Oh, great. She was crying. Always with the crying—honestly, how did Quinnlash get anything done? She was important, right? Important people had tight schedules to keep, and Roaki was certain that if she could see Quinnlash’s, there would be slots dedicated to breakdowns at the top of every hour. 

[i]This[/i] was why people got betrayed. Quinnlash was bleeding and thrashing around in an ocean full of sharks, eventually someone was bound to come along hungry. God, but it had to be an act—especially after today, after what she’d done, killing all those Modir. You couldn’t be that strong [i]and[/i] this weak. 

“[color=ec008c]Well you can’t just do [i]nothing[/i]![/color]” Roaki said, exasperated. She stayed where she was, away from Quinnlash, just in case whatever cry-virus she had was contagious. “[color=ec008c]If he thinks he can get away with it he’ll keep [i]doing[/i] it! It doesn’t matter if you’re strong or not, if people think you’re weak, they’ll treat you like it. So if you’re too much of a [i]weichei[/i] to kill him then you should at least march down there and fuckin’ clock him in the jaw or something! He’s nothing—you’re a [i]pilot[/i].[/color]” 

Deep within Quinn, there was the rare rumbling of agreement with the Helburkan girl. It seemed someone was still riding their bloody high from the battlefield. It didn’t get the chance to settle though, as outside there was the shuttering of the dormitory door, followed by a familiar voice. 

“[color=skyblue]Quinn? You here?[/color]”

Footsteps towards Quinn’s room, then faster footsteps until Dahlia appeared in the doorway of Roaki’s. She seemed panicked, eyes settling first on the curled up, weeping form of her sister, then turning sharply to Roaki. 

“[color=skyblue]What did you do?[/color]”

“[color=ec008c]Oh, yeah, cause normally she’s such a [i]rock[/i].[/color]”

“[color=skyblue]What happened?[/color]”

“[color=ec008c]I don’t fuckin’ know. She’s mad about that snake doctor—I told her she should just kill the prick but I guess she doesn’t wanna.[/color]”

Dahlia stared at her a moment, took a deep breath, and marched in. “[color=skyblue]Okay, I need to talk to her. Alone.[/color]”

“[color=ec008c]Yeah good fuckin’ luck with that. I don’t think she’s gonna—[/color]” Roaki lapsed into stunned silence as Dahlia lifted up by the armpits and carried her out of the room. [i]Momentary[/i] silence. “[color=ec008c][i]PutmethefuckdownyoufuckingassholeIllripyourheartoutofyourfuckingchestwithmyteethdoyouhearmeIlleviscerateyouIwillbreakeveryfingeronyourhandsnoonepicksmethefuckupareyouseriousyouwillbegmeformercyIfuckingswear—[/i][/color]”

She thrashed but Dahlia was stronger than she looked, and held her out far enough that even with half her leg she couldn’t kick back far enough to reach her. She was eventually dumped unceremoniously onto the couch with a surprised yelp, and could only watch as Dahlia strode back to the room and shut the door. 

Inside, Roaki’s threats continued, muffled, before they faded into blissful yet also troubling silence. Dahlia didn’t seem to care, she just came over to the bed and sat down beside Quinn. Arms found their way around her, pulling her in close. Deep breaths, warmth, silent, lingering joy that they were both still alive.

“[color=skyblue]What’s wrong, Quinn?[/color]” came the quiet question, accompanied by a squeeze around her. “[color=skyblue]Talk to me.[/color]”