S a l e t é I I

XVII - Veines - Trois

"I'm going!"

"No way, you went last time."

"That's a dumb reason for me not to go though."

"How is it?"

Uliana and Klavdiya had soon set about bickering again, this time about who would get to accompany Monet on the next factory visit. They would be taking a few things with them for the purpose of trading, whilst the main reason for the trip would be to pick up things that Zisel would be able to mend, like Monet had already stated. 

Cassia saw it as the sort of work that would yield them some goods in the future as payment, a sort of long-term investment. It beat merely hoping to find stuff amongst heaps of rubbish or in back alleys, that much was obvious.

"I haven't been for ages! You're staying this time, end of." Klavdiya said to Uliana, sounding dead set on the matter.

"It's not even your choice, it's Monet's."

"She'll agree with me."

"She'll pick who she wants, not who you want."

Cassia never knew what to make of the dynamic between the two girls. One minute they were close, laughing and smiling together, and the next minute they were squabbling, bickering about almost anything even remotely debatable - only to go back to laughing and smiling a few minutes later. Maybe that said more about their friendship than anything? She wasn't entirely sure... 

She'd disagreed with Adeline in the past, such as when the heiress had wanted to climb up the slide at the park, or when she'd wanted to sneak off to the back section of the arcade where the grizzlier selection of games was waiting, but they'd never really argued, not properly. 

"Why don't you both go? Problem solved, surely?" Cassia suggested to the girls. 

For now, they'd remained sat by the fire, as Monet still needed to get things ready, taking time to collect their bags before filling them with whatever things she deemed worth taking from the storeroom. Zisel was also in attendance, although she appeared to be intent on staying out of this latest back and forth.

"Not really, because I think she'll want to take you again." Uliana replied, something that Klavdiya was actually quick to agree on.

"Yeah. You didn't go out yesterday, or the day before, did you?"

That was true - Taya and Uliana had joined Monet on a trip to the old street yesterday, whilst Klavdiya and Uliana had been the ones to go the day before that. Going by that, it was about time that Cassia headed out again.

"Who would you pick, Cassia? To go with you, out of us two?" Uliana asked, a question that Klavdiya looked keen to hear the answer to as well, both girls paying close attention to her now. 

Why did she have to ask such a loaded question? Whatever answer she gave, the other girl was probably going to end up moody...

"Well... I'd pick Klavdiya. Only because you went out yesterday, Uliana." She replied, after only a brief moment of hesitation, hoping that she came across as both reasonable and fair. Uliana, as she'd expected, looked a little downcast, though she ultimately seemed to accept such reasoning.

"I guess that's fair... I just get bored here, that's all." She said, conceding defeat. Because she'd conceded so swiftly, Cassia got the impression that she'd expected to hear the line of thought that she'd offered.

"You think you're the only one? We all get bored. What about Zisel? She doesn't get to go anywhere that much at all." Klavdiya replied, such a line of thought not doing much for Uliana in that moment.