I think I can manage being collateral damage
Everest pauses, hand hovering over a rich strip of heartwood, his gaze flicking to Isla as she trails a finger down the grain of another sample. "If you touch all of them," he begins, genuinely hesitant, "I might have to collect every piece just to maintain comparative accuracy." There's a moment—just a beat—before her smile registers fully, and he exhales softly through his nose, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Ah. That was a joke."
He clears his throat and gestures subtly for the vendor to proceed with cutting the samples, slipping a small labelled pouch from his satchel. "I used letters for this system," he explains, " because numerals are already assigned to our scoring scale. Duplicating them across methods would have introduced unnecessary cross-reference errors."
As the vendor moves away, Ever’s fingers skim briefly along Isla’s, his gaze briefly catching hers before drifting thoughtfully toward the ocean beyond the stalls. "You mentioned a swimming date earlier?" he says, tone shifting slightly, lighter now. "We both have large feline shifts, so theoretically we’d be evenly matched in the water. Though..." He glances back at her, head tilting. "Do molten tigers have trouble swimming? I imagine your fur’s..." He frowns. "Would you steam?"
He clears his throat and gestures subtly for the vendor to proceed with cutting the samples, slipping a small labelled pouch from his satchel. "I used letters for this system," he explains, " because numerals are already assigned to our scoring scale. Duplicating them across methods would have introduced unnecessary cross-reference errors."
As the vendor moves away, Ever’s fingers skim briefly along Isla’s, his gaze briefly catching hers before drifting thoughtfully toward the ocean beyond the stalls. "You mentioned a swimming date earlier?" he says, tone shifting slightly, lighter now. "We both have large feline shifts, so theoretically we’d be evenly matched in the water. Though..." He glances back at her, head tilting. "Do molten tigers have trouble swimming? I imagine your fur’s..." He frowns. "Would you steam?"
.
