#highkeytracer

Delete this

no

Don't call me out like this

Same

First is… False Start - We Were Evergreen

“That is a filthy habit.”

Jesse looks over from his post by the door, glancing back at Satya. She’s built a few more of the little turrets in the time he was keeping watch, and now she’s playing with some elaborate construct between her hands, something like a cat’s cradle made of dancing strands of light. And she’s glaring at him, which is not new. He’s been on this stakeout for four hours now and hasn’t seen another expression yet.

He taps some ash off the end of his cigarillo and shrugs. “Somethin’ to do to keep the time,” he says, replacing the cigarillo between his lips and inhaling.

“There are better ways you could spend the time,” she says, not relenting with the glare.

Another shrug. “Yeah, well, this is the one I know, and not all of us got fancy light projectors to fiddle with.”

She dispels the construct with a gesture and averts her eyes, and Jesse feels a pang of regret. That wasn’t what he was aiming for. 

“Hey, nothin’ wrong with it. Thought it was mighty pretty. Jus’ you got your habits and I got mine.”

“We should be... focused on the mission,” she murmurs. Her voice has a flatter cadence to it. “No distractions.”

“Ain’t a distraction.” He shrugs. “Way I see it, you got nothing to do and your brain shuts off. Nicotine keeps me jumpy, on my toes, and it’s somethin’ to do that ain’t nothin’ at all.” He blows out a little cloud of smoke. “Ain’t the healthiest, you’re right. But it’s what I’ve got to keep my brain workin’, just like you’ve got your light.”

There is a long pause, a silence, and then almost before he can react she tosses something at him. He catches it on reflex, studying it. A blue sphere of hard light, formed out of hundreds of tiny hexagons. He turns it and it twists in his hands with a satisfying click.

“A basic construct to keep one’s mind occupied,” she says, tone almost amused. “Far less likely to cause cancer.”

He grins, clicking the little sphere. “Alright, alright. I’ll give it a try, but no guarantees.”

Ah yes the ol cut orange rind in the mouth trick

@highkeytracer replied to your photo “tpoh-confessions: chipper-smol-dragon-tamer: tpoh-confessions: ...”

I'm going to dump my soda on him.