[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/334896275868876800/765009088026771536/Rivka2.png[/img][/center]

The very concrete was tense, soaking up the energy from the men and women within its walls determined to tie themselves in knots. Rivka didn't see why; their precious possessions hadn't been lost to marauders, no-good barbarians without the manners God gave the most ungrateful bastard. Nor, in her [i]very humble[/i] opinion, had they exactly provided much reinforcement to their protective detail if they had known that a Nox breach could cause an infected state like the one they had just dealt with most handily. And then her things would still be fine.

Was she being unfair? Yes. Was she in a mood to be more charitable? Absolutely not. She didn't have Nox corruption insurance!

She walked through the face sullenly, with her nose pointed defiantly in the air and her 'borrowed' rifle still held at her side by the barrel. No one asked her to return it, anyone who got close enough was studiously disregarded, and they were thus spared a blistering explanation of what would be required for her to return the firearm that would have blown the confidence clear out of their merely mortal frame. And then there was their room, a place that she surveyed in its entirety within moments of setting foot inside. Four cots. Little else. There were the most rudimentary of comforts like a blanket and something that might charitably be called a pillow, but... Rivka's frown deepened. Not for the accommodations, she would learn to deal with far fewer comforts as an Ars Magi. But she would have liked something to [i]eat[/i] after that misadventure. Or at least a [i]shower[/i]. A military base surely had a [i]locker room[/i]. Maybe there were facilities tucked away at the back of the room, but she had more of a feeling that a room not usually intended for human habitation had been converted for their use. The Baeterraen had half a mind to walk out and and a shower and a sandwich. Even an MRE would suffice. What, really, were their guards going to do? Shoot her? She'd seen their aim. They needed the target practice.

Scowling more deeply than ever she stowed the rifle under her cot and eyed it unhappily. On the one hand she would have preferred to fold the blanket up and use it to bolster her pillow. On the other she was sure to get cold in the night without it. She was already going to have to sleep in her street clothes, she wasn't going to forgo the comfort that a blanket would provide. The blanket unfolded with silent, precise motions and Rivka draped it over her cot. Shoes unlaced and she sank back onto the bunk for all the world as though she had been rendered liquid, with no more sound than she had made since her outburst in the transport. Even with her eyes closed and fingers laced behind her head her scowl didn't abate, but she turned her ear to better hear Selma's question and its answers. Their voices were as telling as their answers; Selma's friendly confidence describing a humble, important part of her life, Chie's hesitancy to describe what she would miss, timid by comparison, and then...

There, a discordance. Not anger in Crystal's expletive, nor fear per se, but... 

[color=8407c2]"It isn't so strange to worry about the loved ones you leave behind. Or to feel proud of the help you provide."[/color] She said simply, sticking her legs straight up and using the momentum from dropping them again to easily sit upright, eyes opening and head tilting to regard Crystal even as she finished speaking to Chie. [color=8407c2]"Even if it were, it wouldn't matter. Everyone has something to keep them going."

"If you need something, Crystal, I'm sure a base of this size has a properly stocked medical staff. Do you want us to-"[/color] But Crystal was already moving, and something in Rivka's otherwise disinterested eyes flickered. From seated to standing in a single movement, the cot beneath her unprepared for the movement rose on one end and allowed her to place her feet onto solid ground and reach the doorway before Crystal in a few quick, deliberate strides. [color=8407c2]"Crystal."

"Crystal."[/color] She repeated, in a much softer, soothing voice. She wasn't- quite- blocking the doorway, but she had definitely and deliberately placed herself in the girl's path. The musician continued steadily and calmly, flashing a reassuring smile while she spoke. [color=8407c2]"It's okay. A pharmacy on base should have anything you need, we just need to send someone to get it. I'm a little hungry, myself, so why don't we ask them to bring back something we can eat, too? I'm sure they can at least rustle up some cardboard MREs, though that's almost enough to put me off the thought altogether."

"You're going to ruin your shirt,"[/color] She added gently, gesturing slowly and carefully to her arm. [color=8407c2]"And I don't know about you but I don't have anything else to put on anymore. Let's take a seat and have someone take a look. Alright?"[/color]