focusedvoid: (shade of you)
[personal profile] focusedvoid posting in [community profile] boxfullofzeroes








They're not dead.

Less dead than they'd felt, at least. Their shell doesn't normally take so long to reform.

Then again. Their shell doesn't usually break of their own violation as they ascended in a boiling rage, ate at least one realm, a god, and all the Godseekers.

(That last point is debatable, actually. There's some odd sense, deep under their...shell? Void? Wherever they once stored things like Isma's Tear, much deeper now...that the sea-mind is still there, sluggish and held in a stasis. They're already adjusting enough, and they don't seem to be dying or trying to kill them, so that problem is neatly sorted as 'for later'.)

They push their body to stand. Their horn clangs uncomfortably loudly against the grate they've apparently woken up beneath. They're somewhere in the Royal Waterways. A quick check of the map--or, not so quick, as it takes time to locate where it had been--shows they've risen about halfway through, closer to the City of Tears than the White Palace. They'll go to the Stag Station in the City Storerooms next.

So they think. Complications arise on the way.

The Infection is gone, leaving dead Flukes, Pilflips, and Hwurmps in piles enough it takes time to force their way past. Their body seems too small. No, their body is fine--there's something wrong with perception itself. That will take time to adjust to.

Then, they discover the Monarch Wings now stretch and warp when used, twisting around the nearest pipes after landing before the Knight forcibly calls them back. Shade Wings, they decide to call these.

Once they're high enough to hear the rain above, they realize a noise they'd ascribed to water running in the distance is, in fact, something swirling behind their mask. Many somethings. All the fragments of Siblings with enough self left, staring out from their eyes. It's disconcerting.

By the time they actually get out of the Waterways, they're using their Shade Wings to grip ledges and drag themselves up, with those holding onto things better than their own arms are with the Mantis Claw. 

The Knight faceplants awkwardly onto the floor of the building Lemm's shop is in. If the City is the same as below, there's little left to try killing them in the area.

They'll just take a moment here, thanks.

Date: 2022-12-03 08:52 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
"I'll be keeping an eye out for a name as well. We'll find enough to build a picture of her. There's a lot you can tell about a bug from their home." Like, for example, that they've already forgotten that there's ink splashed all over their counter, because it's dried by now and is not an immediate problem.

"Every account's biased," he scoffs, about as flippant as it gets. "That's why you need to examine as many different angles as you can. Someone who knew of Hegemol personally is a more valuable asset than anything on my shelves." A brief glance up as he nudges the bell piece a little bit to the left, and he shoots the Knight a narrow glare. "Ah - stop lengthening the list of people I've got to talk to! I came to Hallownest so I could learn from inanimate objects, not chit-chat."

Lemm's experience would be woefully inadequate to pick up on the Knight's insinuation even with full context. He has none - and the Knight's expressionless mask has nothing to tell him about how he ought to be reading their words, so they're taken as plain as they stand. It's lost on him either way.

"Nailmaster to Paintmaster... I suppose when my account is completed I'll demand you call me Relicmaster, eh? A bit cocky of anyone, I'd think." Regardless of the things he didn't pick up, Lemm has absolutely no qualms about teasing someone who isn't here to defend themselves.
Edited Date: 2022-12-03 08:55 pm (UTC)

Date: 2022-12-04 08:32 am (UTC)
capitalcurator: (take off the defender's crest)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
"You're overanimate. If I put you on a shelf you'd knock the whole thing down with a Nail." It'd be scathing if it wasn't so matter-of-fact. "No, Relicmaster's not for me, you make a fair point. I won't be introducing myself that way any time soon."

Lemm may be privately conflicted about the next bit, but he's not under any false impressions. Stiffly, he makes himself as clear as he can.

"I'm a grown bug and my work comes first. Don't tread on glass around me, Knight." It's insulting, he wants to add, but he knows the Knight doesn't mean it that way and he manages to rein it in. With a sigh, he folds his arms behind his beard and tries not to look too apprehensive. "I don't know what impression I've managed to give you, but it seems it's an embarrassing one. Speaking to others won't crush me."

Date: 2022-12-04 10:17 am (UTC)
capitalcurator: (take off the defender's crest)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
"I -" know! "- knnnnow. I know you don't."

He's slow to smooth out the irked note in his voice, but smooth it he does.

"It's the noticing that's got me thrown, 'm not used to it." He gives what he seems to think is a dismissive wave-off of this conversation. It may come across as more pleading than he hopes. "S'just habit - I don't like being examined. Just have to remind myself who's doing the examining and I'll get over it."

Lemm clears his throat and tries to tie off this mess as cleanly as he can.

"You'll introduce me to this Paintmaster sometime and there'll be no fuss. Sounds like another bug who doesn't mind you for company, anyway, so he must be the patient type." Take that.

Date: 2022-12-04 11:24 am (UTC)
capitalcurator: (this isn't a museum)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
They're right about everything, and that's why Lemm doesn't have a good response. Right from the start, no one stumbles over that many relics unless they're looking for them, so he had some idea! Since then he's been shown time after time how deep their curiosity runs, and every example has his approval. It's just that when it's directed so sharply at him Lemm is left deeply, deeply uncomfortable - but it can be uncomfortable and a good thing. He just doesn't have the words to explain it.

"That we are." He can concede that point. "A lot of it's been up to you, though, and that's not a word of a lie."

It's somewhere close to gratitude. Pity he didn't include anything to say so.

Lemm is glad to move on. "I'll have to take you at your word that pestering him about a Great Knight's less than pestering him about a Nail. And don't you go calling Relic Seeking a 'gentler art'! History's got blades sometimes."

He has to be mistaken, or else they are. Lemm reads that second-to-last sentence again. No, he read it right. He sits there in silence for a second, squinting down at it. It staunchly refuses to make any more sense to him.

Another one? Or - no, he's not going to entertain that thought, it wouldn't do him any favours.

"...What's he like?" He resignedly taps Nailsmith. Might as well prepare to add another person to the growing list. At least the Knight can warn him what to expect.

Date: 2022-12-04 02:56 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (...)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
At first he's just plainly resigned: there are similarities to be drawn, but only superficially, because this is someone else. The bottom falls out of this excuse very quickly and Lemm is left staring at the paper as something inside him untwists itself.

Worked on the Knight's Nail. The timespan there doesn't make sense any other way. Lemm suggested it and he'd been right nearby. They couldn't have taken it anywhere else. It had to be him. It has to be him they're talking about.

He breathes in slow and deep and lets it out in a long sigh, looking westward to the door for a little while. Then he locks his eyes back on the Knight's writing.

"That's news," he says weakly. "Good for him. May I see your Nail?"

Date: 2022-12-04 03:37 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
Lemm doesn't know much about Nails, neither wielding nor forging. Weaponry is somewhat of his weak spot, something thought of in the abstract in terms of how it affects a certain piece of history. Knowing a warrior picked a javelin over a club tells him enough without having to know what it was made of or how well-balanced it is or the proper way to toss a javelin without it going wide.

He knew the Knight got their Nail fixed, that he noticed. He hadn't thought...

He hadn't looked at it, not really, it was just an occasional blur of pale metal making a racket or being swung at things in the Knight's hand. He hadn't been interested.

Lemm studies the patterning and eyes the edges with no real understanding of what he's looking for. He finds it anyway. A fool could look at this Nail and know it was special. He leans a little closer and very lightly runs a claw across some of the detail on the flat of the blade, wary of how reverently the Knight is holding it.

"Well," he says at last, "he managed it, then."

Lemm takes his hand back, tucks it under his chin, and considers whether or not this is the kind of thing that'd come across wrong. With a glance up from the Nail to its wielder, he gets the feeling they'll understand.

Nevertheless his voice is small and uncertain. "He wasn't very well," he murmurs. "Down here. It's good to hear he's - that he - you've met him elsewhere."

Date: 2022-12-04 04:44 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
Seeing the Knight react like that is a big tell. He doesn't need to explain what he means. They know. Obviously.

Lemm is still a little unsteady - in a way that perhaps the Knight would recognise if they were privy to this. He holds it together quite well, straying his other hand over the blade now, just... tracing. Admiring the craftsmanship, maybe, or else just anchoring himself.

"We weren't close and I doubt I cross his mind. But I'm glad you told me." There's none of the usual Lemm-like clip to that. It just is. "Anyway, I can scarcely believe this is the same shabby Nail that came wandering in with you that first time. I may not have thought much of his goal, but this really is a thing to behold."

He stops just short of trying to bargain. Lemm is already aware that's a non-starter.

"Been with you a while, has it?"

Date: 2022-12-04 05:29 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (this isn't a museum)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
He's just relieved to get away from that topic. Maybe he'd discuss it further if they'd asked, but the only things he can think to say are... too telling, too personal, and probably too similar to gossip. Both of them know better.

"Hm."

Again the temptation is there, but he's too certain they won't part with it to even bother. It's one thing to collect aesthetically-pleasing and historically-important relics left behind by storied figures, but... this is very much not left behind. In fact this is the first time he's seen them put it down.

...At that thought, Lemm takes his hand back off the Nail with an air of finality.

Storied figures, though.

"It must've seen some battles. Same as you, eh?" ...This will get a yes or no, he realises, and quickly tacks on: "I'd hear of one, if you'd tell it. I think we've about exhausted what we'll find of the Great Knights before we make our visits." That, and he wouldn't want them to think he'd lost interest in the Knight sitting in front of him.

Date: 2022-12-04 10:20 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
His eyes linger on it. They're allowed to flourish! It's a fine piece of metal they have, and worth a spotlight.

(Lemm's hand twitches to the discarded sheets they've used so far. He stops fast, and drums his fingers on the counter instead, just to keep himself from straying.)

There appears to be no answer forthcoming.

He can see their handwriting, if he pictures it. Mind wanders.

"Your easiest," he tries, "if it helps."

Date: 2022-12-05 09:47 am (UTC)
capitalcurator: (a full set of king's idols!)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
Asking for their easiest may have been a tactical play on Lemm's part. The Knight has far more grandiose stories, but he's had the suspicion for a bit that even their least noteworthy would still turn out to be feats in their own right. This turns out to be correct.

Lemm reads their retelling and allows the usual sense of wonder to rise in him as it does when he reads any particularly riveting Wanderer's Journal. Occasionally he glances to their Nail just to picture it differently, imagining it in their grip...

It's also a tactful choice because he finds himself rather more jolted by the imagery of vast Vengefly jaws coming for the Knight than he expected. He knows they're a warrior, he just doesn't think about it much. The Nail is an excellent reminder.

"I do enjoy a tale of action just for the sake of it, you know," he admits. "But this is a fine peek into your life before we met, as well! Hearing your Nail has seen combat helps me believe it all the more."

And... that they have. All he's seen is that they chased off a Goam (not that he was watching for most of that), and the evidence of the fight in the Black Egg... and that's too sharp a story for this visit.

"When a strange little wanderer came trotting through my door I hardly expected to find out what I have. Tales like this have me reminded you're the lethal type." In that tone it sounds a lot like a compliment. "S'hard to remember that when you're sitting on my counter making a mess."

Date: 2022-12-05 03:35 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (this isn't a museum)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
"Yes, well I imagine there're fewer fights for you to have now, eh?"

Pleasant is the right word exactly. He's used to sitting in here by himself, deciphering other people's journals to the sound of rain. That was peaceful and pleasant enough. The atmosphere is different now with the Knight in here, and the sound of their quill scribbling away has added itself to the ambience seamlessly.

"Speaking of - I've been meaning to ask a while. In the Storerooms, when you were..." He makes a vague gesture, waggling his fingers along an imaginary flat line. "It didn't look deliberate to me, that's why I was hanging around. Felt a bit ridiculous when I figured out you were probably just... Were you asleep, then?"

Date: 2022-12-05 04:15 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (Default)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
At least he was right about it not being deliberate. It would be nice to have known in advance what classes as some kind of warning sign about the Shade Lord's general state of health, but he doubts any of that would come naturally to anyone, much less him.

Apparently it doesn't come naturally to the Knight, either.

"Ah. Stumbling across you like that was -" alarming? concerning? "- a surprise." Lemm leans back in his seat a little, thinking for a moment. "So was meeting Greenhorn, though I've no regrets about that."

Any other would probably preface this next part with a forgive me for pointing this out, but this is Lemm, so:

"A lot of what I've seen of your - other look hasn't seemed all that calculated."

Date: 2022-12-05 05:35 pm (UTC)
capitalcurator: (this isn't a museum)
From: [personal profile] capitalcurator
Lemm pretends some haughtiness, folding his arms and tilting his horn at a very slight angle. "I'm hardly surprised! I cut a formidable figure." Never mind that he still has a splatter of ink all over his beard with a distinctive half-eyehole-print in the middle of the mess.

He drops the pretense for this next part and taps fingers on his arm as for once he's careful how to phrase something.

"I think you're being quiet on purpose, which probably means I'm pushing it." He looks down at his counter and begins fiddling with board game pieces again, if only to give them both the dignity of not having to feel seen. "But I notice things, same as you - and I've a lot of time to think. There's not much I can offer you but to listen, but my shop's always open to you. Not sure I'm making myself clear." He sighs resignedly. "Probably not. S'hardly my strong suit."

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-05 06:29 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-05 07:47 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-05 08:15 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-05 09:31 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-05 10:25 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-05 10:54 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-05 11:25 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-05 11:47 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 12:02 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 12:15 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 12:30 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 12:49 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 01:15 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 09:17 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 10:53 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 11:25 am (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 02:04 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 03:05 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 05:26 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 06:36 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 07:41 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 08:16 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 08:49 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 09:12 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 09:38 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [personal profile] capitalcurator - Date: 2022-12-06 10:01 pm (UTC) - Expand

Profile

boxfullofzeroes: (Default)
B0X

April 2025

S M T W T F S
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27 282930   

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 7th, 2025 11:56 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios