define('WP_CACHE', true); {"id":289,"date":"2014-03-07T03:00:56","date_gmt":"2014-03-07T11:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossed-paths.com\/logs\/?p=289"},"modified":"2014-01-29T23:15:51","modified_gmt":"2014-01-30T07:15:51","slug":"chapter-37-harsher-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossed-paths.com\/logs\/archives\/289","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 37: Harsher Words"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 37: Harsher Words<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

In Which Inanimate Objects Are Not To Blame.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Yazeth: Jozra follows and dumps her spare set of clothing on one of the counters. She sits on the edge of one of the beds with a sigh.<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: He rummages through his bag and pulls out a small tube and sits behind the ferret. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Here, take off your shirt so I can get this stuff on.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Yazeth: The ferret does as asked.<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: He smears a bit on his paws and proceeds to rub it gently onto the ferret’s back.<\/p>\n

Yazeth: The ferret sighs in contentment as the balm eases the bruising. She stiffens and yelps slightly, however, when Soquan’s paw digs a bit too hard at a tender spot.<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: He moves his paw to a different place, continuing to rub on the balm.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sorry ’bout that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Yazeth: She smiles slightly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s alright, I didn’t realize that spot was so tender.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods and continues working at her back. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Okay.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Yazeth: The ferret winces again. She also didn’t realize that she had gotten such a drubbing from the otter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s staff.<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: He mutters another apology and continues again, adding a bit more balm onto his paws.<\/p>\n

Yazeth:\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ahh…\u00c2\u00a0 That feels good.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She grimaces a moment though. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Just… not so hard on those ribs there.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods and he’s noticeably more gentle with her ribs. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sorry, it’s hard for me to figure out where you’re overly bruised.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He grins at her playfully. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Besides, what are you going to do if I don’t ease up? Throw one of your knives at me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Yazeth: The ferret stiffens. Tired and frustrated, she misinterprets Soquan’s tone. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Still harping on that I see.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: The otter falls silent and he continues to rub on the balm, digging his thumb harder into a sore spot than he meant to.<\/p>\n

Yazeth: Jozra yelps sharply, springing off of the bed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be like THAT about it!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: He gives a low growl and stands, turning her around to face him. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I’m not TRYING to be ANYTHING about it. I’m sorry about hurting you like that, do you think I’d intentionally cause you pain?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Yazeth: The ferret snarls. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I TOLD you to watch that area! Twice!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: He growls again, gripping her arm tightly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You think this is easy for me? What do you expect me to do, just suddenly be able to see just so I can be gentler with your back?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Yazeth: Jozra growls and jerks her arm away. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Seems you were able to ‘see’ well enough to be rough with my back!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan snarls and bares his teeth in response to her comment and strides past her, grabbing the room key. He then walks out the door and slams it behind himself, leaving Jozra in frosty silence.<\/p>\n

Yazeth: Jozra glares at the shut door for a while before turning and kicking one of the chairs. The inanimate object sustains no damage but the knuckle on one of the ferret’s toes cracks audibly and she swears quite colorfully.<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: He storms into the common room and moodily slumps into a chair by the fire.<\/p>\n

Yazeth: After glaring balefully around the room at anything that could possibly offend her – the door, the chair, where she and Soquan had been sitting, the bed in general, the forgotten jar of bruise balms and, surprisingly, her long knife – she moves to her pack and begins repacking in preparation for an early start in the morning. Her movements are sharp and jerky causing her to fold and refold her spare set of clothing several times. As she shoves the clothing in her bag, she happens upon a small box…<\/p>\n

Arrin Woodgreen: He leans forward in his seat and rests his head in his paws, trying to calm himself down.<\/p>\n

Yazeth: The ferret knows exactly what’s in the box but she stares at it for a while anyway. She sets it down without opening it. Some Scorpion SHE turned out to be. After a moment she turns to the food provisions and divides them up into what she thinks are equal portions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 37: Harsher Words In Which Inanimate Objects Are Not To Blame. \u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d Yazeth: Jozra follows and dumps her spare set of clothing on one of the counters. She sits on the edge of one of the beds with a sigh. Arrin Woodgreen: He rummages through his bag and pulls out a small tube and … <\/p>\n