THE MOMENT
"She was easy to be around," Karin nodded with a sigh. "And, I know that was probably because of what she was, but still. We had a lot of fun together before... the thing," she said. She was sitting at the counter in a familiar diner she'd never been to before. The attentive waitress, Glory Jewel, didn't need to say very much for Karin to open up to her. The green-haired woman with a pink apron had a warm reputation across the multiverse, and she often had strangers stopping by just to chat. By now, she'd already explained the situation she didn't seem to want to name, and referred to it in vague terms. Glory had heard a lot of strange things in her time, so she tried to focus on the actual problem bothering the girl, instead of being distracted by the unusual circumstances.
"I didn't hate her sister, but she just felt like a completely different person. And they were supposed to be twins!" she added in a moment of playful exasperation. "Davina said they..., she was super nice." She'd already introduced her own twin sister, Davina, through conversation, and Glory was easily keeping up. Karin had made friends with one sister from a different pair of twins, and that one sister regularly adventured with Karin and Davina. Then, a tragic situation fused them and resulted in something taking their place instead.
"There you go, Davina went, and you're twins." Glory smiled. "You can see them, too, can't you?" she asked. "See, her," the twins had merged into a single personality. "I'm sure Six is in there." Six was Karin's friend from the pair, and her sister was named 23.
"Not really," Karin shook her head. "Davina said she has 23's personality," she shrugged.
"Now, I know that's not entirely true, and I never met any of them," Glory laughed. "This whole conversation has been about you deciding whether you want to see them or not. You've told me all about how fun and friendly Six was, and how closed off 23 was...," she said. She let it drag out a bit, hoping the girl would figure it out herself.
"Yeah...?" Karin asked.
"It only came up because Davina said she asked about you, right? Did 23 ever ask about you?" Karin smiled, and her posture relaxed from the stiff upright position she'd been holding at the counter.
"Not really."