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Faith in the Spirits Arc 1: To Align the Stars


Mercenary on the Winds
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"Kyaa!" Sixteen squeaked and giggled as Aly splashed her, the act seen as more playful despite Aly's annoyance at the situation. "You really are cute sometimes, sis." She stuck her tongue out and relaxed back into the water, watching the confused creation slink towards the wall.

Ingverd had been in a complete zone of reaction when his name was called, making him jump, glancing around in a panic. "Wha, Aly!?" She'd asked him a question, but from... The separating wall, of course. "What is love about...?" He mumbled to himself as he tried to calm down, stepping out of the bath. He reached for a towel and wrapped it tight around his waist just to make sure nothing accidental happened. "Are you serious, right now?" What kind of question was that? He knew how he would answer, but would that be a good one?

"I, ugh... It's... When, you see someone, and just seeing them makes you happier. Just seeing them makes you a little more relaxed. Wanting to spend time with that person; a lot of time. Holding them. Kissing... Going, on dates. Doing so much together. It's like a friendship, but more... More intimate-- Wh-Why are you asking about this, anyway!? This is a lot to suddenly answer..."

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Maybe she should take Nyx up on that offer. She didn't know much about Nyx's past; like many of the others, Natalya was less interested in what the ghosts people were running from were and more that they were good-intentioned people who needed a place to be, but getting to know her better would be a good idea given what's going on here. "If we get a moment, I just might ask you to. For now we can just deal with the rooms," she said to Nyx, looking over to Persica. "How many do you have? Six? I know I'll be rooming with Alvira, and have a pretty good idea of who others might want to go with." Nyx hadn't said anything she wasn't allowed to, after all, it seemed that the innkeeper was aware they were with the Evokers anyway, so no point in getting on her case about that. It was relevant for their sleeping arrangements either way.


Siorel had went off on her own after they'd filled up Ferid's bags, and that was fine by him. If she was to get acquainted with the group that came into town and travel with them, at least he wouldn't have to worry about whether she'd be able to find a place to stay, or work, or whatever. She'd get a night next to his tent again if she wanted that, but after that, they'd go their separate ways. Hmph. Strays like her would be concerning even without a storm in the background. The man shut his eyes and took a swig of his water, a corner of his mouth briefly puckering. Travel supplies being squared away was one thing, but having a meal not out of them for tonight would be for the best, him locking the saddlebags and heading toward the village tavern.

A small bunch of human girls, plus one cat, were entering just as he was getting there, their colorful presentation having him assume they were part of that same group. He could just ask, of course. "Are you with the dragon and others who were at the store?" Siorel might not have spoken with her the most, but a full-blooded dragon was remarkable enough to keep in mind despite her attempted low profile; at least he'd never seen a clouded dragon have all three of horns, wings and a tail.

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Laniva blinked for a moment, before catching Alvira's mumble and glance. Walking up behind Gean, she tapped her on the shoulder, then leaned in to whisper. "Gean, I think you're looking at forty-five for the three of them, not ninety..."

She turned to Luca, giving him a bit of a smile. "That's kind of you, to look out for us like that. These will definitely come in handy... and maybe give her a bit of a break from making ice for us all day."

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Gean blinked for a sec, then her face flushed upon realizing her folly. "O-oh right." She then pulled her coins out of her purse and placed them on the counter. "Well here's 50 just for being so helpful. Thank you again." The thanks she gave trailed off at the end as she picked up the three buckets. She handed over one to Lani and then stepped back behind Vira.

"Well girls, if you want anything else I'll be over here. By the door. Just holler when you're ready to leave." She truly did curse the concept of money. It made her wonder how she managed to buy her things back in Eibar by herself.

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Luca had to stop himself from leaning forward with a concerned look on his face when the seafolk clouded offered three times what was necessary for the buckets. He couldn't stop the confused blinking. Fortunately, her feline companion hadn't quite lost her marbles and corrected her. "...The heat really driving you mad, yeah? You'll have to give me a moment, to get you another bucket with everything." He quickly gathered the materials, and took the took the gold. "If there's anything else you need, I can't say I don't have it if you don't ask, yeah? So do that." 


Persica nodded, and hesitated a moment before she started counting on her fingers, "Eight. There aaaare eight rooms, none of them are occupied at th' moment. Th' rooms are a bit small, so it would probably be best to give ye seven, so they're aren't three to a room. Uhhhhhhhhh... Travelers through these parts are... pretty rare. Don't think we'll be seeing anyone else tonight." Persica took a deep breath, finally coming down from her burst of emotions. Though her ears had perked up, and remained as such, as well as her whiskers still twitching every now and again. "If ye need th' eighth room, then ye can have it too for the evening." She said with a smile on her face. Persica was simply happy to give back just a little to Nyx, and those who were helping out those magical ladies from before. 

They'd stayed here once before, and had helped with a malady that had been magical in origin. They never quite explained what it was--not that Persica would have understood it in the first place--but their expertise helped Sarasin and Liste immensely. 


"What have I told you about entering before knocking, Persica? Especially when we're getting tow--" A tall, dark furred, feline man peered out from one of the doorways. He blinked realizing that who had called was not Persica--rather surprising, Persica was normally here at this time of day--but a human girl that he didn't recognize. In fact, he didn't recognize anyone that was standing in the doorway; three humans, and a feline clouded. The surprise on his face was evident, and his tail whished behind him wildly. "The heck?" He cleared his throat, and walked out from his hiding space. 

"Sorry about that. I thought you were my most frequent patron." The man's manner of speech was relatively refined, and he gave the group a little bow, "Welcome to the Tavern. My name is Blanc, and I run the place--It is my home, after all. It's rare to get travelers, especially ones such as yourselves. Are you looking for something? Food, drink, just a chat?" 

Edited by Mercenary on the Winds
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As Renais entered with the group she noticed a man hail them and mention a dragon. "That rounds down two people I know, so I believe that's a yes." She nodded her head at the man. "We're with the Iron Tigers. I'm assuming some of our group got rooms ahead of time, so I'm not worried about that." Renais was a bit surprised to lead considering how withdrawn she desperately tries to be, but she didn't mind that much. "That being said, I had an odd question. Do you happen to know if someone owns a piano somewhere around here?"

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"I don't need any breaks, Lani! It isn't taxing. At all. I literally do not feel it." Alvira shrugged at her friend's concern, unsure why she thought it was good for her stamina or something. "This'll just be good if we have to split up. I can't put myself in more than one place at a time." They'd managed to purchase things at the proper cost despite Gean's mathematical failure, so that was their quest achieved for the moment. Given that the heat wasn't going to go away until the sun went down, Alvira gave the other two a wry smile and left, assuming they'd follow.

"Alright, gimme one of those." Alvira yoinked a bucket from Gean, opening it and putting her claw inside. It didn't take more than a second for a brick of ice to form inside, Alvira shutting the lid tight and handing it back, hands on her hips. With a satisfied nod, she smiled. "There~ Now you've got cooling on the go and water if it eventually melts. Since I'm still not feeling this heat and you two look like you're about to expire... How about you go find Tasha and the inn, get your rooms, and relax for a bit? We've got until evening for that eccentric lizard's show, right?" They were still going, of course. Even if Alvira wasn't quite so enthused to acquire another weirdo, they told her they'd bring the boss by. She wasn't about to let the Iron Tigers become Iron Liars.

"I'll keep walking about town and see if I can find anything else neat to pick up for anyone."

 

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Miria was taken aback for a moment, hearing an immediate voice sounding seemingly annoyed. She was ready to apologize and leave, but then the person peered out of the door. Then, he came out and introduced himself. With a sigh of relief, Miria walked forward some to meet this new individual. Quickly, she returned to her big, happy smile.

"H-Hello Mister Blanc. I'm Miria," she replied, hands cuffed together under her poncho. "We um, just came into town, and my friends and I were just... observing the town while we're here. We're um..." Did anyone else wanna eat? Miria thought before making her decision. "You know what? All three works, well, for me~" Was her choice. If everyone else wanted to do her observing, she'd give the individual a new customer. A hungry one too.

"Uhhh... Where is it okay to sit?"

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Well, Nyx certainly wasn’t complaining about the newfound arrangements. She did wonder who the lucky one with their own room would be - she’d have assumed Ingy, but then the big lad’d have to room with one of the ladies, and she figured he wouldn’t be super big on the idea. Maybe she was just focusing more on that than she was the fact that she’d just told Nattie she was gonna open up about her past. Oops.

”Hopefully seven’ll be fine. S’not like we don’t got enough people ‘ere that’d pair off okay, right Nattie?” Nyx may have just been being optimistic, but not by much. She herself had a couple ideas for groupings, that she was sure Nattie would agree with. “Long as we ain’t pickin’ up anyone else ‘ere, that is.”


Tanya hadn’t expected to be dragged into a tavern by Renais of all people today, but the little healer was constantly showing that she was full of surprises. Miria too, considering the ease in which she’d gotten comfortable, even grabbing a table already. She let out a puff of air, almost for nothing, and went to sit with Miria.

”I’m mostly just along for the ride, but I’ll take some food while we’re at it. Wouldn’t wanna waste the trip in case we can’t find what we’re looking for, after all.” Tanya called out, adjusting herself to make sure her tail wasn’t getting caught. “We’d figured that the best place in town to find a piano for the little one over there would be at the tavern. You never know, right?”

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Her group had arrived at a tavern, and while Miria and Tanya had already made their way inside, Syndra and Renais were still outside, stopped by a knight, who had asked them about a dragon he'd seen earlier. "You've met Alvira? I hope she wasn't any trouble. I remember last time I was with her she freaked out a little and needed calming down." Syndra noticed the knight's cape had an insignia on it but wasn't sure who it belonged to. "That crest... are you one of..." Syndra started snapping her fingers trying to recall the Lord in charge of Liste. "I'm usually better with this sort of thing, Sarasin! That was his name! Are you one of his knights by chance?"

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"Why wouldn't I be serious?" She asked with a tilt of her head, not that Ingverd could see it. At least he continued on to answer the question without further prodding. The first half sounded exactly like what Sixteen had described love as, but the latter half actually yielded results even he slipped in a question of his own. "Talking about love with Sixteen. She said to ask you since we only know about familial love. But, what is kissing and going on dates?" Alriana had formed another tail seat now that an actual conversation was happening. "And why is it a lot to answer? It's just love we're talking about."

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"I--" You damned lizard, Sixteen, you, you! Ingverd planted his face in his hands and sighed, grumbling hard. "Kissing is... When, t-two people that really, like each other... Ugh. Press their lips together, it's, an expression of love. Why am I doing this...?" He sighed hard, resting his back against the separating wall. "Dating is just, two people spending time with each other. Going out to places together. Get something to eat, see a show, visit a place. It's, just meant to be special because it's the two of you... Is, is that all you wanted to ask?" He could feel his face getting warm, he didn't expect to be answering all of this directly to Aly.

"Wow, you sure know a lot!" Sixteen had gotten too curious, following after Aly and sitting next to the wall. "Do you go on a lot of dates Mister Ingverd?"

"No. I don't. I just, this is pretty common knowledge..."

 

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"Why pressing lips together an expression of love? Sounds weird." Though the lizard didn't have to knowledge to know it, that had probably come off as harsher than she intended. "But what makes it dating? Because it's more intimate? How do you know when something is a date or spending time with a friend?" Though her questions were fueled by her own natural curiosity, hearing Ingverd squirm from the other side of the wall certainly added to how willing she was to ask him questions. "Hmm, more questions... Sixteen said I should ask you more things, so I will. Do you think about me a lot? She says you probably do."

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Sixteen started to giggle and Ingverd could hear it, a scowl and a smile forming on his face. This damn snake! "..." He sighed, shutting his eyes and bonking his head back against the wall. "Yeah. I do. I think about you at least once a day." A further grumble left him, sighing. He'd been sighing a lot. It was hard to hold onto his breath and answer these properly. "Sounds weird, huh... Typically, someone asks the other person out on a date. If the intent isn't clear, then it's not clear that it's a date. Wouldn't go assuming it was unless they popped the question... Are, are you satisfied, yet? Should probably get back into the water so long as we're here."

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Alriana fell silent as Ingverd answered her first question. Not gobsmacked by a sudden realization, but thinking about everything the not really half-elf and her sister had said. Sixteen thinks Ingverd likes me, that's why he says those weird things. He only says weird things when we're alone, not counting this time... And he thinks about me a lot, by his own admission. Why is he thinking about me so much? I don't think about him a lot... Is it because he wants to spend time with me? If that's true does he want to do more? "Do you want to date me Ingverd? Is that why you say weird things all the time?"

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"... Yeah." That's out there, then. He'd been hoping to say all this in a better place, but it wasn't like he could have brought himself to lie. Any denial would have made it sound like he didn't like her, or feel these things, and he didn't want to suffer that level of misconception. Having to try and explain his words away when they were alone later would've been a herculean task; best to just be honest and survive whatever came after. He couldn't bring himself to say more, though. His face was burning up. He bit his lip and walked away from the wall, sinking into the cold water again, towel and all. Just gonna disappear for a little bit...

"Wh-Whoa..." Sixteen was surprised that he'd answered so blatantly, blushing a little herself and peeking up at Alriana's face. She heard the sound of water on the other side, realizing he'd walked away at this point. "Th-That, sure was a lot of knowledge, h-huh?"

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"Why?" Came her forever curious response to Ingverd's admission of his feelings for her. She didn't fully grasp the weight of admission she'd forced Ingverd into making, more so having been moving along with the ideas Sixteen had given her and being bolstered by Ingverd's struggling responses. She was yet to truly process everything though, with his walking away, she doubted she'd get an immediate answer to her final question or anymore she'd have later. She was slightly tempted to peak over the wall to catch a glimpse of Ingverd's face given this was a new side to him; however, Grelbiria's teachings of indecency held much more sway over her. She glanced down at Sixteen now that Ingverd was gone, noticing the tint in her cheeks.

"Are you okay Sixteen? Your face is weird." Somewhere along the way it seemed like Sixteen had been affected the same way Ingverd had. Was she not understanding something? Ingverd just wanted to be intimate with her, whatever that entailed. Dates and kissing at the very least, but the only weird one was the latter. She still didn't know why that was what he wanted from her.

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"Thank you Alvira. I think I will head back. I think it's probably best if I head back like you said. Get a bath and talk to Tasha." Gean was still feeling embarrassed by earlier, and the return of heat would do her no favors in make her feel better. Returning back to the inn and focusing on other matters would hopefully solve that.

Turning to their other party member, Gean tried to put on a saving face. "You coming Lani? Or are you gonna keep our life saving dragon company?"

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"I, wh... A-Aly do you really not understand what's... Oh my gosh." Sixteen sighed and flopped onto the bath side floor, staring up at the sky. "My sister really is an idiot, huh...?" Slowly she sat up and stared at Alriana, huffing a little. "Being intimate like he's wanting to is a lot more serious than you seem to understand, Aly. It's not just kissing and dating, okay!? It just starts there. Then he'll wanna hug you. Touch you. In a lot of places!! I've read novels. They go into great detail to explain how this all works..." Sixteen had skipped a step in her understandings, missing most of what love meant, learning quite a bit much about what intimacy stood for. "Are you sure you should be taking this that casually...? My face is weird because I'm blushing. He's got some serious confidence to just admit all that when questioned... Geez... I feel a little bad for pushing you to ask him all that stuff now..."

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"She was no trouble." Simple answer for a simple question, as Ferid liked it, but then came two somewhat more odd questions. "You don't know much about the province, do you. A petty lord like Sarasin wouldn't have his own knight corps. This," he lightly grasped his cape, "is the symbol of the Altair Knights, official military of the Altair Province. That means that while I have nothing against Clouded -- unlike many others -- you'll be careful not to pull any funny business." Letting go, he turned to the pink-haired woman, "And I'm not a local, which means you won't find me useful for things like that. I'm only here to stock up and get a meal."

That path of inquiry over with, he passed the two into where the other two had already gone, taking a seat at another table. "I'll have food with water, and save the chatter."


"Yeah, I can think of that many pairs easy. Probably better if I go around and ask people who they'd want to room with." Natalya thought about it for a moment, stroking her chin. "Actually, we could do both ways," she began, looking to Persica, "I go and ask around, but if people show up here on their own, you can put them down as staying in the same room. Or if they come alone, you ask in my stead, sound okay for you?"

Nyx's mild concern didn't feel too pertinent, but now that attention was called to it, they had had a strange propensity to pick up new people on this trip so far. Cinaed back in Glacies, Tanya in Eibar, and Sixteen not too long ago, their numbers had grown by half, if one was to count Ingverd and the Evokers as well. "We've already picked up a few new people on the way, that's true... I don't know how many more we can afford to pick up, though. I'll always try to make things fit if someone's really in need, but the more people we have, the more it'll strain our supplies. And we'll have to start asking the Evokers if it's even possible at some point."

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"What's that supposed to mean?" Alriana's eyebrow twitched at being called an idiot. Her foot moved to get under and roll her sister back into the water, but she sat up before the lizard could dunk her sister. "Already hugged once... Touch me where? He already touches my head a lot." Alriana's ignorance only made the big deal Sixteen was making this out to be that much more confusing. She hadn't the knowledge to know the commitment attached to being lovers, nor the expectations Ingverd would have going forward. For lack of anything else to base her understanding on, she viewed it like she did familial love: something that just happened and became a normal part of life. "But why do you blush? What does it mean to blush? I still don't understand why you're treating this like a big deal, Sixteen.

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"I..." There was no way she going to be able to properly explain this to her, was there? Aly hadn't been taught enough by Grelbiria, or learned enough on her own. "I've got a book for you to read later. Anyway, for now? He's gonna wanna touch you here," she said, slightly annoyed, pointing at her chest, "and here," she pointed down, between her thighs, but it was likely the idea would be lost on Alriana. She expected her sister to think she'd meant thighs, at which point she would be done trying to explain things. "I'm blushing because it's embarrassing. Talking about feelings and emotions that deeply... Look, go, go talk to him about this. I don't think I can explain this any more than I've already tried. I don't have any first hand experience, so... Some of it might be wrong, anyway." With her frustrations aired and an attempt made, Sixteen slunk back towards the water and slipped into it, floating off on her face for a moment before rolling over and sighing.

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"I know it's not taxing, it's not about that. It's about someone having to guide you everywhere because you can't focus on anything else when you're doing it!" Laniva turned to Gean, huffing a little. "I'll go with her. The town's safe, I'm sure, but we probably should stick to our policy of nobody going off alone, else the Chief might have words for us."

She stretched a bit, mentally preparing to go back out into the heat. One thing was for sure; she was going to sleep fantastically tonight after how much the heat had worn her down. Assuming that she'd be able to fall asleep in the first place, that is...

"Alright. Well, let's be off, then. See you later, Gean."

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Luca waved as the girls left the store. The man went to store the gold, when he froze for a moment. He remembered that he had forgotten to ask why the girls were around. It wasn't overly common for travelers up here in Liste, and certainly not for a group of them. Luca sighed, and then shrugged. He figured that one of the locals would come and tell him at some point why they were around. It would probably be Persica since she and Xanth ran the inn, and Persica always talked about her patrons and what they told her. The knight on the other hand... was intriguing. An Altair Knight that was fine with Clouded. Not entirely uncommon, but those sorts tended to be much further west. He said that he was a messenger so being from closer to Kanalet wasn't a stretch either. It wasn't his place to think about it for too longer. Things to do. 


Blanc nodded at Miria, "Then I'll see what I can do for you." He waved her over to table, before turning back to Syndra speaking with the lone man of the group. The man explained that he was an Altair Knight, holding his cape to reveal the single star on his cape. Blanc couldn't help but scowl before quickly turning neutral as the man walked to a table. "That can be arranged." Altair Knight? Feh. Knight is too good of a word for them. Sarasin fortunately didn't employ the Altair Knights. Given their large clouded population in Liste, they would surely take advantage of them. The Islexians hardly appeared around here anyway, and the town watch was often more than enough for any happenings. The feline clouded moved over to join the young lady that Blanc had ushered over to the table. 

Blanc disappeared into a doorway, and returned with a couple pieces of a paper, placing them in front of the pair and holding onto one more. "Location makes it difficult to supply anything too extravagant, but we specialize in many types of stew. Regretfully, some of our ingredients are behind schedule, so we don't have the ability to make some stew and soups. But everything on that sheet is available and can be made." 

The man's tail swayed behind him waiting for a response. 


Xanth heard the conversation between the two odd monsters, and the man on the other side. His shoulders shook as he silently chuckled as the young man's plight. He wondered a bit about what Persica was up to, but as long as this group was here, he couldn't go anywhere to find out. 


Persica nodded, "I can... ... do that. I'm good at reeeemembering names, and I can write them down for ye." Persica pulled out a piece of paper--seemingly from nowhere--with the names of Natalya, Nyx, and Alvira already on it. Natalya and Alvira's name right next to one another, as well. "Uhhhhh... I suppose that anyone I don't recognize is probably with ye. So if I see them, I'll ask."

Persica reached under the desk, and pulled out 8 keys, and set them on the counter. "Probably won't need th' eighth key, but... ... ." Persica took two keys, and handed them to Tasha and Nyx. "Th' both of ye are here, sooooo, you two can pick the rooms ye prefer. Oh, right." Persica looked expectantly at Nyx, "Is there someone I should look out for in particular for ye to room with, Nyxied?" 

Edited by Mercenary on the Winds
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That was usually a bit of a dangerous question to ask Nyx. Sometimes, though, she had just the right answer for these sorts of things. “Ye, if ye see a big sea lady comin’ in, tha’s Gean. She’ll prob’ly stay wit me.” She replied, fiddling with the room keys. Sure, she still thought Syndra was crazy hot, but after some time on the bumpy road to think, she doubted it would go anywhere. After all, Syndra was some kind of nobility, and Nyx…

Well, that old nickname of hers didn’t count, basically. Nyx did snicker a little as she peered over at the little list that Persica was making, already noting Nattie & Vira together. They really were super obvious about it, weren’t they? “Oi, Nat, ye really got ev’ryone knowin’ bout ye n yer lil’ dragon mate.” She teased, gently nudging against Nattie as she did. 


Tanya’s own tail seemed to be more hassle than help at the moment, but she still studied the menu. After a careful bit of realization, she realized one key thing, that would definitely change the course of this meal. “Honestly, any of these stews work for me. I just wanted a little something before we got settled in.” The feline shrugged, glancing over to Miria. “What’re you getting, lil’ mouse? I might grab the same thing as you.”

She just hoped that wouldn’t come back to bite her in the end. Nah, it’d probably be alright.

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