marcus
I want it all give me everything that you got
Marcus worked with careful hands, blade sliding clean through each slender stem, laying the glowing caps gently into the cloth so they didn't bruise. Up close, their light painted his fingers in pale blue, tracing the lines of old calluses and faint scars. He left the base intact, just like he’d said, nodding and agreeing with Nina as she headed to find another cluster.
He finished his small cluster and straightened, rolling his shoulders against the cold, then stepped carefully across the fractured crust toward where Nina had gone. He was aware of Ember’s distant flicker and the soft hush of wind over ice, but mostly he listened for trouble: shifting snow, cracking crust, anything out of place. Halo at night didn’t forgive distraction.
"How many did you get?" Marcus asked once back at her side, not wanting to carry his voice too far across the open tundra. His boots crunched as he closed the last few steps, breath fogging between them. He crouched near her find but didn’t interfere, just counted by eye and compared it to his bundle.
He glanced back to Nina. "Do you think it’s enough to call it a success and head back to the safety of the Citadel?" His tone was steady, practical—not fearful, just honest about the risk. His father had taught him well.
He finished his small cluster and straightened, rolling his shoulders against the cold, then stepped carefully across the fractured crust toward where Nina had gone. He was aware of Ember’s distant flicker and the soft hush of wind over ice, but mostly he listened for trouble: shifting snow, cracking crust, anything out of place. Halo at night didn’t forgive distraction.
"How many did you get?" Marcus asked once back at her side, not wanting to carry his voice too far across the open tundra. His boots crunched as he closed the last few steps, breath fogging between them. He crouched near her find but didn’t interfere, just counted by eye and compared it to his bundle.
He glanced back to Nina. "Do you think it’s enough to call it a success and head back to the safety of the Citadel?" His tone was steady, practical—not fearful, just honest about the risk. His father had taught him well.
The full transplant bleeding with a new heart
