A Realm Reborn
Apr. 25th, 2018 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
levelthreehooligan posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
hydaelynmakesmistakes
Far From Home
A rickety carriage ride, a pair of snow white siblings and a Moogle. Without knowing it, you all started the same way. This is the beginning of your story, all of you,during your first trip to the City State that would change your lives.
Whether it be under the lush canopies of the Shroud, through the busy thoroughfares of Ul'Dah or amongst the whispering sea winds of Limsa Lominsa, each one welcomes you, feels like home.
With only the weapon you scampered away with, the clothes on your backs, and an inexplicable feeling of purpose - You have arrived.
*Insert Shojo meeting here*
Date: 2018-04-26 10:07 am (UTC)There's a blur of white behind her that seems to be in a bit of a hurry. It's coming towards her. Several thoughts go through her mind.
- Hahah wouldn't it be really funny if you tripped him up like you do to your siblings?
- No, don't do that, you're trying to make a good impression here
- Just leave it
- Stick your leggy out real far
In the end, none of the internal debating matters, because her body is already moving to kick out the legs of this poor, poor man.
There's a thunk of a kick to a shin, and then... another thunk? Just ahead of where the man now lies on the floor a small boulder landed. It looks like there was a tiny land slide.
"Huh." Is the eloquent response.
Connor was here, Pinya is a loser!
Date: 2018-04-26 03:37 pm (UTC)That said, Connor saw the other lalfell before hitting her. He very distinctly remembers noting and then swerving to go around her. He knows he did this, and yet here he is, freeze-frame falling over himself and trying very very quickly to suss out what kind of bizarre and unfortunate trip could make a small person flail into his path like that. Tough luck, introspection hour is over.
From the steps to the winding bend of the path to the guild he meant to go to, Connor doesn't fall. Instead he control-falls, arms flapping, feet kicking, dignity abandoned because he's decided falling itself is worse than this chocobo dance. In fact, he's even maintaining speed! And regaining balance. Yes, YES, HE WINS!
"Gotta do better than that! Can't catch me!" He shouts back over his shoulder, a hushed warning touching his cheek so when he keeps going forward, Connor can hike up one knee with a little bounce, then hop-jump his way over the tumbled boulder. He even punches the air at the height of said jump, and away he goes for the archer's guild.
Haha, yes, taunting strangers in the city who have nothing to do with him, he is The Best(TM) conjurer.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-26 07:09 pm (UTC)She doesn't realise until later that it wasn't her disappointment.
She walks the last part of the path and sees the Archer's guild for the first time, closed off but warm, looking out onto the great Gridanian lakes, and she falls in love.
She is welcomed into the guild with little hesitation, her skill around a bow already pretty formidable as she'd learnt to defend herself and her crops when she was younger, and she makes an immediate friend in Leih Aliapoh.
It's not until ten minutes later that a white robed figure comes into view whilst she's shooting. A hand lands on her shoulder and she looks up to see Lucianne eyeing her from above.
"Piñara, I would like you to accompany the wailers on their daily patrols, if you will. There's some business that the other archers have to take care of first, and this would be a good opportunity for you to see the day to day work that we do." The Elezen smiles, and gestures at the group of three Wailers that stand behind her - and the man in the white robes.
"Men, this is our newest recruit. I want you to take her around the Shroud patrol if you would. She's already had an encounter with the Ixal and managed to keep herself safe through that, so don't you worry about her 'Dragging you Down'." Lucianne gives one of the wailers a pointed look, and somehow Pinya can tell that he's been chastised, even through the mask.
Pinya smirks at him, just slightly, and bows to them.
"A pleasure." She puts on her best, winning smile.
Now that she can see him, the lala looks... familiar - but she can't place it.
#Regret
Date: 2018-04-26 07:35 pm (UTC)The fact that she’s a Dunesfolk doesn’t sit great with him. Being the same background in Gridania means they’ll probably have to talk, and talking is bad. Talking means people get to know you and you have to like. Say things about yourself. Mm. No, he doesn’t like that. But he’s also been out of Ul’dah for a few years so he can probably get away with talking about gridania. And rocks? Yes. He will talk about rocks and plants and she’ll leave him alone. Good plan. He’s good at this.
The wailers aren’t thrilled to have company on their patrol but Connor lets it slide without comment. He doesn’t ask where they’re going, but waits for one of the Elezen to look down at the two lalafells from behind their mask and stoutly say: “This morning’s patrol is a trip to the Bannock and through to Bentbranch Meadows.. Don’t fall behind.” Thats decent. The Bannock is a well worn path with little need for a healer or a conjured. Should be an easy afternoon.
He nods and pulls up the hood of his white robe, cane in hand. It’s plain with a grey under layer over the rest of his clothes, he’s no white mage to go wearing red, and white makes him easier to see and thus less likely to get kicked or stepped on. Stupid Elezen. Has the new girl been kicked around yet? It sucks.
He doesn’t offer much conversation. In fact as they get ready to leave he catches her eye and heads her off before she can start:
“Don’t pay me much mind, I’m just here in case anyone wanders into a bramble patch or traipses too far off the path. I trust you know not to go picking flowers silly-nilly in the Shroud? Then the wailers will have more to show you then I will.”
Small sassy child.
Date: 2018-04-26 08:12 pm (UTC)"I'm supposed to trust a man that almost ran into a rock?" She asks, voice full of false innocence and concern, before she winks at him and dutifully follows the other men out of the building.
The Elezen manages to piss her off in under five minutes, treating her like a chore and immediately dismissing any of her skill. They're halfway to Bentbranch when he tells her off for 'falling behind' when she is simply watching the forest.
"Don't fall behind?" She finally snaps. "Boy, I can whip your behind five ways to Horizon. I might be new here, but you certainly will not talk to me with such disrespect." The silver tongue she's cultivated over two and a half decades in the ballrooms of Ul'dah is sharp and ready, and though she wanted to start afresh, it wouldn't do to allow people to step over her so. She wasn't a wailer, and so she had no desire to bow to this man's non existent authority over her.
"Why - You."
"Careful now, you might start to break that mask over your face. I wonder if you have to wear it for preference over the one your mother gave you?" She quips.
The Man lunges, but she's too fast for him. She's made a quick sidestep and is easily out of range when a Banemite scuttles forward from the bushes behind him, aggravated by the commotion.
There's hardly time for her to give a warning as all of these idiots attention are on the little skit she's in, so instead, she goes for his knees.
With a precise kick, the Elezen goes down just in time for a stinger to thrust into the space his back was only seconds earlier. Quick as a flash her bow is strung, and an the arrow flies straight into the eye of the insect.
The fight is done. The Wailers are silent as she goes to retrieve her arrow from the socket of the monster, puts it back in her quiver, and she starts to walk away.
"Do keep up, won't you?" She calls back.
He had it coming
Date: 2018-04-26 08:48 pm (UTC)“Quiet through these-” but no they’d rather stop and really get into it with each other, the wind and sun remarking only on the webbing that quiets the trees on this length of the trail. “Or don’t.” This sucks. He’s hungry.
But then the diremite is there jibbering as the wailer and the archer get into it. The wind coils and flies soft and warm off Connor’s hand before becoming a cold zypher and slashing the creature’s face, hobbling it so instead of a leap with pincers it has to attack with its tail- a jab that missed because the Wailer drops from the Archer’s attack.
Connor can see she knows it’s there, so answers the soft cry of water as he turns and raises his hand in a halting gesture. The cold mists and gurgling ire of an attracted water spirit calm. They’re near the river, a sure sign that the Bannock is just around a few more bends, and that this little spat with nature didn’t have to happen.
One of the wailers steps up to-
“If you attack a frightened spirit of this forest, you’re not going to like the outcome.” He might not be native but he’s still a conjurer, and the aether webbing gently off his hand and cane calm the sprite. With a quiet splish-splosh, it drifts back down below the cool stones and wades back down into the waters.
One dead diremite for Connor to mold earth around and dispose of off the path, and then he catches back up with this troublesome party.
“So much for a simple walk through the woods.” They’re late, he’s hungry and now he’s really, really grumpy.
owo time to speed up!
Date: 2018-04-27 11:40 pm (UTC)The Wailers drop them as soon as it's feasibly possible, going to their check and making a point to stay there, where the civilians were discouraged from going.
"Well, sod the lot of them." She says cheerfully. "How about you and I grab some food." She turns to Connor. "You know this place better; food's on me because I had to kill that Diremite." She offers.
F- she said food!
Date: 2018-04-28 05:41 pm (UTC)He should also try being a bit nicer. It's hard being an adventurer in Gridania, even a sedentary one like Connor himself, and he knows it's not always best to just take the locals' bad attitudes lying down. She was right to bicker and fight back, the Wailers are jerks. Stupid ugly jerks with their stupid ugly masks. So he turns to say something to the Archer but then
she says
the word.
"Food?" He repeats, completely forgetting that he should be offering her a lecture, albeit a small one. He ought to remind her that the creatures of the forest are the forest and that they, Gridanians and their allies, are the guests who must abide by- "Yeah, follow me. It's this way, and it's really good." Food he doesn't have to pay for, although this time he could actually afford it: working for a few hours a week with the Leatherworkers and Carpenters in the city has finally put a modest bit of gil in his pockets. Conjurers don't get to keep what they make: it all goes into funds for local projects and charity. "I'm Connor by the way. Thank you for making such clean work of the kill." Faster kill, less suffering, a forgivable death.
Food food food food food...
Bentbranch is bright and lush and lovely today, a hard-working little hamlet with no market of which to speak, but a few small kiosks and hutches set up to supply the patrolling Wailers and travellers passing through.
Connor takes his remaining companion straight for one of these little hutches where the smell of bubbling oil keeps wafting deliciously. The meal of choice is a local trout, seasoned battered and fried golden brown, then stuffed into a fresh baked bun with crispy greens and tomatoes and a tangy sauce.
Experience has taught him he can put away three of these things. Decent manners say he shouldn't order more than Pinya does. Wearing Conjurer's robes in a Shroud hamlet means he orders one (1) fish sandwich and forces himself to savour it slowly. He takes half a bite and just holds the whole sandwich there at his face, a dreamy look clouding his eyes, because it smells so good and yum yum yum food food food.
these two idiot potatoes jesus christ also you just mde me so hungry
Date: 2018-04-29 09:00 am (UTC)"My name is Piñara, it's a pleasure to meet you! And it's the least I could do. I wasn't really all that concerned about saving the wailer, but Lucienne certainly wouldn't like it if someone in the party came back greviously injured when I couldn't done something about it." She huffs. Clearly, this wailer is expendable to her as long as he's not dead.
Connor takes her to a little shack set up by the river, and the smell is deliciously enticing. As he orders, she simply asks the kiosk for another of what Connor ordered. She's not disappointed to say the least.
The crispy batter giving way under her teeth and the steaming fish inside is delightful, only enhanced by the zesty lemon, dill and pepper sauce. She and Connor make next to no conversation as they savour these sandwiches, and when they're done, she looks down at her plate, disappointed that there isn't any more left. She looks to see the exact same expression on Connor's face.
"I think another won't hurt the Conada coffers," She says, after mayhap 5 seconds of deliberation, "Excuse me, Sir!" She calls back to the stocky Midlander manning the fryer and goes back up to the kiosk to get another two of them.
No Word Limit? It's free real-estate.
Date: 2018-04-30 06:53 am (UTC)But it's hard to make money as an adventurer without getting your hands dirty. And you can't expect to eat beyond the modest means of the guild without personal money to pay for it.
"Piñara?" He repeats, still cradling a bit of the bread from his sandwich. He's tempted to keep it and the smear of that dill sauce with him for the walk to Gridania, humming and hawing about her summary of the Wailer's bad behaviour. That's a familiar name, that shouldn't be a familiar name. "I guess what matters is that you saved him period, otherwise I would have had to do it and the whole thing would have ended up even more bitter." It doesn't really matter who instigates what when both sides become guilty of bringing harm and failure to such a basic mission. Rather than say this, however, he feels the bread in his hand and keeps his mouth shut. "Thank you."
It's better to say thank you than to poke her about her actions or her feelings about them. He's about to ask if she wants to head to the Bannock and try her arm at the training exercises when she says two things.
"I think another won't hurt-" is the first, and best, part. "-the Conada coffers." is the bad, awful, not-good scary part.
It terrifies him. A cold dart through the chest.
She turns her back before his face changes, and Connor nearly doubles over on his seat, all the air compressing out of his lungs. No no no, no wonder he knew that name: Piñara. Piñara Conada, of the Conada family of Ul'dah. No. No no no no!
Relax. If he didn't know her by sight then she definitely won't know him. This isn't a disaster. This is nothing. The Conada family is huge. They own half the city. Half of Thanalan. Half of Eorzea too probably. There are dozens of them? Hundreds. There are thousands of Conada family members!! Why does this not make him feel better? Probably because it's not some second cousin three times removed from the main Syndicate-wielding family members, but Piñara Conada herself!
Food. Food makes him feel better, and Connor shoves the bread he'd been meaning to save into his mouth. He's chewing on it and pointedly looking at nothing, rolling his cane between his palms by the time she comes back. Be cool, Connor.
"So whAT-" his voice cracks horribly because it's stupid. "-what-" end him. "-What brings a Codana to Gridania? To a guild, I mean? That- that's a big name, you've got there. Miss Conada. Ma'am." Let him die.
you're a terrible person
Date: 2018-04-30 01:20 pm (UTC)She sighs through a smile as she places the second helpings on the table. She tipped the cook generously, because if this wasn't the nicest fish sandwich she'd ever had.
She'd taken longer than usual because he'd refused the larger coin right off the bat but after a little bit of cajoling he'd relented.. "Come on now, Look, you can't want me to really break this coin up for you do you? I'd have to go aaaallllll the way back to Gridania for that!'
"Oh come now, don't start that up. If you know who I am then you know I care not for formalities outside of business practice. And this," She picks up her sandwich and takes a big bite, "Ishn't bubineff Pwactissth." Smooooooth.
"If you must know, I was interested in expanding my holdings. I have most of what I need in Thanalan and La Noscea. My farms and crops are doing really well and my workers are happy and productive, but there's a demand for shroud based products that I haven't tapped into yet." She starts to explain between bites.
It honestly started out as a business trip. Scope out the land, see if there were any plots she could buy and cultivate and employ the less well-to-do locals for their hard labour. Pay them what they deserve, put them up in housing, create a boom in the economy. It worked well enough for the Ala-Mhigan refugees in Ul'Dah. But this was the first time she'd stepped into this forest in years and then she simply... wanted to stay.
"Gridanians are particularly hard to convince to sell you their land, and the forest is even less enthused about being 'owned' if Miounne had the right of it." She chuckles. "So, I thought it would be a good idea to try it. Being a local, helping out where I can. No one knows me here, it's great! Well, apart from you, apparently. No one expects anything from me. It's refreshing." She smiles more as she talks, gesturing wildly and laughing.
She's clearly not bullshitting, if the way her face lights up when she talks. Connor will know by reputation that she's a master level actor, but this is real.
Back-water Hippie Mode Engage
Date: 2018-04-30 08:18 pm (UTC)“This isn’t Thanalan or La Noscea.” Is he still hungry? He’s not full, but no he’s not hungry either. So does he take the sandwich? No. Absolutely not. That’s Syndicate money. “No one here is going to try and sell something that doesn’t belong to them. Pretending to be a local won’t fool anyone either: I’ve seen the forest tell a family five generations strong in the shroud to pick up and leave.” Woodcutters who struck at young trees, hunters who took from the young or the nurturing, traders dumping their refuse in the groves and creeks of the first. The elemental didn’t care who your great great great grandparents were, if you were awful then your children would not be suffered to stay.
They didn’t care who your parents and cousins were either, if you could abide by their ways then maybe, just maybe, they’d let you put down new roots.
“If business is the only reason you’ve come to Gridania then you’re better off making deals with the Botanist and crafting guilds than antagonizing the Quiver and The Wailers. They have enough on their plates just dealing with the beast men and the Garleans. This isn’t Thanalan, it’s the edge of Garlemald.”
*inserts 'wow' meme here*
Date: 2018-05-01 12:01 pm (UTC)"I don't know what it is you have against me, but I can assure you that I'm not the person you seem to think I am." Her voice is cheerful but he's managed to invoke her steely client tone.
"Business might be the only reason I came to Gridania, but it isn't the only reason I stayed. What, you think I would waste three months of peak trading period simply trying to weedle a sale out of some tired farmer?" God no, she could've built four more hospices in Thanalan in that time were she there overseeing her company.
No. Gridania was more than that to her. It was a place that lived and breathed under its own power, and the people had to ask permission, not create it. An independent ecosystem, It was brilliant.
After her arrival in Gridania she'd beelined straight to the markets to ask about property buying. She was immediately laughed out by Miounne who had been passing by.
"'Tis not a matter of buying, my girl, 'tis a matter of asking." the Elezen woman had explained to her. The forest allows people to farm here, and they have to work with the demands of the Shroud as much as they do their buyers.
"Not just anyone can purchase these lands, you know. The Shroud has to judge you first."
But the more she lingered in the city, the more that she learnt about Lucinne, Fufucha and Miounne, the longer she worked behind the bar and talked to the the patrons, the faster she fell for Gridania . (And she's pretty sure that Gridania is falling for her, too.)
"I would hazard that you don't know the full story. Pray don't talk about it as if you do."
Damn. This woman lives up to her reputation.
look at this little asshole I love him
Date: 2018-05-01 06:49 pm (UTC)Spring isn’t peak trading time in Gridania, autumn is. Connor wants to say it but that means he was paying attention, which means he has training, which he isn’t supposed to have. He hears that steely tone in her voice and knows what it means: either her ’I’m just an adventurer’ front is weak or she thinks he’s going to fear for his financial future. Joke’s on her, he doesn’t trade in coin.
Autumn is the trade season for the new market she wants to break into, not the spring they’re currently enjoying. But she would already know that because in order to have any of her investments and propositions lined up to capitalize come harvest time, now is when she’d have had to start. By Connor’s math, she’s right on track and just killing time as an adventurer.
“If you believe half of what you say, then you’re twice the person or half the merchant I saw today.” He wraps the second sandwich up in the wax paper it came in, then hops off his seat. He tucks the food into the small satchel at his belt: one of the wailers will probably take kindly to the offering.
“Thank you again for lunch, Archer.” The bow that accompanies his words is laden with conceit. “I remain at your guildmaster’s command until you are safely...” what’s that?
He loses his taunt at the bottom of his bow, blinking a few times with a hand still to his chest. It comes through the earth, through the ground, rumbling with caution and growing alarm. He straightens and the echoes pull his gaze away towards the Bannock. There’s something. Something big? Something angry. Because why can’t he just give a sharp parting quip and walk off like he wanted to?
Instead he frowns, and he sighs, and with a twist and twirl of his staff Connor stomps the ground and holds his arms out eagle-spread. Cool aether rises like water, swirling and coalescing first around himself and then a breath layer around Pinya, forming a protective, refracting shield of light around them both.
He looks back over his shoulder at her and he’s so damned disappointed.
“This changes nothing.”
((Wanna fight a FATE, friendo? :O))
Jesus christ this is going to be ridiculous.
Date: 2018-05-01 09:01 pm (UTC)He's not entirely wrong about her as a trader though. The Syndicate is brutal and harsh, and she didn't get where she was by playing nice. But she's also got steadfast allies that won't do her wrong because she's saved their lives and never asked for anything in return, even helped them out after the fact.
No one wants to cut her down, and those that do never get close.
Her only reaction to his so-called 'Quip' is a raised eyebrow in an otherwise expressionless face but -
There's a small caress on the back of her neck in warning, and then the ground rumbles. There's an obvious look of bewilderment as she feels a Protect spell build up around her. She certainly wasn't expecting him to do that.
"Hnnn~?" She hums as she flips her hair and takes point next to him, readying her bow and dipping it in the venom pots she has hung around her waist. "If you were so easily swayed, I would be more concerned about E-Sumi-Yan's guild." She drawls.
The Morbol roars just outside of the gates of Bentbranch, thrashing its vines enough to create scores in the earth. Buzzards and Banemites swarm around it in a frenzy agitated by something.... ah - It's faint to Pinya, but they are clearly surrounded with tainted aether.
"Heads up buddy looks like these ones have to go. You keep them back and I'll take them down."
It's all the warning he has before she's rapidly shooting at the monsters.
Re: Jesus christ this is going to be ridiculous.
Date: 2018-05-02 07:21 pm (UTC)“It reeks,” and stink. Definitely stink. Rhalgar’s Fists this thing has a stench to it as Pinya and Connor reach the edge of the fray. The Bannock is right nearby and the Wailers can be heard scrambling to form up and rush to stop the wild vilekin from getting any further into the settlement.
He doesn’t argue against Pinya’s strategy, it’s solid, just like the stones that rise up with the golden call of aether from Connor’s cane and feet. The rod twists between his hands, eyes sliding shut before he asks and the earth agrees to fire into the body of one banemite, the next clod beating a buzzard out of the air for a few moments. He feels air gathering soft and warm against his palm, taking a deep breath and then releasing the sharp zypher of bladed wind that threads and cuts at wings and legs.
He can’t exactly... move... while doing this. His staff points the way but it’s following the lines of aether that Connor can’t quiet see without closing his eyes and blocking out things that aren’t important. Fences, boxes, kedtraps, buildings- kedtraps?
With a yelp Connor sticks his arms out and the water sitting in one of those barrels erupts our in a rodent to blast the murderous plant sideways over a fence, hopefully easy prey for more arrows. That’s when they all hear a tell-tale gurgling sound come from deep inside the maw of the morbidly itself.
“Move- move! Everyone away from that spray!” Because it’s coming and if they think it reeks on the outside then none of them want to get hit with what’s coming from the inside.
boom - clap!
Date: 2018-05-07 11:40 am (UTC)Her arrows fly easily, their poison dipped tips slowing the monsters and leaving them open to more accurately placed arrows without them thrashing about. She skewers the Hornets easily, the force of her attacks pinning them to surrounding tree trunks so they're out of the way.
A couple of times, the monsters get too close to Connor or take aim, but her swift shooting keeps them from ever reaching him. It's relatively easy to keep track of the things approaching, because the land is already flinging at them, slowing them down or cutting them with sharp winds.
When he yelps, she's already turning in his direction. The morbol is gurgling, and she only has one reaction. Swiftly, she ties a small bag of explosives to the shaft of her arrow and flints the small string easily. With a shot, the arrow is in its throat.
"Fire in the hole!" She yells, a little bit more manic than is really warranted. She's having fun stretching her legs, sue her.
It's with that short warning that the head of the Morbol explodes.
That's all folks!
Date: 2018-05-08 05:07 am (UTC)Hell no!
Both hands on his staff, he slams the end into the ground and the earth responds with a sudden heave and rise: a wall of earth, not particularly powerful or efficient, rises up and takes the brunt of the acidic, goopey rain. Morbol chunks and flailing vines, sour stink and puss and rot. It hits the dirt, not the lalafells, and thank the Matron for that.
It's suddenly all very quiet. Connor can hear his own panting breaths and little else. That was... a rush!
"Haha- oh wow..." and here comes... a battle high? "That was- wow, that was something..." It really was, and as the barrier crumbles away it looks like the damage to Bentbranch is minor- a few smashed crates, a lot of unfortunate gunk.
"Matron, help!" And a set of familiar woodwailers who got a face full of bile.
"Mm, I should take care of that. You're not hurt, are you?" He asks Pinya.
whoop
Date: 2018-05-08 12:35 pm (UTC)She wouldn't even particularly care if she had been covered by the bile, but thankfully Connor had more foresight than herself, or possibly just better reflexes. It is surprising that Connor seems to feel the same way about the battle. There's a sting in her side where a hornet got too close, but it's easily hidden from the other man, the others probably need more attention.
"No, No I'm not hurt! Please aid Ser whines-a-lot over there." She waves him off good-naturedly.
When his back is turned, she pulls out an antidote from her pack and applies it on a poultice. She doesn't manage to keep the sharp inhale of air as it makes contact with the feverish skin on her ribs.
*is bad*
Date: 2018-06-07 04:04 am (UTC)Not many are hurt, but several are shaken. Connor can quickly assess who needs what kind of help, and it's part of making those rounds that leads to him turning around to scan the area and- uh. Hmm.
"I thought you said you weren't hurt," He says, walking back to Pinara with his cane in hand. She's got a brave face, but hornet venom swells and it burns and through an armoured doublet it's no surprise she's in some considerable pain. He taps the end of his cane on the ground and a soft swell of aether coils and collects around the wooden crook, small branches waking up and unfurling their leaves as he offers a hand to her. "Just let me help. I won't be an ass about it either."
*is also bad*
Date: 2018-06-11 06:19 pm (UTC)"There were other people who needed seeing to." She bites out, short because of the pain.
"I thought you were simply an ass about everything?" She cocks an eyebrow, apparently not willing to give up her sarcasm in the face of challenge.