Epiphany
Proverbs 17:9
Sunshine Constable
Sunshine accepted the glass with a grateful smile and sipped from it, before giving up niceties and taking several deep swallows. It'd been a long walk! She sipped several more times while Mantis settled herself with her noodles.
When the other girl admitted to needing to talk, Sunshine visibly perked up. When the subject matter became plain, her brightness and light dimmed somewhat, darkening into pained compassion.
"I've known Honey a long time," she finally said. "She isn't the easiest person to be with, sometimes. She's passionate. That can be a good thing too, but it's hard to remember that when you're on the receiving end of, um, not so good things. I...I don't really know much about your relationship, Mantis. Or, if I'm being honest, about you." She sighed and added "But I don't know of a relationship that was worth saving if it was the kind that money could fix, you know? Couples should be on the same team! Solve problems like money together instead of turning on each other!"
"...Not that I know a thing about it," Sunshine admitted at last. "But never having had a relationship maybe makes it a little easier for me to stand outside of them, look in like an observer. So take it for what it's worth. I don't know the trouble, Mantis, but you can't let her push you around. The two of you should be pushing together, not against each other."
The gravekeeper's daughter's death was a surprise and Sunshine's eyes widened slightly at the news. "Oh! That's...well, that's tragic. Gods, I hope her family has someone else to handle the service. That's grim. Was it unexpected?"
"Oh!" she exclaimed as Mantis finished her explanation. "You mean, you were there when the girl died? That's awful! Are you okay? I'm glad you didn't have to face that alone. Is your new friend okay too?"
Sunshine repressed the temptation to spill about her own life. It was mundane, trivial by comparison. And Mantis didn't need more problems when her own clearly weighed upon her.
"To think a little bird brought bad news and this on top of it," she muttered, loud enough to hear but vague enough for most to dismiss as a random thought. At least, vague to those who hadn't met
