Freya’s rat tail flicked in annoyance from where it hung behind her chair. Her hand clenched around her flask, mirroring the clenching of her teeth as she shook her head in disgust.

"Unbelievable," she muttered. "It’s bad enough that they’re making such a display in public… just look at them! A human and a…"

Next to her, Amarant was nodding in agreement, peering out at the scene from under his mop of unruly hair. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, placing a booted foot on the edge of the table. "Rat," he finished for her.

Freya took a sip of her drink, her lip curling slightly as she watched a fellow Burmecian flirt unabashedly with an Alexandrian soldier. Her arm was twined with his, her head tilted coyly as she spoke with him. Her free hand was fiddling with a lock of pale hair, slowly twisting it around her finger.

"It’s a bit…"

"Strange?" Amarant supplied.

Freya nodded. "Yes… strange."

"Not to mention taboo."

"Unsightly."

"Obscene?"

"Unfathomable."

"And…"

The two glanced at each other. Their eyes met and held, and something passed between them. Amarant smirked, directing his gaze back into his glass, and murmured the word that, until then, neither had been able to admit.

"Us."