<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/aGEMUXm.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Temudaria Atanai<br/><strong>Race / Class:</strong>Human Ranger / Unchained Monk,<strong>HP:</strong>15,<strong>AC:</strong>21, MW Sheet (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=1616222) and Forum Sheet. (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=289327.msg14212035#msg14212035)<br/><em>Renown archer, rider and lover. Good with her hands, in all senses of the word~~</em><br/><strong>Post Number:</strong>11<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Despite herself, a slightly fond smile crossed her face as she recalled that moment of meeting with her Little Mouse. It went much like how Cass was apparently imagining it - half dazed, half terrified look and all - but not quite. She did like those smokey looks of hers - they always got the boys and girls hollerin' for her - but she also liked to play with her food a little, and poor little Mouse was quite the appetizer. She'd feigned offence and surprise at first, and only when she'd managed to reduce him to a rapidly apologising, flustered mess had she relented and allowed him to...interview her. Whilst she was still fully naked, of course, and that was when the smokey looks began. Not long after that, well...Tem was Tem, and Mouse was cute. What more could she say? She opened her mouth to correct her - momentarily forgetting the gravity of what had happened between them, instead just...relaxing and enjoying another quiet chat with one of her best friends; despite her admittedly intimidating scowls and the gravitas with which she normally carried herself, Cass was a real sweetheart deep down, even if she had trouble expressing herself sometimes - but the words quickly died on her lips as she caught the conflicted, suddenly grim look on Cass's face.<br/><br/>Ah. It was...time. Tem wasn't really all that sure how to feel. On the one hand, knowing that she was about to find out what she'd done to upset Cass was a good thing; if Cass was willing to tell her, then...it meant that she wanted to build bridges rather than burn them, right? She wouldn't be opening up about her feelings - something she all too rarely did - if it wasn't important to her to get over it. But at the same time...she was terrified. What if they talked it over, and it was something huge that couldn't be fixed, and they both stewed on it and it festered and corrupted and ruined their friendship? What if this was just the prelude to some huge argument that destroyed their bond and ended three years of friendship? She wouldn't be able to handle that. But...she knew she had to risk it. Cass was too important to her to not risk it, and if they didn't sort this shit out, then it<em>would</em>fester and it<em>would</em>end badly. She took a deep breath as she hopped over the log, following closely after Cass, not speaking for fear of scaring her out of whatever it was she wanted to say. Cass refused to meet her eyes, and Tem felt a cold, icy claw gripping at her chest. Was what she'd done...that bad, that Cass couldn't even bear to look at her?<br/><br/>No. No, that was silly. She just had a hard time opening up, that was all. It had to be. She cocked her head to one side, listening carefully as Cass pushed out what she wanted to say, and Tem's eyes widened. Oh, so...it had been her talking about...she'd known about Cass's vendetta against Hellknights, of course, it was hard not to - though she didn't know the reason behind it - but she'd never imagined that it was so bad that hearing somebody else talk about screwing them...well...she supposed it made sense, after a fashion. What kind of reaction would she have if she heard about somebody screwing goblins, or if she heard one of her friends talking about that cute Kythnian soldier they'd spent the night with? She'd certainly feel uncomfortable, and probably no small amount of disgust that somebody would do that with the savages that had destroyed her homeland. It was irrational, of course - they were sentient beings too - but matters of emotion didn't have to be rational, and it was an understandable distaste.<strong>"Oh..."</strong>Tem said quietly as she followed along behind Cass.<strong>"I...I had no idea 't hurt y' tha' much..."</strong>She trailed off for a few moments, glancing off into the forest, as if ashamed. And honestly? She was. She should have at least anticipated that Cass would find such a story distasteful, given her feelings on the matter, and yet...she hadn't given it a single thought.<br/><br/>In her defence, Cass hadn't been part of the group when she'd started talking, but she was obviously close enough to hear it, and she should have connected the dots much, much sooner. She wasn't quite sure why she didn't. Maybe she wasn't as good a friend as she liked to think. She cleared her throat.<strong>"'m sorry, Cass...I didn' think tha'...well, tha's just th' problem, ain' 't? I didn' <em>fuckin' think.</em>"</strong>She scowled to herself, shaking her head.<strong>"I shoulda known better, Cass. 'm sorry. I won' talk 'bout it again around y'. Bu'..."</strong>She paused, hesitating. She knew it was a private thing to ask - private indeed if she hadn't talked about it in the entirety of the three years they'd spent together - but she just...she had to ask. At least to show that she cared. Right?<strong>"...Can I ask...why d'y' hate 'em so much, Cass? I get hatin' 'em, I mean, I hate th' Kythians-"</strong>Cass knew about her little vendetta against the Kythians, alright, but she didn't know about<em>why.</em>She'd be surprised if she hadn't put some basic pieces together, but Tem had never outright told her. Not yet, anyway. The longer she didn't mention it, the longer she could pretend that she was ok.<strong>"- bu' not without reason. What'd they do t' y', Cass? If...um...y' don' mind my askin'. Y' don' have't' answer, if...if y' don' wanna. You know that."</strong>She cleared her throat awkwardly. She was already regretting asking, but...well, there was no going back now, was there?<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">TL;DR</div><div class="spoiler_body">Tem briefly reminisces over meeting Mouse, then responds to Cass with chagrin, remorse and a question.</div></div>