oratorical | IC Contact

Leia?

[Ezra's emotions are all over the place with even that simple call. Flustered and embarrassed and afraid and uncertain and anxious, utterly anxious, and so much more in a tangled mess that dips up and down like a roller coaster with his attempts to smooth it out and sound normal.]

Are you there? Can we talk?

[That's a mix of emotions Leia hasn't felt in a while, and as much as she's curious what's going on, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't concerned. She tries to exude some sense of calm over the connection, albeit subconsciously.]

I am. Did something happen?

[It's hard to say whether the calm from Leia's end helps. Ezra does take a deep breath, though, trying to make his mental voice nonchalant. Come on, Bridger, get a grip. Just be casual.]

No, not exactly. Not to me, anyway. I just. Have a friend. He needs some advice, you know, from a girl, and I said I know a girl. I mean, you're still a girl even if you're older now, right?

[Right?

Sorry, Leia, you're getting subjected to some awkward rambling.]

[It doesn't seem to Leia that any calmness is helping Ezra's racing emotions and rambling questions. Instead, listening to what he's worried about is likely the best place to start, she decides.]

I don't remember that ever changing.

[Which is to say, yes, clearly, she's still a girl.]

[Ezra breathes out, as much from relief as anything else, because no, he hadn't doubted Leia was a girl, but she's basically confirmed her willingness to give advice from a girl's point of view.]

Good. Great. So maybe you can tell me - so I can tell him - what it means when a girl won't talk to you after you- after he- kissed her.

[THIS IS TOTALLY SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENT HERE.]

Does it mean he was a really bad kisser?

[Ah. Well. That certainly would explain it. She's got a much better picture of what happened here to Ezra.

Sorry, "Ezra's Friend."]

I wouldn't say that. There are many other reasons she might decide to pull back after being kissed.

Like what?

[Leia, you can't just leave him hanging like that!

...even if this is absolutely not about him!]

She could have her own feelings to sort through.

[Something Leia knows well herself, which is why it's the first answer that comes to mind.]

I've done something similar before.

You did? Why?

[Surely Leia's answer holds the key to his mystery.]

I wasn't sure whether I wanted to accept my feelings about Han at the time.

[Which is almost funny looking back on now, but at the time it was a serious issue.]

[Ezra latches onto that.]

So maybe she feels the same way as m- my friend? But she just needs to think about it first?

It's possible, yes.

[She doesn't want to give... Ezra's friend... false hope, not knowing the full situation, but she can't deny it's possible.]

Was there anything else that happened when your friend kissed this girl?

[Aaand we're back to awkwardness, because intimate details.]

Not... not really. She just... It was over and she just... said she had to leave. She didn't smile or frown or... or anything.

[That doesn't give Leia much information to go off of, to try and help Ezra figure out what might have happened. But for his sake, she's ignoring the awkwardness coming off of him in waves.]

Did your friend say what happened leading up to it?

You mean, before they kissed? Or... or during?

[Ezra's really glad that Leia can't see him. There's a blush burning bright on his cheeks. Surely Leia doesn't need details that intimate?]

Before, Ezra. I don't need details about the kiss itself.

[As sensitive as she's trying to be to Ezra's plight, there's a hint to her tone that implies this should be obvious.]

[Look. Look. It's not like he's ever had a conversation like this before with anyone else. How is he supposed to know?

He fidgets for a long moment before answering her.]

Well, I... he... They were out on a walk, and they were looking at flowers.

[Lothal daisies, grown right at that moment in an effort to both impress Neera and share a piece of his world with her.]

And... and he just... It wasn't planned, he just thought it was a good moment to kiss her.

[well that certainly makes it more complicated than originally thought. Not that it sounds like a bad date, but there's an important part here that needs clarification.]

Did he ask if he could kiss her?

[verbally, with body language allowing for space to back off, anything like that.]

[A flicker of panic.]

Um. No? But he leaned in and she didn't lean back or- or anything to make it look like she didn't want to, and... and people ask? I thought you were just supposed to do it when it feels right, or when you just know, or... or... I mean, nobody I ever saw do it asked first!

[Oh Ezra. He's really not that great at pretending he's talking about a friend at this point, but for now, Leia's going to be kind and not mention that slip back into talking in first person about what happened. It's more important to focus on Ezra's worries anyway.]

There's more than one way to ask if it's okay to kiss someone.

[From her own experience, anyway.]

She had space to back away, though, if she were uncomfortable?

[Look, he is absolutely not talking about himself. This is for a friend. A friend. It's not his fault if his own innocent confusion flusters him into mixing a few pronouns up!

And it absolutely doesn't mean anything when he flushes at what Leia seems to be implying.]

What, do you think he'd trap her into kissing him? He wouldn't do that!

No I don't think he would.

[Ezra's friend. Absolutely. That's totally who she means here, except not at all.]

I'd say she's likely still sorting through her feelings, then. It's normal, at least if you ask me.

[There's silence on Ezra's end, but it's filled with a swirling mix of emotions that mean Ezra's thinking, but he doesn't know what to feel. Eventually...]

...how long should he wait? If she's... sorting things out... How much time should he give her?

[He's willing to give her her space, but he doesn't want to be stuck wondering forever.]

How long ago did this happen?

[Just to, again, get a better idea what they're looking at here.]

Um, about a week ago now?

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