Dolphus’ eyes traveled the minimum distance necessary to see Ari’s reddened face in his peripheral vision. It drastically contrasted his own, pale face, which while naturally white as a sheet was paler than usual. Could it, by any chance, have anything to do with being ingested by a massive squid, dragged into the freezing water, washed ashore, going through shock (multiple times), and being reminded of his trauma on an almost regular schedule?
Nah. There was no way he was on his proverbial last legs and was constantly two steps from giving up entirely, with barely any social or even Gorov-ish energy left at all. Not a chance.
…Who the heck is Al?
Dolphus looked up at her like a wounded animal wondering if it was going to be euthanized. His hand desperately wanted to travel down and push his knees apart, which pressed into each other so hard they were beginning to ache, but not only would that be too awkward to actually accomplish, he felt that attempting it would motivate his body to surrender and enter the fetal position then and there.
I’m so cold.
As Mako brushed past, ending up heading in the same general direction Ari had been pointing, Dolphus clamped his jaw and with a tremendous effort shot adrenaline into his system in order to stay afloat. The consequences of doing that? Probably best not to think about until it came time to deal with them.
Having done so, his leg muscles kicked in, ever so slowly pushing his legs apart as he walked, his back straightening out instantly, his mask returning with such resounding clarity that it was several seconds before he realized Ari was still in existence and was waiting for a reply.
“Huh?” He looked up, as if he had never seen Ari before in his life, his eyes first traveling to her bicep as if that was where her head should be. “Uh, I uh… That’s… not exactly determined yet.” He adjusted his collar nervously but tried to make it look totally intentional guys did you see how intentional it was man so intentional. “Since this expedition is outside of the jurisdiction of the Armada, we were to choose a captain, but at the moment everyone is incredibly indecisive about who it will actually be.”
“Right now there are only two candidates for the position. Alexis is the favorite, and her competitor is Rook, formerly a captain himself. There is no clear winner as of yet.”
Internally, he was totally kicking himself. Every part of the speech made it seem impersonal and honest, and yet that last sentence was delivered in a manner so blatantly false he half-expected Ari to backhand him for it. Perhaps his body showed it, perhaps it didn’t; all he knew was that he felt the sting of her knuckles against his cheek.
He mentally pried his hand off his shoulder. Ari’s fingertips were still pressed against it.
