zg_shadows | Consequences (AKA yet MORE Sulien tat)

Alan Crane's Reach, Eldest Theurge of the Sept of the Fox's Rest, stared at the woman who stood in front of him, blood seeping from four parallel slashes across her collarbone, holding her right arm to her chest. "Not again," he said in horrified disbelief.

"Yeah, I know." The corner of Sulien's mouth quirked in a humourless half-smile. "If you have the Gnosis, I'd appreciate it. If not..." she shrugged, and then closed her eyes and bit her lip against the pain as the jagged ends of the broken bone grated at the movement. "...I'll live."

"Don't be ridiculous." The slashes closed under his touch, the subtle lines of pain at her eyes and mouth easing as they did. He stepped back and ran one hand through his hair, uneasily aware of the way it was starting to thin on top. "I suppose you want me not to tell Robin again?"

"Yes," she answered simply, holding his eyes until he dropped his gaze.

"You can't keep doing this, Sulien," he pointed out, his face serious. "What was it this time? Trying to give Callie orders again?"

She turned her head away, looked out across the moor. "Something like that." She chewed the inside of her cheek as she considered her next statement. "I'll learn."

"You'd better," Alan said with some concern. He opened his mouth to say something else, then reconsidered and shook his head.

Noticing, Sulien shrugged. "Old habits die hard," she not-quite-apologised. And then, with a hint of steel in her voice, "Also, I was right."

Alan winced. "Please try to be a bit more diplomatic?" he asked her, almost pleadingly.

She flashed him a wry, one-sided grin. "I'll try," she promised. "Still Sulien, though."

Yes, that was certainly true, Alan thought as he watched her walk away. Whatever it was that that was now...