Scene Archives

barrels through the door to their room at the Six Five Moon’s Watch, a little wild-eyed. She still has her tomestone in one hand and her bag slung over her shoulder.

is seated at the end table, with several pieces of paper spread out upon the table, each of them filled with different graphs and long, complicated looking equations.

stops, relieved to see him, then suddenly not very relieved at all. She. Sets her tomestone down along with the satchel. “What’re you working on?”

: “Trying to figure out how hard, exactly, it would be to reach a moon.”

: “Oh. That’s fascinating. With what?”

: “Cannon feels like it’s probably got the best base launch power, and theoretically shouldn’t be too difficult to augment…”

blinks and goes over to sit down on the bed near him. “You gonna launch one of Awa’s orbs up there or—?”

: “It feels like the easiest way to do it without having to actually invent rockets from scratch, which would not… be a terrible time efficient thing anyway.”

: “Or get Zaed’s massive airship working.” She thinks of one idea, then a second, almost mentions her concern that Sininen might not survive a trip to a moon, realizes she’s just looking for a distraction, and then huffs. She stands up and starts taking off the parts of her clothes that are armor—boots and gauntlets and pauldron. As she does, she says, “I am sorry to distract you, but there’s something I do need to talk to you about.”

: “Airships generally aren’t capable of breaking the stratosphere and it’s not even operat -“ A pause. “What’s up?”

bites her lips and hates herself a little bit more. She returns to sit on the bed, tucking her legs up to her chest. “I. Can either show your or tell you. I’m not sure what you’d prefer. I guess I can start with telling you.” ⁂

: “Generally speaking I’d prefer that yes.”

: “I’ve been talking a lot with Jae. You … know that, obviously. Our DMs are … really long. I care for her.” She looks into the middle distance. “And we’ve talked a lot. Spent time together. Had a duel. Just hung out in the library. She’s someone—I’ve never meant someone who just intrinsically got all the Sword-Saint shit.” She clenches her hands into her fists. “Anyway, when we were in the library, she was—different. Human. Not much larger that me. Two hands. Somehow more vivid. And I—I didn’t, but a couple times I wanted to kiss her I think? And afterwards—nothing happened physically. We’ve made … certain promises to each other, but they’re about … I didn’t consider them romantic. But afterward I felt like I’d done something wrong. Like I’d violated your trust. And I think maybe I did. And I’m not really sure what to do other than to own up to it.” 🙧

spins his pen between his fingers idle as Salme talks, before relaxing in his chair and turning towards her. “Hmm. So. Stray, idle thoughts that someone doesn’t act on… I don’t think there’s really any sense in trying to hold a person accountable for them? People have strange, senseless thoughts all the time that don’t particular mean anything or reflect on them in any meaningful way.”

: “I mean. I did create an artifact made of the six types of gnosis that also represented part of my soul and gave it to her. It was—meant as a promise, that I would live, but … I’m sure it could be read as romantic?” She shakes her head. “That’s why in some ways I thought I should show you. What if I’m misrepresenting it? What if it was wrong? I don’t. This—you and me—matters to me so much. And I didn’t do anything other than … hold her hand? But what if.” She shakes her head. “I was flipping out at Jorule and then he called me a ‘fucking spiritual virgin nerd’ and he’s probably right and anyway that’s why I’m here.”

: “I see.”

: “Hmm. I mean. That does. Sound a little romantic coded. And you have been spending the vast majority of your free time with her, and. Mm.” He glances up, then away, while tapping at the table top.

: “…Honestly I don’t think it’s too surprising, your heart is… large, and your desires immense. I’m not really sure how much my thoughts on the matter should really… factor into how much, if at all, you ought to limit that part of yourself, though.”

: “Your thoughts matter to me,” she says, steadily, certain. “And I want—wherever my feelings fall for Jae, or—or Wolf, or fucking Jorule, or anyone else, when I imagine a future you’re the one I want beside me. You and Awa.” She touches her bracelet again. “But I don’t want to have—intense, intimate relationships with people and. Not have talked about it with you? Especially because I got so fucking weird about Zaya.”

: “You being an insanely jealous person is kind of funny, in retrospect.”

’s mouth twists a little unpleasantly. “Glad it’s funny to you and not enraging.”

: “Anyway that’s… fair, I guess. For what it’s worth though, I… really do not have a good impression of SQ, vs it being a bit exasperating but otherwise easy to be around his Lordship, The Prince.”

looks at him and says, neutrally, mostly just curious, “By your saying you don’t have a good impression of Jae, are you telling me you’re concerned about my … whatever it is with her, or about the idea of her being part of you and me and Sininen? Because the latter isn’t something I’d … ask you for or even want (unless, of course, you meant something else).”

spins the pen again. “…More directly, for both our sakes, I think I am saying that while I could probably be understanding of a small fling, I would most likely have several concerns and issues if it was to ever become more than that.”

nods and … considers. “I don’t. Think I would. Again, there’s—it’s closer to what I feel for Wolf, I think. Maybe not as sibling-inflected, but it’s not—it doesn’t feel romantic to me. She’s important to me and she always will be, I think. This was the first time I’ve wanted to kiss her in a way that made me feel like I was in danger of violating something. I can’t imagine a … sustained partnership with her? Does. That make sense? What do you think of that?”

stares at Salme for a moment. “D…do you occasionally finding yourself wanting to kiss Wolf too…?”

makes a face. “Absolutely not.”

: “Sounds like it’s kinda different from that then. Anyway. Uh. Sounds like you got kinda bad taste honestly.” A beat. “Yes, that’s a joke because I’m included. Uh, anyway.”

: “(Well, that’s why I said ‘closer’ not ‘exactly’),” she mutters, unhelpfully.

: “I don’t know, sounds like you are attracted to someone and you feel weirdly guilty about it for reasons I can’t even imagine.”

: “I guess maybe I am attracted to her? And maybe I feel guilty because we do have an intense relationship, even if it’s not a romantic relationship? And. I don’t think. I want to add an element of physicality to that? I know I certainly don’t want to shift anything about our partnership in the long term.” The last, at least, she sounds certain about. “It’s just I’m … worried I’m blurring a boundary I shouldn’t be? And I absolutely don’t want to ever hurt you and if I have in any way I’ll take responsibility.”

: “If it makes you feel better, now that we’re in a massive city with mostly, uh, human-shaped people, we’ve run into people here I’ve thought were attractive, too. I don’t think that particularly matters, if no one’s acting on it though.”

huffs, amused. “It kinda does help.” She looks at him. “So what kind of things do you find attractive?”

: “You’ve definitely asked that question and gotten answers before.”

: “Sure, but it was about clothes, not people. You don’t have to answer,” she shrugs. “I was mostly just curious.”

: “Hmm, fair point I suppose. Though, I am curious, why immediately come to me and not Awa?”

: “Well. Three reasons. First, I’m pretty sure if I expressed interest in someone else he’d immediately encourage me to go for it. Second, you’re the one I—got weird at. Maybe, in some ways, sometimes feel more possessive of? I don’t know. I can … unpack that further if you’d like. And third …” her mouth twitches again, though a little more towards a smile. “The third one’s sappy. Do you want to actually hear it in this context?”

: “I mean, it’s not like I have any other context to get answers from…?”

: “I don’t know if you remember what that star is called, the one that’s always at the ceiling of the heavens. I saw it through the telescope with Awa, but Zaya told me its name—Auxanyr, the Steadfast. Maybe you remember that? Anyway. She said it’s like the ‘one person around whom the whole thing spins, who keeps it on its level.’ I know I said something similar to you before, but.” She looks down at her hands. “That’s you, to me. Whenever I’m off-kilter or spinning out, you just. Exist. Say a handful of words. Interrupt yourself mid-sentence. And then it’s like things are balanced again. I wanted to feel balanced again.”

leans forward to take both of Salme’s hands into his own.

: “That’s a good reason, yeah.”

squeezes his hands back and gives him a slightly watery smile.

: “Also … I am sorry if it has felt like I’ve spent most of my free time with Jae, but we’ve only hung out twice. I’ve spent more time with Zaya but … the person I’ve spent the most time with here is you. Maybe tied with Awa? I guess I’d have to really measure it out. But. Er. If it seemed otherwise, I wanted to clear that up.”

: “Ah. No that wasn’t really - it’s fine. I’ve had a lot of stuff to work on myself, anyway, so it not like I could have possibly spent more time with you either way.”

: “Yeah you’ve been busy making yourself even more devastatingly attractive and making me the most beautiful weapon I’ve ever held in my hand. And processing a lot of shit.” She leans forward, bonking her forehead against his. “Is. I’m going to ask you an adjacent but subject-changing question, but before I do, are we okay on this?”

: “If you’re not asking me to welcome SQ into our group, and I’m not about to blame someone for having thoughts they can’t control, I don’t think there’s particularly reason to not be okay.”

laughs a little, and yeah, she is more balanced. “Why do you dislike her so much? I’m not offended, just sort of … awed. I’ve never seen you dislike someone so thoroughly.”

: “I don’t know, something about her just rubs me the wrong way. Also the whole layers of farce upon farce thing.”

: “She is a very specific type of person. What do you mean by the layers of farce upon farce? Is this about the Rite or something else?”

: “The Rite thing, the Hero thing, the Ritual That Isn’t Ritual theatrics…” He shrugs.

: “You are very much a ‘cut through the noise’ kind of person when you decide to act, aren’t you?”

: “Mmhm.”

: “‘Ontological solutions to practical problems, but probably not explanations,’” she quotes, smiling. “I loved what you wrote there. I love that about you.” She squeezes his hands. “I also like finding out what makes you grumpy.” Now she’s grinning.

: “Keep in mind the misuse of dangerous knowledge has lead to the downfall of many a nation.”

: “I don’t doubt it, but are you referencing something specific here?”

: “No, I’m making a very silly joking threat.”

blinks, and then works through the math of it, and then laughs. “Oh. Light. I was so caught up on … I didn’t realize what that was in response to.”

: “Oh, yeah. Dork. Haha.”

: “Yeah. Takes one to know one.”

: “Uh-huh.”

: “And,” she adds, “I know I make jokes about it, or I have in the past, but my taste isn’t bad. Maybe it’s a little esoteric, but … you and Awa are the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

: “Well. I suppose I can believe that. I do try.”

: “Really? I mean. I guess you seem to just … almost effortlessly succeed. At least to me. I mean, small misunderstandings aside.”

: “That’s the power of thinking before acting.”

looks at him for a moment, and something seems to click into place for her, and she leans in and kisses his jaw (for the first time, since he shave, it’s accessible). “That does remind me. I did make you something. I know you’re not a gift person but I thought it might be useful.”

lets go of her hands so they’re free. “Alright.”

squeezes his hands and lets go long enough to go get her satchel. She pulls out a piece of sleek, dark red silk. Then she’s back in front of him, taking one of his hands and offering him the item with another. “It’s a sleep mask. I’ve been practicing spinning gnosis into fibers and then weaving them. This is mostly tenebrous gnosis, with a bit of pellucid. It should … again, if you don’t like it, it’s no big deal, but. I know your eyes are sensitive and you always groan in the morning when it gets bright.”

: “Anyway, it should stay darker and cooler than a non-gnosis-worked sleep mask.”

: “Do you want to know a secret?”

narrows her eyes at him. “Obviously.”

: “They’re not actually that sensitive, the sunglasses are just very cool.”

: “Thank you, though.”

laughs and laughs at that. When she’s done, she’s grinning. “The sunglasses are very cool. I really, really, really like the new ones. Though, of course, I also like seeing your eyes.”

: “Fair enough.”

sets the sleep mask that may or may not see use aside and takes his other hand. “You do know if you … wanted me to spin gnosis into an artifact that contained a sliver of myself for you I absolutely would, and gladly? It just seemed unnecessary, considering you have pretty much all of me.” She says it confidently, but yeah, she’s blushing, again.

: “I’d never want you diminish yourself when you’re perfectly capable of standing by myself instead.”

opens her mouth to say it didn’t diminish her at all, but she ends up just kissing him instead. Oops.

is probably a lot happier with this results on the whole.

breaks the kiss and then, voice low, says, “I was going to say I need to blow off some anxious energy. I was going to ask if you’d like to spar or—“ she swallows. “I did say I’d like to show you how attractive I find the new look.”

: “Ah, well. Then say no more - we’re already here, after all.”

doesn’t say anything more at all.