Diplomacy and Gratitude..?

The tieflings spotted us before we could call out. The male wielding his axe, ready if Lae’zel should manage to burst the cage in a ball of blades and bile. The female stood just ahead of him, one hand raised to cast or call out—hard to tell which.

"Easy," I said, both palms open and raised. "Not here to cause trouble. Though judging by the cage-shaking, I assume she already did plenty of that on her own."

The female’s eyes narrowed, but something in my tone—more likely the soft afterglow of the charm spell still clinging to me—eased her stance. Her gaze flicked to the cage, then back to me, testing.

"You know her?" she asked.

"Unfortunately. And more importantly, I know how to handle githyanki." I leaned in slightly, voice lowering with just enough confidence to make it sound like a secret worth trusting.

She blinked, her tension visibly relaxing. The male tiefling didn’t look convinced, his knuckles still white on the axe handle.

"You serious?" he asked. "That thing’s been screaming and threatening to rip out our spines for the past twenty minutes."

"That’s the greeting ritual. She only tries to kill you if she likes you," I replied smoothly. The female snorted. The male didn’t, but her elbow nudged him with the universal sign of ‘play along.’

"Fine," he muttered as they hurried away. "Your problem now." They needed no more convincing, and were already halfway down the path before the cage was even halfway down.

As we got the cage open, Lae’zel immediatly took a fighting stance, eyes sharp and hostile— Her breathing was tight, jaw locked, but she didn’t lash out. Progress.

I stepped forward slowly, giving her space—but not too much. Her fists were clenched, jaw tight, every muscle in her body tense like she was still locked in battle. But she didn’t strike. Didn’t snarl. Just... stood there. She was holding it together. Barely.

Shadowheart watched in silence, arms crossed so tightly it looked like she might snap her own bones. Judging. Constantly.

Lae’zel looked at her. Then at me. And straightened.

"How did you survive the crash... Pfft, Not important. We waste time. There is a gith stronghold not far from here. They will know how to rid us of the tadpo-"

The charm spell still clung, faint and soon ending, every second counted. I decided to ruin the moment interrupting her.

"You’re welcome, by the way!"

She blinked. "WHAT!? how dare y-"

"..For freeing you!, some gratitude from the great warrior would’ve been nice."

The muscle in her cheek twitched. She looked like she was about to bite me. Then something in her faltered. The charm spell pushed—just a bit more.

"....Th-thank you..” She looked more surprised to hear the words come out of her own mouth than both Shadowheart and me. It was as if the syllables had escaped her before she could stop them, leaving her staring in quiet horror at the sound of her own gratitude.

[Lae’zel: Approval -2. Corruption +3]

Shadowheart arched an eyebrow, clearly cataloguing every second. Lae’zel’s eyes narrowed—suspicious, calculating—but the words had been said. I gave her a grin that was probably more smug than it needed to be.

"See? That wasn’t so hard."

Lae’zel growled under her breath and turned sharply toward the path.

"We move. Now."

And just like that, our little dysfunctional family grew by one sword-happy alien with a rapidly eroding worldview. As she turned to move, I quickly flicked open her profile window

[Approval: Neutral - Slightly Negative: 40] [Corruption: 7%]

Not bad, considering I’d just wrung a thank you out of a githyanki warrior, basically squeezing blood from a stone. I did not need her approval as much, that could always come later. Things were looking up.