Scene Archives

caught back up with Salme after her trip through the bazaar, and after a brief stop at the gunsmith (at which he picked up a few random parts in addition to the revolver for Salme), started making their way towards the Rite Zones where they’d already agreed to meet up with The Awoken.

shows up, his footsteps making very slight clinking noises as he walks. His attire has changed- gone are the dashing full-length embroidered garb. He wears a scaled breastplate, backed by leathers, its scales shining white. Matching bracers grace his forearms. A three-part fauld hangs to protect his thighs, hips, and groin- from one side are his noted bottles, and on the other, the thinly-flowered garland. Shined polyns cover the knee area, and match well with his grey-scaled boots, which have been polished to at least some kind of shine. His right shoulder is bare, and the left is covered by a jagged shell of what must have been a great beast.

: “Didn’t want to get the frills singed off I take it…?”

pounds a fist into a palm. “Wanted to match the locals! Plus, cleaning the clothes felt like it was going to be a lot more work than buffing out the armors.”

: “Yeah, that’s fair.”

absorbs the new look for a moment, and then walks around him, examining the outfit from every angle. “Very nice. It suits you.” She reaches up to touch his bare shoulder, touch lingering for just a moment. “Yes. I approve,” she says, as if he was waiting for her to do so.

winks at her and clicks his tongue. “Knew you would! Special place for these, too-“ He touches the charms right over the center of his chest.

: “Not a scratch on ‘em, even after taking down a giant turtle.”

is still wearing her trousers and boots, plus her undershirt from Samudra, but nestled in the hollow of her throat, hanging from a chain that itself looks like thorns, is a rose-gold wreath of tangled rose vine, an eight-pointed golden star nestled within, and within that a crystal sphere with a single mote of quicksilver pressed against the surface, bounded by an iron band. She touches it, occasionally, still not used to the presence of it.

smiles at the charms. “Oh? You went out fiend hunting?” raising her eyebrows. “I guess you do like to go native quickly.”

nods. “Oh yeah, a whole seven natives.”

: “Clan Twitherym! Represented by a lot of weird purple butterflies. Can’t miss their leader- extremely tall and pink and sharp.”

: “And there’s no better way to announce your place in the way of things than by charging in and getting up in everyone’s business!” He stomps a foot and fistpumps!

laughs. “I’m certain you made an impression.”

then takes a step back from both of them so she can see them both easily. “Well. I’ve gathered you here today for something very important.”

stares at the necklace around Salme’s throat, but as she shifts gears, he starts paying attention.

: “On Almachadta, when a relationship reaches a certain point in its seriousness, it is customary to hold a rite to establish a hierarchy of dominant partners. Now is that time,” she intones.

is taking in the necklace as well, before glancing up to look at Salme, turns to Awa, then shrugs.

looks to Aury, and shrugs in return. “Okay, so… double-team her on 3?”

tilts her head curiously. “Hmm.”

: “2.”

turns back to focus on Salme. “1!”

isn’t going to flinch first, that’s for sure.

[The Stakes: The Winner must listen to an explanation of what happened. The lose must explain what happened.]

though, as they step into the Rite, she reaches out not for battle, but for connection, flourishing and pellucid twined together, asking both of them to respond in kind.

: “Every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you,” she murmurs.

: “If we’re going to learn truths about each other I figured it was only fair we learn them at the same time.” She shrugs.

runs his tongue over his teeth and spreads his arms wide and low, reaching out to fully establish a connection of flourshing and pellucid gnosis.

: “…Mm.”

: “Anyway.”

clips a coin into the air and catches it while his eyes flash. “Got it and ready.”

nods. “Like a magic trick… show us the card!”

can’t see their hands, so couldn’t hope to begin to answer that.

chuckles and taps the tip of his boot into the ground. “Who’s on first?”

: “Well, like I said I am loaded and ready.”

: “Take the lead, Aury.”

flips the coin into the air again, then produces five cards in his hand, then holds them out towards Salme. “Pick a card.”

: “You don’t have the only card that matters. Hm.” Her hand overs over the cards, and then she gestures at [Feint!]

: “No, I mean, pick a card.” He gestures to the playing cards in his hand, backs to himself and numbers towards Salme.

picks one of the playing cards in his hand.

: “Memorize it, put it back.”

blinks, but memorizes it, and then puts it back.

shuffles the cards a few times, then disappears them before catching the coin on it’s way back down. It begins to glow purple, orange and pink, before he flicks it into the air above Salme and it expands into a larger, gnosis filled card that begins to fill itself with words. “Is… this your truth?”

tilts her head to look at him. “Perhaps it is. It is a truth, at least.”

laughs joyously, putting both hands behind his head. “It’s amazing! Welcome aboard!”

smiles at him. “I was going to have you go last, Awa, since you’re the big mystery, but I notice you’re absent the card you need so. Would you like to tell me the truth?”

: “Wait for it…”

: “… or not…”

: “Well Awoken isn’t a name.”

: “It absolutely is!”

: “It’s really not.”

: “Glory thinks so too!!”

: “No, they’re just enabling you.”

: “Anyway pretty sure I called Prince? So there’s that.”

: “Did you call prince? That’ll be annoying if you did.”

: “But yeah, it’s clearly a title, as evidenced by the ???. They’re just humoring you.”

brushes his hair out from in front of his face. “I’m not surprised.”

: “I feel like it came up at some point, but couldn’t possibly remember when.”

: “I have big prince energy, clearly.”

: “Light we’ll get to Valaïs and we’ll find out that you have an arranged marriage we’ve got to get you out of.”

: “Mmm. I can see it.”

: “As can I,” she says flatly.

blinks. “Oh, I didn’t know you’d both be opposed to me marrying someone.”

’s jaw clenches.

: “Wouldn’t bother me any, it’s just easy to imagine the sequence of events leading to an outcome you don’t want, and thus, needing to lend a hand.”

looks around, not really making eye contact. “Eheheh… well… ah… hey! I’ll take a turn, now. Watch this, you’ll love it.”

stage whispers, “(I was trying to get [Esoterica] and [The Scorpion and the Frog] in my hand too, but it was taking too long.)”

: “…Of course.”

: “Skill issue.”

: “Right! The Rite! The certain truth’s light!” He points at Aurelius, and a spotlight shines down upon him from… somewhere. “You! Center stage! Take a bow! Read the back of your play’s brochure for actor name, contact info, height, weight, and blood type!”

: “Had a feeling that would be different from Lucja’s.”

: “Hm. Well. That makes sense at least.”

: “It wasn’t always gonna be like, that, huh?”

: “Hm?”

: “I mean, the ‘unobserved space’… who did the observing?”

: “Oh. Yeah. Hmm. … Jorule? The fisherman…?”

: “Silmät, I’d assume. Or whatever brought silmät into being?”

: “Anyway, I wanted … to test a theory and I wasn’t thinking. Could one of you perhaps do a second cast?”

: “Sure.” Aurelius steps back and then - draws up more energy.

swirls his hands around each other, and the gnosis around everyone runs in reverse for a bit.

thinks silminnäkijä is very helpful, and would love to cast [Libra] on them somdeday.

: “You can target me, Sinitöyhtönärhi.”

thinks there is something extremely strange going on with you, silmät.

grins, and flourishes with a hand- the spotlight shines upon Salme, and there’s a flourish of a brass trill from somewhere. “We can’t stop looking at you. Witnessing you. Wanting to know you.”

: “Hmm. Well. That’s informative. So I can’t just rely on that when I can’t decide on what to eat.”

: “…Well, no, if you don’t know what you want, how would it know what you want? It pulls from our own knowledge.”

: “I mean, you could probably learn the provenance of a striking piece of cheese, perhaps.”

: “Does it pull from our own knowledge? I—hmm. And cheese can’t talk,” she says, like this is the important point that needs to be made.

tilts his head. “Have you talked with a particularly sharp cheddar?”

: “When it was used on me, it was my choice what to give in return, so I would assume so.”

: “The first time, rather.”

strokes his chin. “Oh? That’s interesting.”

: “I think that might have been a function of tuuli and the free will absolutism.”

shrugs a bit.

: “You never respect my wild theorizing.”

squints at Salme.

: “Joke.”

: “Yes, I assumed… though, “wind“?”

: “Yes. I told you about … speaking to him? On the wind in the void? Seemed nicer than “all-breaker“ or “stranger“?”

: “Eh? What’s up now?”

balks. “‘all-breaker’ was on the table and you decided that was less flattering than ‘wind’, somehow?”

starts to piece together context clues. “Breaking wind? Is there a rotten pork loin going ab-“ He stops midsentence, something in his mind catching him.

: “Anyway, I assume we’re done now…?”

: “Well we don’t have a winner or a loser for the stakes you set for this Rite.”

: “CAN rites end in a draw?”

rolls a shrug, taking a step back.

looks over at Salme and extends a hand.

looks at his hand. “Is that a forfeit or do you want to keep going? I’m fine either way.”

: “We can keep going. Looking at your hand, I fear I’m definitely at a disadvantage!” He laughs.

: “And I did just finish casting [Libra] so… your go, sweet sparrow?”

pulls him into a dance, dipping him low and letting burning flames chase along his body.

spins out of the low swing, and arrests to a stop suddenly, whipping a hand to her hip, halting her movements.

makes his way over to a wall and leans against it, watching the other two out of the corner of his eye while he produces his tomestone.

laughs, low and warm, and draws her hands down the scale mail of his chest, drawing pellucid sparks off the metal and then reaching out to pluck tenebrous gnosis out of herself like silken thread.

does not retreat, does not falter, merely looks straight into her eyes, shining and engaged. “Go on, then.”

: “…You left that in your recon load out?”

: “It’s not my dueling load out, is it!”

shakes his head.

ignores Aurelius, is only looking into Awoken’s eyes, at how azure they are, and endless, and his. There’s really not that much difference between rage and passion, is there? She’s thought it before, but as her heart catches fire, she knows it. She reaches out to cup the back of his neck, laughs low, soft, and then uses her hand to push him down to his knees. “I’ve heard that crowns indeed are a lot to bear, but you need not bear it alone.”

is, for sure, extremely stressed.

rests his face against Salme’s thigh.

: “…Ah, I see the game now.” Aurelius nods to Awa with a smirk on his face.

fists her hands in his hair, running her fingers through it slowly, thoughtfully. And then: “So. The Winner must listen to an explanation of what happened. The loser must explain what happened.”

looks down at Awa. “I eagerly await your telling of it.”

looks left and right. “Oh, like, right now?”

looks down at him and laughs. “Your brain’s not good for much at the moment, hm?” She runs her hand through his hair again. “All right, my prince, I guess we can let it rest.”

glances at Aurelius. “I am sorry for not asking though. You’re right. I said I would and I didn’t.”

offers a smile, softer than normal. “It’s fine, I believed you when you said it wasn’t intended to be completed before hand, and you’ve simply grown… quite good at deploying the technique when you weren’t thinking about it.”

swallows and nods and. Trusts that.

rolls back to sit cross-legged.

: “Thank you, Aurelius tou Asilos.”

: “How are you feeling?”

: “Hmm? Me or Aury? I’ve clearly come out as the dominant partner in an Almachadtan courtship ritual. I feel great.”

: “Yeah, I really don’t think that’s a thing on Almachadta and not Beast, but.”

chuckles. “Sure, sure. We’ll see how many hours that holds up.”

: “No, ask Wolf, he will almost certainly back me up,” she says in the tone of voice that asserts Wolf will most certainly not back any of this up. “And I don’t want to hear that from you, Prince of Boneless Complacency.”

: “Approps of nothing in particular, synomote translates loosely to ‘co-conspirators in a plot’.”

pushes off the ground and stands up.

laughs loudly at that. “And here I thought it would be something like ‘soul mates and true loves.’” She doesn’t sound disappointed, though.

: “True soul loves do those kinds of things naturally!”

: “As for the other two… your guess about them being based on the planes was probably off.”

: “What being based on the planes?”

: “Though, interestingly, in a very strange way. Asilos is… probably derived from a world meaning haven or refuge…? And then Philaisia is probably love. Love of… something, he wasn’t sure.”

: “Oh, she was entertaining the idea of the surnames being tied to the planes.”

: “Well. It could still be. You, as Libra had it, aren’t from the Beast. You’re from Sanctuary. That’s when you first came into being, as Aurelius.”

: “Hmm. The argument could certainly be made. Suppose the only course left to us is to ambush Wolf.”

shrugs. “I could still be wrong, certainly, but not because you weren’t Aurelius tou Teratourgeion?”

pounds a fist into a palm. “Just say the word, beloved.”

nods. “Yes. And. I’m going to cast it on Jae. And possibly Zaya, if we need more data.”

gives a thumbs up.

: “Dang, should have cast it on the Scorpion Queen, too. But then again I doubt there’s much to learn.”

: “Oh. No. There is. And whatever there is, Jae doesn’t want us to learn it.” She looks at Aurelius, and then back to Awa. “That’s why I challenged her to a one-on-one Rite. Well. One reason.”

nods enthusiastically. “I look forward to your victory!”

laughs a little. “While we’re here … hm. Hold on, let me check in with the bird.” She pulls out her tomestone and types something quickly.

attempts to read over Salme’s shoulder. He’s not being subtle or sneaky about it.

frowns at her tomestone again, the only way she does when she’s texting with Jorule, and doesn’t even particularly try to stop Awa from reading over her shoulder. She nods, and slides the tomestone away. “Okay. So. Does this necklace seem … hm. Can you sense anything from it?”

: “The, ah, center piece feels familiar, but…”

: “Oh! Yes! I was going to comment on that before the Rite and everything happened.”

: “…but I guess the comment was more like, ‘whoa, where’d you get that!’”

: “So… where’d ya’ get it?”

scratches at the side of his face, before reaching out to touch it experimentally.

holds still, allowing Aurelius to reach out and touch it, while she says, “I was touring with the Bazaar with Zaya and she took me to … a jewelry shop, hidden in a mirror. This was … Zaya helped me pick it out.”

sniffs the necklace. Yes, sniffs.

: “Hmm…”

holds a sniffed breath, and reaches into the vibe sense of his mind, thinking- how far from the darkness has this flown? How long did it take to get here? What have you seen?

feels almost insulted that Awa is trying to solve this with his sense of smell and instead closes his eyes and he reaches out and forms a connection with the quicksilver, and attempts to lower the distance between his understanding of it, and the jewelry pieces’ understanding of itself.

(( teak I’m finally doing the techne now that fate has conspired upon me in particular, ok? ))

Yeah, no. No that’s too dumb. I know I should really let it go. But. Really. A one? A ONE? No, that’s not how it went.

How did it go, then?

[An impossible connection is formed, and the name of the Gem-Seller comes to mind.]

: “…Duškomira? That’s. Not at all what I was expecting.”

: “Some black market… off Beast? Hmm.”

: “Hm? What were you expecting?” He tilts his head, looking to Aury.

: “The undead lady from the Claw Rites?”

: “I don’t know, but it wasn’t one of the plane travelers from the Rite story, yeah.”

pulls his hand back, letting the necklace slowly drop back down upon Salme. “She got the lot from a strange there, then recently was compelled to repurpose them into new pieces? Wonder that black market was still on Valais or… hm.”

: “Huh! Well, we can look for it when we get there, yeah?”

: “Any info on if it’s magical or not? Jorule thought it might be, but …” she shrugs.

shakes his head.

: “It doesn’t really matter. Not to me. Just wanted to ask for him. He was … shaken. Said a lot of the gems came from other worlds. Mana-worlds.” She touches the necklace again. “I just think it’s nice to have something special.”

: “It is really neat. And there’s something really weird about the center crystal’s contents.”

: “Mmm. Well, if nothing else it certainly looks lovely on you, which is a certain sort of magic.”

: “How’s the necklace feel, by the way? It looks really… pokey.”

blushes at Awa’s compliment, then blushes harder at Aury’s, and can’t help beaming a little bit. Then she reaches up and touches the thorned chain of it. “I like the drama of it, but I’ll probably swap the chain for while we’re on the Beast. It won’t work with the neckline of the dress I’m having commissioned.”

: “Also that’s probably the quicksilver. Seems to focus on you when you focus on it.”

’s eyebrows raise. “Ooh, a new outfit, too? I hope a recommendation or two made it to the final cut!” He winks at Salme.

: “Hmm.”

: “I think you’ll both enjoy the final product, yes.” She grins at Awoken, and then focuses back on the necklace. “I don’t know … I said this to Jorule, but he was telling me there are eight mana elements? This suggests … something else? I was trying to think of other situations where eight has been a significant number.”

shrugs. “Though I suppose it could simply be that the six of us are following a path that pierces through planes? Instead of moving in any direction at all, we move orthagonally?” She looks at the Awoken. “Makes me think of you, a bit.”

: “Well, I mean, it’s a compass rose, yes? The four cardinal directions and four major points between them.”

: “Well, if you push ‘eight’ over… it becomes infinity!” he nods, as though this is a triumphant observation.

stares at both of them, trying to cope with … simultaneously true and yet difficult-to-reconcile observations of from them both. “Yes,” she says to Aurelius. “Also yes,” she says to Awoken.

: “If nothing else, you have living and material proof that there’s always a different way. Always another path.”

: “…Actually how in the hell does a compass work on Almachadta. CAN they…?”

scrunches up his face.

reaches up and touches the necklace at Awa’s words and nods, briefly. And then, to Aurelius, says, “Wayfinding is … maps are made of string, with nodes and knots. It’s never hard to orient yourself, considering the other side of the world is just there if you look up, and the umbilical serves as a marker for … how do I know what a compass is?”

raises his eyebrows as he brings his thumbs together and waves his fingers, not unlike wings flapping.

: “Same way you knew what a mountain or a boat was, I assume.”

rolls her eyes. “Yeah I guess. Probably? I don’t know. Mine’s weird. Fucking bird shit.”

: “Now you’re gettin’ it.”

: “Point is, we don’t need to spend a whole bunch of screentime explaining a compass to the audience!”

: “See you act like bird shit is an annoying distraction, and then you say stuff like, ‘screentime explaining a compass to the audience.’ Make up your mind, Mister Prince.”

chuckles.

puts his hands on his faulds and flicks his hair out of his face with a whip of his neck. “I have an everflowing fount of wonderment and awe at the storied world and its people around us. But spending time gawping at a paddle-and-ball is a little too on-the-nose for me.”

: “Besides, the story’s already lousy with angelfish, so at this point one can only accept it wholly and fully.”

: “Sometimes,” she says a little sullenly, “the paddle-and-ball is a little exciting.” She scuffs a foot along the ground before letting the sullenness go. “Though I see your point.”

glances down at his phone tomestone and nods.

relents. “Ignoring bird shit includes anything that comes out of my mouth regarding it, as well.”

: “Besides…”

: “…it’s not like we’ve solved the mystery of the why.”

laughs. “Why what?”

: “Why ‘this story,’ why ‘these people,’ why ‘this enclosure of a universe.’”

: “The gods may play with dice but their rules are written in diagetic text.”

: “Diagetic, and very, very narrative.”

: “So, there’s got to be a ‘why’ behind nigh on everything.”

shrugs. “I figured that we were just whoever fished us up’s favorite people? Might explain why the story’s been so gentle.”

glances at Aury when Salme says ‘gentle.’

: “Ah, yes, this is been terribly easy on you, hasn’t it.”

looks back to Salme without missing a beat.

: “Huh? I mean. If I’m fucked up I’ve inflicted it on myself, yeah?” Frowns. “Though I suppose you’ve had a tough time lately, Aury, and we don’t know. What. Is waiting in Valaïs for you, Awa.”

wildly grins. “Can’t wait!”

: “(I wonder what strange path I lost my crown on…?)”

: “Also you can get mad at the world being cruel, you know!”

scratches at his chin, knowing better than to say the first think that comes to mind at this point.

: “Surviving is good, but sometimes the suffering as part of it never enters consideration.”

: “I think it’s far to say many of us have gone through rough experiences, and some of us still have several in store… but, also, there’s no real sense in trying to put the amount of unpleasantness one feels from any given situation they’re placed in against others. Even if your pain isn’t necessarily as pronounced as what you might think someone else as feeling, doesn’t mean what you’re experiencing matters any less.”

: “Has it been as bad as it could be? No, certainly not. But it’s not exactly been easy on you either.”

: “Hmm.” She taps at the crystal of her necklace. “I suppose. I guess I just mean, since we started this, almost everyone we’ve met has … immediately liked us? And been worthy of our liking them in turn? That doesn’t mean it’s not difficult, but it feels. Gentle? Though you’re both right about the … before. And probably some things that might happen during.” ⁂

: “Still,” she looks at Awa. “I’ve gotten mad at the world being cruel before and it’s just made me bitter and hopeless. I don’t really want to end up back there.” She shifts her gaze at Aurelius, “though. Yes. I mean we talked about this, right? I’m still feeling the aftershocks of … what happened when I was the Sword-Saint. Of who I became, who I didn’t want to be.” ⁂

: “Maybe that’s why I keep asking you both who you want to be. Because I’m still trying to figure it out for myself. Because looking back, I’ve been … alarmed at who I was at my worst. Not … because I necessarily hate her, just because. It’s not me. It’s not the person you love, who I love being.” She shrugs. “So. Yeah. I guess you’re both right?” 🙧

reaches out to the top of Salme’s head, and musses up her hair just a bit.

leans his head on her shoulder, nuzzling into it a little bit before standing back up. “Hey, there’s still two worlds to go. I’m sure we can get blades pointed at our throats from step one on at least one of them.”

: “That’s true, from what I gather you’d done a LOT of balking at the idea of dieties and monothesism, and would you look at what’s next on the docket.”

groans miserably. “Don’t remind me. It’s so fucked up? It’s so fucked up. Though who knows, maybe they’ll make Awa the God-King of Mu and throw a festival in our honor.”

: “Honestly that would be funny as hell.”

: “You say that, but when you’re forced to bow with a spear to your neck and call him, ‘your divine holiest of holies, The Awoken Prince,’ it won’t be funny at all.”

: “Though, maybe we’ll get cushy positions as his concubines?”

: “Why in the world would I call His Majesty, The Emperor God-King a ‘prince’, you barbarian?”

laughs.

crosses his arms and laughs heartily!

: “Because… it sounds younger!”

: “Though Awa, I hope you’re designing appropriately skimpy outfits for us both for when they stick us in your harem.”

: “You can finally release Aury from the tyranny of having to wear a shirt at all.”

: “Worry not, my stable of unstables.”

: “The body wax will be warm and the glitter be shining.”

laughs.

rubs at his face.

: “Anyway… if you really want to be sad about circumstances, I’m going to Annarr’s house. Though honestly feel free to do anything else instead of following, I doubt it’ll actually be terribly exciting in either direction.”

: “Oh,” she says softly. “Would you like company?”

: “Suspect it’ll mostly just be sorting through piles of junk, but I think I’ll be fine on my own.”

: “Unless you’re really bored with nothing better to do.”

glances at Salme.

: “I mean …” she looks down, considering. Taps the crystal of her necklace, tap, tap, tap. “I want to stay with you through this? If you’ll have me? The only thing I really must do is my Rite with Jae, and I’m not ready to fight her today. So.” Tap, tap, tap. “If I can, I want to.”

turns to Aurelius. “Clans roll together, and send out a call for those further away. Blow a horn, send up a flare, send a raven or whatever- and the rest will follow.”

: “Well it sounded like you had some weaving to do as well, but if I was insistent on going alone I’d have not mentioned it at all.” He scratches at his chin for a moment, then nods to Awoken. “So, yeah, feel free to tag along. I believe it was… this way.”

does feel free to tag along. “You know,” she says, amused, “I’d almost always rather be with you than sitting in the tablet weaving. Though. I do want your help with something going into Mu.”

: “You’re never going to get better without practice, though, now I’m curious.”

: “I mean, I also practice a lot and I have gotten better. But. I was hoping to maybe weave protective cloth for us. From the sun. I’m sure they have some way around it on Mu, but I figure a guarantee would be better than jumping and hoping.”

: “Ah.”

: “If it’s not of interest, that’s fine, but you said you’re used to weaving with gnosis, so …” She shrugs.

: “No, no, I was really looking forward to going into a desert plane watched over by the angry sun that hates us and sweating my ass off.”

snorts. “Wear less clothes.”

: “Easily done, to be honest.”

: “Also for the love of the Goddess try and avoid the rails.”

does have decent situational awareness, mostly, and easily avoids the rails.

: “I am going to ride around on those trams for a couple hours eventually. Those are something else. Like a train, but. Domesticated?”

: “Also not nearly as smooth, which makes for a rather difference experience.”

stares at it for a good minute, before letting out a breath and moving to stand in front of the door. After grabbing the door knob there’s a pause, briefly turning it in the wrong direction before jostling it and quickly during the correct direction and shoving it open after a click.

looks around the threshold, to see if there’s anything outside the house that gives a hint of who Annarr was, and then follows Aurelius inside.

glances around as he takes it all in, then slowly makes his way over to the table and reaches for the box.

follows, watching her steps, walking as silently as she can. She is only focused on him, and she does not get in his space when he goes to the table, but she is close enough to touch, to grab, to take her hand, anything he might need.

rolls it around once, twice, then opens it up.

: “…Huh. I can’t … read the name.” He frowns slightly, handing the card to Salme before flipping the latch and opening the box.

takes the card and puzzles over the name for a moment too, but has no more luck. She holds it, though, carefully, like it’s something precious.

: “Hmm.”

carefully extracts it from the box, rolling the hilt between his hands while thinking.

: “…Hmm…” tosses it slightly into the air, then adjust his grip on it as he catches it with his other hand.

watches intently. Watches as if she were wearing the Mask, absorbing some momentous occasion. But it is just her, and him, and the strange weapon, and the dark house.

tilts his head slightly and reaches out to pull on it -

: “…Heh. That’s so stupid but also… pretty cool.”

: “It’s both.”

: “Defensive and, I imagine, not very pleasant if you’re on the attack either.”

retracts and redeploys the extra blades a few times, amused, as his eyes resume wandering around the room. “…Zaedulfas… … Zaed. … Zaed? Where’ve… huh.”

shakes his head, letting out a quiet laugh. “Well then.”

: “Did you remember who made this?”

: “The next person I was going to meet up with, it seems.”

: “Hmm.” She looks at the weapon in his hand, at the card in hers. “I’m going to ask you a question, and it is your right to tell me to fuck right off after asking it, okay?”

: “Hard to imagine a question that biting, but alright.”

gives him a fond smile. “Not biting, just sad, really. One you might not be ready to answer, but one I think you need to have an answer to. But. What do you think you owe Annarr?”

: “What a strange way to respond to that question that would’ve been.” Closes the blade, before spinning the dagger in his hand while thinking, and eventually placing it back in the box. “Haven’t a clue. Might know better in a few hours, though.”

: “Well maybe I’ve been talking to people who are a little more blunt with their words.” She shrugs. “I just think—and I could be wrong, of course, I’m still learning you—but I suspect you feel like you owe him something. I don’t think you’d be you, if you didn’t.” She nods at the box. “Do you think visiting this Zaedulfas will give you an answer to that?”

: “Seems more likely than any other place, at least.”

: “Probably, yeah.” She looks around the house. “Anything else you wanna look at here?”

nods slightly, running a hand over the box once before it disappears. “Yeah. I mean, doesn’t look like there’s much left in here, but might as well get it all sorted out.” He glances meaningfully at the drum on the way, before turning in attention to one of the few storage containers that looks like it’s supposed to be in the room. Crystals. So many tiny crystals in different colors - blue, red, purple, browns… claws from some kind of venemous creature… a scorpion’s shell, heh… some kind of leather…? Seems like a collection of random junk, feels like this’ll take a bit longer than it looks.

: “Trophies?” she raises her eyebrows. That is … a lot of tiny crystals.

: “Crafting materials… I think… Hm.”

: “How can I help?” she asks softly.

laughs. “Have fun sorting the crystals into stacks of 99.”

: “All right then.” She plops down, and takes out a handful of crystals, and begins dutifully sorting them. “‘A brilliant fiendsmith in both lives,’ hm? Maybe that’s where so much of your careful patience comes from.”

: “Though, have you considered going down to the workshop below? Seeing if anyone knows him there? Or would you rather not subject yourself to that?”

: “Probably better for them not to.”

: “Sure but …” she loses count, and starts counting over again. “What’s better for you?” She looks up at him. “Help me out? You always word things like. ‘Whatever you want’ or ‘better for them‘ and I get you don’t have a lot of particular wants and needs, but I kind of don’t know how to interpret how you feel about them?” She goes back to sorting. “I’d appreciate a translation, I guess,” she says, flushing a little.

: “I don’t particularly feel like I need to subject whomever is down there to the knowledge that, ‘hey, he’s back, oh wait, maybe not’ in rapid succession, given what people likely have just started accepting.”

nods. “I apologize. I hope that didn’t sound … I was just genuinely trying to say I don’t understand what you’re saying, sometimes, with stuff like this. It wasn’t judgment. That said.” She looks at him, again, searching his face. Her expression is open, thoughtful, maybe even a little vulnerable. “I think the fact that you’re trying to save everyone else as much hurt is possible is laudable. Beautiful, even. Very you. But it’s okay to want things. It’s even okay to need things. Even if you might ask someone to prioritize you over their own feelings. You taught me that. So.” She finishes one stack of 99, and moves on to the next. “Check in with yourself? People are going to miss him because he’s gone. But people are going to be grateful to see how he lives on in you.”

: “It is,” she says, “a lot more than most people get.”

: “Sure. But. Meeting every possible person that might have known him, just for a fraction of a glimmer of insight… doesn’t… in any way feel worth reopening the scabs. Zaya? Zaed? That’s one thing. That’s important, and worth doing. The others? Not so much.”

nods. “That’s why I said check in with yourself. I trust your judgment. Just. Wanted to say that too.” And then she goes back to sorting crystals, humming tunelessly.

nods in her direction while continuing to pull out more random things. Fangs. A surprising amount of different coins that aren’t lucre. … Way. Way more crystals…