[D2, MA, The Flame Pits, Mani-Pedi Day (Open)

[Thaddeus]

As attendants trimmed and buffed his nails to perfection, Thad admires the job they'd done on his hooves.

"The cage does strange things to a berk tiny dancer. So much and so little, predictable but chaotic... this is a city of paradoxes. It strips you bare, exposes your deepest tenets, and puts them in the light for all the cage to see. We become creatures of extremes and the fringe becomes the norm."

He hisses through his teeth and pulls back his hand, "Careful with the cuticle, it shouldn't look like I've been pruning razor vine."

Relaxing back into his seat he continues, "You're just lucky you came 'cross such a well-balanced cutter as me. Follow my lead and we'll have you well-lanned soon 'nough."

[Dare Shah]

Relaxing back into his seat he continues, "You're just lucky you came 'cross such a well-balanced cutter as me. Follow my lead and we'll have you well-lanned soon 'nough."

"And who are you exactly mister, to have such an unwavering confidence in yourself?"

[Thaddeus]

Thad looks equal parts aghast and remorseful. He pulls his hands back and stands to take a well practiced bow "In my eagerness to enjoy the facilities here, I have forgotten myself to have not made a proper introduction. I am Thaddeus, Factotum of the Society of Sensation, at your service."

[Illiam'iira]

As the two speak Illi sinks back into the water, her brow furrowed. Hopefully she doesn't change that much... hopefully... that's why...

[Dare Shah]

"And I am Lady Dare Shah, of the Shah family, administrator of, as you guessed rightfully, the Fraternity of the Order. Pleased to meet you mister Thaddeus."

Dare simply tipped her bath cap as salutation, since she was never taught how to perform a curtsey while immersed in water. Maybe some kind of synchronized swimming figure?

"I note you answered the question of who you are, but not from where your confidence in your own balance comes from. I'm not saying your claims are baseless, I'm just curious on what they're based."

[Thaddeus]

He looks around, then to Dare, Illiam, and the attendants waiting for him to sit back down so they can finish their work. "Well obviously, I'm well-balanced. I enjoy life to the fullest, I am wonderful company to keep, I'm a jack of all trades, I contribute to my guild... If there's anything I'm missing, I don't see it." He says as though it should be obvious.

[Illiam'iira]

Illi peeks at him, getting up out of the water just enough to chirp, "I think she meant balanced in the more philosophical or spiritual sense?"

[Thaddeus]

Thaddeus settles back down and let's the attendants get back to work on his nails.

"Now that's the problem with most of these factions, in my humble 'pinion. That's where their imbalance comes from. They spend too much time thinking about how they should be thinking and feeling instead of just doing it, instead of just living life.

So you make up your mind that this is the way, that out of everyone else, you're right and they're all wrong. So you exclude whatever everyone else is doing because it must be wrong. It's us versus them and more and more and more until you get these huge chasms between each other. There's this that you must do and that that you must never.

Now as a Sensate, I feel similar to what I figure the Guvners do, might've been a Guvner in another life. Anyway, we feel that experience will show you everything you need to in life. Gunners think it's knowledge, so we're close enough. Whatever your path shows you is yours to find and no one else can do it for you.

My own personal philosophy if I had to say, live your life and don't turn down new opportunities, keep yourself open to what the multiverse wants to show you.

I guess that's why I consider myself balanced, I'm open to what's to come, not stuck on one side or another of anything, I'm just ridin' down that middle line."

[Dare Shah]

"Oh, my own experience with factions is that, except for a few vocal zealots, everyone is quite reasonable and accommodating.

There's a joke for that: A Bleaker, a Cipher, a Guvner and a Sensate, are at a restaurant.

The Cipher of course orders the first thing that comes to their mind.
The Sensate looks and smells out for anything they haven't tried before.
The Bleaker goes for a simple belly filling soup, as a meal has no greater purpose than to feed the body.
The Guvner reads the menu carefully only to eventually pick the chef's specialty, as they should know best.
And then everyone eats all the same.

You get the gist of it: There are minor differences in our approaches, that we sometimes like to overplay. But, in the end, the fact we all are sentient social beings always take precedence."