Ellen thought she had been very--well, perhaps not very, but at least [i]decently[/i]-- tactful in speaking with Abigail. She told the kid that she was handling the situation poorly and enlightened her (or at least tried to) in regards to the fact that not everyone believed the same thing as her, and they weren’t inherently any more or less right than her. Abigail didn’t seem to have much of a reaction at all to the words, and Angeline jumped in with her own ‘help’ a few moments later.

Ellen shot a glare at the other woman for saying that she didn’t need to treat the kid... like a kid. The fact that Angeline didn’t seem to think that would [i]ever[/i] work for Abigail was a bit ridiculous. How close were they for her to [b]know[/b] such a thing? And what was the alternative? Treat Abigail like an adult? She was going to get herself punched.

It was Ellen’s turn to clench her jaw as Angeline stepped forward with what she believed was the better way to handle the situation. Meanwhile, Zephyr just laughed the whole thing off. Really? 

Fine, that’s what she got for trying to actually help Abigail broaden her understanding of how to respectfully interact with other people. Apparently it was better to just ignore Abigail when she was deeply offensive and just hope that somehow she stopped doing it?

Ellen didn’t answer Angeline’s question about her beliefs before the woman moved on to her own, which was fine. Ellen didn’t feel much like talking for the moment. As a matter of a fact, she nearly left the conversation entirely--not that she could go far in this bunk space-- when Abigail seemed to address her again. Ellen raised one eyebrow as Abigail suggested that everyone was just making it up as they went. Of course they were.

But then the teenager posed a question that shifted her expression into one of confusion. She replayed the accented words in her head to make sure she understood them before replying. Finally, she pieced together something like [i]“Are you suggesting that you don’t feel physical pain if you refrain from using your magic?”[/i]

“Ummm… No, Abigail. I don’t feel any compulsion to use my magic, or any discomfort if I refrain from using it. Maybe that’s a violet-exclusive thing?” She didn’t seem to have any affinity for purple magic, so she couldn’t say for sure. “Other than this...sort of feeling I have that I can call upon my magic if I need it, I don’t feel any different than before. What about you guys?”