Visiting a defeated opponent....

"Who knows?" He shrugged. "Just don't apologize so suddenly, the first thing u want to do when talking to someone is bringing something bad right?" He asked.

"Anyway, just say something like Hi, how are you? Or something like that, but say it softly, and don't say anything extra," He told her.

"Alright." said White Feather as she followed Songbird to take a seat close to Emerald. She took a breath and said would say with a shy smile, "Hi Emerald, how are you doing? My name is Layla." She extended a hand in greeting her.

She looked away, as Layla offered her a handshake, and backed off a bit, but not as much as before, but she still refused to say anything, and refused to look her in the eye.

"Maybe a simple hello first without a handshake?" Linear suggested as he snuck up from behind them.

"Oh." shrugged White Feather as she turned back to Emerald and put her hands behind her back. "Well, it's good to see you're getting better."

"Mmph..." She nodded her head, as she made a soft inaudible sound.

"Well, give her time, don't be too hard on yourself." Linear whispered into Layla's ear.

"Now come on, if you got a gift, pass it to her, but put it infront of her and don't say anything extra." He told her.

Layla nodded and said to Emerald, "By the way, I have some things for you." Out of her own backpack, she put in front of Emerald a stuffed raccoon (for Emerald's love of animals) and Emerald's stockings which Layla pulled off earlier before torturing her feet and toes. She blushed shyly and shrugged a little, remembering what Linear said and not to embarass Emerald.

Emerald reached forth slowly to try and touch the stuff racoon, but backed away slowly at the last moment as if afraid.

"Tha--thank...thank you..." She muttered softly, but still not facing Layla.

Linear seeing that White Feather needed another urging nudged her. "Go on, now ask her how she feels, she's still traumatized, so go lightly on her." He told her.

Afterwards he faced Songbird. "And you should help as well, say something cheerful to make her laugh or smile." He told her.

White Feather nodded to Linear and turned back to Emerald, "So, I'm glad to see you're getting better, Emerald. You seem to be recovering quickly after what happened before. And it's great that you have a sibling who loves you enough to see how well you've recovered. I for one have two younger sisters and two younger brothers."

"So in a word, Emerald," said Songbird. "Layla's the eldest." White Feather suddenly looked at her with a look that doesn't seem amused. "What?"

"Isn't that already obvious?" scolded White Feather softly with clenched teeth.

Songbird shrugged a little as she said, "Oh, right." She turned back to Emerald and said, "Anyway Emerald, do you remember when you first tended to my bruises after our match before? Well, to be honest....I do that too with other opponents. I know they think that they don't deserve it, but I agree with you that all fighters have many capabilities that make them who they are, and they shouldn't be stuck in regret for losing. As for Layla, she does a good job on it too. Did you know she's a good masseuse?"

Linear chuckled at the sight in front of him.

Emerald fidgetted lightly as she raised her head, almost looking at her, but not exactly at her.

"I--I...see..." She simply said at Songbird's words.

Linear nudged Songbird now. "Geeze, your too direct, don't bring up the match so quickly, she's still traumatized." he told her.

"Oh, that's right!" said Songbird with a shrug. "Sorry about that." She turned back to Emerald and said, "Well, never mind the match, Emerald. I just wanted to know a little more about you. We've only met once before and we became good friends. So, if it's alright, may I ask you about your personal life regarding your family, your home, your schooling, and whatnot?"