Snippet #2701569

Ari followed Jin into the palace, stepping in stride with the taller boy despite having shorter legs. He gave a nod and grunt of greeting to the person who greeted them, and a tip of his recently acquired brown fedora as they passed by Eamon, looking around with a small wave. "We're back," he said drolly, then slipped his hands in his pockets and remained silent as they walked to the Queen, listening as she gave them an abbreviated version of what had been said.

In Ari's case, he listened with increasing incredulity and annoyance, with a side dish of 'oh seriously geez', and although he kept his mouth shut his eyes were burning with a mixture of irritation and barely held back objections that would have no doubt caused him to need a time out in the form of a dungeon cell (which had actually happened during the first few months they had been here). Clearly, he was no fan of the queen, even if he did her bidding.

It was no surprise, really. She might have given them a new chance at life, yes, but it was a life filled with constant fighting and near-death experiences and away from the people they (He) loved, in a completely different universe. Relying on people to help them fix a room was one thing, but expecting half a dozen people who were barely out of their teens to save the world? They had been given life to fight as soldiers in a war that seemed endless, and it pissed Ari off. What kind of person even did that to people?! Human beings weren't fucking tools, for Gods sake!

Even if most people viewed them more as the hero protagonists of an RPG fantasy game instead of tools. Hmph. Annoying bastards.

But still, they were people desperate for the plague on their land to be gone, which made sense on why they wanted to see their 'saviours' as invincible heroes. And those in royalty always had to make the tough decisions, like commanders in war, so Ari couldn't begrudge that about her. At least she was kind of upfront about it. And leaving them all to die would leave a sour taste in Ari's mouth, especially since it meant he'd be leaving the burden onto the other five and making their load even heavier. He couldn't do that.

Didn't mean he had to like it, though.

"Is that all you wanted?" Ari asked brusquely, scowling up at the Queen lounging on her throne. Everyone clearing the caves to see the strength of the Thorvys, saving manpower by sending in six 'heroes' instead of an army of normal people, only just enough time to grab a change of clothes instead of a good long sleep. Dammit, what kind of person could go without eight hours of sleep?! (Ignoring that nearly everyone got at least six hours sleep average). Ari resisted the urge to groan at the memory of his perfect bed and soft, fluffy pillows, instead slouching a little lower and biting back complaints interlaced with a couple of very vulgar swearwords.

Instead, when the queen nodded in affirmative, Ari let out a very heartfelt groan. "Well, if you believe that the army is incompetent enough to deal with the Thorvys, then I will gladly go without sleep for your favor, O great queen." he said civilly, sarcasm evident in every word. He stared hard at her, refusing to back down until she blinked first. "So, any other information about the cave location and thorvys there, amount of soldiers, strategy? Or are we going in blind, just like last time? Relying merely on the fact that we have powers to blow back the Thorvys and nothing else could be a very costly mistake, your majesty. What if the six of us weren't enough?"

It was faint, barely noticeable, but the honorific was said in distaste, as if Ari found the term mildly disturbing to use. He might respect the queen for giving them room and board and doing what she needed for her country (sending in six superstrong people would probably cause a lot less casualties than it would the army, all things considered), but in the end, all the Divo's and Diva's were to her were tools, to be used for her goal to save her land. Once they were of no use, they'd probably be thrown away. He didn't like that.

Human weapons, and nothing more. Best to be prepared when the time comes, then.

Turning away from her and uncaring whether he had crossed the line in saying that (as he had so many times before, only with more curses and bite), Ari headed for the door with a yawn, hand covering his mouth. "I need to pack and see if I can get a nap before we leave, so I'll sit this one out." He said in response to Kohaku's question, shrugging mildly apologetically. Plus Jin was going to be there and Ari would rather not spend more time with him than he absolutely had to. All the egotistical speeches was annoying. "Make sure that Narcissus doesn't drag you guys into trouble!" Like with the goddamn statue from that last village.

And on that cheerful note, Ari left for a hot shower and a new change of clothes. Ah, hot baths, how I've missed tee.

After that, maybe he could talk strategy over with Eamon and the others. Or join them beating things up.