The reborn cultivator shifted herself to sit with her back against Qatrand. The hand that had been up on her head was grabbed at and sat down upon her lap, where she began to idly play with the swordswoman's fingers.
"When I was a teenager, my parents were already… weakened. They weren't very old, if you look at the standards of this era. But, mortals living hard lives age quicker."
Her spirit was mostly calm as she spoke. The only other times she told the tale, she would pretend to be more affected. People expect you to be as sad as the day it happened just because *they* were hearing of it for the first time.
New information to them was 'fresh'. It had edges that caught on other things as it entered their minds. Being nonchalant when someone else was hurting about the thing you were speaking about made you 'cold' at best or a 'monster' at worst.
Regarding the failure to 'hold the line':
Qat: I'm not the right person for this job.
Also Qat: But I'm not letting anyone else take it.
Oh, look at that. She has a tragic past that actually makes her Medical Fairy part more relevant! I swear I didn't just make it up, it's been there all along (in my head)~
Though I'll admit, I didn't actually immediately connect it in my thoughts back then. By which I mean, her past wasn't the factor of why she actually bothered giving the other youths in the Guild medical supplies when they were injured.
Writing that was purely "She's sweet, and she doesn't fight... why would everyone start liking her? What would the 'nice heiress' do other than be cute to gather attention?" when I came up with that section.
In personal matters... oof. I haven't actually written for two days as if this posting. Took some break days to actually enjoy reading instead of slaving away at my own writing.