Rock Biter (open)

[Mathew Amtrum]

"What point is there to deny it? If there is nothing fierce in me, having people think me dangerous and powerful is advantageous and if it is true, to deny it is to deny my nature."

[Bailey Oleander]

"True. And that fierceness is appreciated when it is on your side. But we have others like that are fierce. You're..." She shook her head, studying him carefully and not backing away.

"It's something I can't quite put my finger on. I'd say predatory, but that's not quite it, either. But you feel different."

[Mathew Amtrum]

"Perhaps I am simply a figment of your imagination."

He'd give her a coy wink.

[Bailey Oleander]

"Hardly." She rolled her eyes, neck straining from looking up that high as he continued not to move, as well. He was making fun of her again, he had to be. There was no way he was just randomly cracking a joke at her.

"I'm pretty sure there are others who would like the dark and mysterious type with a dash of danger. They'd be more than happy to imagine you."

[Mathew Amtrum]

"They can imagine what they want. I don't care who thinks I am their type, I'm not looking."

He brushed it off as if she had been mooning over him.

[Bailey Oleander]

"I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that." She ignored the gesture and its implication. It wasn't worth taking the bait. She'd gone through that more than enough when sh was younger.

"Point is, there's something about you that doesn't match up, and I doubt I'm the only one to notice. It's a potential threat, or like a cat that knows it has all the time it wants to pounce the mouse it cornered, or play with it." She stopped. That was a little more accurate, but still not it. Why couldn't she put it into words?

"There's also the fact that you took lives without remorse, from what I can tell. I understand that, as a soldier, it's not a luxury, that you have a job to do." She'd dealt with that mindset since coming here. "It's the lack of...of anything for it that is unsettling."

[Mathew Amtrum]

"When you kill as much as I do, it stops being a notable experience."

[Bailey Oleander]

Bailey blinked and crossed an arm over her stomach, taken aback by the simple statement. It was difficult to think of how much that must be to make him who he was today, to do what he had done and keep looking forward without regret.

She didn't know what to say.

[Mathew Amtrum]

"I know what you must think. I grew up in monstrous times, times like that breed monsters. The difference is I dreamed of a time that was not monstrous. You do not have to do those things as long as me and my kind are here to do them for you."

He brought a hand up to take through his hair.

"Such things are needed less and less these years."

[Bailey Oleander]

An apology danced at the tip of Bailey's tongue as the weight of the explanation continued to weigh on her. Her arm slid back down to her side in the following moment of silence. It was not something she had considered before, and regardless of what she thought of him, he was doing what she had to while she raged and yelled. Did she agree with what happened? Absolutely not, and her resolve to find another way rekindled at his words, but she could appreciate what lay behind the words.

"Thank you."

[Mathew Amtrum]

Being thanked was not something he was expecting. His features clouded over for a moment as he decided if she was being genuine or sarcastic before settling on the former. His response was to laugh, a hearty genuine laugh.

"Forgive me, it's not something I am used to being thanked for."

Hated and lectured normally. Or avoided.

[Bailey Oleander]

She was certain he was laughing at her, mocking her, just like he had before Bailey's lips pressed together in a tight line before it dawned on her that he was laughing, actually laughing. A full sounds that locked any sarcasm or bitterness. It was not what she expected, either.

"Yes, well." she felt her cheeks flushing anyway, as though she had somehow fumbled her own words. She tried not to huff. "Don't get me wrong, I still don't agree with it, but I can understand the idea." She shook her head, the flush fading as she quieted. "We both know I wouldn't have been able to do it. Whoever else might have the trigger could know, and we could have been destroyed."

[Mathew Amtrum]

"Then I believe that is all we need to put the situation behind us."

He didn't need her to agree with him, nor did he need her to like him. But she accepted the reality of the situation. That was enough.

[Bailey Oleander]

And just like that, it was dismissed. Just like with everyone else. Even Rhona, her closest friend here, believed she needed to move on and stop blaming herself. But she'd been there at the end, when the struggle was already underway, nameless faces and bodies, an enemy and a target. Something they could forget, something she accepted as readily as everyone else seemed to. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, looking up at him again. She would deal with this more later.

"Alright then. You mentioned you had things you could teach me. Would you be willing to?" She still needed to grow stronger. Strong enough to help the people she meant to, to protect Cabal the next time someone tried to attack it. To be able to not hear the word "weak" being applied to her still. How could she help anyone if she was still that weak?

[Mathew Amtrum]

"I'm unsure if it would be worth my time."

He'd said it before, but he wasn't a teacher. He had his own way of doing things and his own expectations. So far he hasn't been overly thrilled with what he's seen in this little Academy that the Lightning and Storm Dragon had decided to play house in.