#sphene

https://archiveofourown.org/works/85955486

There are two versions of you. One is, to outside observers, Perfect. Not *flawless*, just so very good. Bottomlessly compassionate, shrewd and calculating but not cold. People like her. A lot.

There is also the internal You. And its not that she isn't also Good and Kind and Clever and Inspiring. Its just that this you is Less. You know this to be fact from observation. This makes her flawlessly everything you were expected to be.

She earns trust in breaths, while you struggle to hold it with all your might. She makes decisions swiftly, while you agonize over them. She moves with speed and grace, while you move awkwardly at an Acceptably Human pace.

She is false. You are real. It's just that, when push comes to shove, "real" doesn't mean anything. Results do. Your results just aren't worth the resources effort.

And then... there's people who see you. One woman, specifically. And she's not perfect, and she's got things a little twisted around, but at the center of it all, she does actually get you. She cares, she understands, and she believes in your principles and vision. You, the imperfected original, despite knowing the "perfect" version first.