Title: Fruits of Opinion
Summary: Sanary, men, feminism, and a discussion that might be explosive, but Razzy butts in.
A/N: ... No appearance, but he's still involved. Had this swimming in the head for awhile.

Sanary sat cross-legged on the platform in the labyrinth. Then she chewed her hair. Then she dropped that and tapped her fingers on her thigh. Pratty watched her with a measure of bewilderment and surprising patience (which was mostly borne of curiosity, as always).

Then Sanary, rather abruptly, stood up and spun around in quick succession, pointing an accusing finger at Pratty.

"Your guardian beast is a king!" she announced.

Rather unsure of where this outburst came from, Pratty blinked and gave a tentative "Yes?" in response.

Her friend looked aggravated and began muttering something about 'monarchy' and 'male oppression' which caused some understanding to dawn on Pratty, who decided that this weed needed to be nipped in the bud, so to speak, before Sanary went on a rant about how women would rise and conquer all, really.

So, without another thought on the matter, she blurted, "I'm a king too!" which in retrospect sounded just a little awkward.

"What?"

Just a little.

Sheepishly Pratty scratched her head and hurried to explain. "I mean, we're equals, we agreed?"

"You're a girl."

"Well, gender doesn't matter right?" the craftlord asked. "Just the power." She added, paraphrasing Rasho's speech to her.

Sanary looked relatively affronted. "What are you talking about! Of course gender matters!" she clenched a fist and looked ready to burst.

Pratty had a choice to make at this point and that was whether to

A. Try again to placate her friend—risking making her angrier, which was the more likely outcome

Or

B. Run, which would make her angry anyway…

"What about Razzy?" Pratty asked quickly.

"Razzy's a girl." Sanary pointed out.

"She's a tomboy." Pratty said. "And, um, aren't you technically considered one too?"

The temperature metaphorically spiked and Pratty began a strategic retreat. Her parting words, which might've or mightn't have been wise were:

"Wouldn't girls taking over and becoming dominant over boys be just as unfair to the world?"

She beat it without waiting on an answer.

:::

Razzy plopped down beside Pratty, who was hiding behind a flower pot. She had a banana.

"Sanary's mad." She said.

Pratty wasn't surprised.

"Where's Rasho anyway?" she asked. "What does he think?"

"I didn't bother asking." Pratty said. "He just finds Sanary's opinions funny or annoying." She paused. "Or annoying and sometimes funny?" A shrug.

"What do you think?" the banana was being carefully removed from the restraints of its peel.

"It's Sanary's opinion." Pratty replied. "I don't really think gender's a big deal, and besides, women aren't really oppressed as she thinks they are. She acts like we're all still confined to the kitchen and denied swords" She muttered. "And her sister's a craftlord! It's not unfair! Even if the numbers are uneven, that's just how is at the time depending on who quits or dies or gets recruited." Pratty paused for a breath and glanced over at her friend for a response. "What do you think?"

Razzy pulled out another banana. "I like these better than apples, don't ya think, sis?"

"..."

"But they're both still giving nutrients to the world." She grinned and handed the fruit to Pratty.

Pratty thought then that maybe Razzy was a genius.

:::

She went back to the labyrinth later and sat down next to the redhead, who didn't look at her until an apple was dropped in her lap. She threw an equally startled, wary, and bewildered look at Pratty, who merely took out the banana and began eating. Sanary stared at the fruit for a long time before bringing it to her lips and biting into it.

No further discussion was needed.