Pari looked at him oddly. "You want the details?"
Sparrow looked like she really wanted them too, but wisely, did not say anything.
Pari looked at him oddly. "You want the details?"
Sparrow looked like she really wanted them too, but wisely, did not say anything.
"You're avoiding the question. I'm just trying to calculate implications and repercussions."
Pari's expression soured. She crossed her arms, deliberating on her answer.
The easiest thing to say would be that yes, it was bad and it wouldn't happen again. But that was a bold-faced lie, and besides, she didn't want it getting back to Feo that she'd mocked their night together... and she knew Sparrow was going to report back, even if she didn't mean to. If, the next time Feofil saw her, she gave him that sad puppy-dog look, he'd immediately know what had happened.
"It was..." she was clearly struggling to articulate what, exactly, it was. "... not what I expected."
Kyros's eyebrows drew closer as he worked to adjust his entire world view around this new piece of information. He had so many questions and concerns, but knew that bringing almost any of them up now wouldn't get him a meaningful answer. She was obviously trying to grapple with it herself. In an attempt at lightening the mood, he opted for an incredulous joke instead.
"I didn't realize demon attacks were such an aphrodisiac."
Pari's head whipped around and she glowered at him. "Are you seriously making fun of me right now? Listen, I'm not the one with a history of hooking up with friends."
"Sweetie, he's not making fun of you," Sparrow soothed, patting Pari's head. "It's just surprising, that's all."
"Would you rather I ask more questions?" He pointed out. His tone wasn't unkind, though it did betray a certain level of bewilderment.
"No, I don't want you to ask me questions at all!"
"Pari," Sparrow took her hands. "Can you tell me something, at least? Do you regret it?"
Pari pulled her hands away and gave Sparrow a mean look. Sparrow was unfazed. "C'mon, just listen to your gut."
It was very hard to be mean to someone who didn't care if you were being mean. Pari scowled at her, then turned the look to her lap.
It took everything in Kyros to hold his tongue with the amount of uncertainty running through his brain.
"... no." she said finally. "... I trust him, so... he wasn't the worst choice."
"He wasn't the worst choice?" Sparrow repeated, coaxing. Pari sighed and admitted begrudgingly, "... he was the best choice..."
"From a practical standpoint, or..." Sparrow rubbed her back. "Was there something else to it?"
"Why does it matter?"
"Doesn't it matter to be honest to yourself, Parisa? You're someone who always knows what they want. And you think everything through, always. That's why you're Kyros's right hand gal." Sparrow reasoned, "So... I'm sorry, honey, but I don't really know if I buy the 'it just happened' thing."
"Okay," Pari groaned. "Fine, yes, okay. Things have been weird for a while now, is that what you want to hear?"
"I'm just asking because I know you, Pari. And you're not that impulsive, not with important things like your own heart."
They were in deep territory now, secret-spilling territory, and Kyros knew that with how rocky things had been between them, she'd clam up immediately if he so much as opened his mouth. As much as it frustrated him, he relegated himself to metaphorically sitting on his hands.