Hurriedly, Elsa scrabbled for her cell phone, sifting through the piles of papers that had accumulated on her desk during a morning of essay writing. After some searching, she found it buried under a pile of papers and a plate with a few toast crumbs remaining on it, sandwiched halfway through a library book from college.
Looking at it, Elsa was happily surprised to see it was Jasmine calling her: despite their many months' knowing each other, Jasmine had never just called Elsa out of the blue before. Elsa'd rung her at random a few times, and after lengthy arrangements by text Jasmine had called her once or twice, but she'd never been the one to initiate it.
Smiling, Elsa answered. "Hey, Jasmine!" she said enthusiastically. "It's so great to hear from you. How are you?"
There was a short silence. Then, in a very tiny voice, Jasmine said: "I'm sorry."
Elsa frowned, suddenly at a loss. "What? What for?"
There was a longer silence. When Elsa realised Jasmine was unlikely to say anything else without help, she began to search her mind for anything Jasmine could possibly feel the need to apologise for. She came up short for a while, until suddenly she remembered about the interview that morning.
"I'm sure you don't need to say sorry, whatever it is," Elsa said carefully. "How was the interview today?"
After a moment, Jasmine said: "that's what I'm sorry about. The interview. I... it was all my fault, I..."
"No, it wasn't," Elsa heard a similar-sounding but much more confident voice say, in the background of the call.
After thinking for a second, Elsa asked: "Was that Akhir?"
"Yes," Jasmine murmured distractedly.
"She's probably right, you know," Elsa said slowly. "I really doubt it was all your fault."
"It was. I... we didn't finish the interview. I... I didn't really say anything, and Carla was doing all the work and... the reporter's questions were..." Jasmine trailed off for a few moments. "Anyway, Carla wanted to leave and I... I didn't want to stay on my own... I'm sorry."
It took a few moments to make sense of Jasmine's disjointed explanation. "That sounds like the reporter's fault, not yours," Elsa said eventually. "Anyway, you were really brave even to go in the first place. You really don't have anything to apologise for."
There was a long silence.
"Jasmine?" Elsa prompted eventually. "I promise it's okay. And I'm sorry, we should have maybe set it up differently. I could come with you, next time?"
"I... that's nice of you, but..." Jasmine trailed off, still sounding really upset.
Elsa began to feel at a loss: what else could she say to reassure her beyond what she'd already said? 'I'm sure you did great' had too much of a ring of falsity to it: Jasmine had been there, and if she felt it had gone this badly she'd never believe a meaningless platitude like that.
"I'm sorry, Elsa," Jasmine repeated again.
"You don't need to say sorry," Elsa repeated, straining to keep the impatience out of her voice. "I said that already."
Jasmine's answering whisper was so quiet, Elsa barely heard her. "I... it's not just about the interview."
"Oh?" Elsa couldn't think of what else to say: from the way Jasmine was speaking, she could tell whatever she was about to hear was important, and didn't dare try and guess at it in case she shut Jasmine down completely. Instead, she waited what seemed like several minutes before Jasmine continued.
"She... asked us about the war."
Elsa hesitated. She'd carefully avoided that subject in every conversation she'd had with Jasmine, managing to tackle arrangements about the campaign and even stories about Akhir without touching on it by a combination of careful wording and occasional random topic changes as a means of distraction. Jasmine, for her part, had seemed to avoid that subject too, even to the point of breaking off in the middle of sentences at times.
"Yeah?" Elsa eventually murmured, non-committally.
"She... she said..." Jasmine trailed off. "It doesn't... I just..."
The anxiety in her friend's voice made Elsa reconsider. "It's okay," she said slowly. "I don't mind you talking about it."
Yet another long silence followed.
"I... can... can we meet?" Jasmine asked eventually, taking her completely by surprise.
"Sure." Elsa felt a twinge of worry about her essay, but quickly pushed it aside. She'd started a whole week before the deadline this time, and she still had a few days. "When? Now?"
"Oh... no, I couldn't ask you just to drop everything," Jasmine said quietly.
"I've got time. I guess Maya's home now, though... you want me to come to you?"
There was a slight intake of breath from the other end of the line. After a second, Elsa realised her mistake: she still didn't know where Jasmine lived, and she imagined Jasmine was still reluctant to tell her her address.
"Can... can we meet somewhere else?" Jasmine murmured, confirming her suspicions. "Maybe another time, it doesn't have to be today."
Well, that would give her a chance to do her essay, though Elsa wasn't sure she'd be entirely able to concentrate. She was tingling with curiosity: Jasmine had never asked to meet her before, and the way she was speaking made it sound important, urgent, even. "Whenever works for you, Jaz," Elsa said softly, careful to ensure her curious impatience remained hidden.
"Tomorrow morning?" Jasmine asked hesitantly, after a few moments of murmured conversation with Akhir. "At the mall?"
"Suits me."
The next morning, Elsa sat at a corner table in the Starbucks at the mall, sipping at a bucket-sized mug of cappuccino and munching her way through a croissant. She kept glancing towards the door: being the first to arrive and having to wait for the other person was not something she was used to, and time seemed to be moving slowly and reluctantly, like treacle from a spoon. Elsa was not only on time, but actually early for once, and she watched the clock tick up to and past the appointed time with increasing restlessness.
Eventually, she saw Jasmine enter the cafe, looking round the room for her. Elsa waved cheerfully, smiling.
"Hey," Elsa said as Jasmine reached the table.
"I'm so sorry I'm late," Jasmine murmured.
She hesitated, shifting from foot to foot rather than sliding into the seat opposite Elsa. Elsa'd been careful to seat herself in the corner, leaving a chair for Jasmine nearer the door. She'd assumed a quick escape route would make the other woman more comfortable.
"Can I get you a coffee?" Elsa asked gently.
"I- I was going to get you one. I didn't expect..."
Elsa smiled. "You didn't expect me to be on time, huh? I know, I surprised myself today. Guess I've been looking forward to seeing you, and really really curious to find out what you wanted to talk to me about."
Jasmine took a deep breath, and slid suddenly into the chair opposite Elsa. Her body was taut, like a stretched elastic band waiting to be allowed to spring back and fly away. "I wanted to say I'm sorry," Jasmine said in a rush. Her dark eyes met Elsa's, but kept making little movements as if to glance down or away, brought back to make eye contact by sheer force of will.
Elsa was puzzled. "You already said that. It wasn't your fault."
Jasmine shook her head urgently. "Not the interview. The war. I... I'm sorry that I... I should never have stood by while they did that to you."
The shock hit Elsa suddenly and intensely, as though she'd dived into cold water. She'd gone through a lot of possibilities about what Jasmine wanted to say to her, but she'd never expected this. For a few moments she was frozen, staring at her friend, who had dropped her gaze as soon as she'd said it, fiddling with her hands. After a second, she glanced up again and began to stand.
"There," Jasmine said softly, but with an air of finality. "I've finally said it. I truly am sorry, for everything. I... I'll go now."
Through the fog of astonishment, Elsa managed to force out speech. "No, wait. Please."
It took another minute for Elsa to get her thoughts in order enough to speak, though it felt like longer. As the initial shock subsided slightly, Elsa became aware of what felt like a hundred other emotions: fear and pain at the reminder of the war; righteous anger at Jasmine for not intervening; but also sympathy, for her friend looked so distraught, so afraid... and admiration, that despite that Jasmine had been brave enough to apologise. As she felt that last emotion, Elsa felt her brain begin to kick in again, and she thought about what Jasmine had said. Was it really fair for her to blame herself? Elsa had reflected on this before, of course, but never had it been so urgent for her to get her thoughts in order. She couldn't leave Jasmine's apology just hanging in the air.
"It's okay," Elsa managed eventually. "Thanks for saying that. It was brave of you. But I... I don't think there's really much to say sorry for. There isn't much you could have done."
Jasmine's eyes were cast down into her lap, and her voice, when it came, was so tiny a whisper that Elsa had to lean forward to catch it. "I... I could have... fought." There was a dread and pain in her voice on the word 'fought' that stabbed at Elsa's heart.
"That wouldn't have freed me," Elsa said slowly. "It would've been nice to get to know you earlier, if they'd caged us together, but that's really all you could have done. And it would have hurt you to do that, I think."
There was a long silence. Jasmine had hung her head so far that her long hair swung forward, hiding most of her face from view. Without seeing her friend's expression, Elsa found it impossible to judge the effect of her words, and judged it better to stay silent. Instead, she reached for Jasmine's hand, resting on the tabletop, and touched it gently.
Jasmine jumped, as though Elsa's hand was scalding hot, and her eyes flew to meet Elsa's.
"It wouldn't have saved me," Elsa repeated. "Who knows? Your being a voluntary might even have helped the rest of us. If we'd all resisted, the peace movement would probably never have got off the ground – I imagine many Yeerks who joined them wouldn't have done so if they'd thought the only alternative to the Empire was returning to the Pool, never to take a host again."
Jasmine said nothing, staring at her as a tear tracked its way down her cheek. Elsa squeezed her hand: after the initial shock, Jasmine had let her hand settle back against Elsa's, her fingers curling around it.
"Were you happy, with Akhir?" Elsa asked in a whisper.
Jasmine hesitated. "It depends what you mean," she said slowly. "I... I wouldn't blame you if you don't believe this, but I wasn't happy about the Empire. I hated going to the Pool, I..." she trailed off, the tears coming faster now. "But with Akhir herself? Yes. Yes, happier than I had been for years before that. My whole life, even."
Elsa nodded, trying to keep her expression empathetic, not to let the horror that she felt show at the thought that total enslavement, not even able to breathe without the Yeerk's permission, would be the happiest period of Jasmine's life. What kind of life had she led before that, if that was how she felt?
"Akhir never wanted..." Jasmine trailed off.
Elsa waited a moment. "Never wanted?" she prompted after a while.
"She... I could feel her pain, when she... she never agreed with what the Empire did."
Elsa's body tensed, and she bit her lip. Jasmine was probably right; it was the same impression she herself had got of Akhir, and she knew how little snatches of emotion could leak from Yeerk to host, even though her own Yeerks had mostly tried to keep their connection quite closed. But it was hard, to forgive Akhir. "What did you like about it?" Elsa said eventually, hoping to steer the conversation away slightly, and maybe improve her opinion towards the Yeerk by hearing the litany of positive attributes she imagined Jasmine might list in response to that question. "Being infested."
The other woman hesitated. "I... goodness, I don't know where to start..."
For a second, Elsa wondered whether to tell Jasmine not to worry, that she didn't have to answer if she didn't want to, but she didn't seem particularly upset, just surprised by the question.
"At first... I suppose it was being safe, and knowing Maya was." Jasmine swallowed, looking uncomfortable, and quickly moved on. "After a while... I get on well with Akhir, I realised that quite quickly. She's kind, patient with me and all the questions I had back then, and she's funny, too. I found out so much, as well, about space, and about the Yeerks themselves. It was fascinating, to learn all that."
Elsa nodded.
"And then there was how she reacted to being in my body, having my senses. I could feel how much she enjoyed just looking at things I'd never noticed before. I hadn't realised how much beauty was around me. And I... I guess in those moments I felt useful, like I was making a difference for her, letting her experience that."
"Yeah. My Yeerks loved to stare at random things, too. Some of them were quite pretty, when you actually stopped to look."
Jasmine nodded. "Yes, that's what I mean." She paused again, looking as though she had more to say.
"What is it?" Elsa prodded after a moment, when no more was said.
"It's just... I suppose the biggest thing was that she... she saw everything. Everything I felt or thought, everything I'd ever done..."
Elsa hadn't, until now, realised it was possible for someone's voice to catch when they were whispering so quietly, but Jasmine's did. She herself had to hold back a shiver, for different reasons, She tried not to dwell on her own infestation, and what it had felt like to have a Yeerk see everything in her mind.
"... and she still liked me. She still thought..." Jasmine trailed off, looking surprised that she'd revealed so much.
"I reckon I'd still like you too, you know," Elsa said softly. "Not that I'm planning to infest you, or anything."
Jasmine shook her head, suddenly, looking upset. "You wouldn't. I'm..." she trailed off. "You wouldn't still like me."
Her voice was quiet, but full of a certainty that made Elsa blink back tears. "I'm sure I would." Elsa forced a soft smile. "Besides, liking you is the one and only thing I agree with a Yeerk on, which must be some kind of world record."
Jasmine gave her a strange look.
"Seriously. You tell Akhir I agree with her on something, see how she reacts," Elsa continued, her tone as light-hearted as she could make it, hoping to shift the conversation onto slightly safer ground. "I'd tell you to remind her immediately afterwards that she's a slimeball, simply to preserve my reputation, but I can't imagine you doing that, somehow."
Surprisingly, Jasmine laughed. It was the tiniest of sounds, quiet and brief, but it was laughter nevertheless, and Elsa beamed with joy at this tiny connection. "You might hate me for saying this," Jasmine murmured softly, "but you're more alike than you think."
"What? Me and Akhir?" Elsa struggled to keep her tone light, joking; she was conscious that, coming from Jasmine, that was quite a compliment.
Jasmine nodded. "You're both so..." Jasmine trailed off. "I can't describe it. And you have a similar sense of humour, in a way." Then she smiled. "And you both hate math."
It was Elsa's turn to laugh. "Well, I can't argue with that last one being true for me. Akhir too, huh? Wish I'd had her, all my Yeerks liked to harp on about how important it was for technology etcetera. I mean, I know it is, but that doesn't mean I have to like simultaneous equations. Whatever they are." Elsa rolled her eyes. "I had one Yeerk who used to spend most of my Math lesson telling me I lacked the insight to understand its importance, the intelligence to learn it and the self-discipline to apply myself to it."
Jasmine looked shocked. "Your Yeerk said that? To you?"
Elsa shrugged. "I guess I'm not someone you see all of and still like, at least not if you're Tamhet. Luckily I didn't want her to like me, though. Now she was a real slimeball."
"How could she say something so horrible?" Jasmine sounded genuinely horrified by Elsa's statement.
Frowning, Elsa puzzled over that for a few moments. She was surprised that a Yeerk talking like that was such a shock to Jasmine: as far as she was concerned, it was pretty much expected. Sure, Tamhet had been worse than most of her others... though not the worst, she thought with a shudder. But almost all her Yeerks had spoken like that at one time or another, and from the stories of others in the cages she was sure it was pretty common. 'I guess you'd have to be pretty stupid to put a voluntary host off by insulting them, though,' she thought to herself eventually. Jasmine had probably only experienced compliments from Akhir, without a negative comment in sight.
Elsa shrugged, trying to look casual. "That was pretty normal, for my Yeerks."
Jasmine's expression changed to one of shame. "I'm so sorry."
"It wasn't your fault. We've been through that." Hastening to change the subject, Elsa added: "Look, why don't you get that coffee? Then I could really do with your company shopping, to ensure I actually buy clothes and don't spend all my time getting books and CDs. We won't talk any more about the war, though I'm still up for any embarrassing stories you have about Akhir I can annoy her with."
"You want me to come shopping with you?" Jasmine looked half-hopeful, half-surprised.
"That's what I just said, isn't it?"
Jasmine nodded slowly, and a tiny smile crept onto her face. "Yes. I- I'd like that."
A short while later, Elsa rifled half-heartedly through a rack of jeans. She'd already lost hope that there would be any that fitted properly and looked good on her, and she'd only been shopping about half an hour. She was more interested in chatting with Jasmine: after the initial intensity of their meeting, and the short awkwardness after it, they'd settled into pleasant light chatter. They were currently comparing notes on a recent Disney film they'd seen: Jasmine to keep Maya happy, Elsa because she still had a mental age of about seven.
"I'm just still impressed I managed not to sing in the cinema."
Jasmine smiled slightly. "That wouldn't have gone down well."
"What're you saying about my singing?!" Elsa teased, mock-offended.
Jasmine hesitated for a moment, then laughed. "Are you planning to try any of those on?"
With a dramatic sigh, Elsa turned back to the jeans. "I've already given up," she muttered.
"Oh, there must be some that fit you." Jasmine reached for a darker blue pair. "How about these?"
"I'll try them on, if I really have to," Elsa muttered. "As long as we can go to the bookshop after." She reached out to take the jeans from Jasmine, and began to turn towards the changing room. She debated joking about having issues with the Gap changing rooms, but decided against it. Reference to the Yeerk Pool would only return the tension that had now almost dissipated.
"You know, shopping with you is a very different experience than shopping with Maya," Jasmine said reflectively. "She wants to try on half the store, including every pink thing there. And anything with sequins."
"You could get Akhir to take her shopping," Elsa pointed out, careful to keep her voice low.
Jasmine smiled amusedly. "No way. Yeerks have two problems when it comes to taking a child shopping: a fascination with every single colour, even the horrible ones, along with anything sparkly, and a complete lack of boundaries which comes from having no parenting instincts of their own. If I leave Maya and Akhir alone for more than five minutes in a store Maya always convinces Akhir to buy her something."
Elsa laughed. "Good for Maya."
There was a short silence as they joined the queue for the changing rooms. Being a Saturday morning, it was pretty busy. Elsa noted most of the people were holding a lot more clothes than the couple of pairs of jeans she'd managed to collect; it probably wasn't very efficient to queue for ages only to probably have to do so again in a month or so when she needed a top, but she could only manage to shop for one kind of clothing at a time.
After some time queueing, they made it to the changing rooms. Elsa suppressed a shudder as she stepped into the enclosed cubicle and bolted herself in: it wasn't even the right store, but it still brought back way too many memories. Breathing as steadily as she could, she managed to get through trying on the jeans, even managing to make the choice to buy one pair.
Jasmine also got herself a pretty teal-blue top, with silver-coloured stitching scattered with sequins, much to Elsa's surprise.
"I'd have thought you'd have had enough of sequins," Elsa commented as they made their way out of the store.
"Oh, it's not for me, it's for Akhir. She loves this colour."
"You mean she has colours she doesn't love?"
Jasmine hesitated, then laughed again, with more confidence this time. "Not really."
"You tried it on though, right? Don't tell me you're the same size."
"If I hadn't been in the same room when she acquired them, I wouldn't believe she'd used anyone else's DNA at all." Jasmine smiled. "I'd take it as a compliment, but it was probably partly that I was the easiest one to picture. She didn't know the others, and the descriptions went something like: 'male, tall, Asian, brown hair, brown eyes'. Not much to go on, really."
They'd left the store by now, walking down the hallway towards the bookstore, a far more pleasant destination.
"Especially for the ones who'd never had hosts before," Elsa replied, nodding in agreement.
For a few moments, she wondered idly how you could picture brown if you'd never seen it, never seen any colour. Elsa was just beginning to decide that this was getting dangerously close to philosophy (she had little tolerance for most philosophy, as experience had taught her it mainly made her brain hurt) when she was interrupted. She had been too busy reflecting to notice that two women walking the opposite way had stopped, and were staring at them. Jasmine soon halted too, which managed to draw Elsa's attention back down to Earth, in time to register the unpleasant looks in her direction.
The first woman she didn't recognise, but she had to stop herself from visibly jumping when she saw that the second one was Carla.
Momentarily taken aback, Elsa simply stared for a few seconds, then managed to push a smile onto her face. "Hi," she said to Carla, wondering idly whether this greeting would meet with any more success than the last time they'd bumped into each other.
Carla's eyes had slid away from her, however, and were staring at Jasmine. "Are you two here together?" Carla said, in a tone of slightly disdainful disbelief.
Elsa glanced sideways at Jasmine, who nodded shyly.
"We're shopping," she murmured, not meeting Carla's eyes.
"Jasmine, sweetie, I'm not sure that's safe," the woman standing next to Carla said patronisingly, stepping forward. "Come with us."
Jasmine looked at her hesitantly, and Elsa's eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion. She had a finely-tuned sixth sense for Yeerk arrogance, and she detected more than a hint of it in the other woman's tone.
"Who are you, exactly?" Elsa snapped, before Jasmine could answer. "And who do you think you are, to be telling Jasmine what to do?"
"It's okay." Jasmine's tone was diplomatic, and she looked pleadingly at Elsa before returning her gaze to the woman. "It's quite safe. We're in the middle of the mall."
"Does Akhir know where you are?" the woman asked, dropping her tone to the quietest of whispers.
Jasmine nodded.
The woman... well, the Yeerk, because she'd absolutely just confirmed in Elsa's mind that she was one... still looked concerned. "Well," she said, still clearly unhappy with the situation, "I suppose it's her decision, but..."
"No it bloody well isn't! It's Jasmine's decision, Ak-" Elsa cut herself off abruptly, conscious of how dangerous it might be to say a Yeerk name so loudly in the crowded mall; "I mean, she- doesn't own her!" Elsa glanced sideways at Jasmine. "Are you seriously okay with this?"
Jasmine looked so worried that Elsa immediately regretted yelling, though she was still boiling with fury. She hated the Yeerk's arrogance, but watching Jasmine just accept it was even worse.
"Be silent," the Yeerk snapped, barely glancing sideways at Elsa before returning her gaze to Jasmine. "You should come with us," she repeated, her tone infinitely more gentle. "It's certainly not safe now she's angry."
That was it. Stepping closer to the Yeerk, pushing a little into her personal space, Elsa glared straight into her eyes. "Get lost," she snapped.
"Elsa!" Elsa felt Jasmine touch her hesitantly on the arm, moving close enough to murmur to her. "Alniss is just worried, that's all. She didn't mean..."
Jasmine trailed off as Elsa turned her eyes to her, and Elsa belatedly realised that her fury was still in them. She forced herself to relax slightly, trying to give Jasmine a reassuring look.
"Are you fucking mad?" Carla snapped suddenly, glaring at Jasmine. "What'd you say her name for?"
Jasmine hung her head, and apologised, but not before she'd flicked her eyes sideways to Elsa, meaningfully. Elsa froze with sudden realisation that the name-drop had been deliberate. Why? Did she dare hope that Jasmine had wanted Elsa to know for her own sake, or was it to try and smooth things over, knowing they needed Alniss' cooperation for the campaign?
Either way, Elsa did need Alniss' cooperation, and despite her nastiness she felt a little sorry for her. She remembered Kalran telling her how Alniss had lost both her mates and... and Silrin... in the final battle. Well, that was misleading, really, they'd been flushed helpless from the Pool ship, which even Elsa had to admit hardly counted as a battle.
Elsa turned back to Alniss, stepping back a little, but keeping their eyes level. She wasn't about to give the slightest impression of submission, even if Alniss had lost every single other member of her species. "Not that it makes it OK how you just spoke to us, but I've been wanting to say..." Elsa paused for a second, taking a deep breath. "I'm truly sorry for your losses."
Alniss froze, staring at her. Carla looked just as shocked as she was, and even Jasmine seemed astonished.
It was Carla who recovered first. "If you're trying to make fun of her..."
She left the threat unspoken, but Elsa could hear the icy fury in her voice, and see it, too, as she looked toward her. "No, I promise I'm not. And it goes for you, as well... I'm so sorry, it must have been so difficult to lose her." The words weren't easy to utter, but Elsa knew it was only right to say them, however alien the idea of grieving for your Yeerk seemed to her.
Carla stiffened, her face suddenly inscrutable. Alniss' emotions were less well-disguised, her eyes swollen with unshed tears.
"But... you hated her," Alniss eventually managed, her voice choked with pain.
Despite the Yeerk's earlier arrogance, Elsa felt something within her gut soften at the sight of Alniss' trembling frame. "No," she said softly. "Not exactly."
Alniss looked at her suspiciously: she was already beginning to bring herself back under control, her tears looking less and less as though they would overspill her eyelids. "You're telling the truth?"
Elsa nodded slowly.
"But... you..." Alniss trailed off, glancing sideways at Carla as though for reassurance.
Carla took the Yeerk's hand, squeezing it gently. She turned her eyes to Elsa then, giving her a harsh stare. "You'd better not be making fun of her," she snarled protectively.
"Of course I'm not."
"She's not like that." Jasmine's voice was quiet, a whisper even, but clear.
Elsa turned to her, smiling with surprised pleasure. She hadn't expected that level of confidence from her friend, not yet, and felt a bubbling sense of pride at the trust Jasmine had just shown in her.
Carla and Alniss looked less pleased, though Alniss' expression was milder than it had been. "You can't be sure," she said gently to Jasmine.
"I'm sure enough."
There was a short silence. Elsa observed the other two carefully: they seemed about as receptive as she'd ever seen them. Carla had even uncrossed her arms, looking between her and Jasmine curiously, and Alniss was studying Elsa herself, her eyes scanning over her in a way that made Elsa uncomfortable, but didn't seem aggressive. She doubted they'd ever all bump into each other again, and suddenly decided to take the plunge.
"Jasmine's been telling me about the interview," Elsa said in a rush, looking at Carla. "I'm sorry it didn't go so well. I was wondering, would it help if I, a few of us even, meet you before the next one. I could even come along, if you want."
Carla stiffened, folding her arms again. She didn't look happy, and Elsa regretted bringing the subject up when Carla gestured dismissively at Jasmine.
"I suppose she's been telling you it's all my fault?"
Elsa was surprised by the dismissal when she spoke: she suddenly saw that Carla and Jasmine didn't get along at all, at least not from Carla's side, and she cursed herself for being stupid enough to send the two of them to that interview with only each other for company. No wonder it hadn't gone well.
"Carla!" Alniss looked shocked. "There's no need to speak to Jasmine like that."
Elsa looked sideways: Jasmine was hanging her head, clearly not about to defend herself.
"I think you got the wrong word there," Elsa snapped cooly. "Jasmine's been telling me it's all her fault, which for the record I think is complete nonsense. If you want to give someone the blame, give it to me. I should have thought about it more."
"You should. Ensure you do next time," Alniss reprimanded suddenly.
Elsa rolled her eyes. "I don't take orders from you."
Alniss swelled indignantly, but before she could speak Jasmine interrupted her.
"Can we go?" Jasmine piped up suddenly.
"You don't have to ask, Jasmine, just go." Elsa strained to keep her voice gentle. "You want me to come with you?"
Jasmine nodded, looking cautiously between her and Alniss. "I don't want this to turn into a fight. Please," she added, her eyes on Alniss.
Strangely- or at least, it was strange to Elsa, who had never found pleading with Yeerks to do the slightest bit of good- Alniss seemed to calm herself, with some effort, and smiled at Jasmine.
"It won't," she said softly. "Are you sure you won't come with us?"
Jasmine shook her head. "I'm sorry."
"At least stay within the mall," Alniss said anxiously. "Don't go anywhere on your own with her, will you?"
Elsa forced back her retort with some effort, biting her lip to keep herself from yelling at Alniss. This was hard enough without her sowing all that doubt in Jasmine's mind: she was fed up of not being trusted, being assumed to be some kind of cold-blooded murderer. A quieter, more rational part of Elsa's mind pointed out that she'd heard several stories of voluntaries being killed, and that was only the ones that had been on the news: there were probably far more that had been beaten up, severely injured even, that she hadn't heard about.
"I won't," Jasmine promised Alniss.
"I'm not interested in hurting anyone, Alniss," Elsa said softly. "Least of all Jasmine. Carla... if you want to meet us before the next interview or whatever, you've got my number, right, so just call me. Or ask Jasmine to let me know."
Elsa was expecting Carla to dismiss her, but after a few seconds she nodded slowly.
"OK. Maybe I will."