A Spoonful of Sugar

It was late afternoon when Shay picked Dalia up and took her to the housing lots in the Underground. She couldn't bring Dalia to her home, not with Angelo and Caterina and everyone else around. Not private enough, even less so than the Rosales manor had been.

Shay didn't think Derry would be home, but she shot him a quick text telling him she was taking her younger cousin, Dalia, to his apartment for something. Beyond it being polite, it was also some added security that she wouldn't walk in on him doing anything.

She clutched the key tightly in her hand as the two walked up the steps. Shay wasted no time in unlocking the door and ushering Dalia in so they didn't stay out in the open long.

Shay had taken it upon herself to supply Derry's apartment with any items she thought might come in handy later, including a spare first aid kit.

"Go on there, on the couch. I want to see how bad it is," she told Dalia as she went to the kitchen and grabbed the spare kit from under the kitchen sink.

Of course, if Pandora and Malara knew about this wound it was probably taken care of, but Shay wouldn't have rested well at night knowing she didn't ensure it was clean and Dalia was all right.

Shay, after taking the first aid kit from under the sink, looked around at the apartment trying to see how Dalia might see it. To Shay, it was an odd solace, but she had always found comfort where others found alarm.

"This place belongs to my boyfriend, but I don't expect he's coming home anytime soon and I didn't want to do this anywhere where people would be asking questions," she said by way of explanation before crouching in front of Dalia to inspect this wound.

Good. The wound had been cleaned and stitched, but Shay hadn't expected anything less. She searched through her kit as she listened to Dalia, taking out a scar ointment and setting it on the couch beside Dalia.

It hurt a little that Dalia was so nervous talking to her or letting her know what had happened. It reminded Shay of how she'd felt around Klaus. A safety that wasn't true. A security that wasn't really there.

She shook her head and laughed a little. "You're so much like me; you know that?" She said as she smiled gently up at Dalia. "It's funny because we're not even related by blood, but I noticed it the first time I ever laid eyes on you."

Shay looked at Dalia's face to the wound, and her smile saddened. "That's why I worry about you. That's why.... That's why I was hoping to be someone you could tell anything to. I know you have a lot of adults in your life who would kill for you, but you don't want that. I didn't want that. I wanted someone to listen and hear me. I wanted someone who would let me make my own mistakes but stick close."

Shay closed her eyes, taking hold of Dalia's hand and caressing it in both of hers before resting her forehead against their entwined hands. "I won't make you tell me who did this, or why, but I'd like to hear it if you were comfortable telling."

Shay listened quietly as Dalia's words fell. Her heart squeezed as Dalia began to tear up. It was strange, to feel so utterly and completely protective of another person. A different kind of fear that maybe something would go wrong or Dalia would grow up on the wrong path somehow. Was this what it was to look after a child? Dalia wasn't even hers, but God if Shay wouldn't give up everything for the little spiderling.

When Dalia had finished speaking and took to looking at her feet, Shay gently lifted her chin with a finger and smiled reassuringly.

"Your scars mean you survived, Dalia. They're strength; not permanent reminders of a mistake."

But Shay could tell, that wasn't precisely the crux of the issue. "As for this boy. Just because you like this guy doesn't mean you'll ever end up like Pan, or Mal, or any of the other lust entities. You know that, right? It's fine, feeling that little flutter. That's not just lust, it's love, too."

She cupped Dalia's face at the cheeks and rubbed their foreheads together, breathing out a laugh of relief.

"You don't need to be afraid of your nature, Dalia. You're so worried you'll turn up like them you want to snuff out even the normal, human-esque stuff. You won't be like them because you strive not to be."

Shay suppressed her grimace. The urge to hurt things. Dalia had that, and it was a good question on whether she could fight it or not. Dalia was a natural born predator, but Shay wasn't going to say any of that. When Dalia buried her face into Shay's shirt, Shay scooped the other girl off the couch gently so they could sit on the floor with Dalia in her lap. She ran her fingers through Dalia's hair comfortingly, face buried in her cousin's hair.

"I can't say, Dalia. I can't tell you the future, but for the record, I think you're strong enough to beat this. And you are not put together wrong. You're just as you're supposed to be." Shay gently squeezed her. "Normality is overrated. I know this all seems like too much, but you can handle it, and if you trip up, I'll be there to pull you back up. Swear my life on it."

"You are strong, do you hear me? Strong enough to beat this and strong enough that you can fight even yourself. It'll be hard for now, but you will pass this and when you do," Shay breathed out in a slight sound of amazement, "when you do, Dalia, you'll be more beautiful than you are already."

Shay paused and sat quietly until she felt a hint of wetness on her shirt. "You can cry. It doesn't make you weak."

"Hey," Shay uttered, holding Dalia tighter. Her tone was firm but not chastising. "I'm two opposites too, kiddo. But look at me? I'm fine, and you're gonna be when you grow up too. Things are always harder when you're young."

Shay let Dalia cry and cling to her. Let her yell all her insecurities and "wrongs" to the air. Shay only held her tighter, wiped at her cousin's tears until Shay's shirt was damp with them.

Eroshay didn't know what to say when Dalia admitted she'd talked to Nasci. She stroked Dalia's hair, playing with it and reworking it. She let the silence between them stretch to calm down the tension in the air.

"I'm... not going to tell you to stop Dalia. I will ask you to be careful. People like that – they have a poison that seeps into your heart. The things they say sound beautiful, in a way, but they never tell you the things you'd have to give up. They make sin sweet, hoping to draw you in deep enough that you don't realize how bitter it can be until you're stuck."

Shay swallowed, feeling as though she had a lump in her throat. Tears renewed, but unfallen. Shay's eyes burned with the warmth of their warning.

"Sometimes words of warning can help someone, but if you're as like me as I think you are, you need to experience this for yourself. Just know you can come to me, okay? No matter the sin. No matter the deed. I'll always love you, Dalia. I'll always be here. You are not alone. Okay?"