Jun 15 2025, 12:11 PM
Audland's bulk, fluff and teeth were imposing, sure, but she'd just called him imposing. She already knew that bit, though admittedly the lean-in was intimidating. She found her back was up, though: not because of the implied threat, which she could've laughed off good-naturedly, but the use of 'darlin'.' She couldn't say why, but it rankled her in a way that the physical didn't. It was... Well, maybe it wasn't, but it struck her as both condescending and slimy, somehow. She made an audible "Ugh," and turned away with a grimace of disgust, leaving Audland to do his own thing, deciding that she did not like him.
The room ahead was enough of a distraction, though, and Thalia focused on it. The others quickly picked up on the puzzle, one that wasn't really hard to figure out (and who'd bothered to write MAGIC on one button..?) That left little for her to do.
Ironically, despite the simplicity of the puzzle, she herself didn't put two and two together in regards to where the key must go. She'd never seen a keyhole in her life. She stared at one, then the other, and put her hands on her hips in thought. "Hey! That thing you found, it matches the picture!" she offered brightly, oblivious to how it actually worked.

