[ She should, by all accounts, have left already. They're clearly not getting anywhere with this and were she being rational, she'd know that they needed to back down and cool off before trying to talk about anything like this again.

But maybe it's from the influence of others in her life that she's acting more impulsive - or maybe it's just part of how she really is that has her digging her heels in on this.

But one thing she couldn't explain is that last part of it. Why did that hurt as much as it did? It was more than pity or sympathy.

She swallows, taking a deep breath, only breaking eye contact for a brief moment. Her voice is much softer than normal when she speaks again: ]

Then maybe I shouldn't have even bothered trying.

[ She slumps forward, both hands resting on the desktop and clenched into white-knuckled fists. ]

I wanted to know I'm not alone, I'm not gonna lie about that. I wanted to know that I'm not the only one who has to deal with navigating all this bullshit about being something more than human. And yet ... I'm getting sick of getting fucking stonewalled at every turn. Thought you of all people would understand that.