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She could tell by the way Alice frowns during their conversation. The way Violet looks thoughtful when she asks for advice. Alfred’s absentminded humming during teatime.
The only one not atypical is Quillan. Then again, they have another problem between them, so it probably doesn’t count.
‘Am I a bad friend?’
Aria frowns from where she is lying. She found the perfect hill. The weather was perfect, the breeze was soft, but her thoughts just had to wander off to that. She sighs and scrubs her face with her hands.
She really needs to get a hold of herself better.
'Come on. You could do this. Stop thinking about it.'
There’s really no use thinking about it when you won’t ask them the question anyway. She bitterly added.
It was then she felt someone’s presence.
"Violet."
She tilted her head up and saw the frowning redhead a few steps away from her.
"How did you know? I could have sworn I was being silent."
Aria quirks a smile. "You were, but you can’t mask the offbeat thumping."
"Ah, of course." She nodded her head. "I forgot you could feel that." Violet paused for a moment, "Is it that kind of day?"
"Am I really that predictable?"
"Well…" She drawls. "You do tend to follow a pattern."
"The curse of knowing someone for more than a decade."
"Huh. So it has been that long."
"It has." 'Wasn't that a strange feeling?'
Violet hums, "Do you mind some company?"
"Not at all." She patted the spot next to her. "Come sit with me."
As Violet took a seat, a thought came to mind.
'Why not ask her? Violet was never one to lie when asked directly.'
It was tempting. Real tempting. It was a shame Aria knew herself and she was, undoubtedly, a coward.
It was a relief when Violet said something and broke her train of thoughts.
"Come again?"
"What are you doing?" Violet repeated. A standard question within the arsenal of the curious redhead.
Somehow, it felt ominous this time around.
"Oh, you know." She gestures around. "Relaxing, enjoying the view… Thinking ."
"That's dangerous."
"Really?" Her eyebrows quirked.
"Yes." They made eye contact. "You tend to think of dangerous things."
It was a simple truth. Aria can't deny it, but she has no desire to conform to anyone. So she looks away towards the gorgeous view of nature in front of her.
'Everything seems dangerous these days.' She reflects. It's been getting harder for her to differentiate between the boundaries of others and herself. What they define as danger and what she considers as one.
She ignored the gaze coming from the redhead.
Unlike their mutual wonderland friend, Violet wants to know about the whys rather than the hows. She wants to understand, empathise, sympathise and experience all the curious things that caught her eyes. While both of them are relentless in pursuing knowledge, sometimes the emotional nature of Violet's curiosity hurts more than Alice's scorching thirst for information.
And the thing is, Aria prefers not to be understood for this. Not now, and probably forever. Not when all her strings of thoughts tend to tangle with each other and, well… It's best to keep her teammates ignorant in a few respects of her life.
Violet, thankfully, appears to have learned more tact since the last time their conversation veered in this direction.
"Are you planning on something?"
She easily replied, "Why so?"
At the corner of her eye, she could see the motion of Violet shrugging her elbows. "This feels like the calm before the storm."
'A storm…' Well, she's not wrong. She's been restless these days. She could feel it under her skin, a buzzing energy she hadn't pinpointed where to release. She needs to let it go soon if she doesn't want an accident to be repeated.
But of course, Aria didn't tell her any of this. Instead, she kept her expression as if she was deeply pondering a complex question.
Once again, Violet was the one who broke the silence.
"It'll be nice to get a warning ahead of time." She paused to see if she got a reaction, but didn't get any. "So we could make preparations to help steer the boat straight through it."
At that, Aria couldn't help but snort, "A warning does not guarantee a boat wouldn't be overthrown by the harsh waves."
" Nonetheless… " Violet trails off and silence blankets them once more.
This time, Aria got the unsaid message. Her lips twitch at it and sigh almost fondly. It was one of her vices. No matter how annoyed she is at the moment, witnessing the soft effort of others tends to make her soft herself.
Everyone has their own views. For Aria, Violet reminds her of a little lost girl. The image seems to amplify as time passes by, although it would seem she was growing with the experience she collected.
And Aria was always weak towards children.
"I'll take note of that." She relents. She adds, looking her way. "You're getting better at cheering people up."
Violet looks visibly relieved at that, smiling as if holding herself back from puffing her chest. "Thank you. I strive to improve myself."
It was quite endearing. Enough that Aria finally addresses another elephant in the room.
"And… You're here just to check up on me?"
Violet's smile turned sheepish. "And also to bring you back. Alfred said you'll sulk for ages if you miss tomorrow's event."
She knit her eyebrows together. "Tomorrow? I don't remember anything significant being arranged…"
Just like that, their situation was flipped on its head and Violet was now the one looking at her with patience. "It's nearing the blooming season in U05D32."
Aria blinked.
'Already?' "I… didn't realise that."
Violet nods understandably. "It's a habit of yours."
Aria ignored the phantom sting in her heart and pouted visibly. "Yes, my main three vice. Can't tell time, can't tell direction and can't tell people's faces apart."
"That's why we're here to remind you." Violet chirped happily, standing up before holding out her hand for Aria to take.
"And I am truly grateful for that." She said solemnly, taking the hand.
'Truly I am.'