Falling for you

That something could be moving below their paws would have likely been a deeply unsettling thought for Noor. Luckily she didn't really have a chance to dwell on it. Because she had hit the tunnel floor before the words even fully registered. A few seconds later, or maybe it was a million years, she heard the skittering of more loose stone and sand and for all her bruised side and ego Noor wasn't keen to end up buried, her eyes snapped open but the roof wasn't collapsing down on her. It was the shadowy form of Fable coming to land close by, with the grace of someone who'd chosen to jump in... Show off!

"Yes and yes, but it's nothing I can't walk off." Noor dragged herself stiffly to her paws, grimacing slightly as she discovered a few more parts of her that would probably bruise. Still she managed it, even gave her shoulders a few cautious rolls. "I think what's left of my pride will never recover but I'll live." It was almost dismissive, not towards Fable but herself. Noor's gaze was already turning skyward, the dim red light hardly helping to penetrate the shadows. The hole she'd accidentally created wasn't particularly large and there wasn't an easy path up that she could see...

Which didn't bode well, Noor was not keen to have to go deeper into the dark. "Promise me the next time I get stuck in a hole you'll leave me behind. I think if there's a third time it probably means I'm destined for some pit based fate." It was a weak attempt at humor.

Stress, Noor could deal with. High pressure? Sure, no problem. But this? The creeping anxiety? The primal sort of fear that was slowly clawing it's way  into her? She didn't know how to handle it. So she covered it with jokes, with the mask of charisma her upbringing had so graciously outfitted her with. Probably wasn't helped by the fact she'd decided if her job was to distract Fable from her own clearly deep rooted anxiety that meant Noor had to push hers down, couldn't let it show lest it set off Fable. Was it maybe a bit patronizing? Yeah, Fable was a grown woman she didn't need Noor to babysit her emotions but Noor also knew she was largely still reliant on Fable and some part of her was desperate to be of some use to her. She owed Fable much more than that but it was a start.

"Speech"