Geneviah woke up to a sharp pain in her side.
It took her away from the present pain and into a past one, where she had spent weeks doubled over in pain in the clinic, unable to sleep more than a wink--
Sae snapped her fingers, and Geneviah was pulled right back to the present. She was frowning, looming over Geneviah with an aura of doom. She managed a mumbled "Morning" - though it came out more like "mffron" - when she was interrupted.
"It's dawn. I spent part of the night on shift, so it's your go now. I'll stay with you for the first hour, but you'll have to handle it alone after that." Sae's eyes lingered over Geneviah, and she felt judged. Those were judging eyes. "Do you think you're up for it?"
Geneviah had spent more than a few hours talking with Sae last night. Most of her thoughts were Oh no, I have to prove I'm good at this to someone who actually knows what they're doing! and some mixture of internal screaming and sobbing. But there were a few things outside of that.
Primarily, Sae is a person. She seems cold, and aloof, and just... not present, given the amount of times Geneviah was spouting off a lie only to see her adrift in her own world. But primarily, a person. She definitely doubted some of the stories Geneviah told, but she didn't call her on it, which means she's not mean. Or cruel, at least.
So... she should answer 'Do you think you're up for it?' as a genuine question? Or should she assume there's some glyphworking chisel measuring contest happening?
"Yeah, I'm up for it. Ready to learn, at least!" She gives a smile, then cringes. "Actually, my mouth tastes awful. I need to brush. Is there a good place for it, or do I just toss it into the sea?"
Sae laughs under her breath, a very pleasant sound to Geneviah. That's the other thing she noticed: her initial assessment of boat girl barely scratched the surface. She had to double check if she'd be able to survive on the boat with someone who ticked boxes like Sae did.
She could do it. The money is good and she's already in too deep, so full speed ahead.
"I usually brush after I eat. We store a little water, but it's usually made each day during the morning shift." Sae noticed the deepened frown on her face, and hastily added: "It's not that bad, just a bit of work. If you go to the stern to check on the glyphs, I'll bring us breakfast?" A smile, weak, and Geneviah's heart melted a little.
"Sounds good. Let me just get changed, these clothes feel awful." She shifted. They felt stuck to her, sweat felt like it congealed on her body.
"I'll see you on the stern." Sae took her leave, the flap of the sleeping pit sliding closed to block the sunlight. She sighed, sitting up (a crime! against all laziness in the world!) and dug through her bag for a change of clothes.
What do we have... a nice top, but it's more sleepwear than workwear... another issue of the same pants everyone else gets... another one... a red shirt? Suppose you'll do.
She got changed, tossing yesterday's clothes on the sleeping mat. A glare was sent its way, too: it's not the most comfortable thing in the world. The ship's movement over water had helped, but it was no easy task sleeping.
Her hair was pulled into a bun to keep it out of her face. Her outfit... she couldn't tell if it was good, but she liked this shirt, so it was probably fine. I guess I'm ready to face the day.
She pushed open the flap, only to rapidly pull it back to where it was. The light was blinding out here. She had known they, logically, wouldn't be in Sankhurst anymore. But she didn't expect the sun to be the enemy out here, just... the risk of drowning .
Deep breath. Shield the eyes. She peeled it open, slowly, and peeked out. The Shanty was absolutely bathed in sunlight. There must not be a cloud in the sky. She pulled it open, letting the bright light in. Deep breath. The deck creaked as she stepped out of the sleeping pit to see...
...normality. Bright, but completely normal. Are my eyes just broken? She turned to walk around the cabin, but the skyline caught her breathless.
The sea was twinkling, the morning light sparkling against the waves as they moved towards their destination. The blue sky was nearly clear, the only imperfections wispy clouds. Geneviah had never seen anything like it.
Even on the Docks, it had been overcast. There was the occasional rarity, like last night's... lightning bolt? She wasn't sure what it was, but it exploded it out of the sky and nailed the ocean. But it was usually windy and overcast.
Was it like this outside the city all the time? She'd have to ask Sae. Speaking of... she made her way around the cabin, her eyes going to the horizon every few moments. It was so mesmerizing.
She checked the glyphs. She didn't really know what she was looking for, but hey, it's probably obvious if they're close to breaking, right?
Geneviah knew better to put her hand in front of one of them while they were propelling the glyph. She had this friend when she was still in classes, and she had come to education the next day with a stump instead of a hand. The topic taught had been rapidly changed from times tables to "Why you shouldn't mess with the trolleys".
Shaking herself from the memory, she refocused on the glyphs. All of them seemed... fine? There was no obvious cracks or fractures in any of them, they were just matte dark purple stones.
One of them shook as it discharged, jolting the boat slightly from the sudden acceleration. She looked it over, but it didn't look any different?
If she wanted to identify what was wrong, she'd have to ask Sae. That'll be hard without giving away the game, damn it. I wish I had paid more attention in classes.
She wasn't satisfied, but... with no idea what to do next, she sat down and looked at the horizon again.
It was stranger this time; still just as pretty, but she wasn't used to seeing ocean in all directions. The sole safety was this boat, with land far away.
She shivered, the salty ocean air passing through her.
-
Geneviah was knocked out of her state by Sae dropping the box containing the morning's food behind her. If she hadn't already been sitting down, she would've fallen over from the sheer shock. Sitting as she was, she only flailed and knocked her hand into the side of the boat.
She shot a glare at Sae. Her hand hurt! As she cradled it in her lap, Sae covered up her laughter by faking coughing into her arm. It was not very convincing.
As her glare lost strength and her hand stopped throbbing, she peeked at the box. "What's for breakfast? I wasn't given the manifest, only told what boxes to load."
From the corner of her eyes, she saw Sae's laughter cut itself off, her expression flattening as she became all business. "I'm not sure? I just grabbed the first box near the trapdoor." She fiddled with the latch, popping the box open to reveal...
A stack of smaller boxes, and a sack of vegetables? Geneviah didn't recognize it, but Sae did by the way her face lit up. "Oh, good! The Captain put in an order for soup stock." She shook her head. "It's easiest for me to make while I'm out here."
As Sae rooted around in the box, she shot Geneviah a glance. "Do you have any preferences? It looks like we've got variety here, some tomatoes, onions cucumbers, bell peppers... I usually just dice and throw them all in, but the Captain and I just need to eat."
Geneviah found her words. "Oh. Yeah, no, I don't have anything." Lame response, Geneviah! "Sorry, you said that we don't keep much water onboard. Are we gonna pull some from the ocean?"
She didn't like the sound of that, and Sae appeared to agree with the sentiment. "No, no. It's barely safe to drink with how heavy essence is out here, anyway. We'll need to purify it." She left the breakfast box and pulled a few glyphs out of the container sitting near Geneviah. "We'll need an absorption glyph to remove the essence concentration to make it safe to drink, then I'll need to grab the desalination machine."
A lot of information had just been thrown her way. She could not be blamed with how her head spun. "Sorry, it's not safe to drink because of essence?" She scooched away from the edge. "Are you telling me I'll get poisoned if I fall in the water?"
Sae stilled. "I haven't thought about it... I don't think you have to worry about it." Her hands started working again, setting out some glyphs from the container on the deck. "I think it's only if you stay in there a long time. Essence takes a while to seep into your body, barring exceptional circumstances. Or if you drink it."
Geneviah stopped slouching and put her full attention on the girl who just told her that the ocean would poison her. "Exceptional circumstances? Like what, if we capsize?" A chill ran down her spine.
You could get injured on pretty much any job in Sankhurst, but... essence poisoning is one of the worst ways to go. Once it's in someone, only time can remove it. It weakens someone, making them less capable and mentally foggy.
If she knew that the ocean could poison her, maybe she wouldn't have gone for ocean swims as a kid. Her memories of running alongside the sandbanks outside of Sankhurst with Neddy felt tainted, somewhat.
Sae shot her a disappointed look. "No. If we stay in an area that's discharging with essence, it'll pool in our bodies a lot faster. The Captain won't let that happen. Earlier, when I woke you up: we were in a cloud of luminous discharge. Didn't you notice?"
Now that she mentioned it... "It was bright out. I thought that was just like... what the ocean is like."
She gave Geneviah a chiding laugh. "That was luminous essence buildup being let out. Normally it's a mixture of colors, but it was excessively bright instead. We moved out of it a little before I startled you." She ducked when Geneviah tried to smack her.
"Yeah, and you shouldn't have done that! It threw me off! I was just minding my own business, watching the ocean--"
"Not watching the glyphs?"
"Oh, shut it." She crossed her arms. "You talked about a... desalination machine?" The word sounded strange in her mouth.
Sae looked away, towards the cabin. "Yeah, right. It's a thing I made to take in seawater, purify it, and then condense it in another container. It only does a litre or two at a time, so part of the morning routine is managing that until we're good for the day." She stood up.
"I'll wait for your return from your harsh journey to fetch the contraption, Sae." She batted her eyelashes. When Sae laughed, she felt victory.
"Be right back with it." Sae walked off towards the cabin, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
Geneviah's eyes drifted onto the horizon. Sae's words - "I don't think you have to worry about it." - felt paltry. She shouldn't be concerned?
You have to be careful when you go through the world. Concern and making sure you're not walking into danger is what keeps you going. The confident attitude might work for Sae, comfortable on the boat, but Geneviah can't feel the same.
She can swim, sure, so if she fell off while the boat was at a stand-still she could probably get back on.
But there was something about the knowledge that even if she was rescued, she would bear semi-permanent reminders until the essence flushed itself out her system.
The ocean's twinkling refracting of light felt diminished, the waves holding her likely death if she made a misstep on deck. It had lost some of its luster for her. If she had known about this, maybe she wouldn't have jumped at the chance to leave shore.
-
Geneviah watched Sae carry the bulky contraption out of the cabin. It was domed in metal, a tunnel leading upwards towards another, smaller dome. The one at the end of the tunnel had a slot in it for a glyph, she guessed.
Beneath the metal were two boxes of the same size, one beneath each sphere. She started to stand up to help Sae - maybe she could carry the boxes so it'd be a little less heavy? - but Sae interrupted her with an "I have it!".
She could definitely appreciate the other girl's muscles. Sae was wiry, but strong. It was only the shape of the desalination machine that gave her trouble.
With a huff, the desalinator was carefully sat on the deck. "Congratulations." She raised an eyebrow, taking in Sae stretching her arms. "You need any help with filling it with sea water, or are you gonna do it yourself too?"
The other girl shot her a look. "You'll need to do this on your own the day after tomorrow, don't get comfortable." She motioned, and Geneviah finally caught that she was trying to get her attention.
"This is the salt water bucket." She pointed to the box beneath the larger dome. "We need to pick up, dip it in the water, let it fill. It holds about two liters, so you'll need to run this..." Sae paused. "...six times. Normally it's only four, but you're here, so."
She felt herself nodding along. Still watching the arms! Attention on the instructions! "Got it! Salt water in the salt water box." She reached towards the box, feeling for some kind of handle.
...The only thing on it was a ring. Large enough to fit a few fingers through. "Sae."
"What?" She didn't have eyes on Sae, but she imagined a perfectly flat expression, betraying nothing. "I'm waiting for you to pick it up. Don't tell me you worked as a dockloader without knowing how to pick up boxes?"
Fury at the sass. "I know how to pick up a box! This is not a normal box, Sae!" She whipped her head towards the source of the teasing, only to find that she was exactly right.
Sae had a completely flat expression. She was inspecting one of her fingernails on her hand, her other against her hip. Christ. The gambling face, she'd have to take her to the House.
"I don't know, Geneviah. It's a box." Her voice was bored, but she refused to meet Geneviah's eye. "Are you sure you don't know how to pick it up? I can show you."
"Oh, go on!" She stamped her foot against the deck. Geneviah felt hot around the ears like she was a child. "Show me how the great and powerful Sae fills a box with essence-polluted seawater!" She was playing it up a little, but she was here to do a job! Sae was all business before she got here, why's she doing this to me?!
"Fine, if you really need me too." She strutted away from the box, and grabbed the life-preserver ring against the aft. She removed the rope from it, wielding like a champion holds a trophy. "Watch and learn." The satisfaction finally broke through her tone, and too late, Geneviah realized they had been playing a game.
She had lost. Score 1, Sae.
Sae looped the rope through the ring on the box, tying it into a knot and giving it a tug. Then she pulled on it, lifting it up. "Do you understand how to lift a box now, Geneviah?"
She shot Sae a glare, only to see her preen at the sight. Had she just lost another point for giving in? "Fine! You could've just said 'Oh, Geneviah, take the rope off the life-preserver and tie it around the box to lift it!'" She pointed at Sae. "You're mean. That's what you are."
Her tone was light-hearted, but the last sentence shut the other girl down. The mirth drained from her eyes, her expression going slack as she dropped the box. "Oh." fell out of her mouth, barely audible against the waves. "Sorry. I don't really know when is appropriate to stop for these kinds of things."
What the fuck? Geneviah looked at Sae's face, desperately trying to see any hint of emotion in her expression. There was none. Guilt snaked its way through her body, constricting her throat.
A moment passed, only interrupted by the sound of waves hitting the side of the boat as they were moved forward. Sae had seemed so... stoic? Was she not able to give as good as she got?
It couldn't be that. She hadn't reacted badly until Geneviah said that she was mean.
She grasped for anything to soothe the accidental wound: 'You're fine', 'I was just joking', 'You're not mean, you're better to me than you should be given I'm lying to you and your boss/friend'.
Before she could get any of them out, life snapped back into Sae's eyes.
It filled her slowly, her hands clenching as if working feeling back into them. She breathed slowly, a rhythm Geneviah could identify was there but only just.
She blinked once, twice, looking around slowly at the boat, the desalinator, and finally settling on Geneviah.
Her eyes held an an empty life, all that had been human extracted out. Her mouth was flat, and she stood limply.
"Sorry." Her tone was dull. "That happens sometimes. I'm... it's a work in progress." She cringed, and then gestured to the box while holding out the rope. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah..." She took the rope, eyeing Sae as she did. No change in expression.
She thought about trying to tease her again as they dropped the box into the ocean, letting it drag behind the ship as it collected seawater. But the reaction she got...
She decided not to, as they reeled the box back in. The seawater sloshed against the rim of the box, over-spilling and landing itself on the deck. She bit down a remark - a senior boat girl like yourself lets water fall out? shame! - knowing at worst it would cause... that again, and at best knock Sae out of whatever she was in.
She had remained nearly silent, only cursing under her breath when some of the seawater hit the deck. She studied it for a moment, before Geneviah chimed in. "I think it's enough. Better it's lighter for me, right?" She tried for humorous, ended at tried for humorous.
Sae slowly looked over. "Yes, you're right. Just in case."
Geneviah liked Sae, but this... blanked out, emotionless robot version is giving her the creeps.
-
They loaded up the desalinator with the box of water, and Sae held up a glyph. "This is an absorption glyph." She traced one of the runes, one that resembled a fork with way too many... things at the end of a fork.
"This rune siphons off all other alignments of essence. Absorption is unique in that it'll only be reduced in effect with other alignments. Instead of..." She trailed off, thinking. "...not working at all, or having dangerous side effects."
God, the emotionlessness in her voice was killing Geneviah. "Got it. So, this will... absorb?" This was not the same girl who I spent last night charming, right?
"Correct. It specifically absorbs essence, though it does light and sound as well to a lesser degree." She tilted her head a fraction. "If you've ever lived in an apartment with soundproofing, this is how."
Geneviah shook her head. "Those places are way outside Neddy and I's budget. Plus, they only get allotted to 'peoples of high standing'." She rolled her eyes for effect.
Sae froze. "Neddy?" The glyph she was holding shook a little in her grip, her fingers tightening around it.
"Yeah, have I not mentioned him?" She was a little caught off guard: this was the first time Sae's voice wasn't flat in the last ten minutes. "Love him to bits, but he's not who I want to talk about right now. Long story short: worrywart, pleasant but frustrating, and the best brother I could've gotten."
Sae's mouth opened, closed. Her expression flickered from flat to... something, before falling back to flat. "Brother?" Her tone wasn't emotionless, just... normal. "I'll have to ask you more about him sometime."
Geneviah raised an eyebrow. "You're interested in family talk?"
She flinched. "Not-" She steadied herself. "Not my own. If you're willing, I'd like to hear about yours." She gave Geneviah a small smile, life falling back into her eyes. "But first, the desalination?"