[ The pain is easier to endure when she's biting the inside of her cheek and swallowing down the grunt she wants to release, refusing to show any vulnerability in case she's right– in case she'll have to carve out something larger, whether it be her toe or this man's tongue.

Once the sting starts to ebb, she begrudgingly takes the offered advice and tears a strip off the bottom of her uniform so she can tie it around the nail bed until she can get somewhere to wash it more properly. Her boot is slid back on in time to catch Mamoru chatting away with the Dryad. ]

Well, well...

[ She straightens to her full height, looking honestly surprised the gamble worked. Maybe she should have tried something less painful, but she's not going to overthink her decision now. She can still walk fine –that's all that matters. ]

I suppose I owe you some thanks. I wasn't expecting the tree to go that easy on us. Unless there's a catch.

[ Her eyes stray to the dryad, wondering if they've truly 'passed' its test or not. ]