That he seems uncomfortable hugging her seems to cement her thought that he's fresh from home, or at least doesn't remember Teleios. Maybe part of her thought that if she reached for him then somehow there'd be a full-blown moment of realization for them both, but they're not in some corny movie. Pretty dumb, really, to even think of it. She'll excuse herself on the basis of being plucked out of a world where she finally managed to find happiness and into another where she has to start from scratch. It's not the worst thing she's been through, after all. And it's not fair to this Daryl for her to be disappointed in him for something that he didn't have any say in.
It hurts more than it should, but she can deal with hurt. Logically, too, she's been given one hell of a lot. She has those two years; all the quiet, and not-so-quiet, and ridiculous and sweet and wonderful moments she thought she was giving up when they made the choice to leave, she gets to keep them. And she has some version of him right here and healthy and safe, that's not nothing. She still gets to love him, just in a different way. Knowing firsthand how much worse things could get, maybe will get, she has no right to complain.
The thought of their people here drags her back to reality, and the very genuine anxiety that comes along with the thought of facing others from home. (Not her real home, that's a magically locked penthouse in a Temple that may as well not exist for all she knows. But she'll have to get to calling Earth "home" again, which turns her stomach.) Depending on what those people remember, they might not think it's so great that Carol's here. But, on the bright side, Teleios gave her a lot of perspective on this, mostly reinforcing her belief that family is family and she shouldn't write off anyone without trying her damnedest to make things as right as she can make them. It's sad, looking back, how caught up in her own head she was. Technically, she's supposed to still be that person, but at least she has the advantage of knowing that after Terminus, in whatever sense, she joined up with everyone again, and she can claim to be from that time instead, so she won't have to act like the selfish idiot she was those first months in Teleios.
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It hurts more than it should, but she can deal with hurt. Logically, too, she's been given one hell of a lot. She has those two years; all the quiet, and not-so-quiet, and ridiculous and sweet and wonderful moments she thought she was giving up when they made the choice to leave, she gets to keep them. And she has some version of him right here and healthy and safe, that's not nothing. She still gets to love him, just in a different way. Knowing firsthand how much worse things could get, maybe will get, she has no right to complain.
The thought of their people here drags her back to reality, and the very genuine anxiety that comes along with the thought of facing others from home. (Not her real home, that's a magically locked penthouse in a Temple that may as well not exist for all she knows. But she'll have to get to calling Earth "home" again, which turns her stomach.) Depending on what those people remember, they might not think it's so great that Carol's here. But, on the bright side, Teleios gave her a lot of perspective on this, mostly reinforcing her belief that family is family and she shouldn't write off anyone without trying her damnedest to make things as right as she can make them. It's sad, looking back, how caught up in her own head she was. Technically, she's supposed to still be that person, but at least she has the advantage of knowing that after Terminus, in whatever sense, she joined up with everyone again, and she can claim to be from that time instead, so she won't have to act like the selfish idiot she was those first months in Teleios.
"Who's that?"