"Absolutely not," Ella said honestly, with a warm smile. "I'm bossy, opinionated and impossible and sure to say something offensive in the first fifteen minutes of our acquaintance."
Ella had come a long way since the attack, scars were just lightly visible on her throat and wrists at this point, and Beauty (who was annoyingly fearless) made her calmer by her very presence - it was the only reason Imperial Russia wasn't currently covered in vines and inappropriately smelling of roses.
"What say you we get out of the center of town and go somewhere we can talk properly. I don't dislike you yet, and that makes you a far better prospect than what I just left behind." It was said with a smile that was a little teasing and a little truthful. "Have you seen Ahab- I mean Luther?" she asked immediately after, after Beauty reminded her about Joanie's situation with Javert.