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Lorata thought about what Erilyn had told her as she and her lusus wandered back into the Central Hivestem to see how things were going. It looked like the rumor that had caused all the trouble was finally being erased, but the queen didn't look interested in giving out anymore chalk still. She couldn't help but frown at that, did it mean someone hadn't gone and apologized yet? They couldn't wait forever!

Letting out a huff, she scanned the room for someone to talk to. She noted Chiara and that loud purpleblood girl before passing them by without interest. Alifax and Sarcel weren't here, she didn't see Kursha at the moment, Elidae wasn't- No, wait, there she was. Lorata started to head over but then paused before she'd taken more than a single step. Why was she talking to that boy again? A little frustrated, the seadweller flopped onto a chair of her own instead and didn't allow herself to even glare at the blueblood. She didn't feel like dealing with him at all.

But if he hurt Elidae again, he'd regret it for sure. She crossed her arms, thought very hard about clues, and definitely didn't sneak glances at the two.

Hivestuck

Third hour, East Outgrowth, Armory
Questioned Erilyn Awassi:
-Is everything ok?
-What do you know about Comedi?
-What do you know about Gerard?

She listened carefully, resisting the urge to reach out. It wasn't as if her touch would fix anything, let alone bring some comfort. Alifax was strong enough on his own. "You think?" she fixated on him with a concerned look, biting her lip as he went over to fiddle with the sink. Psychic depressant? And why would Sir know about that? She had barely made it back to the Frond in the rage of the fire, but had definitely missed out on contact with the space crew. It had only been after the fact that she even knew about the cause of the flare, let alone their existence; but she had the same thought as Alifax. Tigwyn was their helmsman wasn't he?

Instead of chewing on her lips, she pursed them tightly into a line. "S-So... you're testing them..." her voice was barely a whisper, hardly audible as she matched Alifax's tone. Hell, they might as well have been drowned in the sound of the running water. Looking down at the still-lit object in her hands, she considered it for a moment. "So it... s-shouldn't affect me, r-right?" She still wasn't sure about taking a puff. Her lusus would surely smell it on her, wherever she was...

In a moment of haste, Sarce brought the object in question to her mouth; one shouldn't hurt her, right? Shouldn't ruin her career? It was an awful taste in her mouth to be sure, the smoke resting more in her mouth than her lungs as the back of her throat burned. Her coughing was far less graceful as she fought to keep it quiet, eyes watering up and welling with tears. Hands shaking, she shakily removed one of her gloves, trying to focus through her bleary vision to see if it she could bend the light around it and force it to vanish.

"C-Can you u-u-use your f-fire?" she croaked out, blinking a faint trail of blue down her face.

Tamiya was becoming antsy. She peered over her shoulder once again, tapping her fingers on the soft arms of her chair. Whoever was in the ablution block had been there for quite some time. She wrinked her nose and then did a double take. Sniff sniff.

The scent of burning was familiar, but the strange smell it produced was foreign. It was vaguely reminiscent of her old heirloom pipe that she so longed for. Where was it coming from? She hopped to her feet. Tamiya crept around her chair, snooping against the wall and behind the curtains. Finally, her sniffnode brought her to the door of the ablutionblock. There was no doubt about it. Someone was smoking in there. She stood, her nose nearly touching the door, and rapped three times on the surface. “YOU THERE. PISS FAKER.” Tamiya explained. “ALLOW ME ENTRANCE.”

At this point Tamiya considered abandoning the idea of seeking solace in the quiet room. The little dried flowers on top of the load gaper were surely not enough to cleanse the bizarre smell coming from within. It made Tamiya frown. Perhaps she would have to find another location – or even better, she could carry out the rest of the night doing her investigative and/or holy duty and restoring balance to the hive. First it was important to identify who was tarnishing the good name of this most important block. And then sanctify said block.

[+] Kursha Vidari

Back in the central hivestem things seemed to have quieted down. Most trolls had filed out with the entertainment for the evening temporarily concluded. Notably Alifax had departed, leaving his chart to any troll's mercy. Kursha was half-tempted to put something down just to mess with him, but after the last fiasco that did not seem like a productive use of his time. He could always bother the redblood later. Besides, it was getting late, and he had yet to rendezvous with his partner in crime.

Eyes pausing momentarily on Regina, Lorata, Elidae, and a blueblood, Kursha settled into a lounge chair. At any other time, any one of those would have made likely targets for conversation, but for now he needed to remain available. It left him extra time to ruminate over his findings anyway.

Ҕᾁʐɱᾁʂ Ҏӫςɧῒɱ
xxxxRumpus Block
Adopting a stance of caution, Hazmas stepped into the room and sat down on one of the chairs to think on his clues. His lusus hooted softly and ruffled the youngsters hair with her wing, pleased at his progress both in the investigation and with his reconciling with other trolls. Well, at least with Kursha. He'd had yet to come to terms with any other troll he'd possibly offended, but with how things went with the greenblooded teenager and his new acquaintance, Azrael, the youngster wasn't too concerned quite yet.

After all, he had other things to think on, like what Shrad had told him and what he'd found in the library.

There was a special satisfaction she felt upon learning his name. Leeroi. Leeroi Frurur-no wait, it was Furore! What a nice, strong name. Tilting her head to the side, Elidae observed while he seemed to fall all over himself, feeling a little bit confused, but smiled regardless. Getting a good look at his face, she could tell he was cute- no, handsome. Just look at those scars! Maybe he was in a battle? Elidae brought a hand to her mouth trying to suppress a giggle, but oh, he was blue in the face! Was he okay? He wasn't choking, was he? Oh no. Was he upset? Was she bothering him? A lot of questions flooded her thinkpan. She was about to ask him if he needed to be left alone, when...

“What are you...?“ The moment Leeroi's hand touched her cheek, Elidae's whole body froze, yet tingled with an exciting warmth. Staring at him surprised, her face turned a shade darker, the rhythm of her pump-biscuit quickening with a flutter in her bile sack She felt like she was going to puke, but in... a... happy way? Was this... how pity felt? It wasn't like she didn't have the occasional pitycrush on another troll. There was the greenblood on the same floor as her hivestem, the orangeblood at the bookstore, the tealblood lead singer of her favorite band. But in this situation, the blueblood stood right in front of her, making physical contact, looking at her face so closely,

"Wh-what? N-no? Why do you say that?" She finally said, eyelashes fluttering. Then she began to fret about it. "Oh, oh my gosh, is there something in my eye?" While the notion was a little ridiculous as she didn't feel anything there, it prompted her to bring her own hands to her face, dropping her sheet of notes. On one side, she could feel how warm her cheeks were, suddenly aware of the heat radiating off her blushing face, but the other... grazed Leeroi's hand. Her breath hitched. She recoiled her hand from his, putting both behind her back again.

After a moment, she bit her lip and looked at anything but Leeroi, yet leaned in a bit closer. You know, for him to see better. "Well? Is there something there?"

Kimbley Kitty

Leeroi laughed, still puzzled on what was wrong with Elidae. There wasn't anything in either of her eyes, as far as he could tell, and yet she kept blinking at him. "Nothing I can see," he said, furrowing his brow in confusion. What could it be? Then it hit Leeroi. The whole robot thing. She must have had some faulty wiring or something, making her eyes flutter like that. He laughed again. How did he not think of it before?

In his thoughts, he hadn't even noticed how close Elidae's face had gotten to his. Upon noticing, his eyes went wide, switching quickly from curiosity to panic, ending in confusion. He had the sudden feeling that he had grossly misinterpreted things yet again, and just when he thought he was so sure. Bringing his hands higher up his chest, he clutched his notebook tight. He just didn't understand anything tonight, did he? He supposed the easiest solution was, well, just asking her.

"What're we doing?" Leeroi whispered, closing in the rest of the space between them. Did she have a secret to share with him, maybe? Gog, he really hoped so. He needed all the help he could get with this.