Ouroboros Spine catch the manic rhapsody

It surprised Raimo to hear Lote speak so carefully around him. He believed they were of a similar make-up; that their people were not terribly different, and closer to one-another than she was to Kukutux or Sialuk and their culture. The longer he stood there listening the more he understood. She refused him — like Adrastus.

He drew a slow, steady breath in.

Did nobody trust in him, here? What had he done to cause such disloyalty, such skepticism? Raimo did not think it was so strange to build himself a hunting party that included women - Sialuk came to mind as chief huntress among the collective, and she did not overstep any boundaries by being a woman and being capable of hunting - so to hear Lote speak against him, Raimo took it deeply personally.

Alright. He concedes.

There was nothing else to talk about. He felt himself closing off against Lote on some level, delegating her (regrettably) to the same mental camp as he had Adrastus: unwanted, potentially threatening to his own position. Something closer to an enemy than a friend.

If you change your mind, come and find me. He offers as an option — unwilling to close things off with her so quickly. Perhaps because she is young and can be taught to be better, whereas Adrastus was something altogether different.

He had no reason to linger, and began to move away from her, to leave her unless there was a reason to linger.