Meanwhile, back on a giant tadpole, Herbert shudders and reflexively flexes his claws in deeper as they pass swiftly through the waterfall and into the thick, cloying shadow. (Sorry, Jackson.) Can he breathe? Does he breathe shadow? It feels like it fills him up anyway, cold inside his nose and throat, into his lungs. Into his head.
There isn't much for it to attach to at first, sticky though the darkness is. Herbert is truly confident, almost obscenely. He truly believes in his genius, in how he is, that everything that goes wrong is due to some fault of others or the Universe rather than himself.
But then, of course, it reaches his soul, Void-touched as it is. And suddenly, Herbert is actually struggling. Predominately against the feeling that this entire venture is a waste of time. Why does he bother with his job? Why did he bother coming in as a cat at all when there is pure science and the destruction of everything?
It's... Fine, he will admit. This was a waste of his time. He was here when he could have been developing his reagent. But it hasn't been a total wash: he's come up with some new ideas vis the applicability of his serum. Besides, he's already been through this. There's no point in the destruction of reality before he's finished exploring everything about it. All of that can happen later. Right now he's busy with his work!
And then he's through, staring at rock instead of nothingness. He's...still soaking wet, so hopefully that only felt long, instead of actually being hours in the shadow while the others presumably got shredded apart by Bezaliel at the remains of the party. They all have eggs, though, so, it ought to be fine.
"Aaare--" goes Herbert and then coughs, his teeth clenching into the plate. His throat still feels tight after his bout with the barrier. "Strange. Are you, still there?"
⇨ BEHIND THE WATERFALL (IGNATIUS, HERBERT, STRANGE-IN-A-PLATE, AND TADPOLE JACKSON)
There isn't much for it to attach to at first, sticky though the darkness is. Herbert is truly confident, almost obscenely. He truly believes in his genius, in how he is, that everything that goes wrong is due to some fault of others or the Universe rather than himself.
But then, of course, it reaches his soul, Void-touched as it is. And suddenly, Herbert is actually struggling. Predominately against the feeling that this entire venture is a waste of time. Why does he bother with his job? Why did he bother coming in as a cat at all when there is pure science and the destruction of everything?
It's... Fine, he will admit. This was a waste of his time. He was here when he could have been developing his reagent. But it hasn't been a total wash: he's come up with some new ideas vis the applicability of his serum. Besides, he's already been through this. There's no point in the destruction of reality before he's finished exploring everything about it. All of that can happen later. Right now he's busy with his work!
And then he's through, staring at rock instead of nothingness. He's...still soaking wet, so hopefully that only felt long, instead of actually being hours in the shadow while the others presumably got shredded apart by Bezaliel at the remains of the party. They all have eggs, though, so, it ought to be fine.
"Aaare--" goes Herbert and then coughs, his teeth clenching into the plate. His throat still feels tight after his bout with the barrier. "Strange. Are you, still there?"