"When? When was the last time you left this building?" I don't move, don't advance, just keep my voice level and reasonable. "You're isolating yourself. It's not helping your recovery."
"Being around orcs isn't helping my recovery either." The words come out sharp, defensive. "I can't—" She cuts herself off, jaw clenching.
"Can't what?"
"I can't be aroundthem." Her hands grip the chair back hard enough that her knuckles pale. "The training grounds,the communal halls, even just walking through the settlement. They're everywhere and they're huge and they—" Another cut-off, this one more forceful. "I can't."
I process this, filing away information. The way she's looking at me now, cornered but not quite terrified. Wary, yes. Defensive, absolutely. But not the same visceral fear I've seen flash across her face when other orcs get too close.
"What about me?"
She blinks. "What?"
"Can you be around me?"
"That's—" She stops, confused by the question. "That's different."
"How."
"You're..." She struggles with it, searching for words. "You're just here to check injuries. It's clinical. Professional. You don't—" Another pause. "You don't feel…dangerous."
Something in my chest does an uncomfortable twist at that admission. I shove it aside, focus on the practical problem.
"Then partner with me for the week."
"Falla—"
"Hear me out." I keep my voice steady, reasonable. "Drogath will pull us both into this regardless. You because you're Saela's friend and he'll decide you need prosperity blessings or whatever nonsense he's invented. Me because I'm part of the clan and he has no concept of personal boundaries. We participate together, or we get dragged into it separately with partners we don't choose."
Her grip on the chair tightens. "I can't spend a week?—"
"Yes, you can." I hold her gaze, unflinching. "You can be around me. You just said so yourself. And if you're with me, I can run interference when it gets too much. Make sure no one else gets in your space. Give you exits when you need them."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because watching you deteriorate in this cabin is counterproductive to my job." The answer comes out a little brusque, but softening it now would undermine the point. "You're healing physically. Barely. But mentally you're getting worse and we both know it."
She opens her mouth, closes it. Can't argue because it's true.
"I don't..." Her voice drops quieter. "I don't know if I can do a whole week of whatever Drogath's planned."
"One day at a time." I straighten from the wall, but don't move closer. "The first day will be easy. Just try it. It's some kind of painting. You can handle that."
"And the other days?"
"We'll handle them as they come." I keep my tone matter-of-fact, stripping emotion from the proposal. "They are supposed to be fun. Something for you to do and focus on instead of being trapped in your head."
She processes this, I can see her mind working through what I've said, weighing impossibility against necessity. Her hands loosen slightly on the chair.
"If I agree to this..." She stops, starts again. "If I agree, you have to promise that when I say I'm done, we're done. No pushing, no 'just one more thing,' no trying to convince me to keep going."
"Agreed."
"And you stay between me and other orcs as much as possible."
"That's the plan."
"And if I need to leave?—"
