I’m back.

Enter L., dirty, tired, with a small wound on her right fist.
Villager: “She’s back!”
Villagers: “She’s back! Praise her! Sing songs about her joyous deeds!”
L: “Hi, I’m back. No need for praise. Let’s go on with things.”

The villagers start to sing and dance and praise L’s great deeds of the past year: How she nearly finished the thesis once again, how she got the terrible wound on her right fist (Even though L. says it was just a little accident in the dojo, the villagers believe to know the truth: She slew a dragon with her bare hands), how wonderful her strong fragile body glimmers in the pale moonlight of the sunset.
L: “I appreciate your efforts but I’m not a hero. I’m just back.”
Villagers: “Our heroine is back! Praise her!”

*

Scene 2:

Cassius-Anthony and L.
Cassius-Anthony: “You’ve gained such a victory, L. Your thesis is nearly finished.”
L: “Do you know what the term “pyrrhic vicotry” means, Anthony? I’ve been nearly finished for two years now.”
Cassius-Anthony: “Which just proves you are both victorious and modest, L.”
L: “… I’m tired, not victorious.”
Cassius-Anthony: “In a few weeks you will be both tired and vicotrious.”
L: “Sounds good to me.”