Page 76 of Mated By Twilight

Leah was just reading the lines.

Tillos wasacting.

And Shorvi was the first person to notice her lack of presence. So, though he was just the costume guy, she thought maybe he had more insight for her.

Alone, she walked into the costume room. He had his back to her but tossed something over his shoulder at her without even looking.

“Put it on,” he said without preamble.

She did so without comment. The dress was pale pink and cute. The little sister dressed adorably, and it contrasted very hard with her lack of emotion and dull responses. The clash between visual expectation and auditory delivery was part of her comedy.

When Leah emerged, she felt oddly vulnerable in the poofy, frilly dress. Shorvi waved her forward to his stand and began moving around her without a word. It took a few tries for her to work up the courage to force her question out.

“Shorvi, what is presence?”

He didn’t even look at her as he went around, pinning ribbons and bright beads in place. “You don’t speak Standard now?”

Her face heated. He sounded so dismissive and judgmental even just in that absolutely passive aggressive question.

“I just don’t get it,” she muttered. “Like, how does onehavepresence?”

Shorvi sighed like he was annoyed, “What are you asking me, female?”

“I just don’t understand.”

“Clearly.”

“Like, I’m not trying to be presence-less. So, like, how do I get a presence?”

“It’s not a new pair of shoes,” Shorvi muttered, moving around to her back.

“Shorvi, please help me. I just… I don’t want to disappoint people.”

He poked his head around her skirt, giving her a wry look in the mirror. “And you thinkthat’show you get a presence? By doing your best to not disappoint others?”

Leah frowned. Her brow furrowing. Shorvi let out a long-suffering sigh, working on fixing a snag in her skirt.

“Do you thinkIcare about disappointing others?”

“No,” Leah scoffed with a snicker.

“And do you thinkIhave a presence?”

“I mean… I guess? You certainly stand out.”

“Precisely,” he smirked. “You can spend your entire life trying not to disappoint others, and do you know what you’ll get for it? Disappointment in yourself. You have no presence because you are trying not to inconvenience others with your very existence, so you are nothing. But if you spend your life trying only not to disappoint yourself and no one else, you have a much better chance of success. And the rewards are far greater besides.”

“So… presence is… self-confidence?” She asked haltingly, still trying to understand.

“It’s a start. Better than constantly walking around with your head down trying to make yourself small to please small people.People are going to dislike you either way, so why also dislike yourself?”

Leah snickered. “I think maybe you went too far in the other direction, Shorvi.”

“Why? Becauseno onelikes me?” He finished, standing beside her, sharing a cocky look with her in the mirror. “Have you considered that’s becauseIdon’t like any ofyou?”

“I admit, I have not.” She inclined her head, grinning. “But I don’t want everyone to dislike me. I feel like maybe there’s a happier medium here.”

He tutted, waving her words away. “Ugh. How disgusting. Compromise is the bane of my existence.”

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