"They really seem to put a lot of effort into everything."
It was impressive, Sakura had to acknowledge. Certainly, with the magic the people in this world possessed, and the advanced technology -- those two things, especially taken together, no doubt made it easier to produce such extraordinary fare, but technology and even magic did not come from nowhere; to hone either craft to such levels of delicate perfection must have taken untold generations and millennia. Once upon a time, was Medeas a simpler world? Or had it been superlative from the beginning? Sakura takes another bite of her eclair, considering. She kept thinking about her own world, the mage society that had co-existed alongside the development of human civilization, and the gods who were supposedly on the other side of the world.
There was certainly a lot to consider -- a lot which, honestly, somewhat intimidated her, as a mage who was just finding her feet properly in this new world -- but for now, there is also something else, a bit of a more down to Earth consideration which Sakura has found herself thinking about, and since they are speaking anyway, she decides to bring it up to the other woman.
"That girl... Seraphine Nova." The one who had been their guide, and who had appeared here, noting that this was her family's coffee shop. "I --"
Sakura starts to say "I'm concerned," but she stops herself, expression turning a bit contemplative. No, that was not it, exactly.
She thinks of herself, of the girl she had been until not very long ago. She thinks of the way she had walked through life dragging her heels, hunching her shoulders, making herself smaller. She thinks of how no one knew, no one saw, no one imagined the suffering she had been enduring in the basement for all those years. To them, she was just a sullen and reserved high school girl, shy and self-effacing. Sakura had never contemplated this with any exteriority, not like she does now. She had no frame of reference for doing so. But now, looking at that girl...
... but, while perhaps she was wrong, she did not get the sense that this was a case of secret abuse (as hers had been), or something similar. Seraphine had mentioned her father was somewhat estranged. But every time they have encountered one another, the girl's demeanor has been guarded, a little suspicious and a bit curious. It seemed to fall short of asking for help, but...
"There's something bothering her."
Sakura settles on that. Maybe she was not being abused or hurt, but something, in some way, was amiss. Sakura saw too much in that demeanor.
[actually should put a CN: non-explicit abuse reference here]
It was impressive, Sakura had to acknowledge. Certainly, with the magic the people in this world possessed, and the advanced technology -- those two things, especially taken together, no doubt made it easier to produce such extraordinary fare, but technology and even magic did not come from nowhere; to hone either craft to such levels of delicate perfection must have taken untold generations and millennia. Once upon a time, was Medeas a simpler world? Or had it been superlative from the beginning? Sakura takes another bite of her eclair, considering. She kept thinking about her own world, the mage society that had co-existed alongside the development of human civilization, and the gods who were supposedly on the other side of the world.
There was certainly a lot to consider -- a lot which, honestly, somewhat intimidated her, as a mage who was just finding her feet properly in this new world -- but for now, there is also something else, a bit of a more down to Earth consideration which Sakura has found herself thinking about, and since they are speaking anyway, she decides to bring it up to the other woman.
"That girl... Seraphine Nova." The one who had been their guide, and who had appeared here, noting that this was her family's coffee shop. "I --"
Sakura starts to say "I'm concerned," but she stops herself, expression turning a bit contemplative. No, that was not it, exactly.
She thinks of herself, of the girl she had been until not very long ago. She thinks of the way she had walked through life dragging her heels, hunching her shoulders, making herself smaller. She thinks of how no one knew, no one saw, no one imagined the suffering she had been enduring in the basement for all those years. To them, she was just a sullen and reserved high school girl, shy and self-effacing. Sakura had never contemplated this with any exteriority, not like she does now. She had no frame of reference for doing so. But now, looking at that girl...
... but, while perhaps she was wrong, she did not get the sense that this was a case of secret abuse (as hers had been), or something similar. Seraphine had mentioned her father was somewhat estranged. But every time they have encountered one another, the girl's demeanor has been guarded, a little suspicious and a bit curious. It seemed to fall short of asking for help, but...
"There's something bothering her."
Sakura settles on that. Maybe she was not being abused or hurt, but something, in some way, was amiss. Sakura saw too much in that demeanor.