"Ephidel. I've been told it's normal for humans to bring bonds closer through combat," Grima said, approaching them with a confident stride. She seemed to be in good spirits. "What do you think? Would it be worth trying out ourselves? Perhaps it will bring us closer."
Grima seemed keen on the idea. Ephidel was an interesting enough person and she did feel a sort of kinship with them. Despite the uncertainty on how they would take it, she wished to try regardless.
"There is hardly any harm in it, right?" She continued, taking a moment to think. "I wouldn't want to actually hurt you though... Not in a way that lasted. There are none other like you that I've had the fortune of meeting. It would be a shame if something significant happened to you."
Before, much of Ephidel's time was spent observing humans. Studying them, using them, but there was always Valor to return to.
There was a peace in the silence of the Dread Isle, Lord Nergal the only human amongst his army of creations. Ephidel knew himself to be higher than near all of them, favored by his master. But now, having lived with humans so long, the silence in the souls of the hollow was something he never thought he'd miss.
Denning was here now, and that was a small comfort, but it was doomed by Ephidel's own arrogance. He could not go to his elder kin after shunning them and thinking it below him for so long.
But there was another, one he could live with on an even level.
The morph blinked at Grima's proposal. He had indeed witnessed humans spar together as a means of recreation and bonding, but had never quite understood it. What joy was there in harming each other?
Still, he was willing to listen, and what he heard settled warmly in his chest and reflected light brightly in his eyes.
He had never acted for her hand, not a tool for her commands, yet still she saw value in him? Saw something in his emptiness? Though, perhaps that is exactly what she saw. He certainly valued the same in her.
Ephidel summoned a weak gale in his palm, forming a crystalline snowflake; beautiful and unique, just as her.
"I feel the similarly, and would be willing to try."
