Fox's Glade silver basilisk

"on the contrary," he returned to her coolly. "i think the only one of us doing any underestimating is you." she clearly didn't think he was capable of usurping lost creek, not that she knew the methods he would have employed or how long he would have been willing to play that game, but he had shown nothing but deference to those saps and took them all quite seriously when he was scoffed at in turn. it made him think that he didn't need to respect them to avoid causing dissent - they simply weren't worth the trouble to begin with.

he was reminded of this as treason continued. he rolled his eyes as she seemed to expect something from him that she had not asked for. he had already volunteered more than he thought she deserved, and though it didn't seem to be enough, judging by her impatient tone, she wasn't interested in clearing up any grey areas for herself. stigmata thought her build was wasted with such a calloused brain. someone who expected so little would get just as little, as far as he was concerned, but he wasn't interested in expressing his opinion over her chosen lifestyle. nor did he feel like having his words negated simply because their positions of social power couldn't have been more opposite.

she went on to address the things he had supposedly ignored when joining them of his own volition, and the mistakes he had made by remaining. stigmata shrugged. "what can i say? i like a challenge. anything else is boring. where you may see turmoil to avoid, i see weakness to exploit. i tried to take advantage of their dysfunction by providing a directional head of power, and it was not the right method to employ. but neither was force nor kindness. so i tried, i failed, i am moving on. now, if that is all..." he eyed her speculatively, waiting for her to move around and let him continue on his way.