She snorts fondly. 

"For me, it's... somewhat that, somewhat just..." 

She lays back, and swishes out her shoulders. 

"I want it to be - true? That I'm looking up to them and trusting that they have the world running behind me, that I'm setting foot in territory they've combed and that I'm on a path that's - curated and wise and that it's okay for me to defer to them. And that's a lot to ask, especially if you want them not to be breathing down your neck. I talk about Amber like that sometimes, but she doesn't insist on it, and that helps a lot, too." 

Dawn nods. "Yeah. Someone I trust like that would work. Haven't met one in a bit, but that would work."

She nods softly, before settling her eyes down a little. 

"- I'm pretty sure that Zoey trusts you like that, you know? Not necessarily in the most literal sense, but..." 

A soft little chuckle escapes her as her cheeks color a bit and a small grin stretches her cheeks. "Yeah, she does, doesn't she? I trust her a lot, too."

She smiles lightly, and chuckles faintly and lingeringly. 

"I suppose it's not a bad place to start. Two sisters, off to face the world together..." 

She hums, and presses her hands together, leaning her chin down on them. 

"- Has it always been like that, for you, if you don't mind me asking?" 

She looks down at her drink for a moment.

"Yeah. Things were rough for a while growing up. We basically looked after each other."

"But hey, I can make a mean grilled cheese, and we both can fix anything that goes wrong in a house," she finishes with a laugh and a smile.

She smiles a little ruefully. 

"I'm glad you had each other, at least." 

She pauses, for a while. 

"I hope I can offer a kinder home, for you two." 

"...And that I can try out this 'mean grilled cheese' of yours, sometime, too." 

She breaks down laughing, shaking her head a little, sighing wistfully and lightly, smiling up out of it. 

Dawn laughs too. "Yeah, I'll have to cook some for you some time. Got a favorite kind of food?"

"I tend to like... Fish and chips, steak, burgers, chicken wings. The sort of hearty pub food, the more battered the better. I've let my palette wander a little, but always find myself coming back to that sort of thing." 

"Ah, good stuff, and all things I know how to make. Probably doesn't compare to having a cultivator chef do it, but still."

She leans back and sighs warmly, giving Romana an appreciative glance up and down, then looking back at the tarp where she and then Zoey had trained.

"Sure was something, watching her movements start to become more somehow, and then the gunk build up after that," she muses with a warm sigh.

She hums and nods along, settling a little deeper into her seat. She doesn't quite preen, but there's enough intentionality in the way her shoulders gently bob down into her gaze that she might catch it. 

"It's something special, getting yourself primed and pumped like that. The mess is just the cherry on top that makes it a real experience..."
She shakes her head.

"Always brings a smile to my face when I can get people to get it, too - it's wonderful to have that felt sense of progress and see the special little smiles that slip onto their faces at the rush..." 

Dawn stares off in the direction of the bathroom and nods, smiling gently. "She definitely got it. Was great to see."

She shakes her head, then grins at Romana. "Think there's some kinda magic brass knuckles or something?"

She bobs her head from side to side. 

"It's definitely possible, if a bit unorthodox. The force distribution are generally more or less obsoleted by techniques pretty early, but there's of course advantages to having an extra layer between you and what you hit, as well as having something external to enchant. I've seen people use hand wraps and gloves for that purpose, too, though you'd probably get best results out of something Metal, if you want to go down that route." 

Dawn nods, grinning a bit wider. "Metal gauntlets sound great. Maybe enchant 'em to suit whatever techniques I wind up using or something."

She smiles a little and ventures a thought of her own. 

"Depending on how much you want to fuss around with it, you might be able to do something with modular striking plates with different enchantments, play around with different options there for different opponents or until you're happy with one as your go to." 

"Ooh. Definitely have to talk with Zoey about those. Could be a fun project together."

She hums along approvingly. 

"Speaking of projects with her..." 

She taps her lips lightly in thought. 

"There's a few possibilities for pair cultivation with her you could go looking for, if you'd like? It can be a little finnicky to get it lined up just right, and very..." 

She pauses, and looks into her eyes meaningfully.

"Intimate, in a few different ways, but it can give a decent substantial boost to your progress, if everything works out smoothly. Do you have any thoughts on what you'd be comfortable with, there?" 

Dawn's cheeks turn a bit pink.

C'mon, stay cool, Dawn.

She stretches casually and rubs the back of her head. "Intimate, huh? What kinda intimate d'you mean?"

A little slightly sharper smile tugs at the edges of her lips. 

Got you.

"It depends on the technique, of course. I've seen some that rely on shared dreamstates, but most traditional ways to do it involve a lot of physical contact - usually skin to skin - and tend to have a certain bleedover of emotions. You generally won't feel the emotions as yours, or even necessarily have the most detailed feedback but you can sort of... feel how their soul responds to their feelings and the world around them. I've heard it described as almost a... higher, more immediate level of being able to see them smile, or feel their back move against your hand with a sigh or a shiver." 

She does her best to keep her blush from brightening.

She even succeeds. Mostly.

"Heh, that'd probably be too embarrassing for Zoey. I could take one for the team, since it sounds like it'd keep her safer, but she wouldn't wanna do something like that."

She reaches a hand up to fuss with her hair, and nods softly and slowly, hiding a little broadening of her smile behind her hand. 

"I'll keep that in mind, then." 

She slowly drinks more of her water, letting her eyes wander away and the moment pass.