Novella's reaction hadn't been what she had anticipated. She was speak quietly, nothing more than a soft 'oh,' and Ara felt her ears flatten against her skull. She had expected the worse -- perhaps Novella might have told her that she couldn't possibly deserve to be with her cousin, let alone to tell her how she felt for her -- but there wasn't a lot of excitement, either. Instead, she seemed level and reserved, though vaguely interested in Ara's confession.
"Satu?" she'd inquire softly. The name was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Even still, she didn't know who else she might possibly go to about this besides her own family. Even telling Novella had been a bit spontaneous of her, but it felt as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders already.
"I don't want to burden her," the woman would admit sheepishly. Dealing with feelings had never been easy for. In the times in her life when she'd been troubled -- namely, when her father had been held as a prisoner of war -- she'd delved into her studies fully. But this time, she could not wander away and distract herself, and she found herself confused as how to deal with things. "She's been through too much. The last thing I want to do is make her feel uncomfortable." Ara was one of the few that Novel seemed to trust fully after the incident, and she couldn't imagining ruining the bond that they shared.
Did she feel the same way? Was there some way to tell? Slowly she could shake her head, tail twitching slightly behind her. "Is there some way to tell?" she would inquire timidly, wondering if it was a stupid question. Ara recognized the distinct look in her parents' eyes when they saw one another -- and yet she still didn't know if it compared at all to how Novel might feel about it. "I guess it's possible," she admitted after a moment, though she found herself shrugging. "But I can't help but wonder what might happen if she tells me she doesn't."
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