[Even Hayame does not know if she intended to stab that chopstick through his hand or if it was supposed to be just a threat nearby. No matter which one, it had been ruined by the hole where her left eye had been, made into either a miss or mistakenly too close. Later, she will waste several minutes attempting to figure it out, but even then... She doesn't know. Her temper has been on a hair trigger for months, she hasn't felt in control of herself since she woke up in Horos, a world she didn't belong to and didn't want to survive in, and now for it to happen again... any semblance of footing or understanding is just gone. Just gone again, and she's so gods damned tired and angry (and hurt, and lonely, and-)
She glares back at him when his voice dips low, when his eyes grow colder, prepared to shove the seaweed even more aggressively and obviously at him if he was going to act that way, but he stands- And she stands, immediately, because she's a warrior at heart and he's still a potential enemy in her eyes, she isn't about to be caught of guard by anything.
- But she is caught off guard by what he says.
In her mind, her meaning was clear, because she... She knew what she meant, and every human she'd ever talked to for two decades of life hadn't needed her to explain it. Humans knew what jinba were, they were the ones who'd made them into it, and any human should know why a jinba would take offense at the insinuation of any "romantic" relationship between their races, because-]
No-
[She responds to "right?" before she even finishes thinking, that familiar rage over being misunderstand swelling up in an instant. The only affection she knew of humans to jinba was that of an owner with a prized possession, the only sex she knew of was use, sick and filthy and all about power, about forcing pathetic Armless to lift their tails for the more perverse or making them service potential buyers with their more human-like mouths. She'd seen it, every year on Exhibition Day before the auctions. She knew it might be her own fate, if she wasn't perfect, loyal, strong, obedient-
It had nothing to do with thinking she was too good for anyone. It had nothing to do with thinking it would be an honor for someone to be with her. It had-]
Why do all of you insist on misunderstanding every damned word I-
[The snarl of a protest tears out of her, her hand slams onto the table and nearly disrupts a dish, but he's already announced his intent and turned away, and she will not- She refuses to look like some pathetic woman calling out after a man leaving her behind. To apologize, when he was the one who didn't understand and had twisted what she'd said... ?]
cw: sa, slavery 1/2
She glares back at him when his voice dips low, when his eyes grow colder, prepared to shove the seaweed even more aggressively and obviously at him if he was going to act that way, but he stands- And she stands, immediately, because she's a warrior at heart and he's still a potential enemy in her eyes, she isn't about to be caught of guard by anything.
- But she is caught off guard by what he says.
In her mind, her meaning was clear, because she... She knew what she meant, and every human she'd ever talked to for two decades of life hadn't needed her to explain it. Humans knew what jinba were, they were the ones who'd made them into it, and any human should know why a jinba would take offense at the insinuation of any "romantic" relationship between their races, because-]
No-
[She responds to "right?" before she even finishes thinking, that familiar rage over being misunderstand swelling up in an instant. The only affection she knew of humans to jinba was that of an owner with a prized possession, the only sex she knew of was use, sick and filthy and all about power, about forcing pathetic Armless to lift their tails for the more perverse or making them service potential buyers with their more human-like mouths. She'd seen it, every year on Exhibition Day before the auctions. She knew it might be her own fate, if she wasn't perfect, loyal, strong, obedient-
It had nothing to do with thinking she was too good for anyone. It had nothing to do with thinking it would be an honor for someone to be with her. It had-]
Why do all of you insist on misunderstanding every damned word I-
[The snarl of a protest tears out of her, her hand slams onto the table and nearly disrupts a dish, but he's already announced his intent and turned away, and she will not- She refuses to look like some pathetic woman calling out after a man leaving her behind. To apologize, when he was the one who didn't understand and had twisted what she'd said... ?]