A sick thought can devour the body's flesh more than fever or consumption.
Chivalry, perhaps, is not so dead after all.
Following the polite (and ever-so-appreciated) gesture of barricading the frigid wind that had been relentlessly assaulting her side in what had felt at the time a very pointed way, he might have asked her for anything and she would have felt obligated to oblige him in his request, no matter the cost. It was a simple maneuver (and in all likelihood one he had not thought long on), but to Phasus, shivering as she grows more and more bitter by the second and used to a life much more cushioned and blessed than this one, it is unusual. In fact, for a moment afterwards she waits, switching her hips, for the cost of such knight errantry to make itself known.
She is used to things having a price.
After all, she hasn’t become what she is for no reason.
The theory of causality is one that she is well versed in, and one that a great number of her manipulation tactics revolve around — and so still, she waits, carefully learning the lines of his face and finding them not all so different from her own (good genes, she thinks, presumptuously). All that comes, however, is a friendly smile; the first, perhaps, that she has seen since she had first embarked into this wasteland from out of the shadows so many nights ago.
She doesn’t remember him from the latest of frays between Nerine and all claimants not-Nerine, but then she had been so entangled in the thrill of Set’s own raw power that she hadn’t noticed much beyond it. A shame, she thinks, because the kindness she sees set out before her in her newly found companion is one of the easiest to exploit (if it is earnest, of course). She might have remained back longer to test some more pretty words, though perhaps they are better spoken now in a smaller setting.
It is with little regret, however, that she learns how her admission has rubbed him in the next moment. From the heavy sigh she is left to decipher his disapproval, though the shock value of said disapproval is long beyond her by now. The light chuckle that follows it does more to leave her pretty mouth slightly agape, in fact, as she had been bracing herself for a second onslaught of verbal battery following his sigh. He did belong to Nerine, after all.
“It is a shame I was not there sooner, to avoid all of this.” He says, and much to her surprise, playfully.
“Such a shame,” she agrees, equally playful while her eyes seem to lengthen with the half-lidded smile she offers next. She shifts her weight onto the hip nearest him for no one’s benefit but his own; a nasty habit bred into her — to use what she has been gifted, brain or bend of hip.
How interesting.
And so it is with her full attention (a rare commodity, in all honesty, because when isn’t she so entangled in herself that she can focus for long enough) that he goes on to explain Nerinian loyalty in an effort to bridge the gap between them. It is a gesture that while she could come to appreciate would all likelihood go on in vain given just how stubborn and opposing the leading contenders all were in their own right. He ends with the opportunity with a thinly veiled opportunity for her to side with him, and she’ll lap it up like a saucer of milk, drinking as much as she chooses to satiate them both, and preening in her accomplishment when she is finished.
“Of course I agree, but it’s so much more complex than just that. Don’t you think?”
The parties cards (Set excluded, he was the wildcard she hadn’t anticipated) had already been revealed, an unfortunate slip on Oxytocin’s part and one that she’d harboured some bitterness about until recent changes had come to pass. Either by her own lips or someone else’s he would hear of it, and so she determines it in her best interest to speak now and twist the words the ways they sound the prettiest on her tongue.
“The safelands are in limited supply, and each one of them has the ability to grant access to both the sick and healthy alike. What I would like to see happen, and what was poorly communicated by an overzealous (and frankly, overstepping) comrade of mine, is an experiment. A failsafe, if you will, should the fairies go back on their word, or something else go dramatically wrong with the other safelands. We would welcome any healthy Nerinians, while those infected might be better off seeking treatment on the mainland or the rest of Beqanna so as not to jeopardize the health of their loved ones. I think it’s unwise to blindly put our faith in the fairies and have everyone choose the same path. Of course I’m no more excited to turn away the sick as anyone else would be, but the truth logically is that their chance of survival is not heightened by living here while it does exponentially increase the risk of those who are still healthy should things backfire.”
Satisfied with a healthy amount of sugar on her agenda, she pauses to gauge his reaction. She had been left bitterly disappointed by Leilan’s reactions to her pretty stories before. What good is being so clever if no one is willing to listen, after all?
“Perhaps, speaking candidly, I think the difference of opinion might stem from the fact that I think your running candidate is acting selfishly and not in the best interest of Nerine or Beqanna as a whole. I would love to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion, but I’ll admit there have been firings from both parties that have left me doubtful.”
Oh, such a clever, pretty thing.
If he listens closely, perhaps he'll even hear the low rumble of a purr escape her throat. Likely not, though.
phasus
@[Jesper]