Scene #9283: Let's Have A Normal Day At The Library

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Audrey Basque	THE LIBRARY, AFTERNOON Audrey had arrived, without much fanfare, as soon as class would let her. She'd not wanted to stick around the campus if she could help it, which was definitely, absolutely not helping anything; but also she'd said she'd be around to help with the usual flow of work at the General Works floor, and she doesn't like going back on her word. She has her uniform on, of course, though maybe the collar is just a fraction off, and the jacket is a bit more ruffled than it should be. Barely! But for someone who usually wears it all so straight, it doesn't take a lot to make a difference. She makes her way up to the floor; walking, not the elevator. Can't hurt her, and she's not exhausted. It lets her say hi to Angela, Malkuth and Hod on the way up, if they're about, and that's the closest thing to normal she has after class right now. And then... well, there's General Works, and the eternally growing pile of books to sort between 'garbled mess' and 'real book, actually', and then it's 'which floor does this go on'. And the newspapers. Those sure pile up. It's not like she's the only one here, but she wonders how bad it's going to get once Angela starts branching out to more and more outside worlds. They can't just keep expanding the Library forever, can they? Or is there a plan for that, too? Ugh, plans. She still needed to make time to keep looking into the Tree of Light. Roland said Angela was getting impatient, and that's enough to wear her down a bit more. Always more expectations, and stress, and... Deep breath. Big smile. Audrey takes a quick look around, to see if Roland's on the floor or if he's out on an errand right now.
Angela	"You have an ARBITER working for you??" Roland sputtered at Angela. "Former Arbiter. And yes. Out of all the Sephirah she's the only one who never harmed me--a little pointed, maybe, but when I needed help she actually extended a hand even with her awful personality. And don't speak so loud, you are in a Library." Roland pinches the bridge os his nose with two of his fingers to force himself to calm down. "So the Sephirah stood against you in this war I keep hearing about but she didn't...? Aren't you worried about that?" Angela shook her head. "An understandable concern, but rest assured--she is no longer affiliated iwth the Head." "Are you sure about that?" Roland asks anxiously. "She still seems pretty, uh, sadistic..." Angela frowns. "Binah cannot help being a sadist. I will not have this kind of ableism in my library, Roland and--" Her eyes widen and she actually lets slip a small smile. "Audrey is here. I'm going down to meet her. Please continue the filing. You have been --- Let's not ruin current circumstances with dramatic exclamations. We can just talk normal about concerns in the future." "Isn't that poor suffering sadist exploring the other floors of the Library right now?" Roland asks. Angela has only run once in her life but she rushes all the same to the elevator. [ransi(hy,NOW)] Malkuth greets Audrey enthusiastically, Hod greets Audrey shyly and asks how school went, and just as Audrey's back is turned, a woman with black hair and pale skin, a pair of earings in one of her ears and a long black coat and a long black dress peeks around a bookshelf and smiles enough to show her teeth. Both her coat and her hair has some gold in it too, mostly as accents. On the next floor up, in the Floor of Art, the goth(?) woman seems to have taken to following Audrey up and will continue doing so as she makes her way up to General Works. "My my my, Michelle--ahh, Hod excuse me--has told me so much about you. I didn't expect she'd be the sort to blab about me a second time. Hello there Stargazzer, my namie is Binah. So lovely to see a new face around here. Don't mind me, we just so happen to be moving in the same direction but--ahh-- I couldn't help but notice..." She steps a little closer. "You didn't take time to make yourself presentable...But no, that's impossible, everyone in the Library assured me you were such a responsible young lady.." Her smile gleams. "Did something fun happen out there, Miss Audrey?" If she sounds like a seasoned interrogator who would tighten the thumb screws happily that's because she has more experience in her life doing that than not doing that.
Audrey Basque	"It went," Audrey lets hang in the air when Hod asks about school, specifically. She's not going to get into it, not with poor Hod of all people. It's her little mountain to climb and die on, really, and she was exceptionally good at climbing dangerous mountains to die on. Ask Hiromi. The honor student lacks the means to tell she's being followed up; or it might well be she's not paying attention. And so when Binah ambushes her, there's the slightest yelp of surprise, and then Audrey calms back down to look at the new Sephirah. Before she can answer, Binah is wielding her words like knives and cutting deep. Audrey's empty smile turns into just empty, and she quickly tries to adjust her collar, straighten the jacket out-- fix how she looks, innately aware of every fault in her presentation now. "Oh. Hello. You must be one of the Sephirah," she manages, trying to recall who Angela said she would work on next. Binah? It must be Binah. Hod had mentioned her, and how she was worried about it. And so now, Audrey is worried too. "Nothing happened. Rather, nothing important happened. I was a bit sick, and I might still be a little." She's not sick. Obviously. And she's steeling herself back into shape, trying to put the smile back on and suppress any hint of anything else. "You must be... Binah, right? I'm Audrey. Stargazer is... more a school thing." A nickname she had no say in, but that certainly suits her. Audrey sizes the woman up; that outfit is... it's certainly a choice, for a library. There's that hint of the uniform under the coat, but what a coat. "It's nice to meet you. I'm sure you must be glad not to be in a box anymore, Malkuth and Hod definitely are. What floor is yours?"
Angela	Binah leans against the bookshelf like what she really wants to do is wrap an arm around Audrey's shoulder but is being polite by making use of a shelf instead. "Oh don't be like that. I'm a wonderful listener and you're lucky I pointed it out or Angela would have noticed it and she'd have been quite concerned since Miss Petra is family to her and she is practically buzzing about how grateful and relieved that she made a friend in you. She can rest a little easier thanks to you. Why, she might have seen the state of your clothes and assumed something terrible must've happened because sometimes her fear overwhelms her sense." She doesn't seem to be buying the 'sick' argument but Binah uses the opportunity to close in and reach a palm towards Audrey's forehead. "Oh dear." She is a former secret police that can lie. "You are burning up..! Perhaps you ''ought'' to lie down." ''You must be... Binah, right?'' "A pleasure, Audrey. I am Binah as you've so astutely divined. A box? Oh what a trifling thing, hardly worth mentioning when you are here and wonderfully new." She pauses. "Ah--yes, my floor seems to be the Floor of Philosophy, just two floors--in fact--below yours! So we will be quite close to one another. Isn't that a treat? Did you know that Hod and I used to know each other?" Angela taps her foot impatiently in the elevator as it dings down gradually closer to Audrey and Binah.
Audrey Basque	Noticed? And what does Petra have to do with... Well, Audrey might be good at acting normal, but she's not trick-an-Arbiter good. There's being good, and there's being supernaturally proficient, and she's the former. "A-Ah. Yes. Well, still, I assure you it is nothing to be concerned about, and certainly nothing that would impact the Library. I would not want to let Angela down, of all people, especially when I am unable to say when a plan can be put into motion." And now she wonders how it is that that's going to go. She can't just avoid her forever, can she? A bit of guilt. If it ends up interfering with freeing Angela... she'd be responsible. Pretty much directly. She's burning up, though? "No, I'm... I am fairly sure I don't have a fever. If I do, I do not feel it." Now she understands why Hod was worried. Binah is... terrifying. As Binah mentions knowing Hod, Audrey nods. "I was aware, but it is a relief so far there have not been sparks from the prior incident. I... struggle to imagine what it must be like for you all, having gone through that hell." She doesn't know the details, but she knows it hurt pretty much everyone involved.
Angela	One of the 'skills' an interrogator has is that sometimes you just say bullshit and see how your target reacts, something with enough truth in it--messy clothes, a known relationship to Petra, a known--shall we say--cinematic tendency for unkempt clothes to have a certain meaning... well, Binah is all too happy to insinuate and see how Audrey takes it. For Binah is fond of Audrey and this is how Binah treats the people she likes. "...Freedom, mm? ... You know that 'out there' is not so different from 'in here'. If the Library is her EGO and the EGO will not let her go outside ... Well, perhaps it is coincidence, I hardly know how all the scientific magic that went into it. Oh, I know all about ''magic'' but it is not of the sort where you carve sigils into your own flesh with a rusty blade with endless formulas scrawled on a whiteboard." She frowns. "Ah in any event, I was instructed to help you with anything you need--all the Sephirah seem to be, so please consider us at your disposal. If you can help Angela leave, you might introduce new possibilities I can only imagine--so I'm all for it, of course, so very much for it." ''The prior incident...'' "Oh that little skirmish Petra calls a war?" Binah asks. "Well I ''did'' almost die, but then--I ''did'' die before, so it was nothing to me, pray do not wconcern yourself with my suffering wehn that is in the past and you are part of an exciting future. Of course... Exciting futures do not necessarily mean pleasant ones, mm?" DING. Angela steps out of the elevator with Roland near, grimacing as she sees Binah as already made contact. "Audrey. My apologies. I wanted to introduce you properly but it seems Binah beat me to it. Binah, this is Audrey. Audrey, this is Binah." Angela says. Roland looks over Audrey. "Don't mind her too much, Audrey." Roland says. "She's just got a handicap--Ow ow ow..!" Angela has pinched Roland's arm to discourage him from going on.
Audrey Basque	The idea of carving sigils into her own skin to use her magic sends a shiver down Audrey's spine. She's quite thankful it's not like that, at all... but she's sure some Traditions are. She just wouldn't seek them out, not voluntarily anyhow. "Allow me to reassure you I need neither sigils nor flesh carvings to perform my magic." Having her foci helps, but it's not, strictly, necessary. What she needs to use magic is far more abstract. 'The stars' 'the laws of boundaries' and such. Not something that's easy to explain! "Still, she wishes to be free, and I promised to help. It would not do to turn my back after giving my word. Disregarding me, it would bring shame to my school as well." 'Top student lets everyone down'. It'd be awful. The notion the future might not be pleasant, though... she'd not thought about it, that far ahead. Maybe she should have. Or maybe... she'd already accepted that truth, deep inside. "Thank you. If I need anything, I will be sure to come knocking right away. And... I will endeavor to help bring about an exciting and pleasant future, where I can." DING. Audrey turns to Angela-- and Roland. It's almost a sigh of relief, but she knows better than to make it that obvious. "Oh, hello Angela, hello Roland. We were just getting acquainted, in fact!" Big smile. Nothing is wrong here. "I like her coat a lot. Did you make that for her, Angela, or is that how she used to dress?" The way the collar looks, it reminds Audrey of the raven feathers. Or maybe they're spikes? She does not correct Roland, but gives him a 'help me' look.
Angela	"Ah such a shame, you'd look good with tattoos." Binah manages to get out about that. "But if you say the sort of thing as 'it would bring shame to my school'--it does not surprise me that you'd find companionship in the other Sephirah." Most of them are researchers and of those researchers many of them were prodigies, exceptionally gifted, or trained up as apprentices by very clever people. Angela, unlike Binah, is not a skilled interrogator and has to rely on her time curse to notice the sort of small shifts of expression that make hidden signs of how someone actually feels into reality. She isn't exactly incapable of empathy but she can readily miss some things that are actively suppressed from those accustomed to actively suppressing them. "Oh!" Angela is relieved, you can tell by the exclamation point not her facial expression. "I did. It is, however, based on her Arbiter uniform. I thought she would appreciate it as she still has some nostalgia for her days as a government killer--" "Oh that's such a harsh way to put it. Fair, but a little rude wouldn't you say?" "So to answer your question." Angela ignores Binah. "It is in fact a bit of both." ''Help me'' Shit, Roland thinks, former Arbiter is still a former ''Arbiter''--the issue isn't, of course, that he fears her exactly but he's supposed to be a Grade Nine and be whimpering at the sight of her. It's not exactly the best for his cover if he goes to help but... ...He can't really help it, right? She's a kid with a bright future and he can't help but be partial to people like that right now. He forces himself forward and wraps an arm around Binah who gives him such a ''look''. "Heey Binah... We never really had a chance to talk right? I think Angela had something she wanted to ask about, real important project stuff, so how about we go upstairs and you can take a crack at me, yeah?" And with that he guides BINAH to the elevator, intent on leaving Audrey with Angela alone. "...That was a lie, more or less, but even so I did want to talk to you properly." Angela says. "You have done a great deal for me already and I've done little. Is there anything I can do to make your stays here be more comfortable?"
Audrey Basque	"T-Tattoos?" Audrey shrinks a bit. Her pain tolerance isn't exactly high - even getting her ears pierced took a lot of coercing out of her so-called friends, to get a tattoo outright... "I... am not even sure what I would get tattooed, if I did. I would not wish to look improper, and so placement would be..." It's complicated! It's a big decision. And it sounds painful. "Killer?" she says at Angela's statement, looking from her back to Binah and then back to Angela. "Arbiter... like from the Head?" She's been reading! She knows things. Some terms sink in, sometimes, and it's still a lot, but it's starting to settle. "O-Oh, but... I see," she says, either regarding the KILLER comment or the fashion choice. Or likely, both. Audrey feels a little bit sorry that Roland banishes himself to the Binah dimension to save her, but she's just glad not to feel like she's in an interrogation room anymore. "O-Oh! Please take care, Roland. Binah, it was nice to meet you. I look forward to working alongside you." Which leaves Angela. And she puts her on the spot. "More comfortable?" Audrey thinks. There might be-- No. No, no, do not even think about it. "You've already accommodated me more than is reasonable to ask. Really, I don't want to impose," she says, shifting from the formal tone she had with Binah to the more... slightly laid back tone of speaking to Angela, specifically. "Especially when I... haven't delivered what I promised yet." Pensively, Audrey sighs. "The Tree of Light is a very complicated mechanism. I have ideas, already, ranging from simply trying to take control of the entire space it's in and forcing it open, to trying something more subtle like focusing on its reservoir. In all cases, I have to take into account the fact this place isn't just a building; the boundaries aren't just "the space between here and there". This is part of you. It might be you, literally. If I... damage it, in any way, if I bend it too far back... it may hurt you. And that isn't acceptable." Nor would it be to Petra, she wagers. And the thought causes Audrey to glance down, at the floor. She can put the steel smile on all she wants, but there's no wiping her from her memory outright. Nor is there a chance to put this off forever.
Angela	Binah gives a little up and down wave at Audrey before the elevator swoops back up Angela watches Audrey "Then." She says. "You wish to wait until you deliver on your promise before I offer anything else?" She gives a cock of her head to the side. "Understood. Then when you do deliver on what you promised, I expect you will have a request for me that I can fulfill. If you do not by that point, I will be a touch upset, Audrey, so you best think of it if you do not have one prepared " Angela as it turns out is the sort of person who does not like feeling like she is in debt to others or simply is some kind of parasite stealing away whay she needs from others offering little in return. A room and board and a job that otherwise does not pay Audrey is not enough as far as Angela is concerned. "You already gave me some things ... but you need not worry about me only extracting half of what you offered me." But she isn't wrong that there is a risk to herself. And a risk to Petra. The more Light she seizes, she reasons, the less she'll need to seize back from The City. Perhaps if she collects enough these monsters she's been hearing about will also cease to be. "I am glad you came here honestly. This place holds bad memories for Petra. But you have been good to her. You have been a friend to her, in some ways I feel ... I have been unable to be. I am glad she has friends. So many people have failed to be a good friend to her Audrey. And I feared I had become another. But we still in one another's lives and I feel that you are helping us through .... everything. So I like you, Audrey. And when people like one another, debts and repayments become less important. You ro not have to worry about the receipts amongst friends and I consider you one." "...But I still would like to help you because I feel I've been asking a great deal of you and Petra already." She slides her fingers together. "The next Sephirah I wish to awaken is Tiphereth. She is also, sort of, a sister to me though the circumstances are...tragic enough that we do not use such terms. She was taken to the facility before she was even ten years old. But she is an adult. I hope you two can be friends as well."
Audrey Basque	"I will," Audrey says, despite the fact she does not know what she would ask for. Access to the Library is already really useful, surely Angela could check, or would know, Audrey has been checking books in and out regarding astrology, the sky, the City in general, but what else could she want? "Well, I can already tell you it will not involve a small square robot body," she decides to venture, half-jokingly and half-very much not desiring to be in the same situation as the Sephirah. And yet, when the subject changes to Petra, Audrey could not feel more like what she presumes the Sephirah did. Small, locked in a box, helpless and an observer to events she can no longer control. It's awful, and like a sudden gut punch that Angela didn't mean to deliver. "I am glad I came here too, but perhaps I've made some mistakes and shouldn't be praised too quickly," she settles on, lowering her head a bit in a mix of shame and trying to distance herself. "I am not used to having close friends. Being the center of the school means many of those who hang around me do so solely based on my reputation, or as a sort of... exclusive circle for the successful." The familiarity is gone from her voice; every word pressed, carefully weighed for double meanings. "I have not... really had to deal with the kinds of things friends often do between each other. I know of them, I watch TV, movies, and all that... course I know. But I have not lived through very much. And as I rose in ranking and popularity, I put distance between myself and old friends. When study paths diverged, I put even more distance between us. And when the ones I had left became... different, abnormal, I cut that off too." It's a good thing she's not on the radio. It'd knock her off this train of thought immediately. "So... what I am trying to say is... I have not... I do not have experience with this. Real friendship. Being close to someone, to this extent. And so I fear it is a matter of time before I make a mistake I cannot take back." Audrey brings one of her gloved hands to rub her forehead a bit, fix her bangs up and all, before she takes a deep breath and continues. "It is an odd feeling. To have people whose friendships with me aren't transactional. I had gotten used to it, but now..." It's complicated, now. "But I appreciate your honesty. Yes, between real friends, the transactions do not matter. If you need something I can provide, ask. If I do, I will as well. There is no debt being recorded," she lies, because she records her debt to Angela very much. In that way they're painfully alike. The topic shifts, and Audrey tries to relax a bit; which is easy when her next question is: "I-I'm sorry, she was recruited as a child? That's... awful. I will be happy to meet the rest of the Sephirah though. So far they've all been great." Even Binah? "... even Binah." Despair.
Angela	''... even Binah.'' "...Even Binah...?" Angela seems uncertain about that but she wasn't lying to Roland about what Binah had done for her and so she is probably has the second highest opinion of Binah in the multiverse simply because she neither fears, loathes, or is wholly uncomfy around her. Angela grimaces at the idea of having a boxbot body. She is really not interested in ending up like that. She has higher standards for her escape than that now. ''But perhaps I've made some mistakes and shouldn't be praised so quickly.'' Angela frowns uneasily. Did her relationship with Petra fall completely apart in the span of a week or something? She doesn't really want to even think about that being a possibility. No, she must be misinterpreting Audrey here somehow. There is something else going on. She just has to patiently take this one step at a time. ''Many of thsoe who hang around me do solely based on my reputation, or as a sort off...exclusive circle for the successful.'' "Ah." Angela says. "...Different? Abnormal? what do you mean?" She cocks her head, frown deepening. "Is this the sort of mistake you made that you wish to rectify in helping someone like myself?" Angela is definitionally different and abnormal, of course, but she doesn't really feel it outside of the weight of her local society. "...I understand this fear." Angela says. "I cannot judge you for it except, of course, to say that you should resist the expectation you doomed in this." Easier said than done, but--well. ''Audrey is an Grade A Student that can lie.'' Angela doesn't seem to notice it. "But so long as you understand that's fine. Do you want to continue the battles? Or shall I leave it to Roland and the other Librarians?"
Audrey Basque	"Mhm. Even Binah. Even though... I can't tell if she meant to skewer me with her words, or was legitimately concerned for me. M-Maybe it doesn't matter which it was. Or it was both," Audrey wonders, reaching for her collar to make sure it's still adjusted. Normal. Abnormal. What do they even mean? Audrey rubs the back of her head, thinking. "There are... expectations, for people like me." Or, at least her parents and her warped sense of obligations do. "That we will be upright and excel in our fields. That we will keep for company but those who are alike. That we won't stray and bring shame to our families, schools and more. That we will... have heirs." She lets that last one hang, with all of its damning weight. "That I will set the example from which all other examples will be set." She pauses, and switches tracks quickly. "No, I'm not trying to make up for any of it. I... care. Genuinely. And that's... odd, and alien, and... intense. I offer you my help because you've welcomed me unconditionally, and now I care. It's silly. We've known each other for a month? I care more for you than any other friend I have. And I care more for--" She catches herself. She stops, and clears her throat. "Sorry. I'm-- dealing with something. The truth is I'm here instead of home because being with those people... or alone, seems infinitely worse right now. And having something to do," she gestures towards a pile of newspaper. "Is good for my mind." The subject of the battledome comes up, and Audrey shakes her head. "I'm happy to assist however I can, including in that way. This is a safe environment to practice." She pauses. "Insofar as fighting is ever safe. I trust if something truly dangerous stepped foot in here, I wouldn't be going at it alone."
Angela	"...Binah is the sort where 'both' is a distinct possibility." And Petra, well, she can be a bit like that too sometimes--no wonder Binah thinks she'd be a wonderful Arbiter. She is about to tell Audrey to not let her voice catch when speaking about someone they care about, but she can't bring herself to. After all, it'd be the height of hypocrisy right now. She just ... can't. She wonders what Lilian would say to Audrey, though, about abandoning friends because of--not having heirs. "Ah." Angela says. "Your society expects you to sire children so the pseudo-nobility of your lineage can continue backed by the magical power that you and your family possess. Your friends did not want to 'have heirs' for one reason or another and so you had to let them go for the sake of societal expectations that have been placed upon you. ... You are right, that is a terrible mistake you should not be thanked for." She frowns thoughtfully, looking up to the ceiling. Yes, Petra would probably say that there is no point in 'trying to make it up' right? Something like that can't be forgiven so she shouldn't bother trying to do that for them. 5rInstead she says, "Well, as you know--Petra herself had made mistakes in the past. But they are in the past. ... Certainly, I am hardly free of sin either. There are still no conditions to staying here. One day you might be called upon to make a choice you had previously regretted. When the time comes, choose differently--and you will have learned a proper lesson." Of course as someone who can tap into the Library directly, Audrey might be one of the more dangerous people in this place the better she gets at doing just that. But even so she nods, "Yes, I do not intend to force any duels. ... Would you like to head up now? I should encourage the honesty you've shown me and provide you with a beverage to lighten your spirits and help you put it out of mind for a spell."
Audrey Basque	"I mean... it wasn't just that," Audrey says, a bit distantly. "It was a lot of different things. Rankings. Grades. Dropping out. Dubious associations. I was... "too good" for them. They were "below me". And to court impurity is to take it on without fail." That's what she's always been told. And it's a survival mechanism. "Sometimes it's not even that I wanted to let them go, but we would talk about it, and... I said the wrong thing, or they got angry. I would say "We can't stay friends if you don't work harder," and that would be the end of the discussion for them. I don't blame them." But at least it's clear it's NOT just the heir thing. But that one sure hangs over her head like a sword waiting to fall. "I shouldn't be saying all this, really. Father would get mad. Mother too, probably. And the truth is... I don't know if I've learned my 'proper lesson'." She shifts her posture, one arm wrapping around her body and clutching the other like she's afraid she'll burst open if she doesn't secure herself. She debates, long and hard, saying certain words; admitting the truth, her truth, to at least one person. Just one. Not about Petra, but rather-- "... a drink would be nice. Sorry. It seems I've once again stumbled into your Library a mess and require your care. I need to not let that form into a habit."
Angela	''It was a lot of different things.'' "Don't these things tend to feed into one another? ... Well, I don't know anything about what it means to go to a school properly." Angela's left fist clenches tightly. "...As troubled as it can be, school is one place where you get to learn how to engage others properly. That is how it is." ''Father would get mad.'' "I quietly let Petra torture and kill my ... Ayin. So I am not exactly an ideal role model on how to peacefully settle things with one's parents. But establishing one's identity without them is something everyone has to do eventually." She is maybe the worst person to talk to abuot healthy parent-child relationships. ''It seems I've once again stumbled into your Library a mess.'' "Keep stumbling into my library and I won't complain. It is selfish of me, of course, but I am grateful for your company." She calls down the elevator herself to lead Audrey up to General Works and, well, get her a sweet drink. She's seen Kukuru do this sort of thing a lot and she thinks there is some merit to it as a salve, but she can't help but worry. What is she missing out there? She needs more information. She needs to learn so she can understand and once she understands she can finally be free and free to treat people how she wants to treat them.
Audrey Basque	"They kind of do," Audrey nods to Angela as they wait for the elevator. "But... not always. Sometimes the honor student is secretly or not-so-secretly a freak, and being a freak doesn't change their grades or their ranking. I mean... look at Miss Rook. She was... everything we're told not to be, in a lot of ways. Now she's what we get told we should try harder to be. It's confusing." She doesn't elaborate. "Doesn't... make things better, though." At the mention of Ayin, Audrey frowns a little. The very thought of harming her parents, or them coming to any harm, makes her a bit sick on the spot. Nevermind torture. "M-Maybe. I don't know about that. I just want them to be proud." Well, that's the problem, isn't it? She wants everyone to be proud of her. Letting Angela down is a huge pressure too. "I enjoy your company too, though. Everyone here, really, it's... different. I couldn't put it into words. Comforting, besides the ever-looming threat of the City coming down on this place with all their wrath." She's not totally used to that. "But... anyway. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Especially when she's had hot chocolate.