"It sounds like you come from a lot of money. Are you rich?"

Meep quietly watches Jill and Allynna's conversation, her head tilting slightly back and forth as they talk and reply, almost like she is watching a tennis match. After a moment, she snaps to attention at the mention of money. She listens curiously as she sips her tea. 

Now you've put your foot in it.

Shush. I'll keep it vague.

Allynna studies her hands. "My guardians are fairly well-off, so I spend a lot of time in the Baldurian court," she explains carefully. "But they don't really share it with me, so I wouldn't exactly call myself rich. They're...cautious with where they put their funds."

By which you mean they try to keep you completely financially dependent upon them.

Not this again, Gargauth. It's not something I can do anything about.

The Nightingale could arrange for him to fall off a roof.

No. Honestly, I know you're just saying this because of how you feel about the way they treat me, but sometimes you get...scary like this.

Jill tilts her head a little bit, as she is obviously unfamiliar about how nobility functions. "So....are you poor? And why do you have guardians? You look like you're old enough to watch over yourself. I am younger than you and I am old enough to look out for myself. And I am just as good as you when it comes to swordsmanship, so don't say that I'm not."  She said, pointing at Amelia, who she knew would say something.

"I have to go through my guardians if I want to use their funds for something," Allynna explains. "And...well...my age is somewhat complicated." She blushes faintly. "I'm twenty five, and by human years, that's fully mature, but most noble families have their children and wards stay with the family until they're married. To further complicate things, most elves aren't considered mature until they reach their first century, but since my guardians are human, I am closer to the human level of maturity at age twenty five."

Hmm, I wonder how old Natasha is. She didn't look to be too much older than Misha and she certainly didn't act like it. But she was also orphaned from an early age, so she had to mature quickly at any rate. Still, I should ask that in the next letter I send her. "If it does not offend you, could you tell me how you came to be with human guardians?"

"My parents died when I was young-accident when the roof of one of their music halls caved in-and I was adopted by a family they'd had dealings with before." Allynna shrugs.

Adopted, stolen, acquired...all the same thing in the end, I suppose.

Can you stop making that kind of comments please? Just for this one conversation.

...Sorry. Just...you deserve better than how they treat you.

"Sorry to hear about your parents dying. But still, at least you had someone to adopt you and take you in. When my parents died, I was on my own and now I'm not a child anymore, so it's a bit late for the whole adoption thing."

Allynna shrugs, face impassive. "I've been told quite a bit how lucky I was to have people who would take me in," she says evenly.

"Would you rather have been left in an orphanage? Or to, how you say, your own devices?" She asks curiously.

"Possibly." Allynna shrugs. "There's really no way to know what would have been different, or how I would've adapted to that. I was infant though, so it's unlikely I would've survived on my own."

You would've been fine. Well, maybe not at first. But if you got through the first couple years, you'd have been fine.

Probably never would've met you, though. Never would've had to ask you for help, never would've been at that ball.

...I would've found you. There was a promise to the words that made Allynna wonder how he could be so certain.

"You would've been a scared and lonely child trying to survive in a world that largely does not care for orphans. I'm speaking from my own experiences, of course. I had to take care of myself, which is why I'm so good with this." Jill moves a hand to the longsword at her side. "I assure you, being an orphan is not something to be desired."

Allynna shrugs. "I'm still an orphan," she points out calmly. "Just in a different place. Regardless, I have no way of knowing if I would prefer my current life or the one you describe. You're proof that it's possible to come out of that life someone anyone would be proud to know." She gives Jill a brief smile. "As I said, it's difficult to know how it all would have turned out."

This stupid, ungrateful little pute*. She should've been the one running across the continent while I lived at court. "This is how it would've turned out." Jill pulls down both of her sleeves, revealing scars all along her forearms. "This is what you get when you have to survive on your own. You get hurt, you fight, you kill things in order to prevent yourself from getting killed. And you do this because nobody in the world is willing to do it for you. This is my life. It is not some journey that made me into a person that you'd be "proud to know" and it isn't some putain de jeu!**" Jill is very clearly starting to  get upset at this young woman who thinks that what happened to her is anything short of horrible. 

*-*****

**-******* game

“Jill.” Amelia’s voice is stern when the teenagers name comes out of her mouth, straightening herself from her usual lax sitting position. She had been dividing her attention between Corrin and Nok Nok’s interaction with Allynna and Jill’s conversation, and it was clear that the blood hunter got increasingly upset at the others words.

Although the scars brought a slight frown to the blonde’s face (she would have to talk to her about them later), but she still kept her face serious when she spoke to the other. “I understand the pain you’ve gone through, Jill, but calm down.” She passes Allynna a glance. “Some people are just luckier than others, but you don’t need to lash out at them for it. Who knows how life would have been for her if she hadn’t been fortunate?” She shakes her head. “For someone who wants to be seen as an adult, you still have a mind of a child.”

Allynna's eyes are cool and calm, showing no evidence of the emotions roiling inside her.

Deep breaths, 'Lynna. She might be making assumptions about your life too, but that's no reason to say something you regret. Use your practice.

Damn right she's making assumptions. I never tried to claim my life was harder than hers, or that she had it easy, there's no reason for her to lash out like that.

Allynna regards Jill levelly, showing neither surprise nor horror at the scars along Jill's forearm. "I apologize if I came off spoiled, I did not intend to minimize your life or experiences," she says evenly. "I am perfectly aware of what happens to orphans alone in the world who aren't taken in by someone. And while you may think that I have lived an easy or comfortable life, I would ask that you refrain from assuming I am ignorant of loss or pain myself." She folds her hands carefully, making sure there is no trace of shaking in them. "This is not a competition as to who has had the most difficult life. I apologize again if it seemed I was making assumption myself."

Jill feels shame as the older woman scolds her for lashing out at Allynna. She takes a few breaths to calm down before speaking again. "I am sorry for ignoring any hardships that you may have endured and turning this into a contest. I did not mean to attack you. I simply wished to show you what it was actually like for me, growing up alone. I would not wish this on anyone, least of all someone who didn't even know their parents before they lost them. I hope that you can forgive me for this outburst." Jill pulls her sleeves back up and just stared at the table, too ashamed to look at anyone else. This is why they think I'm a child.

Allynna shakes her head. "No need to apologize. Your emotions are high on this subject for a completely understandable and logical reason, I overstepped."

I hope you learned something from this.

Yes. I think Jill would like the Nightingale a lot better than she does Allynna.

"Thank you. I have been without for so long that I thought that everything would be easy for you without actually getting to know you, just because you grew up in a big city and had rich guardians. I suppose that I am fairly childish in that sense."

Allynna shrugs. "It was a fairly logical assumption. Most in my situation do essentially have most things handed to them on a plate, my guardians are just...different. And I at least have someone who can help me navigate that environment. Many are less lucky in allies to help them through difficult situations."

Why 'Lynna, you're making me blush.

Well, if you won't show up in person to me, I'll have to settle for talking about you behind your back.

Soon.