Theo had expected to be angrier about the whole mess, but mostly he just felt bad for Fiyu. He could easily see how her mind had approached what she saw as a simple dilemma, only to fall directly into a social abyss. Ever since that night, she seemed to have suppressed all hint of attraction, and though he wasn't sure how Ichili worked hormonally, he thought that they could do so far more effectively than anyone on Earth.

His emotions quickly morphed into anger at himself for not having seen any of it coming. Now that he thought about it critically, it seemed obvious that a young Ichili woman traveling with people her own age might have entered this stage in life. In some way, he'd expected those matters to simply never come up, Fiyu and Nauda operating purely as soulcrafting allies. That was how it had gone during his first life, flirtation and awkwardness if anything. At least, until the end.

Within his soulhome, Theo froze at the uncomfortable thought. For the first time, when he thought about Brigana's final confession before her death, it struck him as immature instead of nostalgic.

If they'd survived, or if he'd returned in time to find her again, what would have happened? He forced himself to think through the idea that he might have ruined that relationship too. Though it might not have been the Nine Worlds, as it had been with Mary, he could easily have destroyed their bond with some other obsession. Maybe his ex was right after all.

Refusing had been a simple decision, for the reasons he'd given, but it surprised him how easy it had been. Again, he wondered just what his body was. He'd thought of it as returning to a young body, but he'd yet to experience any of the hormonal swings he remembered from Earth. Given that Ichili bodies worked so differently and his current body had been created when he arrived... perhaps it was wrong to make assumptions about what he actually was.

Not that it was relevant, with Nauda aggressively training in one direction and Fiyu quietly soulcrafting in the other.

Since he doubted that Fiyu would react positively to further engagement, he considered Nauda instead. Any attempt at explanation would likely go even worse with her, and it wasn't really his place to get involved. Still, as he watched Nauda... he had been oblivious to physical realities for so long, he'd almost missed a detail. The roots of her hair were coming in darker than her usual white blond. It might mean nothing, but given recent affairs, he tucked the observation away.

Part of him wished that he had some way of smoothing over the disturbance, while another part of him insisted that it was all irrelevant. Cold as it seemed, what really mattered for the time being was their ability to work as a team. Regardless of the argument, he believed that Fiyu and Nauda had the emotional maturity to work things out, given time.

Just as Theo was about ready to push the whole matter out of his mind, he saw Tythes walking across the island with his hammock over his head. He slammed the posts into the rock just behind Fiyu, then hopped up to perch behind her. Theo groaned and headed to intercept the conversation.

"So, you're experiencing your first little tingles of love." Tythes dropped his head into his cupped hands and sighed theatrically. "And such a heartbreaking way to begin! Shot down twice in a row... truly, your luck is even worse than mine."

"I cannot make you leave," Fiyu said evenly, "but I wish that you would."

"Oh, but I was coming to help you! Believe me, I am quite experienced in these matters. I may not be a worthy lifemate, but if you would like to practice on me, I-"

"Go away. I am not attracted to you and never will be."

"Cut to the quick!" Tythes placed a hand on his chest in feigned shock. "My confidence in my stunning good looks is utterly unshakable, but I'm offended that you didn't at least look me over first."

Though Fiyu had been uncomfortable with the entire conversation, now she stared at him in honest confusion. "I do not see how that is relevant. I do not know you well. You appear to be an unkind person. There are no grounds for any attraction to develop. Please go away."

To Theo's surprise, that actually worked, Tythes pulling up his hammock posts with minimal fuss and departing. Theo had been prepared to do what he could to shield Fiyu socially, but her cold exterior appeared to have been defense enough. She noted his presence and nodded with a slight smile, though he could see that her mood remained muted.

Understanding that she wanted to be alone, Theo instead followed Tythes. "Did you really think that teasing an Ichili was going to work?"

"Yeah, I actually did." Tythes stopped at the other end of the island to set up his hammock, then hopped into it with his hands behind his head. "The local Ichili are actually pretty easy to fluster if you bring up any sort of sexual subject. But I guess she's not from the Greater Dark. A pity, because I had a lot of lines planned to make this situation deeply, revoltingly awkward for everyone. It would have been wonderful."

Not having expected such a frank reply, Theo stared at Tythes longer than he'd intended. The Authority clearly delighted in causing chaos, but none of this interaction felt truly malicious. It was impossible to believe that he was truly as apathetic as he pretended to be, which suggested that he knew something important about the contents of the triangular building.

"My, you're certainly staring at me a long time." Tythes wiggled his eyebrows at him. "I'm much older than the Ichili girl, so maybe you're more interested?"

"Fine, I'll get back to soulcrafting." Theo turned away with a roll of his eyes, but the entire movement was forced. He hadn't realized that Tythes had been able to hear the entire conversation, even piercing the walls of Fiyu's tent.

Quickly going back over their conversation, Theo tried to calculate how much of a problem that could be. He hadn't mentioned Earth by name, but he'd identified himself as being from outside the Nine Worlds. His comment about his age might be inexplicable, unless Tythes knew more about that than he was letting on. In fact, the ostensible joke might well have been a threat.

Then again, the implication of being an outsider already hung over him thanks to Esaire's accusations. He wasn't sure if that could potentially be fatal, especially if someone like Tythes might contact organizations manipulated by Vistgil. But it hadn't been a problem yet, and the House of the Lost was supposedly formed entirely by people from outside the Nine Worlds. He didn't want to leave Norro Yorthin while it could still be useful to him, but if the risk increased...

Theo decided that this was all his own distraction. None of it mattered unless they escaped the Chasm of Lamentations alive.

~ ~ ~

Numerous different thoughts clamored to be the most irritating thing in Nauda's mind. The fact that they were trapped in the chasm and making little progress, of course. The incident with Fiyu. Tythes in general.

But the one she hadn't expected was the way that Theo and Fiyu seemed to simply leave the problems behind them. Theo arguably had justification, since he'd done nothing wrong and came out in roughly the same position. But Fiyu... it was downright strange how she simply seemed to revert to who she had been before, polite but cool. As if none of the confessions had ever happened.

Nauda's emotions had never been that tidy. It had been torture to listen to Fiyu expressing her feelings, then she'd been irrationally angry at Theo for his infuriatingly patient response, even if it was for the best. Overall, she had managed to convince herself that she could set aside her conflicted feelings... and then Fiyu had walked right out and asked her.

With time to think, Nauda thought she could understand it from Fiyu's perspective, it just didn't take away any of the sting. As if Fiyu had just wanted a fungible companion and intended to keep asking until she found someone willing to agree. Nauda knew better, trying to summon up memories of how long it had taken Fiyu to warm up to them, but the thought still ached.

The worst of it was that her own feelings crystallized just in time to cause her pain and do no one any good. If that night had gone a little differently, maybe she would have agreed. When she saw Fiyu brushing out her silky hair in the mornings, sitting so calmly and peacefully...

And Nauda had ruined that. Perhaps it was even for the best. The most basic expectations for relationships were so different between Tatian and Ichil that a relationship might have been doomed from the start. Even if they both had the best of intentions, they'd just end up constantly stumbling over the other's expectations. Given how utterly seriously Ichili seemed to take relationships, Nauda might not be able to live up to those standards and just end up causing Fiyu pain.

So she did her best not to think about it, futile as it was. Nauda stared down at the bricks in her hands, suddenly realizing that she had been mindlessly soulcrafting for some time. Thankfully, she was just lining a wall and her ingrained habits had served her well.

Her progress was a small comfort. Throwing herself into furious soulcrafting for so long, she'd nearly completed her third floor. Though Tythes taunted her endlessly when they went anywhere, he'd actually helped her find a number of useful materials. In particular a sublime rock he called lifestone, which emanated a warm strength that suited her soulhome well. There had been no time to integrate them deeply, but they filled her Ruler tier with more than generic cantae.

"Alright, once more!" Tythes called from outside her soul and Nauda left her work behind. He was gesturing for them all to approach the door again, which had become a familiar routine. "Get through it this time!"

Despite all her conflicted feelings, Nauda was able to step alongside Theo and Fiyu to attempt to open the door. The inscriptions lit up more quickly as they grew increasingly familiar with the door, but she felt their progress slow and knew that they'd fail. Yet again, a large portion of the pattern remained unlit. They'd never finished the remaining portion unless Theo stopped messing around and just ascended to Ruler.

That irrational anger again. Nauda did her best to swallow it and refocus.

"Ugh, why does this involve so much work?" Tythes dropped down to his knees, then slammed his forehead down into the ground with alarming force. The island itself actually shook and she'd have sworn that she heard something crack. When he rose up, only mildly irritated, it didn't seem to have been his skull.

"Your head looks pretty hard," Nauda said before she could stop herself. "Why don't you just break down the door with it?"

"That's a great idea!" Tythes ran head-first into the door, which gave a great metallic ring, and then fell back clutching his head. "No, it was a terrible idea! Curse your tricks, vile harridan!"

While he stormed off, angrily moving his hammock to the opposite end of the island, the three of them lingered. At first Nauda had wondered if Theo would find some trick to get around the entrance, but he'd said that it was a perfectly built lock. A large enough organization could open it easily, but in a dangerous space that only appeared once a decade, it was near impenetrable.

Fiyu walked away from the two of them to return to her soulcrafting. That hurt to think about, so Nauda focused on Theo instead. "I can't believe that the situation outside the chasm has held this long. It has to end soon, doesn't it?"

"That depends what the House of the Lost is trying to do." He stared upward, his eyes unfocusing as they tended to do when he used his new sense. "The darkness has been creeping north, and I don't think they had more strength to spare, so they're probably moving too. There are also more Strongholds making attempts, so they're getting impatient. They must have harvested all the sublime materials on the plain."

"Then our window to move forward with any kind of advantage is disappearing quickly, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I don't think we can escape Tythes, but... well, you can guess." Ever since the Authority had eavesdropped on them, Theo had been more circumspect, even inside their soulhomes. But she understood: Tythes could well turn on them as soon as he had what he wanted, so pushing forward might not benefit them.

As they returned to their work, Nauda glanced back at Theo again. The story he'd told Fiyu about his former wife sounded authentic, and it certainly made sense. Yet even then, when he'd sounded so much older than normal, she thought he was several people competing over one body. Most Tatians would have said he needed someone warm and caring to take care of him, but Nauda wondered if his match wouldn't be someone just as contorted as himself.

Or maybe all of them should forget about relationships, since they were obviously terrible at them. When their group was attacked the following day, Nauda was almost relieved.