[color=f49ac2]“Hey! Wait!”[/color] Racing ahead of the Wisp again Oberon blocked off Mourningstar’s path, holding both hands up in front of him as if to ward her back towards the bonfire. [color=f49ac2]“Where is this coming from?”[/color]

Oberon was frankly kind of stunned at everything he had just heard. When he had stopped Mourningstar and asked her where she was going he had honestly expected another vaguely thought out plan delivered in a grandiose manner; a plan to solo scout out the rest of the cave or to use the remaining fire-infused crystals to cause a cave-in over the Goblin encampment. Oberon had stepped in, as he normally did, to try and temper her somewhat and keep her from doing something stupid. He hadn’t expected the Wisp to bombard him the way she did and he certainly didn’t expect the sudden collapse of the Wisp’s persona that came next.

As she slunk past him, somehow managing to have a hangdog expression despite not having a face, limbs or even a torso, he was left feeling terrible about himself. He suddenly regretted every exasperated eye roll or snide comment he’d thought about her as he tried to deal with her earlier, even though he felt they had been earned at the time. He’d thought she was just egotistical, naïve and far too keen for her own good. He’d even briefly considered the idea that she was insane, cracked under the pressure of their situation. Instead it seemed like the ‘Mourningstar’ character was just that, a front, an affectation, and even though that had its own implications Oberon suddenly found himself confronted by the hurt individual underneath that he didn’t even know existed.

[color=f49ac2]“You’re not useless and you’re not a burden. It definitely wouldn’t be a win for me if you got yourself killed, don’t even joke about that. We’ve all died once already, I’m not looking to let that happen again.”[/color] Letting his arms drop to his sides Oberon adopted a slumped posture. He wasn’t sure what to do, other than apologise; even that was hard since up until this moment he wasn’t even aware that he was doing anything wrong.

[color=f49ac2]“I’m sorry if you feel like we’ve been ignoring you. There’s been a lot going on and I got caught up in an idea I had; it’s a bad habit of mine. Then the Slime exploded for some reason and then I had to heal that Dire Rat; I haven’t even seen you since you found the stash of crystals.”[/color] Making excuses probably wasn’t the best way to go about this, but it was all true; he hadn’t been ignoring Mourningstar, not intentionally at least, and he hadn’t refused to speak to her at any point. Although it was entirely possible she had tried to get his attention while he had been playing with magic and been ignored in turn.

[color=f49ac2]“You never exactly made it seem like you wanted to be friends anyway; you just bossed everyone around and tried to seem scary and important.”[/color] Pushing the blame onto Mourningstar was the wrong approach and luckily even Oberon knew this and was able to stop himself before he went too much further. [color=f49ac2]“You’re just…. I think you’re trying too hard. Trying to be the boss, the scary voice, all this stuff about being the Demon King’s General; it’s too much. You don’t need to do any of that; I know it sounds trite by just be yourself, like you are now. Just… less suicidal.”[/color]

Digbie called out to them and Oberon looked over Mourningstar’s head to see the Goblin approaching them while dragging a bag along the ground. [color=f49ac2]“By the looks of it I’m not the only one who wants you to stay.”[/color]

[@floodtalon][@Gardevoiran]