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 Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 4:34 pm
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Ephias turned to look at Etsali, frown deepening. “Well, it is s-s-supposed to be a secret.” He gave her a hard look, before turning his attention back to the road. He felt terrible about lying but her nervous reaction only confirmed what he suspected. Even so, he did not want to directly confront her. Jamming his hands in his pockets, he continued, “Of course. What safer place th-than my hive? I take pre-cautions of course. And if worst comes to worst, I do have a r-rem-remedy on prong. It doesn't take that much exposure, m-maybe a couple of minutes before the radiation starts to cause c-cell death so...”
Ephias really hoped that Etsali had no idea what he was talking about, because he had no idea either.
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Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2015 5:56 pm
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"Oh, yeah, a secret, of course!" Etsali nodded quickly and giggled as she lifted a hand to rub at her eyes. She kept nodding through the reassuring admission that there was a remedy to the sickness the thing could cause, but came to a full stop with the trailing end of his last sentence. Feeling like her feet were rooted in place, she could barely do anything but stare with wide eyes at the redblood. "D-death?"
Keeper chittered, alarmed and questioning, but Etsali was too distracted by the weight in her pocket to reply. If she just threw it away that would be admitting she'd stolen it, right? Or touching it directly again might make her die even quicker? He'd said there was a remedy though, should they run for the remedy? She didn't know what it looked like either! It took her a moment, but finally she swallowed hard and pulled on a shaky smile.
"H-hey, Ephias," she really hoped she'd said that right, "do you think we could run back to your hive real quick? I think I...I think I dropped something there."
Katanari Haha, sorry to throw a tag back at you so fast.
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Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 4:12 am
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Ephias shrugged. “W-whatever it is, you c—you can always come by and p-pick it up later. You said your lusus—er, K-Keeper?—had some important errands to-to run, right? I-I-I don't mind, and I'll b-be home well before m-m-m-m-morn-morning!” he finished in exasperation. His stutter was really getting out of hand. Much more of this and he would become completely incoherent. Worse, Etsali would realise his ploy and be gone in a flash. He needed to get a grip on himself.
Still, Ephias could not hedge his budding anxiety. Resisting the urge to bite his lip, he mused over his current predicament. Was leading Etsali on like he had cruel? She was a stranger, and in all likelihood she had stolen from him, so he should have been justified in telling a few tiny lies to obtain the truth. After all, it was not like he had hurt her. He had just given her a harmless scare. But still...
Ephias fixed his gaze on the orangeblood. He noted everything, from her fidgeting to the nervous glances she kept giving her lusus. At that moment he decided: it was wrong. It was wrong because he had ample opportunities to confront her directly and he had passed up each and every one, because he had wanted to outsmart her and because he was afraid conflict. For that selfish reason he had put her in an uncomfortable position.
This was it then. Her last chance. No matter how she replied, he would end things in the next move.
Behind him, Wolly seemed to sense his shift in character. He flicked his ears and hurried closer behind the two, breathing down Etsali's back.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:24 pm
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"But you don't understand!" Etsali had barely been able to wait for Ephias to finish stuttering out his response before cutting in with a voice that squeaked with nerves. "I can't wait til morning or I- I might-!" Even now, it was still a struggle to decide whether to come clean with what she'd done, but as she tried to work through that, Wolly closed in behind her. For one brief, terrifying moment, the sheep's presence felt like Death itself.
Shuddering, the thief reached into her pocket, pulled free the lens she had stolen from his room, and dropped it onto the ground between their feet as if it had burned her fingers. "I'm really sorry I lied, I didn't know what it was or that it was something important or could kill us, if I'd known I wouldn't have taken it! I-I mean I shouldn't have taken anything, right, but it was just so shiny and-" For a long moment, it was all she could do to loop together excuses and apologies, but eventually she realized she was rambling and gave it up. Instead, she turned wide, teary eyes up to their highest level of pleading and hazarded a question. "C-can I have the remedy please?"
Keeper took this moment to sniff at the now abandoned and potentially deadly treasure, then lifted her head to eye Ephias and Wolly with intense consideration. When she turned her head to regard her own charge again, it was with an exasperated huff. Still so much to learn.
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Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:46 pm
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The lens clattered from her fingers to the street.
As Etsali launched into a string of apologies, tears springing into her eyes, Ephias could only stare. His expression was cold and hard, even as she begged him for a remedy. He did not trust himself to speak. Crouching down, he lifted the lens from the pavement. Somehow it had managed to stay in one piece. The glass flashed in the moonlight.
“There is no remedy,” he said, rising. He studied the delicate lens in the palm of his hand, then continued, “There's no secret technology either. Th-this is just a telescope lens.” He stopped to chew his lip. His brow furrowed. “I'm sorry for scaring you. I um...”
How could he explain himself? What was he supposed to say? After a moment's indecision, he offered the lens to Etsali. “I shouldn't have lied to you. You can keep this if you want. I promise it's not dangerous.”
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2015 12:07 am
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There was a brief stab of despair in the thief's eyes, but as Ephias continued speaking Etsali's expression turned first to a bewildered stare and then settled finally into gaping disbelief. "So it's really not...?" Her eyes dropped to the telescope lens, cradled in his palm like it was nothing, then darted back up to his face as if to check if anything had changed in the instant she'd glanced away. Then she steadied her nerves and reached out, hand hesitating over his for several seconds before she finally allowed herself to ever so carefully take back the lens.
She held it a moment with just her fingertips, feeling out for any strange temperature changes, and then she lifted it up. It caught the moonlight again in that alluring way that had made her need it to begin with, and in the end that settled it. She shifted it into her palm and closed her fingers around it, pulling it possessively to her chest before Ephias could decide to change his mind. And with the treasure secure, she took the time to really look at him again.
"You tricked me." It should have been an accusation, but there was a note of wonder to her voice instead. "That...That was pretty sneaky, you know." She sniffled, and lifted her arm to rub away the last of her tears. It made an even bigger mess of her makeup, smearing it all over the place, but as usual it escaped her notice. She was too busy offering the redblood a small, almost shy smile in comparison to the grins she'd started with.
"Hey, do you, um...Do you still want me to show you the gerbils?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 10:26 pm
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Etsali gently plucked the lens from out of his hand, and held it to the light, studying it, Ephias thought. As her expression changed, so did his own. A ghost of a smile flitted over his face. He was not really sure why, but clearly the small object made her happy, and her happiness in turn made him happy. Stuffing his hands back in his pockets, he looked down and scuffed his shoe against the pavement.
When Etsali spoke again, Ephias nodded. “I guess it was,” he replied. Sneaky. Underhanded. Dishonest. Yet she did not sound mad. Ephias raised his eyes to meet her gaze. She was smiling too. It was strange.
Her next question caught him off guard.
“Oh, um...” Ephias scratched the back of his head. Behind him Wolly let out a disapproving bleat. This girl had tried to steal from him. How could Ephias even consider it? She was a no-good crook! And just look at her lusus! Encouraging that kind of behaviour, goodness gracious...!
As Wolly went on his tirade, tutting and fretting, Ephias studied Etsali. His lusus was right. She had tried to steal from him and logically he would be better off parting ways. Supposing she tried something else? Yet Ephias did not sense any kind of malice coming off her. Her fear when he had lied to her and her relief when he revealed the truth seemed genuine. She was not a bad person. She was just a kid. Like him.
The pause after her question was beginning to grow uncomfortably long. It was now or never. Ephias took a breath as though bracing himself, then spoke. “If you don't still have things you need to do with Keeper.” He offered Etsali a faint smile of his own.
Wolly stared in amazement. He could hardly believe his ears. Not only had Ephias ignored his advice, he had agreed to a social outing. The sheep was unsure whether to be disgruntled or delighted. Eventually he settled for proud. It was not every night his charge took such a bold step outside his comfort zone, after all. Besides even if he did not always make the right decisions, he had the courage to make those decisions for himself, regardless of what anyone else said. It was almost enough to make the sheep weepy.
The two trolls were halfway down the block before Wolly pulled out of his shock. Giving a huff, he went bounding after them. If Ephias thought that Etsali was all right, then he did too.
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