Strength - Draven/Harlowe/Ke'lal

“I’ll never get rid of these callouses at this rate…” Harlowe sighed quietly to himself, but his temporary companions were more than likely to hear. They were acutely good at being aware, Harlowe had learned. May it be someone passing by, someone misbehaving at the other end of the cavern, or things whispered— they were always aware. So it wasn’t unexpected to feel eyes on him after he paused to take a breather from moving chunks of crystal. What was a surprise was Ke’lal eating one of the crystal pieces. Eating it. Left Harlowe speechless for a moment, before he started seriously wondering what the crystal would taste like for him to be eating it. Or maybe he was just strange, Harlowe wouldn’t know and didn’t figure it’d be good to ask either. 

With both Draven and Ke’lal looking down at him taking his however manyeth breather, Harlowe ducked his head back down and continued working. He would be beyond sore, but that goes without mentioning for everyone. He would much rather be doing anything else, anything at all. Watching the Nyxthorns, feeding the matriarch, plucking foliage, counting picks, anything. But he was pulling his weight and happy to play his part is such a monumental task. More of less on the happy part, but the pride was there.

___

“I would not advise doing as Ke’lal does.” Draven cautioned as he moved to help the vayron move a large crystal, rolling it so it could drop the short distance away and clear up more space for them to move along her side. “You would likely break many teeth if you were to try to eat the crystal.”

Even he did not tend to do that often. Only a handful of times in his life had he sat an eaten offered crystals, usually involving some kind of ceremony. He very much preferred his hearty fruits and the fish they could trade for with the Depthstriders. Ke’lal… well, he was devoted to the Order and Oris both. Sometimes it was easier and safer not to question his thought process too much.

“Calluses are evidence you are not wasting our time or space down here,” Ke’lal piped up, sharp gaze on Harlowe once more as he picked his pickaxe up again. “You wish to be rid of the proof of your usefulness to the Matriarch?”

—

Harlowe’s ears pinned momentarily as Ke’lal chimed in, voice as loud and clear as ever. “Uh, well, it’s the memories of the day that should last, no? And her freedom come the end of this?” He reasoned, but the Haedian seemed unimpressed. As though he’d just completely disagreed to the statement. It didn’t seem like a question.

Pushing aside more crystals, Harlowe glanced to Draven for a sliver of reassurance, but held his tongue any further. He was a stranger to all of this, and with his observations he’s prone to offend someone within his first few hours of being there. 

__

Draven didn’t say anything at first, the haedian helping Harlowe move more of the crystals as Ke’lal swung away at a steady rate. The varyon and the Guard were… very different in personality. It’d not allowed for any easy conversation to flow. Not that Draven would’ve been talking much anyways, but having it be stilted around him wasn’t exactly his idea of a fun time either.

“The memories should last, yes. But many view the marks and scars as evidence of their efforts, should their memories ever leave them. This is no insignificant task, either. We three are all witnessing the Matriarch’s presence for the first time together.” Draven explained, shooting a sideways look at Ke’lal for a moment before continuing. “Those who are… more devout may see a wish to be free of aches and pains as a wish to move on from the honor the aches stem from.”

Illogical, but. Well, it was Ke’lal. The towering haedian didn’t always make sense, and it was safer all around to just not question things too much.

Bit by bit, they made progress on the Matriarch’s side with the rest of the countless helpers doing the same. At one point, they all had to pause what they were doing when someone somewhere struck too deep and made the Matriarch shake until the Caregivers soothed her to stillness once more. When that’d happened, Draven had grabbed Harlowe to tug him away from the ledge while he and Ke’lal widened their stances to withstand the tremors.

“I do not enjoy that she is in pain,” Ke’lal growled quietly, a tense puff of air leaving him as he turned to resume his task once more. “But pain is better than a slow death.”

—

“Ah, I,” Harlowe nodded in understanding, “I understand.” He didn’t add much more, instead focusing on clearing rubble again in silence. Though his mind continued to take in and mull over what he’d learned from the quick exchange. He’d have to be mindful of himself around those like Ke’lal.