"Is everything all right?" Gabranth asks. It's late; most of Draklor is empty. The other guards have taken their leave. Gabranth, however, is new to the position, and --
The researcher in this room, Dr. Bunansa, looks up and smiles, wry, almost friendly. "It would be better," he says, "with some coffee." His eyes are bright, alert over the rims of his glasses, his face almost unlined, and his hair barely shot with gray. Gabranth finds he's surprised; Dr. Bunansa is a senior researcher, and yet he looks no more than forty. What sort of prodigious talent must it take, to reach this position so quickly?
Gabranth realizes he's staring. "Sir," he says, and bows out. One of the older laboratories has been converted to a makeshift kitchen; Gabranth prepares a small pot, finds a clean cup and some sugar, brings the entire mess back on a tray. It's not appropriate, a servant's task rather than a soldier's, but nobody is here to see.
"Thank you. Ah, none of that," Dr. Bunansa says, when Gabranth bows to take his leave again. He produces a second cup from beneath his desk, sets it beside the first. "Take some yourself. What's your name?"
look what you made me do. 200 words.
The researcher in this room, Dr. Bunansa, looks up and smiles, wry, almost friendly. "It would be better," he says, "with some coffee." His eyes are bright, alert over the rims of his glasses, his face almost unlined, and his hair barely shot with gray. Gabranth finds he's surprised; Dr. Bunansa is a senior researcher, and yet he looks no more than forty. What sort of prodigious talent must it take, to reach this position so quickly?
Gabranth realizes he's staring. "Sir," he says, and bows out. One of the older laboratories has been converted to a makeshift kitchen; Gabranth prepares a small pot, finds a clean cup and some sugar, brings the entire mess back on a tray. It's not appropriate, a servant's task rather than a soldier's, but nobody is here to see.
"Thank you. Ah, none of that," Dr. Bunansa says, when Gabranth bows to take his leave again. He produces a second cup from beneath his desk, sets it beside the first. "Take some yourself. What's your name?"