Who

Aztrexia, Javid, Igraine (cameo)

What

Javid tries to take a bath and Aztrexia starts a game she can't win. Hurts are had and nerves are touched.

Backscened! Nudity, bathing, sexual innuendo, mild language

When

This scene happens shortly after Judgement Day.

Where

Hunter's Pass & Waterfall Chamber, Igen Coverage

OOC Date 13 Jul 2017 06:00

 

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Hunter's Pass

Veering off from the Weyr Pass Road out of the Central Range, the narrow, cliff-flanked path of the Hunter’s Pass wends its way steadily upward for a time before dipping down into a green, forested valley. Used by those wishing to chase mountain game, especially in the colder months, this weaving passage of rough, ruddy rock is sometimes used by travelers heading away from the Weyr in the midst of Igen’s summer sandstorms, since the dirt-laden winds are unable to reach very far past the turnoff leading into it.


The Zingari are almost home. But even with as close as the Weyr Pass brings them, they must still stop for one last evening to rest. The need to camp brings them to a stop that’s familiar to most of the Haeyleri - the Hunter’s Pass, where they once camped with the Reika after being out and about providing relief to the countryside following the infamous earthquake. Once the caravan is set, happily but wearily going about readying animals for the night and cooking dinner, most everyone decides not to venture into the caverns, even with the moons out in full.

All, that is, except Javid. The spymaster, allowing himself a bit of time to relax and indulge in his own curiosities, goes about a bit of his own spelunking after he eats. He has never been in here before and is awestricken by the grandiosity of the main cavern and his brief foray into the glow cavern. However, it’s the sound of falling water that is his siren song, and he eventually finds himself in the waterfall chamber. Alone and expecting no one to have come in after him, he strips down to wade out into the gradually deepening pool, eventually letting himself be inundated by the cool deluge that’s rendered luminous by the moonlight pouring in from some perfectly positioned shaft high above. Faranth. Maybe he’ll just make trips out here whenever he needs a good shower.

Done with her chores for the evening, for now at least, Aztrexia seeks solitude of her own, in a fashion, because always she has a shadow these days. Igraine is somewhere not far off, hidden but watching. Aztrexia knows this, because any time she tries to wander off, the adept appears. Having two or three babysitters is enough to drive a person mad, but at least she’d not suffered the fate Exsuss or Versai had…

Moving off into the caverns, Trexa assumes it’s a place she’s allowed to go, because no one steps in to stop her from leaving. Slipping from the light of the fires, she explores what caverns are available, but she too seems called by the sound of moving water. Stepping into the cavern her breath is taken away by it’s beauty. Eyes widen as she takes in the scope of the cavern, more so when she spots the pile of abandoned clothes on the shore. Immediately she’s looking around for the owner, there are definitely Zingari she would not wish to find herself alone with, many still hold a grudge for her part in Willimina’s abduction.

She can’t blame them, it’s not been long since her sentencing, and because of that, she must be on guard for those who might still wish to do her harm. Backing up a couple of steps she falters…perhaps she should just go back to camp.


Waterfall Chamber

The endless fall of bright, mineralized water fills this cavern with eternal song. The smallest of cracks in the ceiling allows daylight to filter through and be captured by the tumbling falls, causing the mist to, at times, cloak this wondrous rush of water in subtle rainbows. Though magnificent to behold, the way through is made treacherous by slick limestone ground to smoothness by the constant exposure to moisture.


Javid, having submerged beneath the falling water, surfaces in a spray that counters what falls upon him and pulls himself backwards to escape it. He shakes his head free of excess water, arms lifted as he slicks back hair made onyx-black by the water. His back is toward the entrance, broad shoulders rising and falling as he catches his breath and lean muscle working beneath subtly bronzed skin scored here and there with long-healed scars, all turned pale and dappled by the twilight illumination.

He doesn’t notice Aztrexia, not feeling eyes upon him just yet since she hasn’t seen him directly and certainly not hearing anyone or anything over the falling water. He holds his arms to the cascade, rubbing his skin free of anything of the road that may somehow still be clinging to him after going under. He’s taking his time about it as well, just enjoying the secluded treasure he’s found - a rare vulnerable moment for the spymaster, for better or worse.

Trained eyes move to the motion of Javid surfacing, wide with surprise as Trexa sucks in a gasp. Javid. She stands frozen, no wonder no one had followed her. Someone must have seen the spymaster head this direction. She realises pretty quickly that he hasn’t noticed her yet. Part of her wants to flee in another direction and explore elsewhere. The other part, the part that had got a good eyeful for a moment, wants to stay, and it wins. Hazel eyes roam the physique that is visible to her, taking in the dappled scars, the wet skin, dark hair….wet skin. Oh my. Fixated, she takes in every movement, every detail. Well, having him as her main babysitter might not be so bad after all if this is a view she might get to see now and again.

Now Javid has the sense of being watched and spins around, which of course gives Aztrexia a new view entirely. Swiping a hand over his face, the spymaster blinks and regards her with the narrow, sharp intensity of those distinct, raptor-like amber eyes. Wet skin is still very much a factor, of course, but stretched smooth over the well-toned definition of broad pectorals and a ridged abdomen. “Slipped your watchers, did you?” he says, a raven brow lifting before he stops himself and shakes his head, smirking. “Ah, no. They saw me come in and figured I’d find you. Or you’d find me.” A heck of a gamble, considering all the places a person could simply slip away to in these caves. Javid set his hands on his hips, his regard upon her steady and level. “What do you want, Aztrexia?”

Aztrexia’s eyes widen again when Javid spins ‘round. Then they move, taking in the new view almost greedily, locking with that piercing amber gaze. “Oh no,” she begins a bit dreamily, ‘I’m sure she’s nearby somewhere…” She swallows, forcing herself to blink and bring herself back to reality. Of course, Javid’s question helps with that too. “I just wanted to get away from the murderous looks.” In mirror fashion, Trexa sets her hands to her hips. “The view is an added bonus, I must say.” A smirk lines Trexa’s lips as her eyes dip down for another look.

“She had better not be, if she had a notion I might be bathing,” Javid notes with a quick scowl toward the entrance. The glance is split-second, immediately returning to Aztrexia. His expression is inscrutable, whatever may be going on in his head at the moment completely masked behind glinting golden eyes. Her last earns another subtle lift of his brow. “You found something about me not to hate after everything that’s happened?” he asks, ruefulness limning his tone. “I’m surprised.”

“Yeah, me too.” Taking a moment to examine her nails, just to prove to herself she can look away, Aztrexia sighs. “Though I do suppose I hate you less for sticking your neck out for me.” Hazel orbs flick back to Javid, stuck in those golden depths again. “Why surprised? Just because I don’t like you doesn’t mean I can’t admit you make a good view.” Arms cross under her breasts as Trexa moves a bit closer to the edge of the water.


“I wasn’t sticking my neck out for you. I simply gave them the facts of the situation,” Javid notes, lifting a hand to shove through damp hair one more time. “Though I did say I didn’t think you deserved death, I suppose.” Which counts, in its way. He doesn’t move, the water lapping just low enough at his hips to make it easy to follow the vee low enough to be teasing but not revealing more. “And do you mean to stay there and keep trying the view from subtly different angles?” he asks, now sounding a bit impatient. “I’m not going to stay here all night.”

Seeing a chance to press a button or two, or maybe test the limits of what Javid will put up with, Trexa seats herself on the shore, crossing her legs in front of her. “I might just.” Her voice is a teasing purr as she makes a point of following the line of his torso down to the waterline. “Besides, I’m sure you’ve run my other sitter off by now, so you’re stuck with me.”

Javid finds himself with a bit of a conundrum, not really wanting to give Aztrexia more of the view she’s obviously seeking while simultaneously wanting to haul her back up to the camp like a bratty child. So he can either delay the inevitable, finish his “shower”, and do so, or stay until she tires of him. Or just get it over with. “Or,” he says, scooping up some water to dash over his face and then scrub over his chest, “you could exercise some integrity in what you’ve been given and go back up yourself.” Dipping his head backwards, he wets his hair in the fall again…which of course gives her an even better eyeful, but he does it without thinking. “Seriously, Aztrexia,” he grumbles as he clears the water from his eyes again and looks at her, “if you’re here to say something, say it. Otherwise, let me have a moment of peace, would you?”

Like a feline, patiently waiting to steal the cream, Aztrexia sits quietly as Javid works through his conundrum, her metaphorical tail twitching. “I’d rather stay, my chores are done…for the time being.” She grins, hand rising to tuck a wisp of hair away. “Besides, it’s not whether I choose to have some integrity and go, it’s whether you trust me enough to have it.” She leans forward, arms laying in her lap, and grins. “Something tells me you don’t trust me that much.” She’s betting on it actually, having a hunch that his not being able to get rid of her might just ruffle a few feathers.

“Part of the point,” Javid counters, dark brows furling as he surges a step closer, the water level leaving just a fraction less to the imagination, “is that I would like to trust you, particularly since your skills are going to waste the longer you’re kept in drudgery. You have control over that, not me.” Then he folds his arms over his chest, a faint smirk tugging at one corner of full lips. “Then again, we are the ones who aren’t supposed to trust anyone. So which principles are we to follow more in situations like this, hm?” He lets his arms drop and turns his back to her again, bending a bit to scrub at his legs. “I suppose I should give you some credit for keeping out of the water.” She’s at least tolerable where she is. For now.

With the amusement and pleasure she’s deriving from this, she’s not likely to leave anytime soon. Really, this is just far too fun, and Trexa could use some fun. “Ah, that is the predicament isn’t it? If it were me, I’d err on the side of caution and opt not to trust the slippery little ex spy.” Aztrexia is silent for a moment as Javid turns and bends, eyes widening just a fraction more. She swallows and examines her nails again. “Though if you could find a way to not trust me that doesn’t involve drugging me, that would be nice. The headaches are a real bitch.” She looks up then, a teasing smile crossing her lips.

“Then they were fitting,” Javid snaps, turning around again. He looks around for where he put his clothes, deciding it’s time to take both himself and Aztrexia back before she really does push his buttons. She’s already starting to, and for some reason his body is having unexpected reactions to their bickering that he’s having to fight. “At this rate, you’re going to shave your second chance down to banishment, so I’d quit while you’re ahead.” Locating his clothes, he pulls himself from the water, keeping as much of his back to her as possible…though it’s his entire bare back and backside now. “You are missing the point entirely.” And this is when he’s reminded that he didn’t bring a towel. He mutters a curse under his breath, hands going to his hips again as he tries to figure out the best thing to do now.

Oh dear, touchy. Aztrexia must have hit some sort of nerve, hmm. She tracks his movement, soaking up the view while she can. “Oh don’t go getting your unders in a bind Javid, all because I got a pleasant eyeful. I won’t tell if you don’t.” Trexa giggles, a hand coming up to bat the errant strand of hair again. Maybe she should braid the other side too. She stands, heaving a sigh and takes one last look before she turns away, crossing her arms under her breasts. “There, you can get dressed now if that’s what you want…” Then again, Trexa never has been able to give it up when she’s got under someone’s skin, and she can’t resist now. “Although, I could sorely use a bath myself, if it makes you feel better, you can watch me.” She looks over her shoulder, a cheeky mischief in her hazel eyes as she tosses a wink his way. “Turnabout being fair play and all.” Not that Trexa has ever observed ‘fair’ play.

Nope. Nooooope, that is not the sort of temptation Javid needs right now. Still somewhat damp, he pulls on his clothes and jams his feet into his boots. It isn’t the fact that Aztrexia got a good look at him that annoys him right now; he’s typically very comfortable being looked at by most any woman. It’s something else entirely, and only partly to do with her. “If you need it so badly,” he informs her curtly as he turns back around, his shirt left partially undone to let him air out a little more, “Igraine can bring you down. Right now, I’m weary of you.” And he sweeps his hand toward the entrance to have her precede him out.

Trexa turns around with a pout and a slight wave at the water. “But I'm already here…if you want to test your trust in me, you could leave and send Igraine here…” Aztrexia kicks off her boots hands lifting to start on the strings to her tunic. “One thing that I am quite sure of is that while I may have been broken down to the lowest of low, and have sitters, I was not told I could not take breaks or baths, and I was not told I had to stay with the main group.” Trexa finishes loosening the ties to her tunic, hands dropping to start at the ties for her pants. “So, dear sitter, I am going to bathe and you can stay and watch, or not.” She smiles cheekily at Javid and by the time she's done speaking everything is loosened. At this point she wraps hands around her own waist and pulls off her tunic.

Javid lowers his hand, amber eyes narrowing upon Aztrexia as she keeps up her game. Faranth, is it forever to be a contest of wills between them? How she can continue this in light of the mercy she’s been shown is beyond him. It makes him want to shake sense into her, though he doubts it would work. “The lowest of the low,” he echoes, gritting his teeth as she starts to loosens the fastenings of her clothes. He should just leave and send Igraine down, or grab Aztrexia and make her go with him. However, that’s really his frustration talking. He has a responsibility, one that he took upon himself no less, and it’s really not any skin off his back for him to remain and mind the woman since she’s usurped his bath for the sake of her own. There are plenty of interesting things to look at around them, which should help distract him from her as she disrobes.

“With all that you witnessed the night Willimina passed judgment, how can you possibly believe that you are lowest of the low?” he asks, leaning against the wall right beside the entrance and keeping his eyes traveling the ceiling. He will stay, but not watch, especially since there’s nowhere to go but past him. “You still have your life, food, a roof over your head…and you are still Zingari, with a hope of regaining what you lost. That is far more than the rest of them can say. If they could say it, in some cases.”

Aztrexia lets out a little giggle and shakes her head, dropping her tunic to the ground, leaving her bare from the waist up. She twists her hair into a knotted bun at the nape of her neck and then removes her trousers, peeling them from muscular legs pale as moonlight and taking any unders she may have with them. “I concede that I could have had it much worse, true. But is not drudgery the lowest form of occupation?” Because honestly, at least if one is holdless, one is still able to use applicable skills. The obvious effort Javid puts into not looking her way has Aztrexia amused, perhaps her sitter has more honor in him than she gives him credit for. “And yes, I do have a chance to regain what I lost, but for what purpose? I doubt any of you would trust me enough to make me a real spy again, more like a fancy caravan guard.” Aztrexia looks over to Javid, daring him to argue that point.

After all, what was Igraine doing babysitting? Aztrexia knows her, knows Igraine’s skills are valuable, so, why on Pern was the woman stuck with the caravan instead of out, on missions, like S’ayde and Javid would be? Trexa has heard of Igraine’s mess up back when, through the chain of gossiping spylings she’d inserted herself with before getting caught.

Slipping into the water, Trexa could care less that she’d interrupted Javid’s bath, but she’s semi-proud of herself for getting under his skin. Perhaps she can figure out what makes this man tick, it’s better than being bored all the time. Javid may often find himself frustrated with her in the future.

“It’s a matter of perspective,” Javid replies, closing his eyes as he becomes aware of the rest of Aztrexia’s clothing falling away. “Something you seem to be running surprisingly short of, for a spy. You choose to see it as you will, no matter what anyone tells you. At this rate, you may find yourself stuck there.” He folds his arms with a deep sigh, a subtle tension in his frame causing the definition of his body to show even in the stretch of the fabric of his clothes. He knew the frustration was inevitable, knows that she has managed to get somewhat under his skin and that he needs to rein in the reactions that somehow seem to bubble closer to the surface with her. But there’s an element to his frustration that he doesn’t understand in himself, since whatever it is runs perilously close to a very dark version of desire. That, he has to get locked away, now.

“I have said it once,” he says evenly as he opens his eyes upon the waterfall once more, “and I will say it again and again until it gets through that childish head of yours - the amount of trust we end up having in you is your choice. It must be built up from nothing. Therefore, becoming an adept sent out on missions again is also in your control. That we’re even allowing you that ought to tell you that we want to be able to trust you that much someday, because we still count you as one of us. It is up to you.” He spares a narrowed glance down at her once she’s in the water, setting his head back against the wall with his eyes cast upward after a moment.

There does seem to be some thought that runs across Trexa’s face after Javid speaks, her hands trailing in the water once it reaches her waist. “It’s not that I lack perspective Spymaster, it’s that mine is different from yours.” Aztrexia shrugs. “It is hard to want and work for something you’ve never really had, or given.” Even Exsuss hadn’t trusted her implicitly, all because of her genetics. “However it works, I seem to be back where I started before the Armida took me in, before I became an Elder spy. Zingari, but not, Seen but invisible, here, but beneath everyone else…” A sour look crosses Trexa’s face and she turns, as if to hide the emotion spreading across her face. “It seems it is a lot in life I should accept, and deal with.” Pale shoulder shrug, lifting the bun at the nape of her neck.

Now she walks into the fall, allowing the noise to drown out the sounds around her as she diligently scrubs the detritus from the road and her chores off her skin. She turns this way and that, giving Javid quite the view should he choose to look. When arms, chest and neck are clean, she moves out of the waterfall to begin the process of removing the braids from the one side of her head, a process much easier when her hair is wet and not prone to curl and frizz.

In the wake of Aztrexia’s answer, Javid does a bit of deduction based on her words and comes to a conclusion. So she was a victim of their old ways. No wonder she’s such a mess. He drops his gaze once more, meaning to consider her…which turns out to be a mistake. He is a hot-blooded male, after all, and his body reminds him pointedly of the fact when he gets an eyeful of his own. His gaze stays riveted longer than he means for it to, his jaw clenching as he forces his gaze back to the ceiling, then puts his back to her to hide what’s going on at the front of his pants. Flame him alive, why did she have to turn into such an impossible wench? Not only would she have made an outstanding adept for them, but…

He does his best to shove the thought aside, glancing backward now and then only to be able to see when she comes out of the waterfall. “Your blood is no hindrance to you now, you know,” he reminds her, his voice raised above the rush of the water as he turns his head to speak over his shoulder. “There is Zingari to it, and so we accept you as such. You need not accept the lot you speak of. You have room and opportunity to rise above it now. Comfortably so.”

Aztrexia happens to catch at least part of Javid’s riveted look before she moves to calmer waters. It’s telling, in part. While she untangles braids, she catches him looking to see if she’s moved, and sends a smug little grin his way. It’s partially what she wanted, to see if he would look. It's fun toying with him and she adjusts her movements and position so that she makes a pretty view herself, at least giving Javid something to look at when he peeks. “Thanks for the reassurances, but not everyone will accept my mixed heritage, they might not say anything, but the disgust is still right there, writ on their faces, I’ve seen it often enough to know better.” Aztrexia sighs, some of the impossible mask she cloaks herself in falling as she turns Hazel eyes to fixate on Javid, who’s back is just as pretty as his front, clothed or not.

“Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to say, but it’s going to take a heck of alot longer than a couple of sevens for people to adjust to what Willimina is trying to do, and longer yet, for people to see past the Assassin Spy that I was and see me for the person you all want me to become.” She sighs. “And I’m not even sure I’ll make it that far. You can only change a person so much you know.” Hazel eyes drop to the water, thoughtful. Then, dashing at the water angrily, she stalks from it’s cover back out onto the shore and begins getting dressed, her turn of attitude quick and rolling quickly downhill. Her whole life Trexa has felt inadequate, and after this conversation, for some reason, she feels even more so now.

Yanking her pants up she mutters under her breath something about never being good enough to fit in anywhere. She’s lost interest in her game now, the conversation provoking a road of thought she wishes she could just ignore. Her wet hair hides most of her features as she bends to retrieve her tunic. Slipping it over her head, it hangs loosely on her frame without being tied or tucked in, giving a sort of really low ‘V’ neck look, the fabric stops just short of revealing more of her chest than it should. She scoops up her boots and begins padding for the entryway. “Sorry I ruined your bath… I’ll go back to camp now.” And with that she makes as if to squeeze past Javid into the entryway.

Javid doesn’t see the change in Aztrexia but certainly hears it in her voice, prompting him to unfold his arms and turn very slightly. He does the rest of the way when he glimpses her picking up her tunic. His gaze is intent, not angry but very curious about what he’s observing and very calculating. When she tries to move past him, he catches her arm, a large, strong hand gripping her bicep firmly but not cruelly, giving her a short tug to face him in the small passage. “Faranth damn it, Aztrexia,” he says, his voice low and strained at the edges with things still kept in check. “How can you be so intent on defeating yourself before you’ve even begun? You aren’t even trying to see the truth of the people around you now. No one can change you but you. You have power over your own life now, and you handle it like the wrong end of a torch.”

He inclines his chin a fraction, his eyes boring straight into hers from only a handspan away. “There’s more in you. I saw it then, when we were both with the Armida. You are good enough. If the rest weren’t allowing for it, you wouldn’t be here. I believe you’re good enough.” His fingers tighten subtly as he gives her the smallest of shakes. “But it means nothing until you understand you are.”

It takes all that Aztrexia has not to act on Javid grabbing her arm, turns of training try to kick in and she has to smash it down like one would smash a Vtol, quick and quiet. She won’t look at him while he speaks, listening to the odd cadences his voice takes on. Why? Why does he insist on telling her she can be better, on trying to get her to change her mind? Why? When she does look at him, it’s into the intense stare he gives her, as if he might look into her very soul. Her own hazel eyes are guarded, and misting with moisture. “Why do you care what I think of myself? Or at all really?” She bursts out, trying to yank her arm from Javid’s grasp. “Why did you speak on my behalf? It is not like you were required to do so…” This is something Trexa has been puzzling over since it happened. Why had this man she barely knows, despite them having trained with the Armida around the same time, stuck up for her? WHy had he allowed himself to be shackled with her? She answers his words with questions because she doesn’t dare hope that there’s something better for her, because if there were, it could just as easily be taken away as given….and she doesn’t want that heartache.

Javid doesn’t loosen his grip in the slightest when Aztrexia tries to pull her arm away, though her efforts move him enough to have him bracing with his hand against the wall by her head, caging her in somewhat. He isn’t sure he has a good answer to her question himself; it’s been nebulous, why he gives even half a damn about her when she’s been nothing but a headache. “Because it was the right thing to do, for one thing,” he snaps back. “I wasn’t about to see you run through when you’d given us intel that worked. And because you are talented. I want you with us as an adept, Aztrexia, and it’s not beyond your grasp.”

Then he takes his hand from her arm, his thumb and forefinger catching her chin to tilt it so that their eyes are aligned. “And because all of this is the result of us trying to right past wrongs stemming from the old ways. You did not deserve what you were dealt when you were younger. To not know what it is to be truly wanted…is the worst thing of all. But all of it is not beyond your grasp. Not anymore.”

Trexa really has no choice but to listen to what Javid has to say, what with her arm being in his hand and his other arm caging her in. There’s a range of things that slip through her eyes as he speaks, confusion, anger, self loathing, disbelief, all circling ‘round each other like carrion birds, all starkly apparent. Her eyes widen a bit in shock, flooding more disbelief when Javid says he wants her as an adept. Aztrexia sucks in a breath when Javid releases her, swallowing when he tilts her chin. His words about what she did or didn’t deserve has the mist in her eyes threatening to spill over. She didn’t deserve it. Not at all. But it happened.

“You have no idea….” She murmurs when he speaks of not knowing what it is to be wanted. Again she swallows, trying to get the sudden lump forming in her throat to dissipate, lips parting in a small ‘o’ after.

She’s quiet for a moment after, mind reeling as she tries to get her emotions in check, up to and including the fact that with Javid so close, that bit of a kick she got from seeing him naked goes into overdrive. Closing her eyes with a sigh, some of their moisture escapes, running down the ivory curve of one cheek, Trexa shakes her head a little, not wanting to believe what Javid says is true.

Javid’s hand moves to Aztrexia’s cheek without any conscious thought, the brushing away of a tear springing up almost like a reflex. He only realizes what he’s doing after the fact, a small crease forming between dark brows, but he carries the motion through, a hand that’s dealt death bearing a light and gentle touch. “Try, Aztrexia,” he urges her, his voice little more than a low rumble now. “We may want to throttle one another, but despite that, I am on your side. I don’t know what more I can do to convince you.” He lets his hand fall away slowly, straightening subtly in order to allow her to leave, if she’s ready to.

Aztrexia's eyes fly open at the touch of Javid's hand, and she sucks in a soft rush of air at the sensation. She locks gazes with Javid and studies him for a moment, as if searching for deceit or hidden meaning. Finding none, she catches her lower lip between her teeth, contemplating. Javid straightens and for some reason, the extra space leaves her feeling odd, as if… Trexa leaves searching out what that was about for later. “Ok…” Comes out in a soft, barely audible whisper.

Javid may be spymaster in part for his ability to mask and deceive, but there are times when he needs to show his honest intentions. This is one of those times, though it could easily not be. Part of him thinks Aztrexia would deserve to be twisted about a bit in repayment for all her machinations. But it’s not as large a part as the one that wants to see her redeemed, to have her in his cadre of adepts…to have her not hate him. He isn’t certain why the last point is at all important, but it is what it is.

At her reply, he gives a slow, subtle nod before regarding her curiously. Hadn’t she wanted to leave a moment ago? He isn’t going to move unless she goes before him. His hand turns, his head tilting slightly along with it as he gestures beyond them, indicating she should step out first.

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