<hr/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/8sMViis.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Masque (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=286197.msg14083251#msg14083251)<br/><strong>Aura:</strong>Gray, 2/3<br/><strong>Time/Date:</strong>Morning, Day One.<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Forest near cave.<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Robin, Azuri, Lyn, open.<br/><hr/>When he heard Robin's voice, he turned his gaze upwards, and gave a somewhat ambivalent shrug. He was fine; the others looked like they had been through hell. Admittedly, he did skip out on the tail end of the fight, so he supposed that was to be expected.<br/><br/>His attention drifted down towards Lyn. "You hide behind your false bravado like I hide behind my mask. I wonder which will fall away first?" More curious, than anything; it's in the tone. It's kind of hard to get a bead on Masque, as his clothing choice makes understanding body language difficult; facial expressions impossible; so really, all you had to work with was tone and word selection. The words themselves might be taken as confrontational, but the underlying tone is one of simple curiosity.<br/><br/><strong>"Don't,"</strong>He would go to cut Azuri off from thanking him. "I didn't do it for any of you. I just wanted to cut my losses. I'm not a hero." Though again, we must refer back to tone; direction, too, in this instance. Was there a bit of underlying panic in his voice? Maybe... though the mask could distort his vocal patterns a bit; not by design and intent, but simply because it literally blocked his mouth from being seen.  But he made a very specific set of word choices in there; he's not a hero. He was just looking after his own well being. Was he trying to convey that to them, or was he trying to convince himself; still plagued with nagging doubts?<br/><br/>Well, without really knowing him, one person's guess would be as good as the next. Hell, maybe he's just beating himself up for running. So many ways to interpret those words... and it might even be a 'little of column A, little of column B' situation, too...<br/><br/>"Your aura drained or something, tough guy?" Talking to Lyn, not so much because Azuri asked Masque to watch over him, but more because he was curious about the beefy barbarian-esque dude. He would move closer, and if Lyn consented to it, would start checking him over for any sort of scratches, cuts, bruises, or the like. Masque was no doctor, no physician; but he could at least create a healing salve or compress, to bandage and clean wounds. And if Lyn had any, that's what he would at least attempt to do; again, it basically comes down to whether Lyn wants to accept the help or not.<br/><br/>Some might see this as a clash against what he said earlier, that he was no hero; but from his view point, he was just... by the spirits, was he just investing in someone who might be useful for him? The thought might have occurred to him, that he was taking this too... seriously, or from a skewed perspective. But part of it, too, was that he was used to giving a hand around the bandit camp when he was younger, and this had been one of his talents; though the fight ultimately called to him, he had picked up some basics, and was now willing to use that knowledge... but even he wasn't sure why he was doing it, even offering. Was it just because he'd be a good way to stay safe during this journey through the forest, or did he actually give a damn about someone besides himself, after so long of being alone?<br/><br/><em>Now's not the time for these thoughts...</em>He chastised himself mentally.