In Sloane’s defense (as the narrator of this unfortunate piece of writing must do), she has never seen a mule, a donkey, or anything else with abnormally long ear aside from a rabbit. Sloane is not well traveled and never really cared to. She only recognizes what she’s seen in passing because the mare cannot be bothered to open a book and learn. Learning was for the sort of people who wanted to enhance their IQ or knowledge of the world they lived in. Unfortunately, Sloane was not that sort of person. This was the very first time she had seen anything like the mule before her. In a sense, he was helping her learn - even if she might not wish to call it like it is.
Unlike the mule before her, Sloane did not have a supportive mother. She was one of three born to her mother in one pregnancy. Such a rarity for triplets to be conceived, let alone survive to term and then to survive birth through weaning. Her mother had basically told her to fend for herself. From the moment she had been born, Sloane was very much alone. She had taught herself to survive. Perhaps that is why her skin was so tough and her words so hurtful. She had been denied love and affection and this was all she knew. She didn’t know how to be friendly or what being friendly even meant. She just acted as she always had: with the goal of survival. Soft, trusting, and naïve individuals never really survived.
However, nothing else was said on the matter and perhaps that was a good thing. Instead, he began to answer her question that was really more of a snarky remark than anything, Sloane started to listen in hopes that he might say something useful. However, his words were long and drawn out, clearly evident of some form of higher education. He was trying to make her look unintelligent and it was doing nothing but pissing her off. And so, she stopped listening to him ramble and didn’t even give him the satisfaction of acknowledging his stab at her. However, she had heard him say something about being in alphabetical order or some shit like that. She rolled her eyes. "Organization by alphabet is only successful if the topic you are looking for is labeled under a uniform title…which it isn’t." She rolled her eyes yet again, looking back to the book and continuing to flip the pages in search of the topic she was looking for. "I’m not a complete idiot - I looked alphabetically." While she might have looked under one name, it very well could be listed under something else entirely - thus a table of contents or glossary might have been useful. But clearly, he could not help her with that.
But when he speaks again, this time, he seems to be making some sort of sense to Sloane. He’s trying to be helpful, at least she thinks he is. But regardless of his intent to be helpful, he’s still asking her to divulge more information than she really cares to disclose. After all, it’s really none of his business what she’s looking for. "Is it not obvious that I am looking for a potion or spell?" After all, the book she was currently flipping through was filled to the brim with recipes and chants. Now, exactly which position or spell she was looking for was unknown to him and Sloane intended to keep it. "You don’t need to know exactly what I’m looking for. Mind your own damn business." She would not be sharing her life story with him nor would she be telling him exactly what she was looking for. However, if he wanted to suggest another volume on potions or spells, she might be appreciative.
@Willfur
