[This is sort of a familiar deal for him, really. Wandering around the desolate maybe evil city with a girl who wanted to throttle him possibly to death less than 24 hours ago looking for the missing sibling.
It's bizarre. He shouldn't care at all. It's not the same, he didn't promise this girl anything before today, but... He just looks over at her fretting and afraid and he can feel Erastis feeling some sort of sad, mopey response.]
So. [He says, in a rare moment they're not sprinting and he's regretting wearing his leather duster.] We should, erm, go over the places you did look so we don't start treading old ground, yeah?
I started near the cave last night and worked my way toward the castle. The city isn't laid out in perfect quadrants, but one can make approximations if we take into account the unusual shapes of building clusters.
[Even though they're not sprinting, her steps are quick and purposeful. She's not made for sitting around.]
Based on a bird's-eye view of the city and using the cave as a northern point, I searched the entirety of the north, with the exception of a cluster of buildings at the eastern point. If we wish to avoid retreading old ground, we should begin at the shipwreck and move north from there.
[Though. Given the extremely low possibility they somehow turned up in the middle of the night, she's going to want to research the north anyways... look this is entirely to keep herself from going out of her mind with worry, she's resigned herself to the fact that she probably isn't going to be able to find him until he decides to come back :( ]
You're gonna have an easier time finding something if you focus on picking up a trail and not just spotting him. I think the chances of him just being in plain sight are a bit... thin. [He'd put money on him being outside of the bubble, actually. But regardless...] Either way, though, shipwreck's as good a place to start as any.
[He knows she's going to start sprinting. So he's ready.]
I know. [Instead of breaking into a sprint, she actually balls her hands up into fists, looking down at the ancient cobblestones beneath their feet.] I know how unlikely it is we'll find him at all. But I can't just sit there and do nothing. What if they turn up like the others did yesterday and need help?
[What if they can't find them in time if they do?]
[He's going to turn toward her, brow furrowed. She's probably right, statistically speaking but... It's still not a great mindset to operate on.] Hey. None of that.
[He places a hand on her shoulder.] Look at me, you think I'd be helping you if I didn't think we could find him? Getting in your head about it and thinking there's nothing you can do is the most surefire way of ensuring you can't. Alright?
If they turn up, someone'll be there to meet them, there's a sodding lot of us and I think most of us are scattered about enough that they're bound to run into someone. But I said I'd help you find where he went and where he is, so that's what I mean to do, even if it is unlikely.
[He's surprised her a lot in the past day. The hand on her shoulder is just one more example of that, as is what he says afterward.
But she listens. Because he's being sincere, and she can't help but respond to that.]
...you're right, of course. That's more than enough gloom for now. [She takes a moment and visibly gathers herself again, nodding once.] To the shipwreck.
And Spike? [She's already turned in that direction, ready to start sprinting, but she glances back at him for a moment.] Thank you. After last week, I wouldn't have blamed you for not helping me.
[Last week didn't constitute much in his eyes. Sure, he threatened to kill her, and yeah, she called him useless which he felt was a bit unfair. But all his friends back home have done and said worse to him, and him to them.
So maybe he just has a really skewed idea of conflict. Even so, he still can't fully understand his own sympathy.]
Don't mention it. Seriously, I got a reputation to keep.
[Then his expression turns a bit more sombre.]
But... well, I do know how it feels. [He doesn't know how it feels to have those fears be confirmed as false, to regain someone he already believed he lost. He's not that lucky. Maybe he just hopes for Alis' sake that she gets to be.] ...There's just about nothing worse than being unable to protect the ones you love.
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It's bizarre. He shouldn't care at all. It's not the same, he didn't promise this girl anything before today, but... He just looks over at her fretting and afraid and he can feel Erastis feeling some sort of sad, mopey response.]
So. [He says, in a rare moment they're not sprinting and he's regretting wearing his leather duster.] We should, erm, go over the places you did look so we don't start treading old ground, yeah?
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[Even though they're not sprinting, her steps are quick and purposeful. She's not made for sitting around.]
Based on a bird's-eye view of the city and using the cave as a northern point, I searched the entirety of the north, with the exception of a cluster of buildings at the eastern point. If we wish to avoid retreading old ground, we should begin at the shipwreck and move north from there.
[Though. Given the extremely low possibility they somehow turned up in the middle of the night, she's going to want to research the north anyways... look this is entirely to keep herself from going out of her mind with worry, she's resigned herself to the fact that she probably isn't going to be able to find him until he decides to come back :( ]
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[Spike frowns, a little hesitant.]
You're gonna have an easier time finding something if you focus on picking up a trail and not just spotting him. I think the chances of him just being in plain sight are a bit... thin. [He'd put money on him being outside of the bubble, actually. But regardless...] Either way, though, shipwreck's as good a place to start as any.
[He knows she's going to start sprinting. So he's ready.]
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[What if they can't find them in time if they do?]
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[He places a hand on her shoulder.] Look at me, you think I'd be helping you if I didn't think we could find him? Getting in your head about it and thinking there's nothing you can do is the most surefire way of ensuring you can't. Alright?
If they turn up, someone'll be there to meet them, there's a sodding lot of us and I think most of us are scattered about enough that they're bound to run into someone. But I said I'd help you find where he went and where he is, so that's what I mean to do, even if it is unlikely.
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But she listens. Because he's being sincere, and she can't help but respond to that.]
...you're right, of course. That's more than enough gloom for now. [She takes a moment and visibly gathers herself again, nodding once.] To the shipwreck.
And Spike? [She's already turned in that direction, ready to start sprinting, but she glances back at him for a moment.] Thank you. After last week, I wouldn't have blamed you for not helping me.
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That's the spirit.
[Last week didn't constitute much in his eyes. Sure, he threatened to kill her, and yeah, she called him useless which he felt was a bit unfair. But all his friends back home have done and said worse to him, and him to them.
So maybe he just has a really skewed idea of conflict. Even so, he still can't fully understand his own sympathy.]
Don't mention it. Seriously, I got a reputation to keep.
[Then his expression turns a bit more sombre.]
But... well, I do know how it feels. [He doesn't know how it feels to have those fears be confirmed as false, to regain someone he already believed he lost. He's not that lucky. Maybe he just hopes for Alis' sake that she gets to be.] ...There's just about nothing worse than being unable to protect the ones you love.
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[And damn if she doesn't know it.]