It was a slow process at first, but watching Andy relax was like watching an ice shelf break off into the sea: she trembled, and cracked a little, muscles tensing before everything sheared off abruptly and Andy just seemed to collapse. Gioia's weight in her lap helped immensely, narrowing Andy's world to just herself and the dog. Her fingers tightened, and shook, and only gradually relaxed until she was just petting down the thick fur, palms almost numb with the repetitive motion. The entire exchange took ten minutes, but Andy at last lifted her head, clearer and calmer as she sat up.
The necklace that had fallen out of her shirt she touched with the gentlest brush of fingertips, picking it up to hold it to her lips before tucking it back into her collar and trying to manage a truer smile at Gioia, still petting her one-handed. She murmured a quiet thanks in Hebrew to the animal, the words easy and practiced as if they were her native speech, though she didn't look like someone who'd come from the Levant. "She must give you a great deal of support."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2020-09-27 02:58 am (UTC)The necklace that had fallen out of her shirt she touched with the gentlest brush of fingertips, picking it up to hold it to her lips before tucking it back into her collar and trying to manage a truer smile at Gioia, still petting her one-handed. She murmured a quiet thanks in Hebrew to the animal, the words easy and practiced as if they were her native speech, though she didn't look like someone who'd come from the Levant. "She must give you a great deal of support."