collab with [@jessikka] “Hey, Angeline. Can we talk for a minute?” Ellen asked, approaching Angeline after the group conversation died down. They couldn’t outright leave the room, but Ellen gestured towards the unoccupied corner of the room. There was a tiny voice in the back of her mind (which some people often thought of as a conscience) telling her not to poke this bear, and to just move on...but Ellen was fixating on Angeline’s scolding, and she didn’t have her sister there to redirect her attention towards some sort of sport or other distraction. Angeline perked up at the address. She obviously noticed she was ignored during most of that conversation, not only by Ellen. Already feeling a little uneasy, she sucked in a deep breath, sighed, and nodded her head “Yeah, sure.” she replied breathily before following Ellen over to the little quiet corner. “What’s up?” She asked, though she had a feeling she already knew. "You may be the oldest of the group, but that doesn't give you the right to scold me for trying to help the kid-- and she IS a kid. If you keep ignoring her bigoted remarks, it's the same as accepting them. Zephyr might not care, but that doesn't make it suddenly endearing or cute." Ellen scoffed. She had a lot more to say, too, but her thoughts were getting a bit jumbled between how Angeline wanted Abi treated and how Angeline treated Ellen. Angeline drew in a sharp breath and shook her head, “I never thought - or said- it was endearing or cute in the slightest, but you know what also isn’t endearing or cute? Talking down to a - what - fifteen or sixteen year old like they’re some kid that doesn’t know right and wrong? They need guidance not to be talked down on like that. She deserves our respect as well as our help.” She glanced over to where Abigail was standing, a strange expression on her face, almost like pity, but more like she’s battling with her own morals in her head “I mean it’s rude of us to not even include her in [i]this[/i] conversation, what about what [i]she[/i] wants, or - I mean like how she wants to be talked to?” She let out a long, strained sigh. “I mean, think back to when you were her age, plenty of people I knew that age weren’t even virgins anymore, I don’t think they want to be treated like children at that age, in fact it’s like they want anything but. Besides I’ve tried lecturing her like that and she just gets- “ She cast another glance Abigail's way and dropped her volume significantly “-gets quite defensive… Either she has a lot of pride about herself, or a lot of insecurity about all of us, and I’m leaning towards it being the latter. A bunch of strangers she’s never met, massively different from any people she’s ever been around and she’s stuck with us, further still in life or death situations, and further still, again, while she claims she’s some… Freak of ‘Gods’ design?” Angeline shook her head, she was not even scratching the surface of the kind of demons this girl was wrangling with, and with no support. “I just think it’s more important to make her feel welcomed to a point where she’s comfortable enough to open up to us and learn willingly on her own. It just doesn’t seem that way at the moment.” Ellen was frustrated. Angeline wanted to act like the all-knowing one. She was apparently all-knowing about Abigail's sexual history, and how she wanted to be treated, and how she was wrestling with being insecure about being around a bunch of strangers. Like they ALL weren't dealing with cultural and linguistic differences when they were stuck in this place. What made Abigail's struggles so fucking special? "Just because she doesn't [b]want[/b] to hear it doesn't mean that she doesn't [b]need[/b] to hear it." She started. "You say she knows right from wrong... which means you think she [i]knows[/i] how rude it is to suggest a pagan is fucking goats and is [b]offended[/b] by me telling her that?! And at the same time you want to roll out the fucking red carpet every time she acts like a bigot just so maybe down the line she magically realizes that she is being an awful human being. You go ahead and do that. But I am not going to compromise my values because you want to coddle her." Really, this wasn't even about Abigail. This was about Angeline. Abigail was like someone standing on a dock with a box prepared to paddle out on a dinghy to try to catch crabs. It just wasn’t going to work, and she could get hurt if she kept going. But Angeline’s solution was to sit in a lighthouse and insist that everyone should just let Abigail play by all of the boats and choose for herself what kind of vessel she wanted to take. It wasn’t a solution at all. And it was cowardly to not do more. Angeline smoothed down her straying hairs, blatantly stressed. “I’m not saying that she doesn’t need to hear it, nor am I saying that she should go about doing what she wants.” She was losing her patience with Ellen jumping to conclusions, drawing in a deep breath. “So please, stop putting words in my mouth. I’m just trying to say that she doesn’t really trust any of us, treating her condescendingly is only going to push her away and shut us out, where she can affirm her own beliefs in her own little echo chamber.” she rubbed her face, frustrations building between the two. “Fine. Do what you want, stick by your ‘values’ and see where that gets you. I wouldn’t be surprised if she pushes you away though, I mean she’s just ‘[i]sticking to her values[/i].” she conceded exasperatedly. “Putting words in your mouth?! You shut me down before Abigail even had a chance to breathe, let alone tell me for herself what she thought. But that’s beside the point. I don’t appreciate you coming in all high and mighty and talking over me when it feels like… you just...choose not to get involved when things are [b]actually[/b] difficult. What about on the mission? You just chose to sit in the van. You didn’t have a single opinion then of how to handle things… but now you get to judge me?! It’s bullshit.” Angeline was taken aback at first, she thought this was a conversation about Abigail but it seemed that it wasn’t really about Abigail to begin with, Ellen seemed to be upset.. With [b]HER[/b] and veiled it as a confrontation about Abigail. She bristled at the accusation “You don’t know a [b]thing[/b] about me and yet you feel qualified to judge me for opting to, I don’t know, not [i]murder[/i] people?!” She snapped back, emphasising the murder part, even though she knew it would probably sting Ellen. “What do you want me to do, trickle WATER on them? Or heal their wounds? Or I dunno, do a little dance for them at the edge of camp as a nice distraction!” Angeline lost all composure now, what little control she had over her words was snatched away. “You say we’re all dealing with shit but then bitch at me when I show that I’m dealing with shit! At least I know when I don’t bring any value to a situation. Maybe you should learn how to do that too.” Ellen opened her mouth, but then closed it again. It wasn’t often that she was at a loss for words, but for a few moments, she was. She...and her sister, had spent years trying to bring enough value to their parents that they stayed together. But it wasn’t enough. Ellen knew that she didn’t have value. Not on her own for sure. Tears began to form in her eyes, her mouth quivering as she brought a hand up to cover the shaking. She didn’t regret the actions she took to get the medical supplies. But she wished that the decision hadn’t been entirely on her--that someone else in the group had...stepped up and helped shoulder some of that burden. But Angeline wouldn’t be that person. She couldn’t carry it. That much was clear. So it would have to be Ellen. All Ellen. She mumbled something in Italian, but the words came out jumbled and muffled as she turned and stormed off. Ellen couldn’t get far with Brooks blocking the door, but she went as far as she literally could manage in the room, which was feeling more and more like a prison cell, and tried to pull her shit together.