[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250324/b71cf5ab5cebec9b4e857200f7c42a8b.png[/img]

[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250324/dc185f5e06aa08f3af9fbb79b4040da5.png[/img]

[color=EBA536][b]Location:[/b][/color] [color=E579FF]Top Deck[/color]
[color=E579FF][b]Race:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536]Dark Elf[/color] & [color=E579FF]Human[/color]
[color=E579FF][b]Class:[/b][/color] [color=EBA536]Artificer[/color] & [color=E579FF]Rogue[/color]
[color=EBA536][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] [@PapaOso] Gears; [@Tae] Meiyu
[color=E579FF][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] [@FunnyGuy] Miris (as Wendel)
[color=EBA536][b]Equipment:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
Medical bag
Tinkerer's kit
Arcane spindlelock (shortened) musket
Spindlelock pistols x2
Hand axes x2
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
First-aid bag
Tinkerer's kit
Spindlelock pistols x2
Steel daggers x2[/hider][color=E579FF][b]Attire:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
Dark brown, knee-length coat
Black waistbelt
Grey button-up shirt
Dark brown trousers
Heavy leather boots
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
Off-white shirt
Red ribbon tied around left arm
Brown hooded coat
Brown trousers
Leather boots
Goggles on her head[/hider][color=EBA536][b]Gold:[/b][/color] 65
[color=E579FF][b]Injuries:[/b][/color]
[hider]
[color=EBA536][b]Scratch[/b][/color]
NA
[color=E579FF][b]Val[/b][/color]
NA[/hider]
[/center]

The subtle hesitation, the flicker of emotion; that intense, yet tired gaze in her optics – none of those slight changes in Gears’ demeanour escaped [color=EBA536][b]Scaerthrynne’s[/b][/color] notice. Neither were any of them unfamiliar to him; he’d seen them all before. Not just in warforged like her, but in humans; in elves; in tieflings; in halflings; in dwarves; in orcs; in dragonborn, in just about every race he’d ever met. Everyone had the same looks, the same reactions when the past decided to rear its ugly head.

He’d experienced them himself, even. There were times when he’d pause in the middle of maintaining his weapons, and recall a time when hardly a day would pass without his firelocks’ muzzles blackened, or the blades of his axes bloodied, by sundown. There were times when he’d be refilling syringes, and he’d think of the times when he’d used his knowledge to kill, more than to save. 

[color=E579FF]“Old ghosts?”[/color] Vallena’s question distracted him before he delved too far into the matter. 

The girl’s visage was the very picture of curiosity, even if it was genuine concern that filled those two, short words. She tilted her head slightly as she met Gears’ optics.

[color=EBA536]“She means memories, Val,”[/color] Scaerthrynne explained, giving the warforged a nod of understanding. [color=EBA536]“Don’t worry about it.”[/color]

Vallena looked between Gears and the dark elf several times. She didn’t look wholly convinced, but after a while, she turned to the warforged and gave her a bright, toothy smile. [color=E579FF]“Okay, I’ll try not to worry too much, Miss Gears. But come find us if anything’s wrong, okay? Scratch and I will fix you right up!”[/color]

[color=EBA536]“Speaking of fixing, and optics…”[/color] Scaerthrynne leaned over the bar, his face serious and his gaze intense as he looked right into Gears’ glowing, bluish orbs. Nothing about him suggested mischief, or that this was just part of some elaborate banter. [color=EBA536]“How long has it been since your last check up, Gears?”[/color] He asked with the clinical professionalism of a doctor with their patient. [color=EBA536]“Because I can’t remember the last time we had a look at your optical subsystems. Or any of your subsystems, for that matter. I’m not telling you what to do, but…”[/color] His eyes narrowed, squinting as he examined Gears’ face. [color=EBA536]“Hm, left ocular receptor looks like it’s a little slower than the right to react.”[/color]

[color=E579FF]“Is that bad?”[/color] Vallena asked worriedly. [color=E579FF]“That sounds bad. Is Miss Gears going to be okay, Scratch?”[/color]

[color=EBA536]“I don’t know, Val.”[/color] Scaerthrynne didn’t take his eyes off of Gears. [color=EBA536]“Why don’t you tell me?”[/color]

Vallena tapped her fingers on the counter, humming as she stared up at the ceiling. She leaned back, with brows furrowed and tongue sticking out from between her lips. [color=E579FF]“If…If an ocular receptor reacts slowly, then it’s either a…Problem with the socket linkages, or with the visual interpreter.”[/color] She bolted upright, turning to look at Scaerthrynne, then at Gears. [color=E579FF]“But since it’s only one side that’s slow…It’s the socket linkages?”[/color]

Scaerthrynne nodded, pulling back and standing straight. [color=EBA536]“Good enough answer, for now,”[/color] he said. [color=EBA536]“Those two issues you mentioned are the most common causes of ocular receptor malfunctions, but there’re more ways for an ocular receptor to fail.”[/color] Rubbing his chin, he looked at Gears with a surgeon’s eyes. [color=EBA536]“But since you seem perfectly fine in every other way, and you don’t seem to be going crazy from hallucinations, and you’re not feeding people sheet metal thinking it's bread, I’d say that your socket linkages just need a bit of readjustment or lubrication. Nothing serious.”[/color]

And nothing interesting. But he supposed that, with Gears, that was a good thing.

[color=EBA536]“Sorry,”[/color] he said with a grin that was as apologetic as it was mischievous. [color=EBA536]“But fussing over people, things, this whole ship in general, is what I’m underpaid to do. You’re just going to have to live with it.”[/color] He let out a quiet chuckle before turning around, leaning his back against, and his elbows on the counter as he kept an eye on the bar’s patrons. [color=EBA536]“But I’ll stop holding you and let you get back to work. Wouldn’t want the Captain to find more reasons to pay me even less.”[/color]

[color=E579FF]“Sorry again,”[/color] Vallena mouthed to Gears. 

It didn’t take long for the warforged bartender to return with their food. Scratch got his sandwich – a simple thing that didn’t look tasty at all – while [color=E579FF][b]Vallena[/b][/color] received a plate of sliced bread fried in butter, topped with a wide selection of colourful, sliced fruits, and all of it drizzled with honey. [color=E579FF]“Wow! This looks amazing, Miss Gears!”[/color] The girl looked up at the warforged with a grateful smile. [color=E579FF]“Thank you so much!”[/color]

[color=EBA536]“Just put these on my tab,”[/color] Scaerthrynne said over his shoulder. [color=EBA536]“I’d hate to get you into trouble, and I’ll be back up here after sundown to hunt for faulty lights, anyway. I’ll pay it all then, as usual.”[/color]

Vallena picked up her fork, and was just about to dig in, when realisation struck her. She looked to her left, watching the dark elf watch the crowd as he took small bites from his sandwich. She looked to her right, at [color=7DBC89]Riddles[/color] as the formerly scary lady chatted with the [Color=silver]really grey dwarf[/color]. How foolish of her! In her rush to get to Miss Gears, Vallena had placed herself squarely between Scratch and Riddles, and now neither of them looked like they were going to talk to the other! How could they get to know each other, like in those books she’d read, and how could they possibly, maybe, perhaps grow to like each other, like in those books too, if they didn’t talk?

No, she had to fix this. And she had to do it fast, before anything else could distract them.

[color=E579FF]“Scratch,”[/color] she called out. [color=E579FF]“Can you switch places with me?”[/color]

[color=EBA536]“Nah, I’d rather not.”[/color] came the near-instant reply. 

[color=E579FF]“Why not?”[/color] Vallena whined.

Scratch shrugged. [color=EBA536]“I don’t see how shifting a few inches left is going to make a difference, and my senses that tell me that you’re planning something are tingling.”[/color]

Why did he have to be so sharp? [color=E579FF]“Please, Scratch?”[/color] Vallena pulled out her best pleading voice, the same which had convinced the guard at the cargo hold to let her pass. [color=E579FF]“I won’t ask for anything else for the rest of the day, I promise!”[/color]

That got his attention. He looked at her with a raised brow. [color=EBA536]“The rest of the day?”[/color]

[color=E579FF]“Okay, the rest of the morning.”[/color]

He didn’t look convinced.

Vallena squirmed in her seat. [color=E579FF]“Maybe just the next hour?”[/color]

Scratch held her gaze for a moment before sighing. He turned around and pulled her plate over to him. [color=EBA536]“I’ll probably regret this,”[/color] he grumbled, gesturing for Vallena to stand up. The girl giggled, hopped off her stool, and squeezed past Scratch to get to her new perch. [color=EBA536]“But I guess you're not going to stop until I either give in or my head explodes. There, happy now?"[/color]

[color=E579FF]“Almost,”[/color] she chirped. This was only the first part of her master plan. Now to put the second into play. She pointed across Scratch’s front, to Riddles. [color=E579FF]“Can you get her name, please? I don’t think we got it.”[/color]

[color=EBA536]“Whatever happened to not asking for anything for the next hour?”[/color]

[color=E579FF]“Please, Scratch? It’s just asking for her name!”[/color]

[color=EBA536]“Ask her yourself, then.”[/color]

Thinking quickly, Vallena cut off a large chunk of bread with her fork and stabbed it, along with a large slice of a peach. She pushed everything into her mouth, her cheeks bulging like a squirrel’s. [color=E579FF]“Busy,”[/color] she tried to say, but her words came out as a garbled mess. [color=E579FF]“I’m eating.”[/color]

[color=EBA536][b]Scaerthrynne[/b][/color] shook his head. Really, the girl could do the silliest things, sometimes. But she was still just a child. Silliness was to be expected. Vallena kept her gaze on him as she chewed slowly. Deliberately so, almost. He sighed. He knew that she was planning something, but he also knew that arguing with her was a pointless task. Not when she was so set on seeing things through. One couldn’t win an argument when one’s opponent didn’t operate on logic, after all. 

So for now, he’d play along, and see where that would get him. 

He turned to the woman. [color=EBA536]“Sorry,”[/color] he said. [color=EBA536]“But my idiot girl over there insists that I’ve to get your name, and I've to get it now before...I don't know, she's just really insistent for some reason. So here I am, asking. What’s your name?”[/color]