ORIGIN - Small World

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"...Oh." They take a closer look at her face, those foggy eyes not-quite focused in their direction. That makes sense. Still doesn't change much. "Its probably for the better that you can't see any of this, ha ha..." Why did they say that? They laugh again, notably more frantic.

Aurelle sits down and Scrap just stares warily at her. They're not sure how much they want to tell a stranger. Part of them wants to keep their jaw locked shut and the other wants to spill their guts out so that they can hear someone else say truthfully that it wasn't their fault. You did what you had to do. I'm glad you lived. "...Thank you."

"She.. blamed me for something that happened many cycles ago. But it wasn't my fault! We were both in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess. But she still blamed me and she... wanted to make sure that it couldn't happen again. I don't know if she was actually going to kill me, or..." They trail off, glance at Mosaic's dead body and regret it, "I don't know, just tear my face off?" They laugh morbidly.

The adrenaline is fading, the exhaustion well and truly sinking in, and they doubt their shaking limbs can continue holding them up for much longer. They walk a couple feet away from both Aurelle and the corpse and sit down, angled so they can't see the dead body. They're still keeping a close eye on Aurelle, though. "My name's Scrap. I travel around a lot. I've been to Orion. Its nice. Pretty."

@Aurelle

"Well, ahh, I can smell it," she offered. It might be a good idea to get them away from... the corpse and the blood, but Aurelle certainly didn't want them to feel unsafe or cornered. Walking off with a stranger might put anyone on edge if they'd just defended themselves to the death.

So, she listened quietly, blinking slowly and catlike. "Well, ahh... that doesn't seem very fair," she said. "What.. happened? That she blamed you for? Ahh-- you still don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, you know."

She could hear them walking, their nails clicking against the cave floor. Politely, the elf turned her head to try and face their general direction. She'd been told it'd been disconcerting to not be looked at during conversation and got into the habit of trying, even if she couldn't see anything. "Hi, Scrap," she said, hearing them thunk down nearby. Laying or sitting, maybe. "Would you like some water, ahh, to clean up with?"

@Scrap

They make the mistake of looking at Mosaic. Oil is already beginning to well up in the hole where her stone used to be, and the rest of her flesh will soon follow suit. They feel the sudden urge to do... something. Tear her apart, or preserve her, or hide her, or... anything. It felt wrong to just leave her there, even if she'd be gone in a couple of hours.

They'd take the stone, at least. They weren't sure what they could possible do with it, but they couldn't just leave it there. That was too much of an insult, even to someone like her.

"...I don't want to talk about it." They reply, partially because they really don't and partially because they're not sure how to describe it in a way that sounds real. What happened- what nearly happened to them- was almost cartoonishly horrific, all in the name of something 'scientific progress' or whatever explanation they'd been given. And it happened to long ago, the memory's gotten blurry, which they're kind of grateful for. But it makes it hard to put any of it into words.

It can stay in the past. All of this can stay in the past. Where it belongs.

"I'm tired." They can't help but whine a bit. "The nearest water is the crystal river, isn't it?" Which wasn't that far away, but the crystal was rather steep and treacherous to access. They should definitely wash off the blood before it started to dry, but part of them wanted to just flop down and pretend to be another corpse. "Unless you know somewhere closer?"

@Aurelle

"Okay," Aurelle said. She wouldn't push further than that, really, no matter what the Collector had ordered. She pushed up to stand, palming away dust and something wet (ahh, it's probably blood...) off her dress.

The crystal river... that must be the one in Polaris. "Ahh, yes, I think so," she said. "But I can make water." She held her hands out in front of her. "Ahh-- you might want to come a little closer."

She reached for her magic, her face pulsing as her hands filled with water and offered a little shower in front of her for Scrap to clean off in. It was a little cold, but probably not as bad as plunging into the river in Polaris. Not as dangerous, either-- considering the current sometimes ran hard there.

@Scrap

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