[i]Oh crap, I've done it now.[/i]

Tiral took immediate notice of the shift in tone of the Court Mage and cursed inwardly at himself. He had just told her to be at ease, after all, and now... This...
Gods, why did it have to turn out like this?!

"A-ah... No, sorry, I shouldn't request such information before you complete your own inquiries. Your own job is many times more important than my own, so please, do go ahead and ask first. After all... Not to jump to assumptions, but you didn't seem all that comfortable looking for me. I'm more surprised by the fact that you actively sought me out during such an event, in all honesty; would it not have been more efficient to request for information during a less raucous event?"

Realizing the weight his words carried a few moments later, Tiral hastily waved his hands and shook his head, as if to ward off whatever assumptions he had just put forth.

"T-that isn't to say that you might not have had multiple things to handle and that I just so happened to be here! E-erm... Regardless, Miss Ravenwood, please, do ask as you wish first. I'm not so callous so as to impose on you any will of mine without having first given something of my own."