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[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=#98A9B1][b]Location:[/b][/color] The Laughing Worg Tavern-- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
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Benkei just sat there, in shock as talks broke down further and further, culminating in Alja’s blow up, Seele’s attempt at peacekeeping, and Kazuki’s own additions to what they could do. Benkei at first thought about just leaving; going back to his brother’s place and calling it a night then and there. What help would he be if he got goaded into arguing? What help would any of them be if they couldn’t drop their egos at the door for one [i]damn[/i] minute and talk before letting their emotions take over? 

Aaginim must have been wrong about him. How the hell could he be a leader when any time he tried to bring the group together they fractured even further apart? At least Graves had kept his cool, and no one fought with Alja over her outburst. Seele’s quick response saved the day there. Maybe someone like her would have made a better leader. Her personality lent to healing others instead of breaking them apart. 

What did he know of healing? Or helping? Or doing [i]anything[/i] useful? After all, he was the worthless son next to Kazuki. And even here, in this world that was supposed to be his expertise, it was Kazuki who was worth more again. He had money. He had property. He had skills that could help the group. What did Benkei have? Fishing? He couldn’t even feed the whole group in a single day with that skill. 

Then the girl entered–Artemis–and Benkei immediately recognized the pain she carried. It was something each of them carried and tried to battle through or hide from ever since the glitch. Benkei tried to find the proper words to convey how he was sorry and that he [i]understood[/i] but those words were lost to him. [color=98A9B1]”I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through,”[/color] he tried to piece together the words, [color=98A9B1]”You’re welcome here, with us. We’ve gone through a lot too.”[/color] If there was one thing grief enjoyed, it was company. Still, this was no time or place to try and be a poor facsimile of a good leader like Aaginim. Benkei simply returned to his seat and started to clean the mess of maps and papers he’d worked so hard on. 

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