Not being able to help but smile, Olivia looked from Satsumi to Nicole.
"Your sister's a good person," she said, still addressing the younger sister. "She helped me with some trouble recently."
In the back of Olivia's mind, a small voice was whispering to her, cautioning her against getting too comfortable with the two sisters; against letting herself get too attached to them and risk the pain of loss later on down the line. At the same time, a second voice chided her, telling her to finally let go of the past and move on; make new friends and end the life of solitude she had made such great strides to escape over the past year.
"I like spending time with her, too, even if it's only occasionally."
The two voices faded away, each seemingly satisfied with her response. Olivia glanced down at her plate, surprised to find it already almost empty. She chuckled quietly to herself as she realized that the doctor's warning that her dietary meds might overstimulate her appetite had not been exaggerated.
