On the other side, Sorano stayed deathly silent. Cobra flexed his fingers to keep calm. He wasn't going to back down on his answer, so all he could do was send a once-in-a-lifetime genuine prayer that it was enough. He could feel Sorano's mind debating once again, the pros and cons weighing in her mind. The anticipation of whether the scales of his fate would tip one way or the other.
Finally, she gave a great big sigh. "I know I said I wanted the gruff one but geez…" He heard a clicking of her tongue, "I can't even give any examples to refute you on that, even though I'd really like to." Cobra restrained himself from letting out a victory yell, which definitely would have been loud enough for Sorano to hear even if it wasn't via lacrima.
"Hmm…so, leaving those two be, huh? I can't say I like that approach, but maybe you're right." She sighed again. "And here I was hoping that this means that we'd finally get progress."
"Yeah, no can do. Not unless you know a miracle worker." Cobra glanced again at Lucy and saw that she wasn't looking at him, but instead at the lacrima, past it into Sorano. A gentle smile lay on her face, and even though it wasn't at him, like a campfire, Cobra could feel the warmth from it even at a distance. He quickly looked away, he couldn't afford to be distracted now of all times. "Is that all you required of…of us today?"