>>6120562<span class="mu-r">You</span> huff, annoyed again at the twiggy little non-com gob’s sass, but moreso at her missing the point. Time to inject a little more ‘Gob-Boss’ energy into this conversation, you suppose.
“It’s S’PSOED ta’ remind you to cool off and use your fuckin’ BRAIN a little,” you say, trying not to snarl. “She’s on our side, and yer both fuckin’ LUCKY she is. We ALL are. She helped me escape just now. She saved YOU both by goin’ all cuh-razy before, and she might’ve just done so today, too. She’ll probably do it again. But notice how tehre’s no friendly fire? No collateral?”
You gesture around the clearing—at An-Yii, Yeb-Uit, and at yourself.
“Shit, even KHORINE’S fine, an’ she was the actual enemy!
“You’re being rather loud, you know!”
“Quiet, kid!” you snap back at Khorine. “The grown-ups are talkin’!”
You look back at, alas, a still-skeptical pair of green-faces. You shew your cheek a little, mulling over your approach.
“Alright.” Yeb says.
“Alright?” An-Yii demurs.
“Alright?” you ask, a little surprised yourself.
“Yah, ‘alright,’” Yeb growls. “it means ‘okay’. As in, sure. Fine. Whatever. It’s fine.”
“Is it??” An demands, bewildered.
Yeb-Uit looks Cara-Zi’s way…
<span class="mu-b">Because CZ spent time with Yeb-Uit, his morale is less shaken by her outburst</span>
…and nods. He says nothing else, but his posture loosens and his expression softens, just slightly.
(What the fuck HAPPENED in those woods??)
With the line broken, all attention is on An-Yii. Her face and body twist and shift in place as if engaged in an internal argument with herself, and then she too submits to the pressure of her peers—and employer.
“What happens if you’re not there, next time she… Turns?”
You fix your fierceness upon An-Yii again, but she does shrink. Forced to answer directly, you simply shrug and say…
>“Then you’d better keep me safe, huh, doc?”>“I’ll work with her on her self-control.”>“We’ll hire someone at Sunset Lake to help manage that, okay?”>“That’s MY business, and CZ’s, and none of yours. Got it?”>“Quit, then. Go on, get lost! We don’t need quitters and pansies on this job.”>Write-in 