Omina asked for a chair, and that frightened Ty more than the missing finger.
She asked for no help, no sympathy, and no permission to acknowledge the raw place where her field command privilege had been torn out. She looked at the Lost Property clerk and set one hand on the counter, calm enough to make the nearby drawers stop moving.
"Bring me a chair before your office mistakes pain for surrender."
The clerk pointed to a stack of three-legged stools. "Seating is not guaranteed during contested ownership proceedings."
Omina stared.
The clerk stared back.
Yun-Jin picked up one stool, broke the weakest leg off against the counter, wedged the remaining two legs through the lower shelf, and pressed down until the whole thing held steady.
"Here is the chair your office failed to understand."
Omina sat.
