scientists' POV- Holden and Grendel
"It isn't necessary."
Ah. So he was being watched.
"Oh?" He didn't move, hunched over a microscope, tweezers in one hand and a soldering iron in the other. She didn't answer. A moment later:
"...What are you doing?" Then he looked up, arching an eyebrow over wire-thin glasses that only made an appearance in moments like these.
"More questions, Grendel?" A wry grin crossed his face.
"You expected otherwise?"
A game, then. He returned his attention to the microscope.
"I don't have the time for games today."
"A pity." He could see her reflection in the polished surface of the table. She was flipping that Godforsaken coin again, and he thought, apathetically, about how easy it might be just to kill a person, to slice an artery, to pull a trigger-- ...no. Easy, perhaps, but not inconsequential. She was still necessary.
"The others are?"
"Sleeping." That would be Green. Poor, weak little girl. A point of interest. Then that meant Lolita would be-- "...And absent."
He raised his head.
"Absent."
"Oh. An echo." He quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Sarcasm before breakfast, Grendel?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I suppose we should call this Exploration B, then."
"Whatever they find...she will understand it. Piece the puzzle together." He didn't respond, simply working and watching her reflection in the corner of the table. "They care for one another...I think." She sounded almost perplexed.
A silence followed, pointed, strange, tense. She turned her back, fully aware that he wasn't looking, went silently for the door.
Be careful of whom you turn your back on.
"Don't go too far," he said aloud. She paused, but didn't answer. "I may need you."
Ah. So he was being watched.
"Oh?" He didn't move, hunched over a microscope, tweezers in one hand and a soldering iron in the other. She didn't answer. A moment later:
"...What are you doing?" Then he looked up, arching an eyebrow over wire-thin glasses that only made an appearance in moments like these.
"More questions, Grendel?" A wry grin crossed his face.
"You expected otherwise?"
A game, then. He returned his attention to the microscope.
"I don't have the time for games today."
"A pity." He could see her reflection in the polished surface of the table. She was flipping that Godforsaken coin again, and he thought, apathetically, about how easy it might be just to kill a person, to slice an artery, to pull a trigger-- ...no. Easy, perhaps, but not inconsequential. She was still necessary.
"The others are?"
"Sleeping." That would be Green. Poor, weak little girl. A point of interest. Then that meant Lolita would be-- "...And absent."
He raised his head.
"Absent."
"Oh. An echo." He quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Sarcasm before breakfast, Grendel?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I suppose we should call this Exploration B, then."
"Whatever they find...she will understand it. Piece the puzzle together." He didn't respond, simply working and watching her reflection in the corner of the table. "They care for one another...I think." She sounded almost perplexed.
A silence followed, pointed, strange, tense. She turned her back, fully aware that he wasn't looking, went silently for the door.
Be careful of whom you turn your back on.
"Don't go too far," he said aloud. She paused, but didn't answer. "I may need you."