⠀⠀⠀

   Eleni didn't take the support she was offered,  perhaps because she was far too stubborn for her own good.  But a large part of it was her familiarity with looking after herself and being raised as a soldier,  almost.  "No,  no.  There is no need.  It truly is not as bad as it looks."  She waved off the worry or,  at least,  made an attempt to.  "Please.  Let's just sit down."  
          
          /    @-TANGOTHEFTS 

   "Please,  do not panic."  Laboured breathing gives her away in small and painful huffs,  trained to fight and survive through anything and yet pain never seemed to get easier to manage.  "I am okay.  It is my own fault for not being prepared,  do not pity me."  
          
          /   @-TANGOTHEFTS   ME TOOO!!! 

   Eleni put her hand on the other woman's arm,  in a way of showing that she heard and understood the extent of the honesty of her words.  "You have made this journey bearable for me.  I cannot—  well,  I cannot imagine being here without the support you gave me.  The gods have provided me with a test,  that of which has devastated me—  but they also taught me that there is always a light."  She offered a small smile,  a light chuckle following as she was letting every feeling in the moment surround her.  "I suppose that is what you have been.  For me.  It is as though the gods themselves sent you." 
          
          /   @-TANGOTHEFTS 

   "Thank you."  She spoke,  pushing herself into the action to also form a small yet meaningful smile around the words.  The touch did bring a sense of comfort,  of  *trust*,  and it was so intriguing that they both knew so well of that feeling.  The distance.  The idea that,  one way or another,  you could not return to whence you came.  "Truly.  You did not have to do this for me.  I hope I have not been too miserable to be around,  seeing as I am so driven by the divine punishment which has been bestowed upon me."  
          
          /   @-TANGOTHEFTS 

   Her hands shook only slightly,  but enough for it to be different to how she tended to hold herself.  She allowed her composure to drop alongside her company,  feeling safe enough to do so and stop holding in every feeling of loss as it came.  "It feels as though something has been taken from me,  being this far from my home."  She muttered,  gaze fixed on the necklace and tilting the box minutely to watch it under the lights.  "But now,  in this moment,  I feel so close to it.  So much closer than I have been." 
          
          /   @-TANGOTHEFTS 

    She held onto the voice as it spoke,  brought back from seneless daydreaming and welcomed to reality—  she was guided back from genuine upset and homesickness by the other woman.  The Greek was stunned,  enamoured,  considering.  "For me?"  Her voice seemed unsteady,  emotional in a way that was just so unlike her.  Home felt millions of miles away,  but parts of it were right there.  Eleni didn't know  *where*  to look,  but eventually settled on the necklace. 
          
          /   @-TANGOTHEFTS 

   "You intrigue me,  αστέρι μου."  She had so many questions,  studying the room once more as there was so much to admire.  So much that connected her to home,  and she could have cried.  Although she had never done that before,  so she was heavily confused by the sick feeling in her stomach and the closing up of her throat as she stared at the artefacts.  Because to her,  it  *was*  home.  And her homesickness had never struck her as hard as it did in that moment.  She struggled,  even,  in finding any words—  despite the questions she had,  the gratitude to extend,  it was like the actual words were all getting lost.  Nothing and nobody could render her speechless quite like this.  
          
          /   @-TANGOTHEFTS   <333 !! 

   Eleni always tended to give her full attention to people that spoke to her,  and that fact was further proved when it was Gaby she was talking to.  At the words,  her eyes almost widened and her composure slipped upon seeing it;  eyes scanning the room with frantic curiosity.  "By the gods."  She speaks in a mumble of Greek afterwards,  dragging her eyes back to the other woman.  "How did you come across it all?"  
          
          /  @-TANGOTHEFTS   ME TOO!! TYSM xx 

   Modern medicine,  she imagined,  was very different to what she was used to;  and so she was at a loss for her own directions because the resources she was used to were more difficult to get.  Collecting certain flowers to put over the wound would not work,  because those flowers were on a particular hill in Greece,  guarded by goats,  so she would  *have*  to follow this agent and deal with that.  She could handle her own if it was a trap.  "Okay.  Lead the way."  
          
          /    @-RUSSIANSPIES 

   "I—"  she tended to speak with confidence,  even in places where she didn't quite have it,  so struggling with her words spoke to how lost and confused she was.  Still,  she clenched her jaw before she found the words to speak  *properly*.  "I need to wrap it with something.  I usually call a doctor for this kind of thing but they work differently here."  
          
          /   @-RUSSIANSPIES   <33