Kaerwen snorted at the man's self-deprecating tone, and gave him a second assessing look along with an odd half-smile.<br/><br/>"I'll be good. And, perhaps you're right. I'm not used to being helpless or useless - or babysat by<i>anyone</i>, it's no reflection on you. Or your delusions,"  she quipped, responding to his humour. She took another step and looked around herself.<br/><br/>"I feel naked," she confided. "No armour pressing down, no loaded pack, no tight band constricting my chest." That had been one of the first things she'd noticed on waking up. Other than being alive, the fact that someone had clearly been inside her clothes and had then redressed her had raised a few questions in her mind. Still whoever it was (she presumed Sebastian) had redressed her and seen to her comfort. She wasn't sure how she felt about that yet, though it was hard to take offense to what was presumably a healer's requirement.<br/><br/>Then he started spouting titles at her and she fairly recoiled. "Marcher Lady? What did I ever do, that you'd elevate me to the gentry - and here of all places! The last three Lords of the March have come to a bad end, each worse than the last. No, if we're going to stay here," and she smiled again, showing that she's been half-teasing him again. "Then let's be something more than that. Let's be partners,"  she extended a hand to shake, looking around the guardhouse. With a little cleaning and a lot of work, they could really make something of the place and she wanted them both to be invested in the outcome.<br/><br/>"But - yes! Please show me around the place; the area you've been able to clean out in between taking care of my ungrateful carcass and at least a glance at the areas that might still hold some dangers. I doubt all the Marcher Lord's filth was obliging enough to offer itself up to our blades, so I'd prefer to make a start in a smaller area we can make homely before the winter, rather than biting off more than we can chew." She paused, followed him silently for a time.<br/><br/>"Have you given any thought to our conversation of the other day? It wasn't just the medication speaking. This whole incident has convinced me that sooner or later we're going to get ourselves killed doing this. Maybe there are better things we could be doing with the remainder of our lives? We've done enough heroics surely. Do you think I<i>could</i>run a shop or an inn or something instead, and sleep in the same bed night after night?"<br/><br/>And not end up dying forgotten in the rain with all her friends dead around her was the unspoken corollary there.<br/><br/>"And if so, did you want to do this with me? I'd much prefer to work with someone I already know and trust. Maybe we don't simply clear out a safe outpost for our friends to winter with us. I know there aren't many travellers up in this neck of the woods, but maybe we could set up a tavern or something, take early retirement while we're still young and able enough to enjoy it."