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 Posted: Mon Dec 18, 2017 8:01 pm
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Polair had spent some night trying to write the perfect invitation. She wasn't very keen at socializing, but after SSA she had gotten better at it. This letter was for Engrav, for him to pay her a visit so he could see and hopefully evaluate her lab.
The seadweller tried to make her beach side hive seem presentable for the occasion-- meaning that she and her drones did their best to organize piles of formula filled papers and essays and classsified specimens all to be able to impress the yellowblood. When the planned night arrived, Polair did her best to look presentable wearing one of her other swimsuits instead of the usual one. To calm her nerves, she instructed her drones to inform her when he arrived. Why were her palms sweaty? She didn't know, that bothered her. Polair needed more data. While the drones kept watch, she took care of the specimens right outside her balcony with her gerbil by her side. While she tened the animals, her feral pet tried to eat some of them, she didn't mind.
That also seemed to calm her nerves... Hell, it reminded her of Claud!
"Careful Galileo, you might get yourself hurt." She said, taking the little critter in her arms.
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 6:07 pm
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Polair's invitation was a thing of beauty. Engrav had puzzled over it for a while on his own time, turning the thing this way and that, but hadn't managed for figure out why someone would spend so much time on such a superfluous method of communique. The penmanship was exquisite. He that down to Polair's impressive spacial awareness and probably quite a lot of practice, but he could tell a lot of work had gone into it, especially when you couldn't see. The letter even had a scent, a kind of brackish musk that he had to admit wasn't entirely unpleasant. Off-handedly, he wondered if the paper was somehow waterproof, but was loathe to test the theory. He felt somehow like he shoud destroy the letter, just so there wasn't a physical record of his travel, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Instead, he'd pinned it on his wall.
The journey was a long one. His office in Civisect was... very far from the coast. Morrimom could take him some ways, but she wasn't built for such a long run. Instead, he took public transportation, buses and trains. Engrav had worn his best vest for the occasion, carefully shined his shoes and buttons.
As he approached the lab, the little package he'd brought shifted in the crook of his arm. He was sure it was nothing she didn't already have, but hopefully she'd like it all the same. Drones waved him in as he wandered through the outer gates towards the insides of the lab. Gog, she had drones! The insectoid guardians clittered and clacked to each other as he passed, a little nervous. His missing arm itched a little bit. The yellowblood scratched the metal of his prosthetic nervously as he entered the main hall, the quiet sound of chitin on metal unnerving him a little more.
Polair's hive was... well, it was a mess. But it was the good kind of mess. The kind that Engrav was well-acquainted with. Notes and essays and jars of... things... were piled on every chair and every table, every available corner. He felt himself relax almost immediately. Of course she wouldn't let the drones organize for her, they wouldn't put anything in the right places. Maybe they weren't so different after all. Although Morrimom mostly stole his notes and used them for nests. He pretty much memorized everything now.
He turned at a footstep behind him as the Highblood approached. The yellowblood flushed almost immediately, and glanced away. Polair didn't wear much on the best of days, but they were always in some kind of life-threatening danger, usually. He'd never really had time to give it much thought. Today, it seemed she'd pulled out all the stops. That swimsuit revealed a... distressing... level of skin. Engrav wondered if that was intentional, then bit down on the thought.
"Uh." He managed to get out. "Um." He could feel his higher functions shutting down. This had been a terrible idea. "Hi?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 7:13 pm
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The drones had approached her with the news, her visitor had arrived! Grabbing her gerbil with her, she rushed her way to the lab to greet Engrav. Oh, how she hoped he'd like her lab or at least give her some suggestions to make it more complete. Not that it wasn't already but, one could never be so sure.
"Greetings!" Too formal? Perhaps. The seadweller scretched out her hand with a smile on her face to greet the yellowblood properly. Galileo had wriggled his way out of Polair's hold and scrambled onto the floor to stare at Engrav. The highblood clicked her tongue, wondering where had the little critter gone to, without trealizing he was still in the room. "You met Galileo up in the ship haven't you? He... bites a little, but I can assure you he does that to evaluate his environment and seize any opportunity to dominate other species." She remembered the gerbil tried that antic with her, but Polair knew better. Now he respects her and bites her... less than when he first came to her hive.
"Hope the trip here was a good one. Usually the paparazzi make the trip it a bit unpleasant but..." She shook the thought away. it was better not to think much about it. "I'm just glad you made it Engrav. Honestly didn't think you'd have the time to stop by. A-anyways, how are you?"
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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2017 11:31 pm
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The flush was approaching a full bloom, and Engrav felt like he was shutting down just a little bit. Oh Gog. The room was spinning.
Clunk.
Engrav slowly lifted the gerbil that was attempting to devour his prosthetic hand until it was at eye level. It stared at him, incisors clamped down in a death grip on the cold, unfeeling metal of his arm. Those dumb gerbil eyes were full of such malice and hatred. Just like that, the spell was broken. The flush went as quickly as it had come, and Engrav shuddered for a moment, collected himself. Picked the gerbil lightly from his prosthetic and lowered it gently to the ground with only a few angry squeaks. The yellowblood let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
"Paparazzi?" he said, perplexed. Oh, right. Polair was a big name now, since the superstar authority. He'd noticed a few empty vehicles near the main gates, had been wondering what that was all about. They hadn't seemed particularly interested in a lowly yellowblood until the drones had already let him though. He wondered how he was going to get back out without having his picture taken, but shoved it to the back of his mind for now. He'd worry about it later.
"I've had an excellent few weeks. Starting a new business, set up some new offices. It's exhilarating, and... a little scary to have my name out there. I keep worrying that some highblood will jump down and swallow up my little startup. And me as well. Er." Engrav ran his metal hand through what was left of his hair, a little embarrassed. "Present company excluded, of course."
He gestured to a table, then realized she couldn't see him. "You wanna sit?" he said, then realized that probably wasn't the proper way to address a seadweller. As Engrav took a seat he opened his mouth to correct himself, then thought better of it. He wasn't interested in pretending to be a meek lowblood, and Polair didn't seem particularly interested in him playing that role. He asked himself again, not for the first time, why he HAD come.
"Honestly, you're not wrong. I AM pretty busy lately. I managed to make some time though, so it's no trouble. Everything should run just fine without me for a day or two." He paused. That was technically true, but didn't explain what he was doing here, least of all to himself. Clearly he wanted to talk about his ideas with a fellow scientist and inventor, but... they could have done that in letters. Hmm. He had to think about that one. Engrav decided to shift the conversation until he was sure he had a more reasoned response.
"So then." he said, looking carefully. Polair was difficult to read, her eyes covered with her hair like that. "What possessed you to invite me to your lab?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 9:54 pm
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Galileo sneered, not appreciating being handled like that. He was a strong strong gerbil! Nevertheless he scrambled back to the highblood with a squeak. One of the drones tried to take him out of the lab, but it was fruitless. Galileo did though get a hold of Polair's cane that the drone carelessly left unattended. Polair nodded. Paparazzi sure were annoying, but Claud said they were necessary for her career. Gog, that all sounded so exciting! Engrav must feel so excited to start up his business... and nervous. If it were her, she'd have a detailed plan for the next several months listing what she should and would do, plus what others should do. A good and stable agenda was something everyone needed. "Yeah, must be..." That part of highbloods trying to pull him down made her shiver. It reminded her of what happened with Deimos. She shook the thought of him away.
"Oh." Sit down? "Sure." She guessed, though she should have been the one offering the seat. Damn, she still needed some set of skills to be a good host.
"I still apologize for the time I'm taking away from you to... please my foolish whim. Every minute counts and I'll try to make the time you spend here count." She walked to one of her available tables, stubbing her foot with one of the furniture and gutting herself with one of the other tables. Glub. The drones moved her furniture around when the helped pick up the mess didn't they? Great.
"S-sorry! Usually the furniture is arrange a... certain way. That's how I -uh- move around my hive." Without slamming into everything. The small gerbil, confused at his owners antics, pushed the cane towards her, not aware that she needed it. "Thanks." Polair said as she felt the object nudge against her foot. She picked up the cane and her gerbil, letting the critter rest on her shoulder. Using her cane, she figured out where the table was. The seadweller excused herself as she moved some of her essays and books aside.
"Please sit. Make yourself comfortable."
He struck her with a question, which had a simple answer. "I was interested to see you again. I mean, really wished to have an intellectually charged conversation with you and show you the lab. I really want to know what to think of it." A fellow scientist and friend was a reliable source for any type of constructive criticism. "I felt it would be better if you were here."
"Why accept the invitation though, if I hadn't really specified my reasons?" She asked curiously. "You could've declined the offer." She shifted to a comfortable position as she awaited the lowblood's answer.
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Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2018 11:46 pm
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Engrav sat cross-legged at the small table, sinking deep into the comfortable chair the drones had provided. His face crossed for a moment with worry, gone almost as soon as it had appeared. He cautiously set the present he'd brought on the table, wondering how exactly he could address the highblood tactfully. He concluded that he probably couldn't. Highblood interactions just weren't really in his vocabulary. "I mean," he started, marveling at the circumstances that had brought him here. The specific collection of oddity and coincidence that had brought him to the highblood's lab.
The troll that had brought him here.
He flushed bright, not that she could see it. Stupid thought. Useless thought.
"Honestly, I was interested in seeing you again too," he said, dancing around the subject. "There's not a lot of other trolls I associate with that can have a stimulating conversation with. ER, I mean a fascinating conversation with. Fascinating conversation." He paused to collect himself. It didn't work out all that well. "Honestly, If any other troll had asked me, I don't think I would have come. I don't altogether know why. I just feel like I can..." The words didn't seem quite right coming out, but they were still true. "I feel like I can trust you. That's a weird concept for me." He was positive she didn't know quite how weird. All that noise that built up around other trolls didn't seem to be quite so loud around the highblood. He still couldn't believe he'd managed to tell her that.
"That, and I suppose I have a business proposal for you as well. It feels like it would be rude to broach that subject right now, though. Maybe after you show me your lab." He shrugged, then pushed the tightly-wrapped package across the table to Polair. "I got you something. Think of it as a labwarming gift."
He was sure that the highblood already had a copy, but wrapped inside was a leatherbound copy of the famous inventor Neuton's orbital diagrams. He'd carefully transposed the equations within into braille, and added a few notes of his own. Most of them were observations he'd made while they were rescuing space ships, but he'd included the logs he'd found and a rough sketch of what he was pretty sure were the orbital paths of the ships they'd saved.
ImaginationsParadise Happy new year to you too! Sorry about the wait >_>
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Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2018 9:29 pm
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"Well," Polair smiled and felt a little bit surprised, never thinking of the possibilities of Engrav wanting to see her or trusting her. Which one was a bigger surprise to her? Being trusted. She knew the struggles of opening up to someone and not feel paranoid about them, not at the same degree as the yellowblood but she could try to imagine. She clearly needed to stop smiling, gosh, she probably looked like an idiot.
The highblood shifted her weight, trying to find the right words. "I'm-- I'm glad you consider me worthy of your trust. If it's usually a difficult thing for you to assimilate, then it means a lot to me. Um..." That was a bit too much, wasn't it? Her hands were fiddling on her laps and clearly Polair didn't know what to do with them. "I'm oh, well, I'm happy I'm also able to provide both fascinating and stimulating conversations. I mean, yeah both things I guess, I-I feel the same way about you, if you know what I mean." She didn't actually. "In a neuroscientific plane and all." She added in the end, in hopes her nonsense seemed less nonsensical.
"Oh a business proposal? Wonder what you have in mind. You know you are free to talk to me about it whenever you feel the moment is convenient. Though you should tell me where you'd like to begin! I do specific work a specific areas of my lab, so you just tell me if you want to start of at the biochemistry portion of the lab or any other, really." Now his visit really piqued her interests. What did he want to tell her business wise? Polair couldn't help but be giddy about it. Upon hearing something slide against the surface of her table, the seadweller's hands immediately touched the object lightly, trying to figure out what it was. A package, indeed, but what did it contained? "Oh Engrav... You didn't have to." She smiled. A gift... she really didn't expect that.
Tearing the wrapper away and folding it neatly on the table, Polair touched the cover of the book, then it's spine and edges. She felt a bit saddened, thinking she wouldn't be able to fully enjoy the gift. However, once she opened the book, she recognized the embossed paper with Alternia's tactile writing system. "No way..." Polair tried her best to contain her excitement.
"Is this--? Oh my glub! This is a copy of Newton's Orbital diagrams!" She had the book already, yet not in braille. "I've been looking everywhere for a braille edition, these are practically nonexistent! I mean, I've been constantly searching yet... How do you get it?" Her hands kept turning the pages-- reading, exploring them, noting a few differences compared to the first edition. And the observations and logs... that sketch... "This even has the ships orbital paths... This can't be an official edition, you--" Had Engrav put together this gift?
"You did this for me, didn't you?" That was so nice... "You went through all that trouble..." Okay, no, this was a bad time to feel her face heat up. It was a really nice gift, seriously she needed to find a way to top it off when the moment came. In the meantime, the only thing she could do was thank him for the wonderful gift. Polair gave the other teen a hug, not having to think about distance or hugging procedures.
"Thank you so much, I love it." She whispered. He really didn't have to, now Polair had to be attentive, to see what kind of perfect gift she could give the lowblood.
She pulled away, still blushing, and fingers pulling back her hair away from her face. "So... Where would you like to start?"
Buzzwulf thank you f or your patience!
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Posted: Tue Feb 27, 2018 11:08 pm
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Engrav watched Polair carefully as they talked, and couldn't help the little smile on his face as they talked. Slowly, it grew into a big smile. Then a grin.
He finally had someone to talk to. Someone who he could trust.
But the little analytical voice in his head noticed how Polair qualified how she felt about him. How she never said "I trust you, too". It gnawed at the back of that burst of endorphin until it sat there in the back of his thinkpan, a small frustrating doubt.
But it was fair. there was a lot he wasn't sharing with her.
Engrav himself wasn't trustworthy.
The yellowblood wondered if he should share his plan with her. It would be dangerous for both of them if he did, but maybe she would have an idea how he could start. Or who he could start with. Or maybe she would try to talk him out of it.
Did he want her to talk him out of it? He didn't know.
A little of that grin came back as Polair opened her package, clearly excited by the gift. It hadn't taken that long - just a night or two of work. "It really wasn't that hard." Engrav said, running his metallic hand through his hair, embarrassed. "It just took a bit of getting used to the alphabet, and then it was all pretty simple to do. I figured that you'd appreciate one of these, being that it seems like it's pretty hard to get these editions in braille." He flushed a bit.
Engrav's pumpbiscuit felt like it nearly stopped as she flushed in return. He glanced away quickly, sitting down. He felt dizzy. What in gog's name was wrong with him whenever he spent time with the seadweller? He always felt one or two gasps away from fainting like an idiot, and it was starting to get on his nerves. He cleared his throat, but the light-headedness didn't drain entirely away.
"It's your lab" he replied, warmly. "Why don't you go ahead and give me a quick tour? Unless you've been working on anything lately you're interested in feedback on?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 6:30 pm
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Polair couldn't help but open the book again with a small smile. "I am very impressed with your workmanship Engrav!" It was truly impressive, a work of art. "I don't think I can express how thankful I am of having you as a friend."
"You have no idea, I mean, these are truly hard to get and not even in a financial way. There are just not many trolls who stay blind this long. Sure, perhaps lowbloods who are not able to afford a good pair of robotically engineered optical organs but..." She slowly closed the book and set it aside with a sigh. "I guess... trolls who choose to stay this way? If that even makes sense..." The highblood shook away any depressing thoughts and tried to bring back that smile.
"Nevermind that, I'm clearly not thinking straight." She waved her hand, dismissing the topic completely. Polair took a hold of her cane and stood up with a chuckle. "Can't assure you I've been working on something interesting, might as well settle with giving you a quick tour." She joked and extended the cane.
"A fair warning, I tend to be overwhelmingly quick and precise when I'm explaining. Do try to keep up with me." She teased and lead the way. Polair took him to the lab's mudroom so they could be able to leave any outerwear clothing before heading inside. "It keeps my nerves at ease leaving anything that might interfere my work or something that could easily get damaged here." Polair took off her gold coated bangles and metal cane and took a standard cane that rested on the side.
She also pulled her hair up to a ponytail, knowing very well how flammable hair was. "Basically anyone I invite here must leave some belongings in the mudroom. Safety procedures and all. Beyond this point there is the mechanical and electrical pod this door on your right." She pointed at the closed door. "We can go through there if you want. Meanwhile, if we move forward, we find ourselves in the dry laboratory block. Dry ingredients are experimented here!" She walked forward, taking the yellowblood to the dry lab.
"As you can see, there's the twenty feet chest freezer and coolers, fume hoods... Oh! Can't forget about the acid storage bins far back!" She said excitedly. Would he like this? Oh she really wanted to know what he thought about it. "You can also see there's a flammable storage cabinet for... flammable materials and an eyewash and emergency shower just in case things get steamy." And on fire.
"When you are ready to continue the tour, please let me know! You are authorized to check things out in here."
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 12:41 am
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Engrav's acid tract tightened as he entered the mudroom with Polair, the highblood shedding her bangles and cane. He knew what she meant with the optical replacements, he thought, even if it made him a little sad. He'd decided not to cover his scars for the same reason: They were his fault. "I think... if a troll chooses not to cover up their mistakes, there's a bravery in that." he said, quietly. the yellowblood stripped off his charm bracelet and vest. He didn't want to snag on anything in the immaculate laboratory. The last thing Engrav wanted was to cause further disarray.
The yellowblood looked up at her as she played off her comments with a chuckle. Not thinking straight? Engrav knew what the pain of losing a part of yourself to your own foolishness was. He knew that she couldn't see him, but he shook his head at her anyway. The yellowblood pulled his hair back into a ponytail as she did the same, snapped the tie tight to his nugbone. Good. Nice and tight, no stray strands to fall on equipment. "It's impossible to learn from failure if you refuse to acknowledge it. That's one of the basis of the scientific process."
Engrav followed her though the dry lab, looking up in wonder at the size of it all. He would kill for a space to work like this. Storage for what seemed like miles, cold and hot and hoods and coolers as far as the eye could see. He squeaked like a wiggler in a sweet mudhoney puddle, looking at all of the toys. He'd never felt quite so close to Polair and yet... so different at the same time.
Engrav's experiments were trashy by comparison. His hood was an old fan, cannibalized to suck fumes through a vent. His rotary separator he'd built himself from the remains of an axle he'd found in the Chittentown scrapyard. Maybe he could cover some of the same ground with ingenuity, but he could feel the jealousy building little by little.
"Is that a mass spectrometer over there?" The yellowblood called out, walking briskly over at a quick lab pace. He thought so, but it was difficult to tell. Whatever it was, it had been specially designed to print out in embossed letters. He ran his hand over them quickly, feeling the bumps. This was how Polair "saw" the world. These tiny figures where the only way the machines could share their knowledge, could speak to the highblood. Engrav flushed, dropped his flesh hand away. "I think it's all wonderful. It seems like it's got everything you would ever need. I like the modifications you've made here. Embossed printing is really clever. Keep going! I'm excited to see more!"
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Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2018 7:37 pm
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Bravery? Out of a shameful experience? That was a new concept to think about. Maybe she could invite him over some other time to discuss the matter. "I find that debatable, if you ever have time to have a friendly discussion with me on the topic..." Might even do a research paper on it while at it!
"I know." She said sternly and later relaxed her tensed muscles not a second after with a sigh. "I know... There has never been a moment in which I haven't acknowledged my mistake. I clearly learnt my lesson." Don't feel, avoid doing so at all costs-- even if she has broken that rule couple of times already. Again she tried to fend off such thoughts and focus on the tour. Luckily, Engrav asking about her mass spectrometer was just the distraction she needed.
Pol smiled and carefully walked over him. The highblood touched the machinery lightly, feeling the embossed letters like usual. Her smiled widened as Polair clasped her hands together. "You do? Wow, I-- I'm really glad! I've tried my best to make this lab capable of meeting my needs."
"Oh Engrav, you still haven't seen much to be honest." She giggled a bit. Man, she hadn't felt like this in sweeps. "You'd still have to see the wet lab, and biology pod, to truly see if it's complete. But I understand if it'd be overwhelming." Was there a thing as too much science?
"So if you feel like you need a break or something, please don't hesitate to ask. I know I can be a bit intense in an environment like this. And..." She really didn't want to scare him away. "Might be a bit too much."
Oh glub, I'm overthinking again. Polair thought, running her fingers through her tied hair. "W-well, let's keep moving!" She attempted to regain that big smile she had on her face as she lead the way through the wet ingredients lab. Smaller in comparison, yes, but had enough materials and equipment to work with, which she explained with as much details as she could muster. Next up was the Biology pod, which was equipped with a small radioisotope lab, an analytical lab, a microscope room and a water station.
"Here I try to observe the microscopic plane that's usually ignored. Though I wish I could show you the radioactive isotopes back in my ocean hive. The ones here are not as active since they can become a hazard." She shrugged. Maybe some other time. "I'm thinking of putting together an atmospheric sciences pod, since we got the chance to go out to space but, that would be a hard goal to accomplish. Any questions so far?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 10:55 am
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"If being able to admit when you've been wrong isn't brave, I don't know what is." the yellowblood said, glancing around as they walked. There were so many innovations here that his head couldn't stop spinning just a little. It was too much to take in. Here where beeping lights, there was a whirring centrifuge. He blinked in an attempt to clear his thinkpan, optical input orbs still flashing with the afterimage of the metal tables and immaculate floors. Polair thought her lab was a mess? What in the world was she talking about? Engrav thought that he was generally pretty tidy himself, but this was making him feel like a troll that lived in a trash heap. "I'd love to talk to you about it sometime." he continued, then stopped dead as they entered the wet lab.
Wow.
"Can I uh," Engrav stuttered, caught up staring at the wet lab. Chemicals and catalysts galore, stocked impeccably all the way to the ceiling. He drooled a little bit. Engrav knew more about digital mediums than all of this chemistry, but he could appreciate the organization of the lab. The sheer scope of it's exhaustive collection. He wondered if Polair ever had to run out and find new stock, or if drones did that for her. Probably didn't even worry about cost. He winced, his lowblood showing through again. Jealousy was unbecoming.
"Could I - Can I ask how you what happened? To your eyes, I mean. If that's not too much of an imposition! I just... haven't heard the story. Maybe I can offer some kind of insight?" He lingered on her face for a moment, then remembered that she couldn't see him. Of course she couldn't. He glanced away again, looking at rack upon rack of corrosive chemical. His face burned as though he'd been splashed in acid himself.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:22 pm
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Polair stopped her tracks once Engrav asked her what exactly happened to her. She opened her mouth to speak but no words were uttered. "I..." She said with a stutter and crossed arms. The purpleblood looked to the side, slightly squeezing her arms as the memories flooded her mind. She could still remember the smell of the chemicals flowing all over her, the pains as it entered her system, the taste, how it prevented her from breathing as it went in her nostrils and gills.
It was all terrifying.
Taking a few breaths, Polair pressed her lips together before nodding. "Yes I, I-I can answer your question. Just, give me a moment..." She said softly before looking through one of her racks. She was looking for a test tube containing what she had presumed it was the chemicals in the Civisect Space Dome sweeps ago. Once she felt the letters on the tube, she pulled it out and walked her way back to the lowblood. Her hands were becoming cold and shaky as she handed over the test tube.
"Sweeps ago, practically when the space race took place, the team encountered a series of set backs that may have cause our tower to malfunction. Between those malfunctions, there was a chemical leak. The sample I have handed over is what took away my sight." She said bitterly. "I keep it as a reminder."
"Because I got so overwhelmed with the situation, I disregarded any logical plan of action. My anger and frustration took the best of me and, a-as I tried my best to handle it all, I pressed something that thought it'd stop the leak. Instead..." Polair sniffled, rubbing her eyes some.
"The tubes had been damaged, as I pressed the button, slow drips fell on my face, a second later the dense chemicals fell on me. All over me, I felt like... I felt the way it my system, my cells, my body tissues... How it destroyed my eyes." Polair clicked her tongue, glaring at the darkness in front of her. She hated recalling such memories. "I hate to think I reduced myself to that; it haunts me. Yet it's a well deserved outcome for the attitude I had back then. I hate to think that I could have avoided it all if I hadn't made a wrong choice."
"I promised myself not to give in to emotional impulses after that. To avoid feeling anything that may come between me and my work." Polair sighed once more, hoping whatever insights he had could make her feel better. Even if he was against the odds. The event had left her a hollow shell of what she once was during her childhood. And that version of herself was never coming back.
After all, she was dead.
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Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 9:31 pm
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Engrav could tell he'd asked the wrong question almost immediately, just by how Polair visibly jerked like she'd hit a wall. Engrav winced as he saw the pain writ large on her features. He'd never seen the highblood look so unguarded, like an open book. She looked pained. And terrified.
It felt bad, seeing her like this, but a tiny part of him took the information, stored it away. Just in case he needed it later. Just in case. The rest of him caught her hand, squeezed to show his support. "I - I'm so sorry, Polair. I didn't know." He connected the dots in his head, remembering what she was calling setbacks. It hadn't been anything of the sort.
It had been sabotage.
Which meant in the larger scheme of things, someone was responsible.
He could feel the acid in his stomach, that kernel of rage beginning to stoke once again. Morrimom had been hurt in that tower as well. She still limped from it. His hand squeezed the seadweller's a little harder, then harder still as he dwelt on it, the anger flickering from his stomach to his chest, then spreading further.
"All of that," he said, voice shaking just a little. She thought it was her fault? That if she'd been faster, or better, or more objective, she somehow would have gotten away free? No. That wasn't how this worked. That sabotage was intentional. Those bombs had been intentional. "I wish I could do something to help. I would... I just wish I'd been there." His voice was beginning to drop now, becoming more raw. Unguarded.
This had been DONE to her.
His voice dropped more, nearly a whisper now. "If it were me... If I knew who was responsible for those bombs..." Engrav gritted his teeth, letting the anger seep out of his mouth like hot acid. Not entirely clear of what he as saying, only that it felt like justice.
"If it were me, I'd want to take their eyes myself." the yellowblood finally spat out. Frustration and rage played across his burned face like cinders.
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