She had hit a mark, all right. Or at least, Drake sensed that she was aiming for one, and had carefully arranged his face into a facade of calm neutrality, automatically bracing for when she'd really strike. But then she didn't. And it was a very strange thing, to feel that danger, to know it was there, to wait for it to crash against his wall and then trickle harmlessly away........only for it to vanish on its own.
And for a second, a look of concerned bewilderment flashed across his face, like seeing backstage through a momentary gap in the curtains. All the shifts in tone were making things unpredictable and unsettling, and he'd probably have preferred just being yelled at directly from the start. That, he was used to; Jace yelled at him all the time. It was the more subtle not-quite attacks that felt around for the best place to jab that caught him off guard and made him extra wary.
Even as unexpected as the withdrawal was, it did allow him a quick recovery, and the opportunity to concede one point, and........double down on the other. Carefully.
"Yyyyyes... I- I understand that. I do. Maybe everyone does have the best interests of the community at heart. Granted. But that still doesn't mean anyone knows what anyone else is acquiring, myself included, making the risk of duplicates and missing essentials too high not to criticize. What if someone else has one of these? Actually...that wouldn't be too bad, really. All right, I know, agriculture and medicine, what if we end up with nothing but radishes and ibuprofen? All because no one knows what anyone else is shopping for. You've got to admit, without a shopping list, it isn't the most well coordinated trip to the market."
no subject
And for a second, a look of concerned bewilderment flashed across his face, like seeing backstage through a momentary gap in the curtains. All the shifts in tone were making things unpredictable and unsettling, and he'd probably have preferred just being yelled at directly from the start. That, he was used to; Jace yelled at him all the time. It was the more subtle not-quite attacks that felt around for the best place to jab that caught him off guard and made him extra wary.
Even as unexpected as the withdrawal was, it did allow him a quick recovery, and the opportunity to concede one point, and........double down on the other. Carefully.
"Yyyyyes... I- I understand that. I do. Maybe everyone does have the best interests of the community at heart. Granted. But that still doesn't mean anyone knows what anyone else is acquiring, myself included, making the risk of duplicates and missing essentials too high not to criticize. What if someone else has one of these? Actually...that wouldn't be too bad, really. All right, I know, agriculture and medicine, what if we end up with nothing but radishes and ibuprofen? All because no one knows what anyone else is shopping for. You've got to admit, without a shopping list, it isn't the most well coordinated trip to the market."