Late in the night, Chakan is sitting just outside the light of the bonfire, his ever vigilant eyes scanning the darkness for threats to the small party. His senses are filled with the sounds of night, and the occasional snap of the distant fire. His mind turns the events of earlier over in his mind, realizing that his companions are just as burdened with problems as himself. What a strange group they make, really nothing in common, but they somehow stay together, their differences creating balance for themselves, but causing much havok and chaos to the ones they oppose.

The sound of softly padded footsteps approach him, his hand instinctively reaches for the gun at his side, caressing the smooth steel of the handle. Chakan relaxes though, realizing the steps come from the camp, and the smell of java reaches him.

"I couldn't sleep." The quiet female voice states, indicating who approaches him.

Lilah moves around facing him, her hands holding two steaming mugs. She offers one to him, and sips from the other, taking a seat near him.

Nothing is said between the two, the silence being enjoyed by both for a while. The tiefling shifts her position after a time, her posture indicating she wishes to converse. Chakan waits patiently, half watching her.

"I wanted to get something resolved that has been bothering me, Chakan." She looks at him for some sort of indicator to continue. His gaze shifts fully on her, an eyebrow raises in question.

She sips again at her drink, looking away from him before she continues. "First, I want to apologize for playing the little prank on your charge. I was just having a little fun with the leatherhead, no harm intended." Chakan looks puzzled, apparently thinking this matter had been resolved long ago. Determination creeps into Lilah's face, slightly annoyed at the fact Chakan seems surprised this matter would bother her still. "Secondly..." She hesitates a moment, taking another drink, swallowing hard. "I thought we were friends." Chakan looks really confused at this, her statement not really tracking with the way he thought the conversation was headed.

"Let me explain myself a bit." Lilah stands, and begins to pace, her tail twitching nervously. "I don't like being physically threatened... I mean, I understand when my actions deserve that type of response, but you overreacted, Chakan." Her anger grows apparent in her voice, her eyes again meeting his. "I thought we were friends. It was a harmless prank, and you threatened me for it." The Abyssal fires rage in her eyes, matching the angry swish of her tail. "Friends shouldn't have a need to physically threaten one another, Chakan. Why?"

Chakan's eyebrows narrow a little. (parantheses means thinking...) (She's standing up for herself. Good.) Chakan would remain sitting, and look up at Lilah.

"I have never forced my leadership on any non-doomguard, especially you, Indep, until this last incident. In fact, this is the first occurence where I have ordered you to do anything." Chakan would rise, stretching his muscles, seemingly unconcerned about Lilah's anger. "I have told all of you that my faction comes first, and friendship second. In all of the times we were on Indep business, I followed your orders, and did nothing to instigate Entropy in your factions's goals, OR to undermine your leadership."

He would look at Lilah now, his eyes narrowing more and flashing a little purple. "What you did was a complete and utter insult. If you were thinking about it I would give you credit for being sly, but it is the fact that you didn't think at all about it that angered me more. As always I offered this journey to any who were interested, provided they realized this was Doomguard business." He would pace a little, some to get out of the way of Lilah's tail, the rest to put some distance between her and Chakan. "You decided on a whim to make me look like a Fool to the boy I was to protect with my life, and to cause tension in a situation where it was NOT necessary. You completely undermined any leadership I had in the situation, and made me and therefore the Doomguard faction that was heading this expedition look incompetent. I do not like to play games, Lilah, expecially NOT on faction business."

He would sit again, seeing Lilah's eyes flash an even deeper flame, her anger obviously growing.

"You said you thought we were friends. If not for our friendship, Lilah, this would be a very one-sided conversation right now. I had considered this matter over already, but let it act as a gauge on how far our friendship will endure." His voice would soften a little. "My faction is my life, Indep. If you value our friendship, do not cross me on faction business again. I guarantee we will both have regrets."

With this, his eyes would relax, as well as his demeanor. "I have and will continue to grant you that courtesy and respect as a factotum of the Indeps which you have failed to show me on this matter. And I would still consider you a friend. Does this answer your question?"

Lilah looks thoroughly confused, and at a loss for words. She paces a bit more, gathering her thoughts, trying to start her reply several times. She finally stops her movement, focusing on the elf before her. "Your explanation, helps. I didn't realize that you would consider a prank on your charge losing face. I apologize for that. I guess I am so used to you being so indifferent and thick-skinned at times, that you could ever think, or anyone could think for that matter that you would look like a fool." She shakes her head again, the anger quickly ebbing from her eyes. "I certainly haven't", she says more to herself than to him. "I'll keep this in mind whenever the urge to play strikes, especially when it involves Doomguard business."

Her posture tenses slightly, her voice again taking on an edge, "Your friendship is treasured Chakan, but, don't physically threaten me. You could have asked, ordered, whatever you wish to have called a simple request, and I would have gladly changed the boy back, out of respect and consideration for you and the Doomguard." Lilah's posture then begins to relax, her voice starting to lose the harsh overtones, "Please, next time, maybe we'll both think before we act." She watches him peerily, not sure how he is going to react to her apparent new-found backbone, wondering if she can beat him to the camp if he decides he wants to carve it out of her. Her thoughts wander to his earlier manner of addressing her <Factotum, what does he mean factotum, Indeps don't have those. We're not a real faction.>

Chakan would sit back, looking at Lilah with a very slight smirk on his face. (Now I believe that THIS is an Indep. She is finally showing enough courage to face adversity instead of running away. Good. She will need it, especially to deal with Killraven's newfound arrogance. I think I liked him better without a face.) After these thoughts are done in Chakan's mind, he would speak again.

"Neither of us are Ciphers. Agreed, let us think before we act against each other again. We have enough problems to deal with."

Chakan would take a drink from his mug, feeling the warm liquid run down his throat, and he would let out a small cough. A sly grin crosses his face.

"You put that spice in everything, don't you?"

The tiefling responds to his comment with a smile, the mirthful twinkle returning to her eyes. Her heart slowly resumes its normal pace as the rush of the adrenaline wears off. <Now that wasn't so bad, and I feel much better.>

Lilah turns to go, her tail lazily mimicking the beat of her step. She states quietly, "Now, maybe I can get some rest."

As she walks toward the camp, she looks back once more at the elf. His eyes are watching her as she leaves, a look of approval on his face. Lilah raises her mug in salute and continues on her way.

Chakan watches until her form is safely within the interior of the camp, then returns to his vigilance, sipping the hot drink, the strong smell of java and spice warming him.