[ drift fleet ] overflow

[noprophecies]

Comments

[noprophecies]

So I have heard . . . I hope he is not asleep for much longer.

[exothermia]

So do I. [He likes Winter, and he knows Charles does even more. It isn't something he needs to raise with the man; they're both aware of Winter's slumber. Erik swirls the liquid around in his glass, raising it to finish it off.]

[noprophecies]

Mmm. [she takes a sip of her drink, before resting her chin on her hand]

Our pilot is asleep, but it has not been for very long.

[exothermia]

It's different... from people just disappearing, the way they used to. [In Kyriakos.]

[noprophecies]

[she glances over and tilts her head before she frowns, dropping her eyes back to her glass]

Mm, I remember. My teammates disappeared often. I stopped caring after a while.

[exothermia]

It makes things easier. [He had never managed it, in either Kyriakos or the library. The library had been harder, with the constant turnover in Fawn. And even before those places Erik had mastered the art of cutting people from his life and moving on.

Only he hadn't, really. It still hurt. He just pushed through the pain until finally a day arrived when he realised he didn't want to do that anymore.]

[noprophecies]

In some ways. [Tiamat rarely had high turnover rates, but always had that one teammate coming or going. And at the end of her stay there, she only really got along with one of them.

She scowls a bit and takes a long sip of her drink]

Near the end it did not matter much. I gave up on trying to get along with them. I suppose that helped as well.

[exothermia]

I know I stopped caring so much about things happening to us. If I had stayed much longer, I probably would have pulled away from them.

[noprophecies]

. . . after you and Charles left, and Ampere ended up in the mirrors, it was rather easy to simply stop caring all together.

[she shrugs] And then I ended up in them. I think, anyway.

[exothermia]

[He watches her face for a moment, before replying quietly.]

You aren't in them now.

[noprophecies]

[she blinks at the quieter tone before she smiles at him, a little weak but genuine]

And neither is anyone I care about.

[exothermia]

Then that's all that matters, Tempest.

[noprophecies]

I know. But like you said, it is different here.

[she pauses, then lifts her glass to her lips, taking a sip] Lace is gone.

[exothermia]

[Erik hasn't refilled his glass, so he merely watches. He looks down at the table when Tempest speaks of Adelina.]

Yes. I know. [It had been chance, really, that he'd noticed at all. In scrolling through the manifests after noting Moira's absence, he had seen that Adelina's name was no longer there as well.]

[noprophecies]

[very few disappearances had bothered her; she'd grown used to it in Kyriakos, and in her own world it hadn't mattered. Here it was far from different. There were no mirrors to visit, no Echoes to ask. Simply gone]

For the best, I imagine. She is a princess, yes?

[it's a weak attempt at thinking of it positively]

[exothermia]

I think so. [He hadn't discussed that much with Adelina.] And you're right that it's for the best, for her.

[noprophecies]

Mmm. So I cannot be too upset.

[she says, and finishes off her drink in one go. She's not upset at all, no really]

[exothermia]

[He raises his eyebrows. He knows Tempest likes to drink, and he hasn't bothered to refill after his second glass. So her streaking ahead isn't that unusual.... except for their topic of discussion.]

I think you mean you think you shouldn't be too upset.

[noprophecies]

Same difference, yes?

[her streaking ahead is completely normal, regardless of topic. She isn't really intending to get drunk, at least. Not completely drunk, anyway]

[exothermia]

[Erik's own tolerance has dropped over the years, after he stopped drinking quite so often or so much. He already feels tipsy, and he won't go further.]

You know it isn't.

[noprophecies]

[she just shrugs, and reaches for the bottle to once again refill her glass]

[exothermia]

[He watches without comment.]

I only spoke to her one time after I came back. I didn't even see her in person. [When Tempest sets the bottle back down, he reaches over and takes it himself. He keeps talking as he drains the rest of the bottle into his own glass. It's more to keep her paced than any serious need to drink it himself.] I thought that was for the best, really.

[noprophecies]

[she watches him refill his glass, but the comment has her lifting her head to look at him instead. She frowns, sitting up a bit in her seat]

Why would that be for the best?

[exothermia]

Because. If she had seen me, I would have had to explain what had happened.

[noprophecies]

[ah. Understanding crosses her features and she glances down, at her glass. She doesn't drink]

Perhaps. She would have worried for you.