normally blixen channels her anger into her work, finding outlets for her pent up frustration in patrolling and sparring. and it'd worked at first -- but she's still, she realises, angry at mother for her part in this, and she doesn't know how to  handle that. is she even allowed to be angry at mother? her poor mother who went through so much (who is the reason blixen even became a guardian, is the reason furi was even brought to drageda in the first place) -- all the same she did something to make furi not love her anymore.

she can't face the idea of bringing it up. she can't face anything, so she does something she almost never does and slips from drageda's borders with no real direction in mind. she avoids the coast (grimnismal too close for comfort -- as much as she'd love to get a little fighting action in, she's not about to cost nomi a strategic victory by offering herself up as a martyr). so into the tangle it is, half hoping she'll run into furi, half hoping she won't, redirecting her heartbreak into an easier-to-manage irritation at the tangle's treacherous layout.

and then she smells him. blixen knows nothing of the friendship between her ex and this boy, and probably for the better -- all she knows is he's one of them and he's a shitty boy and an easy target. her lips curl in a snarl as she moves towards him, not quite as deadly graceful as she'd like (stumbling over vines does sort of dampen the effect). "you," the gona calls, voice rough and mean, "what are you doing here?" even if he's not technically close enough to drageda to be trespassing, she doesn't care. she needs an outlet, and here one is.

she wants a fight and she expects ingram to deliver. instead she gets him beating a retreat into a thorny bush (which would be funny if she were in a better mood), what she takes as attempts at placation, and -- his sister is missing.

her posture hardly changes, though the corners of her lips slowly turn back down, not quite releasing the snarl but lessening it. fuck. she does understand missing family members better than most. "ugh," blixen says, less to him and more to the world (all she wanted was one little fight!) "that isn't my problem," she says, pauses, and groans, "i just wanted a fight right now." not that she couldn't still instigate one, but he looks... a little pathetic. not like a fun target. she glowers at him, clearly blaming him for not being what she needs right now despite his own woes, and snaps, "which way did your sister go."

tension lingers between them but the urge to blindly throw herself into the fray has passed. she's not a bitch, she's an honorable warrior. kicking someone when they're already down is just, ugh. not on. unfortunately.

when she speaks, the words come out in a whoosh: "my girlfriend dumped me." with a huff she throws herself into a sit, abandoning the pretense of aggression for now. "and usually, you're kind of a jackass, which is why i dont like you but i thought, like. i need a distraction, so, can't you just be a little rude to me so i can beat you up a little?" she gives him a nearly pleading look, oblivious to the inanity of her ask -- c'mon, do your fave enemy a solid, ingram.

although blixen would never admit it, her actual knowledge of ingram is limited. looking back on the incident he hadn't been the one to instigate (even if he should have turned arrille over in the first place), and he'd brought rose to them... 

no, no, fuck this train of thought. she squints at him, trying to figure out why he sounds so happy about being dumped when she feels as if someone has taken out her heart and smashed it into a billion pieces and left her behind as a hollowed out bitter husk. maybe it's a boy thing. he agrees to be rude and she nearly weeps with joy, so glad to have something to hold onto and be angry -- oh. uh.

"thanks?" blixen says, a little caught off guard. is that supposed to be rude? it is, if anything, a little flattering. "i said rude, but -- oh, forget it." he's useless. she's hopeless. desolate, she stares at her paws, unable to hold on to her precious anger any longer without something to direct it at. "you got dumped too? what did you do?" she asks belatedly, if only to confirm he was dumped because he was a stupid jackass and not at all because he is anyhting like blix.

she's expecting something like "i'm a dumb boy" or "she got tired of me being a dumb boy", something she could get behind easily. his actual answer surprises her. 

blix frowns, frustrated that she gets him, annoyed that she even has to say this (but the girl does not have a stitch of deceit in her). "that's stupid, she shouldn't have asked you to pick." her voice is blunt. nothing matters to blixen more than family -- or, well, drageda, but those are one in the same. if furi'd asked her to choose between nomi or her... she doesn't even want to think about it. furi wouldn't do that, anyway.

of course he turns the question back around, and she huffs, looking away. "i don't know! she got upset that i told my mother we were together, i think? and said a bunch of stuff about not being ready whatever that means." furi's explanations still confused her, only adding to her anger about the issue. if she'd said "i just dont like you that way", well, that'd suck, but at least it was something she could parse. but.. not ready? not ready for what? theyd barely even done any real.. couple-y things. ugh. "dating," she declares vehemently, "is stupid."

she keeps waiting for ingram to prove himself to be the pathetic jackass of a boy she doesn't like, but he's... surprising. she still doesn't trust him as far as she can throw him -- and if she knew of his illicit friendship with furi it would be a whole thing -- but somehow he's maybe not as bad as she'd initially thought. he kind of reminds her of bobby of all things. it's unsettling.

"i am not," blix says, affronted, even as her expression relaxes slightly. ingram's suggestion -- well, it isn't -- furi is sort of... she does the thing with the many feelings that blixen doesn't really get. it's not entirely off track. "...maybe," she allows, "she's sorta... complicated. it really felt like the end though." miserably the gona slumps, adds, "like, will your girl come around eventually, d'you think?"

blix isn't stupid, but she certainly isn't as introspective as ingram gives her credit for. his words are met with a soft snort -- a little jealous of his seeming detachment. "all i wanna do is chase after her," she admits, "cause that's worked every other time we've fought, but..." she's too hurt, honestly. their previous fights have been fights, fueled by blixen's tendency to put her foot in her mouth and furi's -- well, furi-ness. this wasn't a fight. this was furi deciding something, like always, and running away, like always. even blixen can see that trying to chase after her now will just make it worse.

"furi's just like, i don't know," she continues, sighing. "i'm probably just gonna be single for the rest of forever, i think."

her eyes narrow sharply at his comment -- really, boys -- only to snap wide at his joke. his joke? please be a joke. the wink cinches it -- she bursts into laughter, full bodied laughter at the idea. her? and a boy? ingram, no less? imagine how that family meeting would go: hi i know you didnt like the last one but how about this nerd who's literally an enemy of ours (well sort of it's complicated). 

"gross," she says around her mirth, still giggling, "but thanks, i needed a laugh." she still doesn't feel great -- furi's still -- but, but. in the moment she thinks she feels better, and for that she rewards her strange frenemy with a smile. it's all a little overwhelming, the way this conversation ended up going -- so with nothing left to say, she leaves him teeth-free for another day.