[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/DVjv2A1.png?1[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/PIt6O9j.png[/img][/center]
[hr][color=gold]Location:[/color] Underground Base
[hr][color=gold]Interactions:[/color] Benedetto [@Force and Fury]
[hr][hr]

As much as Trypano's and Desmond's questions were frankly a better use of time, Ingrid decided that she wanted to indulge in some more light-hearted questions about their culture. Romance had always captured Ingrid's Imagination with how much it changed from place to place. Some seemed familiar, some seemed alien but in the end, it was a culture she wanted to learn about. Somehow that ended up with Ingrid hitting on Nine and Nine wanting to take a hand at teasing her. Ingrid would back off normally but this seems like a perfect distraction from all those thoughts trying to creep into her mind. The kiss happened, it was Ingrid's first. [color=8882be][i]Well, that was nice. I think? It was kind of fun,[/i][/color] crossed Ingrid's mind before the other Sirrahi seemed to have a mental explosion watching that. She knew they fed off of each other's energy but Ingrid couldn't help but chuckle to herself as they so boldly announced who they wanted to kiss. 

Those bursts of energy throughout the night had finally come to an end and they had guided us to a bed chamber. It was interesting, to say the least. 1 large bed fit for the entire family line from Ingrid's point of view. She knew sharing a bed was common for the lower class but with how insanely advanced they are, Ingrid had to take its construction as a product of their culture. Ingrid thought for a moment about how she would feel sleeping with her whole family. Maybe they would have been closer. Maybe they would have actually cared about each other more than a single connection. Maybe. Ingrid lightly shook her head as she laid down, relegating those questions as wishful thinking. She made herself a target of her cousins and siblings with her RAS and let her guard down and became the 'slacker' of the family. 

As the group settled down, Ingrid's mind was hostage to her thoughts like most nights except instead of beautiful theorems and visualizations there was only the death she caused. She knew she needed sleep but her essence was restless, it begged for some relief from the guilt she held. The wasted time, the cluelessness, the failure, the death sat on her chest paralyzing her thought. For what felt like hours she laid there just reliving the last day until her mind went still. [color=8882be][i]I never thought I would have to kill someone like this. I knew one day I might have to defend my land or protect someone but I killed because I decided to come on this mission. I let myself get involved in killing. I didn't need to do this. My studies are going well and although my research for my family feels slow it wasn't something that felt unobtainable. So why?[/i][/color] Ingrid felt anger well up in her chest as she berated herself. [color=8882be][i]Why did you join this mission? Why did you think you could do this? Because I wanted to selfishly gain favor like a fool. I'm a fucking idiot for thinking that killing was worth whatever reward this will have.[/i][/color] Those thoughts stung as Ingrid realized there was no promised reward. Nothing had been promised to her and even more so if this was a test then she would not be the first to receive any kind of reward. 

[color=8882be][i]Desmond found the Princess and acted as the general orchestrator of the mission. Penny went off on her own, gaining valuable information, and somehow stole the lantern and captured 2 ships! Benedetto saved the Princess after we failed to stop that damn atomic mage, put out the fire and made Ingrid realize that the rubble needed to be cleaned, and then saved us again after I failed to guide the shot into the Maria Nera after he literally stated he wouldn't help us again. God damn it! All I was able to do was distract the damn atomic mage and almost die twice to be saved by the person we were supposed to rescue! Just Fuck![/i][/color] Normally when this utterly frustrated she would get up and walk around but she didn't want to wake people up. She just had to lie there, getting more heated. She needed to put this away.  She took a few deeper breaths to calm herself. Little by little she put herself in check. 

[color=8882be][i]Okay[/i][/color], Ingrid thought as she started to review her performance. Something that was drilled into her since childhood, all narrated in the voice of her disappointed father. [color=8882be][i]You killed people. It was not how you imagined it to be but you chose this and you knew what was the mission. You can claim no innocence here. You were blinded by your greed for knowledge that you didn't even weigh the lives of others. You failed to live to your ideals and didn't hold yourself to the standards you set for yourself. Many were injured and 2 children died directly from your negligence. No matter the circumstances you should have been more cautious. You should have reached out to feel their metabolic energy. Anything but blow up the building as a distraction. You survived the atomic mage but that wasn't the term for success. Eliminating the enemy to keep the Princess safe was your goal. You are lucky that you get another chance and thank Benedetto that he was competent enough to make up for your failure. The children…[/i][/color] Ingrid couldn't bring herself to think of them directly so she just skipped it to not risk her mental state again. [color=8882be][i]You failed to even board the ship and had to have them hoist you onto the boat, shameful at face. You did well at getting some reaction out of the lamp. You failed to land the shot on the Maria Nera, you can only assign so much blame on Desmond who had no chance to actually guide the shot as it reached further. It was your mistake for failing to succeed in another critical moment. Once again thankfully Benedetto was strong enough to save you from what could have easily been death.[/i][/color]

Ingrid stopped her evaluation as she believes that all things considered, the meeting of the Sirrhai is a good thing. There wasn't anything to say to herself besides 'Hey, maybe don't make out with some cute snake girl because you are fucked in the head at the moment.' That point actually stung as she realized that Nine probably also did it because she is fucked in the head at the moment. [color=8882be][i]Fuck[/i][/color], Ingrid thought as she realized that shit was manipulative as hell to her at the moment, [color=8882be][i]seems I have to apologize to Nine. I should have thought that she was just being excessively nice to make up for how she was feeling. Great job Ingrid, great job.[/i][/color] Ingrid fell asleep quickly after that.

Sometime later, Ingrid was woken up by Nine crying, she was only half awake at the time so she isn't completely sure of what they discussed earlier but all she knew was that was apparently Nine's sister wasn't killed by us humans but by her own race. It was the Kasssseels, the person that the others had growled at earlier. Seems there was already some bad blood between the 2 groups. It was terrible that her sister was killed by them but frankly Ingrid didn't think revenge was a good option. If they have laws then revenge is rarely recognized as you get to more complex and progressive societies. Not only that, her entire family could be punished. The guilt that would be crushing. Nine seemed pretty determined to seek revenge and Ingrid could understand her wrath but she kept thinking it wouldn't turn out well.

As they made it to the weapon armory, Ingrid was quick to pick her chosen weapons. She had been quite a shot when she would test them at the mines and the production houses. She even hunted with them. Ingrid took the pistol as she wanted to have a free hand for the grenades. Ingrid looked towards Benedetto, she wanted to apologize for earlier and thank him but doing it here would feel disingenuous. At the same time, a part of Ingrid honestly thought Benedetto doesn't give a shit about that and it was better now than later. Ingrid approached him after he was already geared and prompted the conversation. [color=8882be]"Hey Benedetto, I just wanted to say sorry. I shouldn't have placed my standards on someone I don't even know. I don't know your life. And I also wanted to say thanks, I couldn't beat the atomic mage. And no matter how weak he was to you, without your help the princess would have been taken. And even after that you still came to help when you said you wouldn't help again. You saved the mission then saved my life so thanks you, truly"[/color] Ingrid left after that. Whether Benedetto likes it or not he is getting a present from her when she gets back. Maybe a pendant? Or maybe some quality gauntlets with how much he likes to punch things. 

[color=00a99d]"Yeah, he was pretty fuckin' tough,"[/color] Benny replied. He shrugged. [color=00a99d]"Not tough enough, though, and he was a piece of shit anyways."[/color] He said nothing more. He wasn't sure why this girl who hated him was being all nice all of a sudden. People were never nice unless they wanted something. Maybe she just wanted the D, but he didn't know and it kind of unnerved him. He also didn't have magic right now and that was unnerving him more. He went to select his weapons: things that would protect him from death. Honestly, he didn't wanna do it. He had no magic and no reason to care about some snake girl, even if it was sad that she died. He was basically a prisoner of these reptiles, they were taking away his magic while smiling at him, and he hadn't even done anything 'bad' for once. As for Penny, she was stupid. She kept putting herself and others at risk and why was it his job to save her from herself? People either fuck up and learn or they fuck up and die. If you keep helping them, they never do either and just keep being a liability for you. Benny didn't wanna live with liabilities. Why should he?