ADVOCATUS DIABOLI.

It is, despite everything, a bit bolstering to hear that it's difficult to picture her as a snot-nosed child. Rakatak chuckles under her breath, sets down the near-empty bottle, and leans forward, planting both forearms on the scuffed-up wood before shrugging gently. "I may have been. I have no portraits to show you, though I suppose with our misbehaving passengers the chance does exist, however slight, that at some point you may see the world through my childish eyes."

Perish the thought.

"Much more looks natural on you. Whatever it is you find yourself doing, Karlach, it could not be more clear that you throw yourself into it. To the utmost. Carousing, fighting, exploring, eating. I am almost envious of your undying eagerness to see what the world can offer you." Maybe it's the drink talking, maybe it isn't. The hobgoblin looks almost self-conscious, leaning back again to gain some distance and avert her eyes.

"...but, then, you also have the benefit of having known me when I was younger. Less... set in my ways than I was. Though we did not have the opportunity to truly become close, outside the obvious bond of two people who have fought for their lives alongside each other..."

Rather uncharacteristically, the conqueror trails off. There are multiple roads through the admission she was planning on coming to, but it feels like many of them are... wrong. Or, at least, less than helpful. Dramatic pause stretches into uncomfortable silence.

She bites the inside of her cheek.

She doubted it, chances were, the second it was rumoured that Karlach had made her way out, never to return, whatever hadn't been picked clean would've been thrown out. Pity, really. She'd had another stuffed toy or two that might've kept Clive company. As Rakatak spoke, Karlach felt a heat snaking up the columns of her neck, upwards and upwards until it settled in her cheeks, tingling pleasantly. Gods, she'd missed this feeling. Smitten, besotted, wooed in a way she'd never expected.

Karlach wasn't the only softie here, though she'd sooner bite her own tongue off than say it out loud. Maybe later, when they'd won a battle or two.