Faussin had found himself staring at Clair's self-inflicted wounds before she left, then looked down at his arms, which were most definitely bleeding now.
Oh god, he realized, feeling a thousand weights stack upon his chest. I'm sympathetic towards Clair because she just reminds me of myself.
Somewhat terrified by this revelation, he scratched at his arms with even more ferocity, trying to put on his regular face. He watched Oni psych up Faqir with a smile that was, at first, forced. But as he saw the light return to Faqir's eyes, he felt the smile become more genuine, if not any less nervous.
Ysabel covered her ears, but laughed lightheartedly, watching as Graham began to shout about all of the things that frustrated him (which was mostly him ranting about treasure), as per Oni's command.
Mercy seemed numb, which was to be expected, but at least she was there instead of sitting alone in her room.
At this moment, Lottie and Amelia reentered the room, panting. They held several flowers in their hands, all of varying colors and sizes.
They brought flowers for the portraits, Faussin realized almost immediately, watching as they looked around, trying to figure out what had happened while they were gone.
After a moment, what Faussin assumed was Lottie shrugged, grinning. "I DON'T KNOW WHY WE'RE SHOUTING BUT THAT'S SOMETHING I'M FAIRLY GOOD AT! ALSO! I BROUGHT THESE FLOWERS FOR THE PORTRAITS BECAUSE I THOUGHT THEY'D MAKE A NICE TOUCH! WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? THINK THISTLE LOOK GOOD? HAHA! JOKES!"
Almost like magic, Vivara began to chuckle, a genuine smile forming on the girl's lips. She held a hand up to her face almost as though to hide the smile, but Graham stopped her before she could force it back down.
"VIV!" He bellowed, breathless from shouting. "You're smiling! Guys, look! The stone-cold librarian is smiling!"
Finnian stared. "Holy crap, you're right!"
Faussin grinned.
Vivara, clearly taken off-guard, began to chuckle more. She looked away, but her forced down chuckles quickly developed into real laughter, as finally, she seemed to give up on hiding it. "You're all too silly for your own good, you know that?"
"Leaf us to our silliness!" Lottie demanded lightheartedly. "Silliness makes the world a better place!"