โ โ
Then how about not letting him miss it?
[ He gives a mild smile, sensing Wanderer's narrowing eyes catching on the corner of his quirked lip. ]
My job description didn't include your departure. I might just ask you to stay instead.
โ
โ โ
Unless... you've got places to be?
[ The smile travels to the window, and the porcelain man sitting on the sill, stiff as a cat caught mid-heist. ]
โ
โ โ
He's well, but the physical transformation is taking some getting used to. I only see him for short bursts before he returns to his room to sleep.
[ Sometimes for days. ]
You will meet again before long, I'm sure. It's one of the first things he talked about.
โ
โ โ
You're worried.
[ A finger-sized flashlight appears as he illuminates the back of an egg. The light reveals a small shadow.
Paimon made a fuss about Wanderer's sour attitude. Turns out, as these usually things go, she was exaggerating. ]
โ
โ โ
[ Holding the egg to his eye stirs the shadow. When Albedo found Durin after the transmutation he, too, was curled up like this.
The flashlight comes down with a click. ]
It's been a while since you two met. Your concern for him doesn't surprise me.
โ
ใ ค
[ The eggs are neatly placed on a handkerchief. One by one, in a formation he seems disinterested in explaining. ]
Now, then. I believe there was something we needed to discuss? Without you taking a seat, of course.
ใ ค
ใ ค
[ The sack lands atop Albedo's tools, sending papers and a crucible tong to the floor with a loud clatter.
Ah, there goes his work space for the last five hours. Compared to Klee's messes, at least, this is manageable.
His gloves come off with a polite nod.]
ใ ค
ใ ค
Thank you.
[ Gratitude well earned. Few would go on a fetch quest at three in the morning, least of all for bird eggs and moss. It's all there, too, confirmed by the flash of speckled shells when he parts the sack. ]
My reserves were low. This will last a while.
ใ ค
โ
We diverge from the paths others see for us; like the splaying bristles of a paintbrush meeting its canvas, pointing different ways and making each stroke unpredictable if only to some degree.
No outcome is fixed. It's part of what makes life into a masterpiece.
โ
โฆ - open to developing naturally w chem. (๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐'๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ!)
โฆ - multi-ship, one per character
โฆ - i'd want to draw ship-art. if that is uncomfortable in any way, the pairing is not for me