text; un: bortz

[abortz]

[Bortz is not a chatty person. They aren't a particularly social person, and they aren't at all eager to make new "friends". But they'll submit to this sort of socialization with complete strangers to get information they need.]

Do animals have doctors?
If there is anyone in charge of fixing those of us who break then I need to know in advance rather than waiting until they're actually needed.

[There's a pause, and then they continue, almost begrudgingly.]

I also need to know if anything be done for you people if you're damaged.
If it comes up then there won't be time to figure it out in the moment. I won't waste time trying to help if there's no point.

[They don't care. They really don't, these organics mean nothing to them and frankly, expending effort on them when they have such short, limited lifespans to begin with seems pointless. But this is the job they've been given, and they'll do it right. If that means babysitting these fleshy people then so be it.]

Comments

[abortz]

[This again. The one straightforward person had asked if it hurt to break. They aren't familiar with the concept of pain being used for things outside emotions, but they aren't stupid. Humans expect some negative feeling to being damaged.]

No.

[With that much to ease her apparent worries, they reach over to grab the hunk of diamond and set their off hand against the worktable, spreading their fingers out. They lift the diamond as if to unceremoniously bring it crashing down, but pause before doing so to shoot Sieglinde a thoughtful look.]

Would you be upset if this broke?

[Traditional diamond won't weather a blow as well as they will. It very well may crack or entirely split.]

[grunehexe]

[No pain receptors... ?

She'll have to address that another time, because if it didn't hurt them... she was completely fine with going ahead, nodding along.]

It is fine. I only made it for a mission.

[If it had to be broken in order to advance something to help a fellow, then so be it- she had no actual use these days for precious stones and the finery befitting the station she'd been raised to believe was her blood right.]

I only need a sample this large.

[She holds up her fingers to show about an inch long, unable to stop herself from leaning forward slightly in interest.]

[abortz]

[Welp. Permission granted. They hold her gaze for a second longer before looking down to their hand and slamming the narrowest end of the diamond hunk against their pinky, taking care to pull the blow just a little so as to not crush it against the desk. They don't want to smash it to straight-up dust..

The sound of the impact is loud and sharply cracking. Neither their hand nor the diamond comes away unscathed.

The hunk of diamond's break is relatively neat. Relatively. Small bits fly and the tip of the chunk where it impacted shatters into a number of pieces, several cracks running through what remains of the whole. It's far from a precise jeweler's cut. But the facets, haphazard as they are, are fairly tidy if one really looks at them, smooth panes where the diamond split most easily.

Bortz's finger does not shatter so clearly. The tiny black bits that scatter from the force of the impact are far more numerous, and the edges of the broken off finger and the hand it was separated from are horribly jagged. They frown at the scattering of shards and the rough edges, already anticipating the painstaking process it will be to piece back together, before glancing to their other hand to make sure the blow hadn't damaged it as well.

Eventually satisfied, they pluck the severed pinky from the mess, whole for the entirely of the last joint and a bit of a mess for most of the next. They shake off the loose pieces and offer it up to Sieglinde.]

Will that work?

[It better. They should have just tried snapping the finger off, really. It might have been neater. They carefully sweep together the mess of small loose shards with the side of their hand, scanning the floor to see if any fell.]

[grunehexe]

[It's difficult to not flinch upon impact. It's a violent seeming action, the shattering, and despite her experiences since she's joined ALASTAIR and now Hathaway... the fighting in Nalawi, the chimera of Chantes, the ambush in Perdition's Rest... she still couldn't help but be frightened of such things. Of the wounds and the death that came in the wake.

But this... rather than there being no blood, it's the fact that his facial expression remains calm that prevents her from recoiling, from feeling upset at the sight of another's pain, able to watch until the end just curling her fingers tightly in the fabric of her kimono.

Once he offers the finger, though... she can't help but reach for it eagerly, holding it up to the light and admiring the crystal, eyes wide.]

Yes, yes, this will-

[Or, wait, this could be better... she points to the finger somewhat sheepishly.]

Actually... could you break this in half somehow? That way I do not have to call you in every time I'd like to test a compound...

[abortz]

[It looks more like a broken bit of statue when disconnected like that, exposed dark crystal giving way to a stiff, powder-coated digit. Bortz takes it back without awe or question at her request. If that's what she needs, then so be it.

The severed finger is pretty small. It might be hard to get the right leverage. They frown at it for a moment and then place their fingers gingerly at either end. It takes a good amount of careful force and effort, but it eventually snaps with a cracking sound at the joint into two uneven pieces, only a few extra tiny shards falling loose to join their pile.

Damn. Really probably would have been neater. Their frown deepens, but they wordlessly hand the two parts back to her.]

[grunehexe]

[Carefully, containing her urge to explode into movement and begin examining things immediately, Sieglinde accepts the two pieces, laying them in her lap briefly to pull an incongruous piece of equipment in this lab out, a tablet computer, fingers flying over the screen and tapping until she pulls up a drawing application.

It seems rude to ask them to draw with charcoal on paper after breaking off a finger, so the easily done one-finger-touch application seems the better choice.]

Now, could you draw the flower you mentioned. To the best of your ability is fine, we are not all artists.

[She demonstrates how to work the tablet in case they do not know before she offers it, smiling as if to mirror the depth of that frown.]