SUE: Worse? Or Better? (Kiara and Lahja)

[Event !]

"Worse," Kiara. You made it worse.

[Lahja Morgan]

It wasn't often at all that Lahja frequented this part of town. Her work usually kept her too busy to venture into town much, and when she did get some free time it was usually just spent in the coffee shop or one of the charming little restaurants that dotted the town... or with a certain gentleman that she found herself growing increasingly fond of as time went by. Sure she and Abe had very different opinions on such things and their personalities were dissimilar, but he was kind and a delight to be around, and she liked to think that he thought the same way about her.

Lahja had just finished a little shopping and had grabbed a coffee to take back home with her, planning on stopping at Abe's on the way, and she was walking down one of the side streets when all the lights suddenly went out. Thankfully it was still fairly early in the evening so she wasn't pitched into total darkness, but the sudden absence of the street lights was unnerving and Lahja's pace quickened as she headed in the direction of her car. Hopefully that would still be working at least.

Pulling her lightweight jacket closer around her shoulders, Lahja turned onto one of the quieter roads when she saw a young woman sat on a bench, looking very sad. Approaching slowly, Lahja spoke softly. “Are you all right, dear?”

[Deleted]

Kiara often wondered what kind of sick joke was being pulled on her. Despite being a probability manipulator, which would make most assume that she tended to have luck on her side whenever she wanted it to be, she often ended making things worse. Like today. She didn’t even know how she had succeeded at it though, but one way or another Ki had, along with an acquaintance, messed up the technicians’ attempt at solving the power being down in town. It might have been her allergic reaction to pollens… but that just made it sound more awful. A simple sneeze… and she worsened this.

It made her sad, along with the fact that she wasn’t sure who to turn to at this moment. Gabriel and Everett were most probably both at home, and she had not yet faced them together again. It didn’t seem like the best timing for that either. It was why the blonde had plopped down on a random bench, legs stretched out as she sat slightly slouched. Until someone spoke up – someone she had not seen approach. It got her to sit up straighter as blue eyes settled on Lahja.

“Oh, um, yes. Just… kind of wondering what I deserved to end up with a messed up day.” Ki chuckled bitterly, and then offered an almost apologetic smile since those words might not make any sense to the dark-haired woman. “Sorry,” she then spoke. “Didn’t mean to worry someone…”

[Lahja Morgan]

Whilst Lahja had never been afraid of the dark as such, sudden and unexpected darkness was unsettling and with each passing step she wished more and more that she were at her car already. It might possibly be dark at home too, but at least that was completely familiar territory and she could at least pretend that the farm dog would protect her. Though in truth, Five was a complete coward and would probably be in the barn hiding under one of the carriages. The little mongrel was superb at keeping the rat numbers down, but he could never be confused for a guard dog.

As much as she wanted to just get to her car and go home, seeing the obviously very upset girl did tug at Lahja’s heartstrings and she stopped a little way from the bench. Her mothering instinct was a very difficult one to suppress, and Lahja found herself fighting the urge to cuddle the girl and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

Offering the girl a hopefully reassuring smile, Lahja readjusted her bag on her shoulder to make it a little more comfortable. “There’s nothing to apologise for, dear. I don’t mean to pry, but is there something I can help you with? You seem a little lost.”

[Deleted]

While Kiara continued to feel bad about the power outage, so now inwardly grumbled at herself for having worried this woman. Lahja’s face was familiar, so the blonde knew she had seen her around here, yet no name or any other details could be pinned on it. Either way, the concern was appreciated, despite Ki’s inner turmoil. Lahja also came across as a trustworthy person, so in turn that made the girl less reluctant to answer, which was quite a victory given the darkness that had started to settle in.

There wasn’t a lot that the woman could do to help though. Listening might do the trick, but who was to say the dark-haired one was supportive of meta-humans? Kiara had always lacked eagerness to mention her ability, unless she was convinced her conversation partner was not opposed to it. “No…” Ki replied honestly while a soft smile formed upon her lips. “I just… kind of feel like it’s my fault there’s the outage.” Actually, she was certain of it. Stating that, however, wasn’t too much of an option.

Either way, Kiara did opt to make her assumption more clear, even though it did involve a white lie. “I might have unintentionally distracted those who were going to solve the problem…” Indirectly thanks to her probability manipulation activating itself around an electric manipulator with hay fever..