awol | HARROW.

[ monday in clowntown is already sure a thing. anyways.

he's just scrolling through his device when he arrives because there sure is a lot happening at once. when he sees harrow he just nods in greeting (?) ]

Nonagesimus.

[she smiles and waves as she comes into the library.]

How are you feeling today?

[ he'll pop into a seat across from her, a hum leaving him a moment as he taps a finger against the arm of the chair. ]

Alright. It's been an odd morning.

You?

Yes, certainly odd. Though it isn't been unpleasant.

[she'll take the seat.]

I did want to apologize for behaving quite unreasonably at trial. You see, I am rather uncomfortable with being touched, and I fear that led me to act stubbornly.

It's fine.

Better to stand your ground. [ and then as he thinks about it ] I might have said the same thing. People exhaust me.

I respect it.

They do exhaust me as well. I don't intend for that to be the case, but it is so...unusual to have to interact with all of these strangers.

I don't know how to portray myself.

What's expected of us from before doesn't carry over here now. Makes it difficult.

What are you used to?

Begin there.

Edited (hello??? txt???) 2023-02-13 23:02 (UTC)

...Recently, less than a week prior, was the first time I have ever left home. I am used to my home.

[she feels a sudden well of something a little like homesick, and against her will, she sniffles slightly, and then dabs her face with a black lace handkerchief quickly.]

Excuse me.

[ he gazes down at his gloved hands to give her a moment because like damn if he would hate someone watching him. he can feel an odd warmth pricking under his eyes, but he bites the inside of his cheek in refusal, at least for now. ]

And now all this. It doesn't help.

What is your home like?

[she dislikes being emotional in front of others, but thinking about home always succeeds in getting her there. she trains her face, though, her expression settling into something more serious.]

It is a crevasse built deep into the core of a planet that is otherwise predominantly rock and ice. The castle is there, the catacombs, the pilgrim quarters and mausoleum, mines, as well, of course, as your standard life sustaining implements such as a spaceport, biome for crop growth, oxygen tanks, vat wombs, etc. Our numbers are not large but we are a dutiful and pious people with a long history, and we have a workforce made up of generations of our dead, which is the pride of our house. The planet itself is not life sustaining beyond our small portion of it, of course.

[all a very clinical description.]

[ he can appreciate that tbh. paints a decent picture. ]

Self-sufficiency in such a capacity, working with what you have. Impressive.

[ but his brows are raised in interest. like by a millimeter. because that's just kind of how his face is. ]

Was that where your people chose to settle? Sounds isolated.

[ ~~sounds nice—~~ no ]

Not chose, precisely. We were given this land by the Emperor. Its isolation is by design; there is something dangerous locked away in the depths of the tomb, and we are tasked to guard it.

[she seems to brighten a bit about this.]