Bits and Pieces

Introspection

Lan watched the pair from a distance, chewing the inside of her cheek as she watched the old scientist fling his hands up in the air as he argued with the runaway princess.

Although they thought her to be very base and dull, she really did think. And she thought a lot. And a good portion of them were doubts, doubts about this whole plan to enter this Other Place In-Between. It was definitely possible. But would this man be not only crazy enough, but smart enough to pull it off?

...That was a question with an elusive answer. Or rather, a very fickle one. In one moment, he was a blubbering idiot that jumped into the worst possible situations with or without a second thought. In the next, he became the proper scientist that he always boasted he was. The same flair and arrogant air as always, but with more cunning. Smarter. Colder. For a man that was so personable and foolish, he could really make a smile seem intimidating.

And then the woman. Who willingly joined the insanity that was their adventure for the sake of her missing family. Lan could understand that they were important because, for one, they were Aki's family. But they were also royalty that went missing for several years, creating a power vacuum that enticed the greedy ambition in the hearts of other families of high society. She was cool, and also the other smarts of the group. Smarts not in this Other Place nonsense, but in the lands themselves. Geography, politics, society...most of which Lan and Al found to be either trivial or boring.

Both were driven to make this dream work. Lan could care less, but along the course adventure, she found that she wouldn't be able to bear the sight of utter disappointment on their faces should they fail.