i need a cold glass of water + p, ophelia

[ophelia.]

[align=center][div style="borderwidth=0px; width: 65%; line-height:120%; text-align: justify;font-family: verdana;"]As Leroy ate, Ophelia simply watched with a small, pleased grin. It was good to see him relaxing, a certain tenseness seeming to seep out of him. It made her feel good to be able to provide some reprieve to the hound, despite everything. Contrary to popular belief, she wasn't all that great at taking care of herself when times were difficult; instead, she seemed to opt toward taking care of others until she felt alright enough to tend to her own feelings. It might not be the best coping mechanism, but it was one, and that's all that mattered.

While he spoke, she stayed quiet, letting him get out all the words that he needed to. Her gaze stayed on him, the same gentleness they usually carried in them when looking at her friend kept there throughout his explanation. Pinpricks of worry pulled at her heart, but she figured it would be best to keep that to herself. As long as he was okay now, and he didn't fall down a darker path again, things would be fine. She'd just need to keep a better eye on him. It wasn't her responsibility, and she was well aware of that fact, but that didn't mean she couldn't take it on if she wanted to. It was easy to say that she wanted to. He was her friend, after all, perhaps her very best one.

"I didn't hear... And I don't think that would be typical of you." she said first. She probably shouldn't have honed in on that part of what he'd said, but she had. It bothered her to think that he didn't believe she thought highly of him. "We all have our moments, though, and I can't blame you for having one. I'm just glad that you are okay now. Well... As okay as you can be, given the circumstances. I am happy you had some self discovery during that, too. Wanting to make a name for yourself, for your family, is a noble cause, and one that I can personally relate to."

There was a small pause, then, as she carefully picked out her next words. Her gaze drifted away from him for a moment, upwards and to the side before moving down again. It settled back on him when she'd collected as much of her stream of thought as she could. Her voice grew softer, and she tilted her head a bit as she spoke, slow and thoughtful.

"I don't think I can answer that question for you, dear, as much as I wish I could. I don't think that the world is entirely black and white or entirely good and bad. There is a middle ground to everything, though you can lean more toward one side than the other. I think... I think that you choose which side you want to lean toward. Do you want to be seen as bad? Do you want to harm others, to build a legacy on fear? Or would you prefer to be seen as good? Do you want help others, to build a legacy on kindness? You can do bad things, but that doesn't make you bad. You can do good things, but that doesn't make you good. It's all about perception, about the way you want to see yourself and the way you want to be seen. For me, I make an active choice to try not to raise my voice at others, to try to be a pillar of support when I can be. I want to be seen as good, to be good, so I think that I am. For the most part, at least."

She paused again, though this time she smiled softly. "I have a mean streak, too, you know. I just keep it under wraps as best as I can."