Dungeons and Dalliances

“A little setback,” Sofia finally replied. “That’s what this is? A little setback.”

“From a big picture viewpoint, I’d say so, yeah,” Jordan said. “Or, maybe a bit of a problem, speaking for the here and now. But all that means is that it’s even more important we figure stuff out.”

It didn’t bait out any further responses; Natalie and Sofia glared at her, Liz stayed slumped over, and even Ana seemed annoyed—Jordan thought. Hard to read. She didn’t wholly fault them for the reactions. But it would be easiest to drag them out of the quagmire before they sank too deep, so she stayed on the offensive.

After being the primary point of failure in the fight itself, Jordan felt doubly responsible for doing so.

“First question, I guess,” Jordan said, “is are we fighting our way back to town, or forging forward?”

“Keep going?” Ana asked. “Without gear?” She didn’t sound like she disagreed, but rather was bringing the point up. Jordan perked up at that.

“Unless we think we can’t handle it,” Jordan said. “Can we?”

Natalie scoffed, Sofia pursed her lips, and Ana tilted her head.

“A boss would be unwise,” Ana said. “But I suppose lateral advancement should still be within our capabilities.”

Jordan was pleased to hear that, matching with Ana’s blank demeanor, that she seemed mostly unaffected, despite the hint of irritation. Maybe she was harboring resentment or anger beneath the mask, but for the purpose of discussing their short term future, she was composed enough.

“And it’s not like heading back to town helps,” Natalie seethed. “Won’t get our stuff back. Doubt Tenet’s would do a second loan for us, either. We’re fucked.”

“Elida took too much,” Liz said quietly “And she knows it. There’s policy for this sort of thing. Tenet doesn’t mind rivalry, but this is sabotage. She’ll have to pay us back. Tenet will make her.”

“That was her plan,” Ana said. “Because paying us back doesn’t matter. It sets us back for the weekend, and getting our items back later doesn’t fix that.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Liz agreed. “That was her plan.” She stared down at her lap, fists clenched.

Natalie stared at the defeated-looking Liz, then visibly grew more agitated—though at what specifically, Jordan wasn’t sure.

“Yeah, whatever,” Natalie said loudly. “Who cares? She’s a bitch, we’ll figure out what to do about her later, but for now, how’s our delve working?” She nodded at Jordan.

Jordan smiled, pleased Natalie had turned her anger in a productive direction. She had expected that to happen, though not this quickly. At a guess, Natalie had been spurred on by seeing Liz look so crushed.

“So, we’ll keep going, then,” Jordan said. “The weekend doesn’t have to be a total wash. We can work through the first floor and find as much loot as we can. While doing so, we can find a boss room, maybe even two, but not enter them. Once we’re halfway geared up again, we can backtrack and tackle them—if we’re feeling comfortable.”

“I guess it’s a good thing we’re so low level,” Sofia said. There was still icy rage harbored in her tone, but she seemed to be grappling control of it. “Gear matters less. It’s possible we could even handle a boss without it.”

Okay, Jordan wasn’t sure about that, but she appreciated the confidence, and how the mood seemed to be turning upward. Besides Liz, at least.

“And everyone’s okay, right?” Jordan asked.

The answer was clear enough, else she’d have addressed it much sooner, but it was worth bringing up.

“Got a killer headache,” Natalie muttered. “But yeah. I’m fine.”

“I can make do,” Sofia replied.

Ana nodded.

Everyone’s attention turned to Liz, who seemed to shrink in on herself.

“Oh, please,” Natalie said suddenly. “If you’re blaming yourself for this, or think we’re upset at you, you’ll piss me off.”

Liz blinked rapidly, and Jordan paused, too.

Though she understood what Natalie was going for. What Natalie lacked in tact, she made up for in earnestness.

“I mean,” Liz mumbled. “It kind of is my fault. Wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t team with me.”

“You think we’re stupid, then?”

Liz seemed taken aback. “What?”

“You think we didn’t know we’d have to deal with this?” Natalie asked heatedly. “House politics? When we teamed with a Beaumon?”

“But …”

“You think we didn’t sign up for it?”

Glaring wasn’t usually the best way to cheer someone up, but in this situation, it did. Liz stared at Natalie for a long moment, then visibly relaxed.

“I’m still sorry,” Liz said. “This isn’t something you four should have been dragged into. Elida is …”

“A bitch,” Sofia offered.

A quiet laugh from Liz. “I guess that’s a good word.”

“We’ll figure out what to do about her later,” Natalie said. “But like Jordan said, more important things to focus on.” She grunted as she climbed to her feet—she hadn’t fully recovered from the fight, Jordan could tell. “So?” Natalie asked. “What’s the plan?”

Again, four pairs of eyes turned to Jordan.

“Reality does need to be faced,” Jordan said. “All five of us had our HP broken. It’d be reckless to head off as we are. I think anything more needs to wait until tomorrow. We’ll set an early camp and head out after we recover.”

“Nah,” Natalie said. “It’s fine. We can keep going. As long as I don’t get hit, HP doesn’t matter.”

That was a very Natalie statement, and Jordan considered how best to tell her she was being an idiot.

Sofia, unfortunately, had a quicker reaction. She raised two prim, incredulous eyebrows at Natalie, and Natalie almost growled in response, seeing it. Jordan cut off the bickering before it could begin. Passions had cooled between the two rivals—or shifted—but in this situation, with everybody on edge from the events prior, Jordan sensed a real argument could break out.

“It’ll come down to a vote,” Jordan said. “And mine’s to camp now. It’s not worth the risk.”

“We need to make up time,” Natalie insisted.

“An early camp and early rise is the same from a time efficiency standpoint,” Ana said, as logical as always. “In fact, resting first means we’ll be in better condition and make better time. So it’s objectively the better choice. I vote to camp as well.”

Natalie couldn’t argue that—like most things Ana said—but she didn’t seem happy about it. Jordan knew her best friend well enough to tell why. Natalie needed something to hit. That was how she burned off stress. She didn’t work things out by thinking them through, and so she wanted to keep delving—a way to work off steam.

Jordan had some other ideas for stress relief, but saying so right now was obviously not appropriate. Once the rest of the team was asleep.

“I guess that’s true,” Natalie finally ground out. “Fine. Camp first.”

Looking around at the team and receiving nods, Jordan could tell they were in agreement. “Alright. Let’s do that. We’ll make up lost time tomorrow.”