bethen avilla ; the circle mage (bethe) wrote in thedas,
For all that she tried to believe that Constans' opinions didn't matter to her, Bethen felt oddly self-conscious when he finally turned around to look at her, the anxiety made worse by the unexpected grin. She couldn't read the expression -- was he being snide, or had he sincerely wanted to converse with her this entire time? It was hard to imagine that he had anything positive to say to her, though maybe she was being unfair. He did have some semblance of manners, and he couldn't have been so utterly uncongenial if he managed to have so many friends. Still, it was difficult to overcome her surprise at how amicable his response had been. Slightly baffled, she couldn't come up with any kind of clever reply to his comment about being a ghost; instead, the apprentice blinked at him twice and nodded slowly, "Yes, well..." For a moment, she thought to be honest and apologize for being rude by ignoring him.
Instead, Beth said nothing further, and turned toward the direction she had come from, gesturing at him to follow. She stopped at the shelf and the old chest, glancing back only once to see if he had come along, though it wasn't as if they'd gone very far. Out of nervous habit, she had begun to chew on the inside of her bottom lip, only releasing it from between her teeth to say, "You're taller than I am. I thought you might be better suited to reaching that jar," she raised a hand to point out the object, "if you wouldn't mind."
Her voice still possessed a cold edge to it that even she found unpleasant. She forced a smile to come to her lips, trying her best to sound affable, without being so saccharine that he thought she was patronizing, "That is, could you please grab that jar for me, if it's not any trouble? I'll help you with whatever you need, as well." Not that it really required saying; it was a given that she would have assisted him without complaint if the situation was reversed and he'd come to her. That it had gone the other way around, and she was hoping to rely on generosity she wasn't certain he possessed, was a situation her pride was still trying to accept.