May Ravenstaff (formerly Cormag) made me do it!
"Whoa, Shamir, this really is nice."
"Catherine? What are you-"
"You're always slipping away to somewhere just when the fun begins, so I decided to follow you for once to see what could be that much better than me."
"If your definition of 'when the fun begins' is you getting drunk with the knights and causing even more of a ruckus than an invasion…"
"Oh, come on, I'm not that bad when I'm drunk!"
"Alone, no. Surrounded by twenty other drunkards, absolutely."
"So you like me when we're alone!"
"I'm not playing this game."
"You're no fun."
"Then why do you hang around me all the time?"
"Lady Rhea says I have to."
"…What?"
"I'm kidding. Sort of. I mean, she does prefer us working as a team, and if she told me to kill you, believe me I would do it in a heartbeat, but… I dunno. There's just something about you that draws me to you."
"Oh?"
"I think it's how you're so quiet and mysterious. I'm used to dealing with people who can't shut up."
"Gee, I can't begin to image how that must feel."
"Trust me, you really can't."
"…"
"I just really want to see what's beneath this composite shell of silence and sarcasm."
"More silence and more sarcasm."
"I doubt that. Maybe if I spike one of your-"
"Catherine!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"
"I do have one question though."
"Yeah?"
"Would you really kill me without remorse just because Rhea asked you to?"
"First off, it's Lady Rhea. Secondly, I said I'd do it without question, not that I wouldn't be sad about it. Hell, for you, I might even cry!"
"I take it that's supposed to be high praise coming from you."
"The highest I can offer anyone."
"Great. Thank you. Now, I'd like to get back to my meditations."
"OK, I suppose I'll stay with you then."
"Cath-"
"I can be quiet! I swear! Followed you here without you noticing, didn't I?"
"…"
Hey guys, been a while. This is the second to last thing I do before I retire fully. I have a serious one-shot in the works that's going to play me out. It won't be long, but it's quality is beyond anything I've done, and I want to get it just right so I can go out on a bang. Check my profile for details if you're interested.