Welcome to Gaia! ::

Listening closely, Ilmare nodded slowly. She was certain that she didn't want to deal with anyone who might turn scary on her. Bu that there was a Princess who just... sort of showed up once someone was really ready. Now that sounded perfect.

The knight's question caught her off guard, though. "What? Do you mean am I really going to go through with it or am I really ready? Because the answers to those are yes, I really think I will. But I know I'm not ready ready yet. There are things I need to take care of first to make sure other people stay as safe as I can make 'em."

She wasn't terribly worried about family since everyone she cared about had already passed on. No, she wanted to make sure that the club pals and photography clients didn't get caught in any kind of crossfire. And well, she did like her little trinkets and souvenirs. She wanted to move those somewhere safer and maybe get her banking stuff sorted.

"Yeah, I still have things I need to do, but none of those things involve being a backstabbing cow. Just in case you were worried."

Rejam

Locked in her own thoughts, Ilmare took notice when the knight smiled, but otherwise was content to leave him to how own thoughts as well. But that simple I wasn’t turned something loose inside and she felt her eyes welling up to the point where tears actually trickled down her cheeks. Maybe it was just that he didn’t seem to immediately expect the worst from her. Or maybe she was just very tired of trying to hide from this particular problem. Either way, the quiet tears had released something and she felt the muscles through her neck and shoulders relax.

Just a smidge, but it was something.

Laughing self-consciously, Ilmare smudged the back of her hand across her eyes, roughly dashing tears away. Then, she looked up at the sky. Somewhere, she thought, up there is my place. It was comforting to think about. Eyes still turned upwards, she said, softly, “I’m going to get up there someday soon. It’s a little scary but also kind of exhilarating to think about.”

Only then did she sigh, look down and shoot a glance at the knight. “Next time I see you, I think I’m going to have to bring you a nice fruit basket. Or maybe a box of cigarettes. Thank you.”

That last was said simply, with little to no emphasis on either word. And yet, there was a sense of gratitude that weighed down the air.

A half smile played about Ilmare’s lips as the knight gave her ideas for a proper Thank You gift. Still, it was useful information as she absolutely intended to find him again one day, after…

Well. After things were sorted.

Giving him a playful salute and nod, she said, “Got it. Good thing I ******** excel at friendly hellos. Or I do when I’m not fretting myself into a knot anyway.”

Waving a little, Ilmare turned and made sure to head off into the night, but in a different direction than the one the knight had appeared from. Not because she didn’t trust him, but more to show him that she wasn’t going to try anything sneaky. She heard his ‘Good luck’ and flashed him a quick thumbs up to show she’d heard.

And then, she veered into a patch of shadow, powering down once she couldn’t feel any auras around her. She had things to do.