Hard to say. Hard to pinpoint a direction, too. She stops at a split in the hall and has to gauge for a second where she thinks it’s coming from, and then she knows.
“Maybe more on the something needs me side than anything being in danger. You feel that?”
He considers the feeling, then nods. He hasn't been needed by an awful lot over the past few years, and it's making something coil in his stomach that he doesn't like.
"Don't think I like what it might mean. Something playing with me."
"Right you are." It's pulling them easily towards the deck, his trepidation growing as they go- but it feels good, to, to be going there. Like he's going in the right direction.
"Let me-" When they get to the door, he pushes forward, a shield if need be.
What a gentleman. Tess steps in behind him, letting her backpack hang low off one shoulder in case she needs her gun. She peers around him, though, and is both surprised and bothered when no one’s there. Nothing immediately obvious, anyway.
There's really nothing there that he can see, yet, but there's a pull inside of him anyway. He keeps his arm stretched out a little, not exactly keeping her from moving ahead of him but... urging her not to.
And then his eyes drop to an egg, lying comfortably against the headrest of one of the deck chairs, and it just feels right to go towards it. He throws Tess a concerned look, frowns- what the hell?
Tess meets his gaze with a somewhat confused look. An egg? It looks like a giant egg. She knows, somehow, that it’s the thing calling for them, and it feels that much more intense the moment she knows that’s what it is.
She looks out to open space and it’s star field and then back to Arthur.
“We should grab it and go. Figure out what it is when we’re not in the open.”
Tess nods, slipping around him and bee-lining for the egg. She gives it a cursory look before picking it up — no moisture, no spores, nothing indicative of a trap or hazard.
It’s surprising to her how quick the plea to be found turns into contentment. She almost hesitates to put it in her bag. Tess isn’t so sure she likes that, but it is what it is.
Tess nods, and she lowers the egg into the bag only to feel it flinch when it sets down against her gun and the other things she has packed in there. She closes the bag up anyway. They’ll figure out what’s going on soon.
"More of a coincidence than us being paired in the first place?" she remarks, leading them back off the deck, taking corners slow. "Most people here won't fuss if we have it, but some..."
She can imagine how competitive someone like William might get for a mysterious item.
Arthur can feel it, and eventually he reaches out to put a hand on it through the fabric. He can stop when they get there, and he stays a little clear of the egg when she takes it out.
Tess glances back at him when he reaches to touch it, but she doesn't say anything. She just lets them into her room, and she shucks off the bag onto her bed and fishes the egg out, holding it up to the light to see if there's any transparency to the shell. None. The egg just seems happy to be out of the bag, but it's still whining for more than that.
Her gaze drifts to him when he winces. She'd consider herself pretty good at managing pain and discomfort, but if she can avoid some measure of it, she'll try. Easier to play along than fight it every step.
"You might have to put on a smile anyway," she remarks, running a thumb over the shell and then holding it out to him. Your turn, cowboy.
He does it, because it's her, asking it of him. He takes the egg, and it fits easily into the cradle of his arm. It's warm, and beaming contenment when it settles there.
The corner of her mouth curls. His life may not be any more child-friendly than hers, but there's something cute about big tough guys with something small and defenseless.
"You look like you'd let William have it if he came after you for it," she teases, but she'll leave it there.
He shakes his head, firmly, looking down at it. He hadn't seen Isaac at this age, so it's not memories that have him in their grasp. Not really.
"Get on the network and ask anyone else if they had something weird happen," he asks. Not quite an order, but they need to know sooner rather than later.
She fishes out her communicator to tap out messages to a few people. She skims the network too, but it's quiet at this hour. "Looks like at least one other person found one, so there must be more."
The Grandmaster's post is the first one up, and she glances over the brewing conversation with a curious little hmm.
"The other people who've found them are warden and inmate."
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Hard to say. Hard to pinpoint a direction, too. She stops at a split in the hall and has to gauge for a second where she thinks it’s coming from, and then she knows.
“Maybe more on the something needs me side than anything being in danger. You feel that?”
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"Don't think I like what it might mean. Something playing with me."
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"Let me-" When they get to the door, he pushes forward, a shield if need be.
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And then his eyes drop to an egg, lying comfortably against the headrest of one of the deck chairs, and it just feels right to go towards it. He throws Tess a concerned look, frowns- what the hell?
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She looks out to open space and it’s star field and then back to Arthur.
“We should grab it and go. Figure out what it is when we’re not in the open.”
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It’s surprising to her how quick the plea to be found turns into contentment. She almost hesitates to put it in her bag. Tess isn’t so sure she likes that, but it is what it is.
“What the hell...?”
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"Let's get back, first. Your place." Since his is smaller than hers. He puts a hand on her shoulder and urges her back towards the stairwell.
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“I wonder what’s inside. It’s huge.”
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She pauses.
"You think other people are getting called to it, too, and we're just the first ones here?"
She's not sure she'd fight for it, if it came to it, but she finds herself preparing for the possibility anyway.
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He really doesn't want other people to get to it, though. That's troublesome.
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She can imagine how competitive someone like William might get for a mysterious item.
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“You read my mind.”
The trip back to her cabin is quick, but by the egg is persistently whining about being jostled around in a backpack.
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He really doesn't like how this feels.
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"There's something fucked up about this."
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Which the egg just hates to hear. The pang he feels makes him physically wince and step forward, closer to the egg.
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"You might have to put on a smile anyway," she remarks, running a thumb over the shell and then holding it out to him. Your turn, cowboy.
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And Arthur just looks miserable.
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"You look like you'd let William have it if he came after you for it," she teases, but she'll leave it there.
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"Get on the network and ask anyone else if they had something weird happen," he asks. Not quite an order, but they need to know sooner rather than later.
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The Grandmaster's post is the first one up, and she glances over the brewing conversation with a curious little hmm.
"The other people who've found them are warden and inmate."
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