Anton had barely spoke after Carina had entered the room, and that did not change now. It was not that he didn't want to speak, but more out of the fear that if he did he would make an utter fool of himself. To avoid that, he was choosing his words with absolute care, and by and large considered silence to be the best policy. It didn't seem like Carina needed him to speak to read him anyway.
Vanessa's joke at least gave him a lifeline, the man's face graced for a moment by a soft smile at her not so subtle joke at his expense. "I have tried to be dying less often, but someone seems to have taken that as a challenge," he shot back at his nominal bodyguard, who had by every metric put him in vastly more danger than if he had simply remained at home. But that, she would insist, was boring. Which was probably the excuse she was going to give when he asked her what she was thinking about introducing him to Carina.
He knew little of matters of the heart, but he knew enough to realize that Clove had him caught in a trap. The fact that she wasn't even trying - wasn't intending - to land him in such a state, that she had absolutely nothing she wished to gain from him, only made it more effective regardless of her wishes. By comparison, doing strange drugs in a mysterious lounge with a stranger vouched for only by a former pirate was practically a walk in the park.
Semblance allowed him to see the outline of Vanessa's motions when she made to try it, and at first he attempted to mimic her while following Clove's instructions. Carina seemed to have no desire to watch him fumble his way through the process, guiding him to successfully line up the rolled up banknote with the expertly crushed powder. He managed a muffled "thank you" to the mysterious woman before beginning to inhale, sweeping down the entire line.
Life flooded through him as it hit, a surge of euphoria coursing throughout his entire body. The auras of everything and everyone in the room suddenly took on far sharper focus, the sounds and sensations far more vibrant and real than he had ever experienced. Carina's was no different, her song infringing upon his mind even when he attempted to pay attention to something else, everything somehow leading back to her.
"Oh."
Vanessa's joke at least gave him a lifeline, the man's face graced for a moment by a soft smile at her not so subtle joke at his expense. "I have tried to be dying less often, but someone seems to have taken that as a challenge," he shot back at his nominal bodyguard, who had by every metric put him in vastly more danger than if he had simply remained at home. But that, she would insist, was boring. Which was probably the excuse she was going to give when he asked her what she was thinking about introducing him to Carina.
He knew little of matters of the heart, but he knew enough to realize that Clove had him caught in a trap. The fact that she wasn't even trying - wasn't intending - to land him in such a state, that she had absolutely nothing she wished to gain from him, only made it more effective regardless of her wishes. By comparison, doing strange drugs in a mysterious lounge with a stranger vouched for only by a former pirate was practically a walk in the park.
Semblance allowed him to see the outline of Vanessa's motions when she made to try it, and at first he attempted to mimic her while following Clove's instructions. Carina seemed to have no desire to watch him fumble his way through the process, guiding him to successfully line up the rolled up banknote with the expertly crushed powder. He managed a muffled "thank you" to the mysterious woman before beginning to inhale, sweeping down the entire line.
Life flooded through him as it hit, a surge of euphoria coursing throughout his entire body. The auras of everything and everyone in the room suddenly took on far sharper focus, the sounds and sensations far more vibrant and real than he had ever experienced. Carina's was no different, her song infringing upon his mind even when he attempted to pay attention to something else, everything somehow leading back to her.
"Oh."
