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[fleurdesel]

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Adelaide

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[fleurdesel]

Mon Loup Rouge, Ah, no. It does not have the same ring to it.

[ Honey wolf it shall remain.

Quietly, gently, she murmurs between sips of wine. ]

I shall always worry when you are away, Red. I get the feeling you do not have many back home that might do the same. Allow me to make up the difference.

[ A beat. ]

And you are quite adorable, in your own way.

[eviscerates]

I guess if that's the burden I have to bear.

( Well, talk about a way to knock the air out of her. Her reply takes a few moments, an in and out of breath, a cycle of thoughts and of muscles firing for the simple action of curling her fingers in toward her palm.

She considers the gloss and shine for a moment longer before she considers what Adelaide just told her and concluding that it'd be exceptionally cheap of her. That it'd be a lie when Adelaide was just open about something so painful. )

I used to. Snow and Charming and everyone. We were a team. And... then it seemed like I slowly became less and less... They had-- there was a lot going on. Important stuff was happening and there was evil to fight and all.

It's just--

I used to be one of the people they counted on. And I guess they got... they got people who were more relevant to what they needed.

( Hook and Regina and Belle and Robin. Others, maybe.
She can't say it doesn't sting. )

But um, there's that whole lone wolf thing I'm working on, so you don't need to worry that much.

( Even if it means a lot. Even if it means a lot that she even thought it.

Annnnd cue embarrassed laughter. )

Now you're just making fun of me.

[fleurdesel]

Wolves, from what I understand of them, do best in a pack. Even one of two.

[ She cannot offer them much, these rifters. She cannot promise them a way home, she cannot give them anything familiar or solid in this world. All she can do is offer her support. Offer an ear. And for those that have earned her regard and trust, for those that she has come to call friends and for which she has come to care?

She can offer small things. Little promises that are easy to keep. Tiny comforts and gestures that feel as though they ought to hold more weight. ]

In their absence, I shall worry for you.

[ Someone must. It might as well be someone that will be able to help after the worry is over. ]

I would never.

[eviscerates]

We are traditionally better with others, but we also aren't traditionally part human, so...

( You know, what a mess.

But she can't say the thought doesn't make her feel a little better, a little less desolate. )

Okay. But I'll worry about you, too, that's the rule on how that works.

( ugh she is scandalised. )

You would. Captain, I'm hurt.

[fleurdesel]

Humans are inherently social creatures, Red.

[ People do better with people. Even if it is only but one other person- they do better with connections. Ruby is only digging this hole in deeper- admitting defeat graciously is the last bastion of hope for her. ]

I think I can accept that.

[ A soft snort of laughter. ]

I am complimenting you, why is this hurtful?

[eviscerates]

I'm pretty sure that's a technicality.

( Red no, Red shhh.
She grins to herself, a half-hearted effort to keep the smile out of her voice.)

Because! I'm definitely not adorable. Calling me adorable when I'm not is just mean. Salt in the wound.

[fleurdesel]

I am a healer, remember? What have I said of healers and technicalities?

[ Ruby ought to know this by now. ]

What are you then, if not adorable, mm?

[eviscerates]

Pretty sure you said they were the worst.

( :D

Huh, a hum. )

Terrible.

[fleurdesel]

I said we thrived on them. It is as though you are deliberately forgetful when it suits you.

[ She says with a laugh. ]

No, no you are not terrible.

[eviscerates]

That's what I said.

( is Adelaide sure about the no terrible thing? Really sure?)

How about... obnoxious? Flighty? Headstrong?

[fleurdesel]

No, no, and no. None of these tings. Well...perhaps the last, but only a little.

[eviscerates]

I'm impressed you didn't crack on "obnoxious."

Maybe we'll have to agree to disagree.

[fleurdesel]

I do not find you to be obnoxious. Exasperating, certainly, but not obnoxious.

[eviscerates]

I'm-- I'm glad you don't find me obnoxious. Must be my dazzling charm.

[fleurdesel]

Your upbeat and effervescent personality, more like.

[eviscerates]

( thank God Adelaide can't see her right now. She's fairly sure her cheeks are flushed even in the cold - or maybe she could blame it on the cold?

Her laugh might be just a shade flustered. )

You... are flattering me.

[fleurdesel]

Don't be ridiculous, LeBlancs do not flatter. We speak the truth as we see it.

[eviscerates]

I must have done a really good job at conning you, then.

[fleurdesel]

We often judge ourselves too harshly and are unable to see what others might find appealing in our company, yes? There has been no con.

[eviscerates]

If you say so.

( not so flippant as it might be. It's Adelaide, so she's listening. Honour and codes and all; it seems like it'd be rude - cruel? - to keep insisting she's insincere.
Wierd as this all is. )

Does that mean you'll stop questioning when I compliment you, too? Or uh, make observations, I guess.

[fleurdesel]

Now that is entirely different. [ She does not quite drawl, but there is a wry drag to her tone that teases at being such. ] But if you wish to make them, I cannot stop you.

[eviscerates]

I respectfully disagree.

( Bright, but tempered by everything they've said today. Robert, wjo she isn't sure she has said enough about in response, but whom she can hardly imagine having words that were powerful enough to convey the required emotions, the brief touch on how lonely Red is, Adelaide's compliments and Ruby's fluster.

Ruby is quiet a moment. )

I know I don't have any code or honour or anything that I'm upholding, the way you do... but when I say things about you they are sincere. I don't know if that's a, uh, silly thing to make a promise over because it's hard to prove or whatever, but as silly as I can be, everything I've said to you on that count has been sincere.

[fleurdesel]

One does not need a code of honor nor framework of obligations in order to be sincere, Red. [ Gently- and is it not strange how she has spared enough time to be this gentle when she quite often lacks the patience for it? ] If anything that makes the sincerity more honest- when it is said and meant freely. I- protest, I know, but that is due to being unaccustomed to hearing such things? But I know you mean them, the things you say.

[eviscerates]

Yeah.

( She gets that, she does, but sometimes after so much time in another world she wonders if she needs to do something, try and do anything, to try and show who she is. 'Keep trying' is the best she's come up with, but it'd be nice if there was so switch she could flip.

Adelaide believes her, though, and Adelaide's faith seems more valuable for how carefully she seems to guard everything about herself. )

I, uh. ( I what?

She's not sure what she meant to say. )

I'm glad you know.

( The silence feel weighted, somehow, important, and Ruby's less sure what to do with it. )

[fleurdesel]

[ She allows Ruby her time to absorb this- allows herself a moment of silence to regain her composure. As often as they meet with Ruby wounded or ill they also seem to have these strange, winding conversations that range from the sincere to the absurd to the heartbreaking.

Or at the very least she feels her heart break for Ruby on occasion.

Maker only knows if the sentiment is returned. ]

How far are you from camp?

[ Subject change for the win. ]