The Sun & Moon

Babylon

Ajak entered the Domo, heading straight for Phastos' lab to check up on his work. He was in the middle of piecing together something intricate when she arrived. Her brow raised as soon as she saw it.

"Phastos, did you go to that party last night like I told you to?" she questioned, knowing he couldn't have put together something this complicated in the few hours of the day that had passed.

He paused looking over at her. "The party. Oh yeah," he nodded scoffing, "It was-"

"No, he didn't. He's been in here working on this all night," Druig interrupted.

Phastos gave him an irritated look, "Who was talking to you?"

The dark haired young man smirked laughing at his annoyance. Iridessa who was leaning on the wall beside Druig smiled too, much to Phastos' further annoyance. Ajak shook her head at him.

"Get a life," she reprimanded teasingly, then looked to Iridessa, "How was today?"

"Better," Iridessa nodded with a calm smile, "No flare ups after the fight. I feel good. In control."

"Good," Ajak smiled. Her smile then slipped when she realized she was missing one, "Where's Sersi?"

"Late," Sprite answered, "As usual."

"I'm sorry, but I have something very exciting to show you," Phastos interjected grabbing Ajak's wrist and leading her over to his floating creation.

She let out a sigh as the others held back laughter. They could already tell she was going to reject whatever this monstrosity was.

"Wait till you see this," he said proudly and moved the design into place fully.

The last couple of pieces connected and settled. He then looked to her expectantly. She stared at it a moment. Then a moment longer. Behind them, Druig glanced over to at Sprite then at Iridessa to see if they saw something he wasn't seeing. Sprite's nose was scrunched up as she squinted at the object. Iridessa's head was tilted to one side, a look of confusion also on her face. Ajak looked over at Phastos with a raised brow.

"What is it?" she finally asked.

"It's an engine. It moves steam from high pressure to low pressure," he explained, "It'll help them till their fields at an incredibly fast rate."

"It's gonna freak them out," Sprite stated, now spinning a stray metal hoop around her finger.

Druig nodded. "They've only had the wheel for a thousand years so..."

"They're a bit slower than we originally thought," Iridessa agreed with a wince, "Perhaps something less complicated?"

"Less complicated," Phastos laughed, zero amusement in his voice, "You know, maybe we could try that thing where Druig uses his mind to control them and then they can do it quicker-"

"Ajak, you listening to this?" Druig interrupted looking to their leader.

Sprite and Iridessa laughed. Ajak couldn't help but laugh too and shake her head.

"Dessa is right, Phastos. You need to keep it simple," she advised, "It's too soon for this."

Right then, Sersi ran in and they all turned to her. She smiled sheepishly as she paused, trying to catch her breath.

"Sorry," she panted then looked up at the thing in the center of the room, "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing. Just the screams of my deep disappointment," Phastos answered gesturing to his creation.

The others rolled their eyes at him.

He huffed turning back to his design. "Simple. Fine."

He waved his hands around a bit dismissing most of his creation. Iridessa felt a twinge of jealousy seeing him work. She'd always wanted to be able to create things like he did. Her gift to humanity had been a one time thing. If she wasn't protecting them, her power was useless. Druig turned making a face. He caught her eye and gave her a look. She looked away, flushing as she realized he'd heard the thought.