[ she was actually very close to giving in to that darkness, and even now she still desires to squeeze the very life out of that woman with her own two hands. but as a certain fixer would've put it -- that's that, and this is this.

but oh. oh, this is a big deal, and she knows it. he's probably being needled by his peers to open up for a long while now, ishmael included, so for him to tell her upfront about the one thing that he's probably kept close to his chest till today... she's floored, and it's a good thing she's literally sitting on the floor right now. ]

Er, well... [ she can't help but stammer. it's so rare of him to be this earnest, ok. wtf. ] I'm honored. Very honored. Um.

[ a pause, as she starts to put two and two together with her soju-filled brain. she's trying so fucking hard. ]

So you really meant that. You could've easily just stopped me when I kissed you, but...

[ ...she's going to pour two more shots than this, her cheeks flaring as she does so. actually, can she just drink straight from the bottle? that sounds pretty good right about now, let her try just that. ]