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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. )

[ 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. ]

( She's not sure if she's relieved about the subject change or not. Ruby's just very aware that this feels like such a strange, strange conversation for them to be having at a distance, that she should be able to take Adelaide's hand or catch her gaze or do anything other than look out over the strange lonelyness of the Emprise. )

Oh, uh, maybe a couple hours from here. Less if I wolf out, but I want to be able to cart the Arbor Blessing and all along.

Do you-- I should probably let you get back to work, huh?

Can you walk and talk at the same time?

[ She cannot quite give Ruby hours- but she can keep her company for awhile. ]

My eyes need a break and I think, perhaps, I ought to take a little time doing something I enjoy instead of work for a while.

( A bit of a smile sneaks into her tone. )

I think I can handle that.

( There quiet crunch of snow as Ruby stands and stretches her arms over her head, and then she is on the move, crystal in one hand and a knife for taking cuttings in the other, a satchel hanging off her shoulder for the plants and seeds gathered. )

Happy to oblige, Captain. ( a quiet hum. ) So... what is... your favourite flower?

[ It's been...well since the last time she spoke to Ruby on a crystal- but before that quite a while since she was able to sit and speak of nothing in particular. A few months before the Spire fell, truly.

There's the flip and thud of books being shut, the creak of a chair as she settles back with her drink, and a low, throaty hum. ]

Mmm. If I were to choose but one? The Iris.

Irises? I had you figured for a lily kind of lady.

Good choice, though. Much cooler than lilies.

( More intricate. More purple, too. )

Lilies are more often used for funerals in my family- I do not care for them more for what the smell brings to mind more than anything I hold against the flower itself. Irises...we'd grow them in the garden- I say we but we had a gardener.

There were small bunches of them around the fountain where I spent most of my time. When I first taught myself how to sculpt ice? They were the first thing I tried to recreate.

I was thinking that they're elegant and all, but they do kind of have that funeral vibe, huh? And they stain everything. Not your thing at all, actually.

( Light, easy, just a trace of self mockery. )

I was just thinking they'd be an amazing shape for sculptures and stuff. Have you made glass ones, yet?

Lilies or Irises? I have done both.

[ Coloring them- that is the difficult part. In ice it is a question of dye- in glass? She is still taking tentative steps to find a good supplier of colored glass. ]

Irises, but the lilies are impressive, too. Ever done... peonies?

Not recently, no. Is that a request?

No! Just curious. They seen like they'd be tricky, with so many petals and all.

( okay maybe it was a tiny bit a request )

Red peonies, I suppose? Mm. [ Red glass- wherever would she find that? She can ask around. ] It has been some time- and it is quite complicated, the petals but I do enjoy a challenge.

( Sheepish, ) I like the red ones and the pink ones.

( She feels ridiculous. Mock serious, )

Don't tell anyone, it might ruin my cool facade if you tell people I like flowers.

Says the woman that causes flowers to bloom through the snow as she walks.

Not by choice! That's totally different and also out of my control.

It is still somehow incredibly charming.

( a breath of laughter. )

One day you're going to say something like that and I'll be forced to swoon, you know.

Make certain there is a chaise or something chaise shaped for you to swoon on. I am not all that certain I could catch you.

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