“Ugh, why are you so understanding? I literally poisoned you!” Seri huffed.
Severo chuckled. “Is it really considered poisoning if I let you do it?”
“Yes! Youwillinglydrinking spoiled milk doesn’t make you any less poisoned just because you did it willingly.”
“Hey, that happened one time and I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“You literally took two mouthfuls. How did you not notice?!”
“I—” Severo cut off when the laptop on the counter started to beep. “It’s time—go. I’ll be fine here.”
Seri let out a frustrated growl, before scooping Skya out of her playpen and snagging the laptop, making his way back to his room.
He closed the door behind him as he entered, and set up on the bed. He took a deep breath and clutched Skya to his chest when she tried to crawl away. She could just deal with being his support bear right now… She was dressed as one. Well, she was a red panda, which was not technically a bear, but enough people still thought they were, so close enough!
Skya huffed, but settled. Kissing the top of her head, he pressed the connect button on the chat.
“Ah, there you are. I was worried for a moment that I wrote down the wrong time,” Lance said with a chuckle.
“No…just some things going on here.” He sighed.
“Gah!” Skya giggled as she reached for the laptop.
He grabbed her hands. “No, Skya.”
“Bah, Dah-Dah,” she grumbled.
“You have a little friend today.”
“Yeah…”
“Well, obviously a lot is going on. But before we go into all that, how are you today?”
“Horrible!” Seri blurted. “I poisoned Severo!”
The man remained silent for a second before slowly saying, “Do I need to call someone?” The man’s voice sounded like he wasn’t sure if Seri was joking or not.
“No… I don’t know.”
“Is there a reason you poisoned him?”
“I mean, I didn’t do it on purpose. Well…I mean, I sort of did. It was that compound I told you I was working on. I finished it. Well, it’s not finished. It’s still in the testing stages. Which is what happened. We tested. He agreed. But now he is hurt. Well, not hurt, but in pain. And I don’t know how long it will last, or if he will even last! But he can’t move at the moment. And I wouldn’t even be here right now if he hadn’t insisted I keep this appointment.”
“Would you like to reschedule?”
“Yes…no…I don’t know.”
“Then, for now, let’s talk until you decide what is best. So, this compound, it is one that only affects Shadow Dwellers, correct?”
“Yes…it’s made specifically for them.”
“To harm them?”
“No. It’s supposed to block their abilities and incapacitate them without causing harm. We just aren’t at that point in development to have worked out the ‘without harm’ part…”
“I see. I’d think you would want to cause Shadow Dwellers harm, considering…”
“Preston, I want to hurt…not Shadow Dwellers.”
