Meirin turned her head to see Darius leave them. Fine with her. Let them have a little girl talk. Meirin wondered if she should lower her guard, and than wondered why she was being so defensive. Perhaps it was, just as Alaira said, because she thought Alaira was just a brute. Empirical evidence from before certainly would validate Meirin's thinking. But letting out a sigh, she decided that Alaira didn't need someone pointing out her flaws right now. Meirin did mention she wanted to know more about her, so she was going to have to put her words into action. She walked closer to Alaira with her guard somewhat lowered; Meirin was still expecting to get hit, but for Alaira's sake, Meirin would be willing to take a bit of a beating. "I'll admit you're far from perfect. But Lyn like you. Her parents like you. I'm almost certain that most of the teachers like you. And while I am angry, I like you too Alaira. You're heroic, and no matter what other people say, that's a good thing. You have a good heart, which worth something in these dark times. Sure you're hardheaded, but it's like you said, if it was up to me or Ssarak we could over think things, lose precious time trying to figure out what to do rather than do what we need to do. You get things done." Meirin soon approached Alaira within arms reach. Despite her previous words, Meirin put on a friendly smile. She also handed Alaira a handkerchief; as red as Meirin's hair.

"You're better that you think you are Alaira. When you put your mind to something you go all out and don't half-ass things. There's nothing that scares you off, and you don't hesitate or let what-if's or should-have's bother you. I like that about you Alaira, and the only reason I never really talked to you before was because sometimes I don't know if I can keep up with you! But that's my fault for letting my insecurities get the better of me." Meirin took a moment to think about what to say next. She wanted to say something that would help cheer Alaira up, maybe get her to calm down and get them off this roof. She thought about something that her masters back the monastery might say. 

"In the grim darkness of the far future there is more than war. There are real people there too. One of my masters told me that. Never really understood it at first, and even now I have to think about it. But given the context, I suppose it could be taken tragically. At least when things are completely dark, things getting worse don't really matter. But when there are real people on the line, well. it just gets that much harder, doesn't it? But than I also got to thinking.... People aren't so bad. They're strong. They're people who do the right thing, perhaps not at first, but they do the right thing in the end. Now I think of that message a bit more encouraging. If people were as bad as they think they were, we wouldn't be around for long, you know?"

Sitting down next to Alaira Meirin patted the spot next to her. She wanted Alaira to sit with her. "So, what do you think about it?"