Into every life, a little rain must fall

[Pietro Maximoff]

"I do not kid, ever," ::Pietro replied, however he realized why she might think so. It was not the statement most would give.::

[Aqua]

"Right... I mean..." Emily kept smiling, looking up at him. "Even aesthetic reasons aside... First it's skin... Then I might lose an arm, like I already did... Then what? I'll end up walking around in a pillar of steam with just my brain hanging in the air?"

[Pietro Maximoff]

"You have better control than that, so I doubt you would lose your entire body making those knives. And if you did, you have motivation to learn not to," ::Pietro said, still serious. If Wanda were here, perhaps she could relate better, with control over an element or a force. Instead, he essentially had to make comparisons that might not be wholly fitting.:: "You say it does not hurt to lose your skin. It does hurt to close yourself from who you are."

[Aqua]

Emily nodded, agreeing. As usual, she noticed she had a tendency to agree to most things he said. "I know it's not forever. And someday I will get a grip on myself and start training again. I'm just not in the best condition right now. Too much has been happening, and I... don't seem to be able to pull myself together, it takes a lot of control, while I just break down at every little thing..." she was rambling again, but that was the natural effect of her nervousness, both at his presence and at the tension that had accumulated over the recent time. At least she held herself together enough not to cry.

[Pietro Maximoff]

"If it is a break, then let it be a break," ::Pietro said, then paused. He had long grown used to her tendency to ramble, but there was a sense of urgency here, combined with her words. It reached him on a level, and his next words were not quite a question.:: "You are frustrated."

[Aqua]

Emily nodded again, in an even more hurried manner now. "Is it that noticeable?" she asked quietly. She never liked people knowing about her emotions, about her inner state. She showed what she thought was proper to show, and concealed the rest. If her emotional state was beginning to be noticeable, things were really getting out of hand and there could be no talking about training her powers when she couldn't concentrate enough to even hold her feelings in check.

[Pietro Maximoff]

"We recognize our own," ::Pietro answered her question in such a way that he hoped to communicate that he, himself, had been in this state. It was not too noticeable, particularly if one did not know the general state. He lived frustration, had spent years with this frustration in particular, or a state similar to it.::

[Aqua]

That told her he, too, knew what it was like. "I can only hope it's not my new permanent normal state."

[Pietro Maximoff]

"It won't be," ::Pietro said, reassurring. She had managed to keep her cheerfulness this far in life; he had lost his long ago. She would recover from this, though she might take it to heart, and would not live in fear forever.::

[Aqua]

"Thank you for this," Emily smiled. "You are of the rare species of people that manage to cheer me up when I'm trying hard not to." She could be very stubborn about holding onto her depressed state.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::It was a peculiar compliment for Pietro, so rarely was he told that he actually warmed another with his presence. Often it was the opposite, often with valid reason. He nodded, a glimmer of affection in his eyes.:: "I am honored I can do that for you."

[Aqua]

Emily kept smiling, but avoided making eye contact for a moment, fixing her eyes somewhere on his shoulder. She kept thinking frantically of what to say and how to say it, and it was good because it kept her from taking notice of raindrops falling around - that was something no umbrella could do for her.

[Pietro Maximoff]

"Do you plan to remain out here all afternoon?" ::Pietro asked. Moping in the rain could help; he had done it before. However, if she refused to face her powers, somewhere dry might be a better choice.::

[Aqua]

"I doubt it," Emily replied. "Just the worst of my sulk." Or until she would run out of patience to hold the umbrella... if Pietro handed it back to her, that was.

[Pietro Maximoff]

::Pietro nodded slightly, not returning the umbrella to her. Generlly, he would leave her alone to sulk, as he preferred his own company. Yet she had been grateful for his presence, and had not asked him to leave.:: "And after that?"