[center][img] https://fontmeme.com/permalink/210131/53a200cc81a754fbfea32363291eca9d.png [/img][/center]
[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=92278f][b]Location:[/b][/color]The City of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
[hr][color=92278f]“Oh, dear.”[/color] 

Well, this was a bit familiar, wasn’t it? Same dance, different partner. Seele fought off the urge to go after Alja, who had thankfully only decided to move to the bar, still in eye-shot. Maybe that was best, a minute to let cooler heads prevail so they didn’t make another scene, especially not in front of who she assumed was the new girl, Artemis. However, regardless of everyone’s stances on the matter, it was still important, and the last thing they needed right now was to spend another day or so splintered. 
[center][color=#2E2C2C][i]Sky’s pretty clear today, you know?[/i][/color][/center]Alex showed up, bless his heart, and she gave him an excited little wave. He had an armful of papers, and like most of the group, didn’t look particularly well-rested, which she hoped was just because he’d been up working so late. She winked to him, pointed to the table where she’d set down all of her own work, and then moved closer to the group. On the way, she slid over another drink to Kazuki, to replace the one Graves had taken away. 

[color=92278f]“Alright, before this escalates any further, let’s just take a moment to breathe, and consider things more carefully. Please? Look, see, like this.”[/color] Seele took a big, deep breath and then sighed long and contentedly. [color=92278f]“Oomph, does wonders—[i]Anyway[/i]. It seems to me that we’ve got all the pieces for a good answer here, we just have to put them together, like a puzzle! Who doesn’t love puzzles? Kazuki and Sif are right, the denizens’ attitudes have…let’s say ‘[i]shifted[/i]’. They aren’t, y’know, [i]programs[/i] anymore and even if they are, it doesn’t seem like they’re much different from us. Like Benkei said, they’re going to stand up for themselves, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re uniting against us, and it [i]certainly[/i] doesn’t mean we should unite against [i]them[/i].”[/color]

[color=92278f]“Pariah is dangerous, I don’t think a single person in Aetheria needs to be reminded of that anymore. Every last one of us has the right to be scared. But the way it seems right now, the only difference between us and the denizens is that they don’t have the ability to defend themselves, and we do. And…I think Alja is right,”[/color] she glanced over at the bar where their frosty bruiser sat, and smiled a little. Even if she was a bit disappointed in how things had shaken out, Seele couldn’t help but be a bit proud of her. [color=92278f]“We have a responsibility to protect people, and if we choose to hold that responsibility hostage, then…maybe we deserve to be treated like people who take hostages. I don’t think any of us want a bitter stalemate where we all live in fear and people die by the hundreds to the horrors that [i]we’ve[/i] seen first-hand. I agree with Benkei, we should be prioritizing the dungeons. If we show the denizens that we’re still willing to do the right thing, I’m willing to bet they will too.”[/color]
[right][color=#2E2C2C][i]And you thought it was gonna rain.[/i][/color][/right]Seele realized she’d talked herself out of breath, which was usually a sign that she had, once again, gone on for far too long. [color=92278f]“Anyway,”[/color] she said, quieter, and made back for the table. [color=92278f]“That’s just my two-cents. Two cents never made you rich. By all means, carry on.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/indent]