as someone hears all this yelling

Sylvi manages to get her own arm in the way of that blow before it hits her jaw. She glares at Dagmar. "You're gonna hit me when you know I'm right?"

"Waz going on?" Dirk's voice can be heard.

"Back off, Dirk," Sylvi warns him, not taking her eyes off Dagmar.

"Back off? I ain't even seen you yet?" He peeks in

She narrows her eyes - sidhe flare, but trolls project the same weighty menace of an avalanche, just waiting to crash down.