Marron woke the next morning and immediately started getting dressed to return to The Silver Cleaver.
Then she stopped, one arm in her jacket sleeve, and really thought about it.
Petra had said tomorrow. But showing up exactly twenty-four hours after their first awkward encounter felt... desperate. Pushy. Like she was hovering, waiting to pounce the moment Petra was willing to engage.
Build trust before revealing too much, Jenny had said.
Hard to build trust when you were being aggressively eager.
Marron finished putting on her jacket, then took it off again. She wasn't going to The Silver Cleaver today. Not yet. Give Petra space. Give her time to think without feeling pressured. Give Marron herself time to figure out a better approach than showing up at dawn like an obsessive collector.
"Smart choice," Mokko said from his corner. He'd been watching her internal debate with patient amusement.
