#valurent

@valurent as ashton says, "i'm not brooding ! i'm just - i'm thinking."

one side of her mouth slants up.  even though she doesn’t look at them, she hopes the expression translates as she says, “riiight.  neither of us are.  never seen a less broody pair of folks, actually.” imogen leans heavily into playful sarcasm, one eyebrow arching up.  it’s around this time that she does cant her head slightly toward ashton.

"your friend is ... are they a friend or ... ?"

rune has no idea how she'd ended up in any part of this situation. part one : being invited to stay for dinner at her parents' home, years after she's moved out and away. she's doing well, she thinks -- but even though she cannot directly lie to her parents, she thinks she has a fairly good poker face when she's skirting the line of semi-public respectability with them. she cannot lie, but they cannot read her. part two : @valurent trying to talk with her about vinlia, rune's closest companion and the woman that she loves.

Jemma rolls over, towards the center of the bed, suddenly more awake than she was a moment ago when empty sheets are the only thing that greets her. Confusion turns to a frown when Dalton speaks and she blinks at the dimness of the room, taking a second to find him there standing at the end of the bed.

Jemma sighs, more frustrated at the circumstances than Dalton's dismal assessment. Pushing back from her desk, overtaken by reports and Chinese takeout, it'd been her treat given the late hour and the lack of progress, she doesn't bother asking if he has a better idea. If he did, he would've shared it already.

"I need something stronger," she says crossing over to the small, well-stocked bar cart. Jemma hates her office, hates the posh properness of it, even if the sleek modernness matches the height of her position. She pours a glass for Dalton too, handing it to him as she drops into the seat next to him rather than her desk chair.

She doesn't savor the drink long.

“du bringst mich noch ins grab!” she exclaims, finally exhaling the breath she had been holding, one of her hands still grasping the fabric of cole’s left sleeve. that should be a comfort, but he is covered in blood. she does not want to imagine the scenario where this is the outcome.

angela licks her lips, eyes traveling over his form once, twice, a third time —

Well, that's obvious. Cassidy has the raw skill to accomplish this, but his discipline is lacking. She gets ready to show him again: powering down her leg thrusters, muting the strength of her cybernetic eyes; doing everything in her power to remember what it was like to have human strength.

She can't. The last time she was fully human was when she was four, on the cusp of her very first (but certainly not last) life-saving cybernetics procedure.

But she always had a keen eye. She knows what a basic human can and can't do. She knows how her body can function. Dampening her own cybernetics down to that level shouldn't be too hard with the right application of statistics.

      *      VALURENT      /      ft.   percy      —      “      are   you   really   sure   this   is   what   you   want?      you   won’t   regret   it   later?      ”

when   they   first   start   what   ends   them   up   here,   vax   cannot   understand   percy’s   doubts.         now,   he   better   empathizes   with   the   questions      —      better   spies   their   roots.      this   one   is   even   more   understandable   than   the   rest,   given   what’s   been   asked   .   .   .      what’s   been   offered:      a   place   in   whitestone;      a   place   with   @valurent​​,   fully   and   truly;      but   a   place   apart   from   vex’ahlia.      she   means   to   got   to   zephrah   with   keyleth      —      vax   knows   that   already.      but   it’s   one   thing   to   know   what   she   wants   than   to   know   what   he   wants   himself      —      than   to   choose   a   path   that   separates   them,   no   matter   how   temporarily.