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The slow and steady sound of water dripping echoed throughout the mines. That, and the sound of their boots against the rock were the only consistent sounds around.
Hannes was looking head on, seemingly lost in thought as they walked side by side in silence. They had exchanged just a few words since entering the mines. Hodari didn’t really mind the silence, he usually preferred it that way anyway, but he did find himself hoping that Hannes would say something. What were they exactly even looking for? He didn’t even want to entertain the thought enough to ask him. No, he was just going to wait for Hannes to explain the deal.
Earlier that evening Hannes had approached him as he was grinding ore by the mine entrance. It wasn’t really out of the ordinary, Hannes stopped by a lot for some quick chats, which at this point Hodari almost looked forward to. Sometimes Hannes would unprompted show him some starstone or a cool bug he found. It was actually a little endearing, not that he would ever tell Hannes that. It was just the funny contrast of this grown man showing him a bug with the demeanor of the calm and collected middle aged man that he was, mixed with the aura of someone being excited about seemingly trivial things. Not that Hodari could blame him, Hannes was almost literally born yesterday…. well, born a few months ago.
This time it was pretty clear Hannes wasn’t just stopping by to chat. He looked too determined for that. Hodari had stopped what he was doing to make eye contact with him as he approached. Before he could open his mouth Hannes beat him to it.
“You can finish your work later. We’re going ghost hunting.”
Hodari barely suppressed a groan and turned back to his work.
“Not this again. You’re smart enough to not believe in some ghost. Quit entertainin’ her,” He said.
“I’ll stop once we get this sorted. Come on, Hodari. I even packed us some food.”
“You’re only makin’ this worse by believin’ her.”
Hannes chuckled dryly. “And you’re only making this worse by not taking her seriously.”
He was a little right though. But by this point Hodari didn’t want to admit to being wrong. Well, mostly he didn’t want to admit that he was being way too stubborn about this whole thing. Not like Najuma wasn’t being just as stubborn.
Still, Hodari decided he would rather not have this discussion again and simply continued on with his work. He could feel Hannes’ eyes on him as he did so. Oh dragon he was not going to let this be, was he?
As Hodari reached for a tool Hannes quickly grabbed him by the wrist. Hodari turned to look at him but before he could register what was happening Hannes grabbed him by the shoulders and forced eye contact between them. He could tell Hannes wasn’t angry at him, it’s more like he was pleading.
“Hodari. I know you’re a good father. I wish I could say you’re a father trying his best, but you’re not. You’re not trying your best because if you were you would actually trust Najuma in this. I promised her I would look into the haunting today, she never asked me to get you involved. But I’m asking you to go with me to prove to her that you’re willing to take her seriously,”
His tone was like he was giving him a lecture. Before Hodari could answer, Hannes cut him off again.
“Please, just this once. I promise I’ll never ask you to do anything like this again.”
And that’s how they ended up just aimlessly walking around the mines together. At least it felt pretty aimless to Hodari, Hannes did seem to know where he was going. But that might have just been the determination in his steps and on his face. He did have a nice face, especially when he was looking that focused. Hodari’s train of thought was interrupted by the sound of something hitting the stone wall. He flinched and stopped in his tracks. Hannes stopped as well, but only to look at Hodari.
“Sorry, I accidentally kicked a loose stone.” He said. He sounded earnest, but an amused smile quickly crept up on his face.
Hodari coughed and looked around as casually as possible. “Yeah, it’s a mine. Lots o’ loose stone around.” He could tell Hannes was trying to make eye contact with him. …There was certainly a nice spider web on one of the supporting beams. Hmm yes, a very nice structure.
“I thought you didn’t believe in ghosts.”
Hodari didn’t have to look at Hannes to know that he was smiling. Maybe it would be better to own up to it? Or maybe just change the subject. Before he could think about it his mouth apparently decided for him.
“Yeah, well, a man can flinch at a sudden sound without thinkin’ it’s a ghost.”
“Mhm. Whatever you say.” Hannes was clearly finding some enjoyment in seeing Hodari be a bit out of his element.
As he turned around to continue their venture, Hodari looked around the darkness for a bit. This area had already been mined out of most of its minerals, making it mostly abandoned, so it wasn’t as well lit as the rest of the pavel mines were. At least they both had lights with them, Hodari with his mining lamp and Hannes with a lantern he just borrowed. He turned back around to follow Hannes. Just as he did he heard a small splash.
“Gah,” Hannes groaned, as he lifted his left leg out of the creek.
Hodari couldn’t help but smile as he watched Hannes hop on one leg to try to shake out the water. He walked up to him just for the opportunity to tease him back.
“It’s called Karma,” he said, patting Hannes on the back.
Hannes quickly grabbed Hodari by the shoulder in order to not topple over. He didn’t even look at him, just leaned over to grab a better hold of him before putting down his lantern and lifting up his leg to remove his wet shoe.
“For what? Teasing you?” he asked, as he poured out the water.
“Yep,” Hodari grinned.
“The universe really can’t take some light teasing, huh?”
“Maybe just watch where yer goin’ next time. One of these days ya might fall off a cliff.”
Hannes responded to that with a small chuckle as he struggled to put his shoe back on. Hodari stood around silently as he did. Clearly Hannes was doing everything to avoid having to put his sock to the ground. Probably didn’t want to get it dirty. Hodari simply tried to keep his stance steady in order to provide proper support for him.
He wasn’t expecting it when Hannes suddenly wrapped his arm around the nape of his neck for better support. He felt his back straighten as if he was a schoolboy trying to be on his best behavior in front of the principal. Hannes’ hair was almost touching his chin as he was leaning down.
Hodari was suddenly all too aware of his breathing. Was he breathing too loud? Would Hannes think he’s out of shape if he was? Did he brush his teeth that morning? He did, right? Better to be safe and just hold it in. How long was he going to take with that damn shoe? Should he help him? No, no, let’s not. He’s a grown man he can put his own shoes on.
And his ear is so close to his chest too. Hopefully he can’t hear his heartbeat. It would be pretty comforting to lie together like this, with Hannes’ head on his chest. Wait, what?
“Got it!” Hannes said, as he finally stopped leaning on Hodari.
Hannes’ face was suddenly really close. Probably just for a second or two, but it felt a lot longer than that. Hodari felt the heat slowly creep up to his face just before Hannes pulled away. Was he… blushing a bit too? It was hard to tell in the dark.
“Let’s continue,” Hannes said, as he patted Hodari on the shoulder before finally letting go of him. He picked up the lantern again and carefully stepped over the small creek.
Hodari followed suit, walkin just a few steps behind Hannes. They walked together in silence, giving Hodari a much needed break to calm down and ignore why his thoughts started racing like that.
After some silence. His mouth again opened before he thought about what he was going to say.
“So… what’re we even looking for?”
Hannes stopped to look around as if he was looking for something “Ghost or not, there is probably something in here that’s making Najuma think this place is haunted,” Hannes explained. “Either it’s an actual ghost and she’s right, or something else is wrong.”
“I work in these mines all the damn time Hannes, if somethin’ was off I’d know ‘bout it.”
Hannes waved his hand as he continued looking around “you’re too ormuu-headed to notice.”
“Wha- Hey!”
Hannes laughed as he finally turned to face Hodari “I’m kidding, I’m kidding… mostly. But she wouldn’t make this up out of thin air. You must have noticed something?”
“Not really… I mean sometimes I think I see or hear somethin’ but that’s probably just Najuma’s talk getting to me.”
“Work with me here, Hodari. Go on. What kind of stuff?”
“I dunno, like a shadow or an odd sound. The latter one’s likely jus’ the wind howlin’”
“That does seem pretty normal, yes.” Hannes’ hand moved to rest on his chin as he furrowed his brows trying to think.
He did look kinda good when he was focusing like that.
“Hey! How about we-”
A long loud growl echoed through the mine. Like a creature. Its voice travelled through the mine all the way to the two men. Hodari could feel it rumble on the rock floor through his boots. They both instinctively grabbed each other while looking elsewhere for the source of the noise. It died down slowly, as if it went back to sleep.
Hannes and Hodari both kept their guard up but eventually let themselves breathe again.
Hodari finally broke the silence “What the- what was that?”
“I thought you’d know?” Hannes said, voice cracking just a bit.
“Well that was no earthquake. We don't really get those ‘round here!” He cried back. “Hold on, I’m sure there’s an explanation for this.” Hodari said, finally calming down a bit. He cut Hannes off before he could even say anything “Something other than a ghost.”
He calmed down just enough to realize how close Hannes was to him again. Did they really just grab each other like that the moment something startling happened? That’s uh… certainly… something that happened. He didn’t really want to let go either, not because he was scared but because… no wait yes, just because he was scared. No other reason.
He felt Hannes stop to look at him as well. He could see his expression change the moment he realized the same thing Hodari had just realized. Hannes took a step back but didn’t let go just yet. Only now did Hodari realize his other hand was wrapped around his bicep.
Finally Hannes loosened his grip and let go. “Sorry,” he chucked awkwardly.
Hodari followed his example. “No, it’s fine,” he said, as if he also hadn’t grabbed him.
He turned his gaze elsewhere, hoping for another interesting spider web to avoid eye contact. Then he felt something quickly brushing against his bicep again. He turned to look at Hannes’, who had his hand extended. He looked just as surprised as Hodari did, like he didn’t know what compelled him to do that.
“You work out,” he chuckled before quickly clearing his throat and putting his hand down.
“Oh uh- hard not to, when you’re a miner”
“Yeah, I suppose.” Hannes wiped his palm on his pants and looked around. “I think we should wait around to see if that happens again.”
“Only if we’re not going to be here all night.”
There was another growl. This time much quieter. For a second Hodari thought it was the same mysterious noise again but smaller, that was until he turned back to Hannes who looked just a little bit more embarrassed than before.
Hodari couldn’t help but smile. “You said you packed lunch, right?”
“I did, wanna take a break here as we wait?” Hannes said.
Hodari let out a laugh. “You’re the one that needs a lunch break, not me.”
“Hey!” Hannes laughed and playfully pushed Hodari away. “You had your turn teasing when I stepped into that creek. It should be my turn.”
“It don’t work like that, darlin’” Hodari laughed, as he hoped Hannes wouldn’t mention the ‘darlin’.
Hannes laughed, but decided to leave that conversation at that “I’ve got two cans of loaded potato soup. Know any good spots around to take a break?” he asked.
“I think there’s a cliffside nearby. Does that count as a good spot?”
“Probably, lead the way.”
They sat in silence for a bit as they ate. It was a surprisingly comfortable silence, despite the earlier awkwardness. Hannes was mostly looking at the view. The evening sun was still shining through the cracks way above, it was nice to know that they weren’t too deep in the possibly haunted mines.
Hodari directed his attention away from Hannes, and noticed a scintillating centipede not too far away from them. He tried to shoo it away to protect their food, which only got Hannes’ attention.
“Oh!” He said, and extended his arm for the centipede to climb on. As it did Hannes put his hand between him and Hodari, to show it to him up close. “Probably one of my favorite bugs here,” he said.
Hodari smiled. There he goes again, getting excited over small things, just with the demeanor of a middle aged man. “How so?” Hodari asked.
Hannes shrugged. “Just looks pretty. Kinda gross with all those feet, but the shell is beautiful. It’s a nice contrast.”
“Huh, I guess it is.”
Hodari turned his gaze to the bug to genuinely stop and appreciate how the centipede’s purple shell shined in the light. It walked around Hanne’s arm, which Hannes moved to keep it adjacent to the bug's movements. Occasionally the light would hit it in a different way, which showed hues of blue and even yellow on its shell. He was right, it was really pretty.
“Ya know, there’s lots of these guys around the mines. But I’ve never paid much attention to ‘em.”
“Well, at least you can appreciate them now,” Hannes said, looking a bit proud, as if it was a great accomplishment to spread the word of scintillating centipedes and their beauty. And maybe it was. The centipede tried to make its way under Hannes’ sleeve. “Hey now. I like you, but not that much,” Hannes said to it, as if it was actually going to understand. He scooped it up on his other hand, and gently placed it on the ground again, where it continued on its merry way. Hannes smiled as it disappeared under a rock, then he turned back to Hodari.
“What?”
“Huh?”
“You’re staring.”
“Oh. I guess I was.” Hodari turned back to his food. He hadn’t even realized he was staring but decided he’d rather just avoid the question.
Hannes followed his example and continued eating as well.
“So, what’s your favorite bug?” He suddenly asked.
Hodari stopped for a bit, not a question he was expecting but he didn’t have to think too long to find the answer. “A spitfire cicada,” he said, as he took another spoonful of soup.
“Oh, yes. They’re great,” Hannes smiled and paused like he was waiting for an answer to a question he hadn’t even asked. After getting none he continued. “Wanna tell me why?”
“Mh. Reminds me of Najuma. She’s a little spitfire.” Hodari said. “Just like her ma.”
“I bet. She had to have gotten it from somewhere.” Hannes said, and directed his gaze back to the view.
After a brief silence Hodari suddenly decided to open his mouth again. “Do you actually believe Najuma? About this whole hauntin’ thing?”
Hannes shrugged. “Well, I didn’t drag you all the way here for nothing. I’ve seen weirder stuff, it wouldn’t be that odd.” After a pause he continued. “Why don’t you believe her?” he asked.
“Ghosts ain’t real,” Hodari said, trying to gather the last remains of potato and bacon on his spoon, hoping that Hannes would be satisfied with that answer.
Hannes turned his head to look at Hodari again. “That’s not it. Why don’t you take her seriously?”
Hodari shrugged. He could feel Hannes’ eyes on him, but didn’t want to face him just yet. “...I actually ain’t sure. I flat out denied it the first time she told me ‘bout it. Said the same thing, that ghosts ain’t real. Then she just kept on talking about it. I guess I… just didn’t wanna admit I was being stupid.”
“You’re not stupid.” Hannes said. Hodari finally turned to look at him. “Stubborn? Absolutely. But not stupid.” He paused. “Must run in the family.”
Hodari smiled a bit. “I’m actually happy she has you. Najuma’s always liked talkin’ to adults more anyway. I ain’t good at talking, so at least she has someone who is…” Hodari put the empty can down. “And ya seem to have a knack for inventions too, that stuff always goes over my head.” he chuckled, a bit dryly, but good heartedly. “Kinda wish I knew how to talk to her the way you do.”
Hannes looked at Hodari for a bit, before he patted him on the back. “You’ll get there, I’m sure of it. You’re trying just by being here. Baby steps.”
“Is ghost hunting a baby step now?”
“With that attitude, yes it is.” Hannes smiled. “We should probably actually get on with it before it gets too late. Maybe see if there’s any other leads aside from that noise.”
Time was already an archaic concept in the mines where there was no sunlight. But only now did it occur to Hodari that he genuinely had no idea what time it was. It seemed to fly when Hannes was around. Technically they could just turn back and continue this on a later date, the mines already seemed to be getting much darker than before, but it didn’t feel right to stop now. They both got up and packed their things to continue onward.
As they continued walking their lanterns eventually became their only source of light. They found each other walking much closer to one another than before, but neither of them acknowledged it. Hodari did feel more assured having Hannes be near him. Just in case something happened. Yet there was no sign of the noise they had heard before. By this point the silence had become eerie. There wasn’t even the occasional wind howl or water dripping. Hodari didn’t remember the last time the mines had been this silent.
A warm breeze suddenly grazed the back of Hodari’s neck. Like someone’s breath, but not the pleasant kind. “Motherf-” Hodari instinctively turned around and covered the nape of his neck with his hand. He extended his arm to light the area with his lantern, but there was no one to be seen.
“What? What?” Hannes asked, quickly turning around to scan the same area behind them before turning to Hodari.
“Thought I felt somethin’… like someone’s breath,” Hodari said, still keeping his eyes peeled. “It was likely just… the wind bein’ weird,” he tried to rationalize, mostly to himself. He didn’t sound very convinced. The small hairs on the back of his neck were still up under his hand.
“I told you there was something going on here.” Hannes said.
“Ain’t the time for an ‘I told you so’, Hannes” Hodari hissed back.
“I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be cheeky it’s just that-”
Another sound, a quick woosh, came up behind them. They both turned around again, as they did they heard a sudden crash.
Hannes’ lantern was on the ground, the glass panel now broken. Hannes was still holding his empty hand out, as if he was still processing the fact that he had dropped it. They both watched as the light died out.
“...I’m so sorry. I’ll get you another one.” Hannes said once he finally turned to look at Hodari.
“Don’t worry ‘bout it, I’ve got plenty of lanterns,” Hodari reassured. “...Just wishin’ we had more’n one right now…”
They both stared at the broken lantern in silence for a bit.
“...should we turn back and do this later?” He asked, sounding a bit unsure of himself.
“Hannes, I’m gonna be straight with ya. If we turn ‘round now I ain’t sure I’ll be able to sleep t’night. Not like I sleep much anyway, but this time for different reasons. We can do with just my light for now.”
It was hard to tell what Hannes’ expression was in the dark, but for some reason Hodari got the feeling that he was almost grateful Hodari wanted to go on with this. Hannes turned back to the broken lantern.
“I’m still going to get you a new one,” he said as he knelt down to pick up the broken glass on the ground.
“Leave it be, I can come clean it up later,” Hodari said.
“But what if someone gets hurt?”
“You’re gonna get yourself hurt if ya put broken glass in your bag.” But by the time he finished Hannes already nicked his thumb on a shard. “What did I just say?” Hodari extended his hand toward Hannes as he pulled a bandaid out of his bag. “Give it here.” He knelt down to meet Hannes on the same level.
“No wait, hold on.” Hannes had directed his attention to something on the ground. Probably another centipede or something.
“I can see why you and Najuma get along,” he sighed, mostly to himself. Both always had their head somewhere else.
Hannes bent forward to pick up something. He brought it between them to get it closer to their remaining light source. It was a smooth, cylinder-shaped object. It glistened gold in the light.
“What’s that?” Hodari asked. He looked at the weird patterns on it for a bit. “Looks human made.”
“Oh it definitely is,” Hannes said, rotating it in his hands.
“Not the first time I’ve seen human stuff in the mines.” Hodari noted. Still, it didn’t feel right to call this find just a coincidence. But he opted to direct his attention toward Hannes’ wound instead “Your thumbs still bleedin’.”
“Hm? Oh, right.” Hannes turned to look at his bloody hand like he had already forgotten about it. The cut likely wasn’t that deep, but by dragon his hand got bloody.
Hodari extended his hand again, this time Hannes actually complied. He wiped away most of the blood with a wet cloth and proceeded to wrap the bandaid around Hannes’ thumb.
“At least you have a first aid kit with you,” he said.
“With a daughter like Najuma? It’s a need,” Hodari chuckled. “These days she would never let me help her like this though, she’d rather do it herself.”
Hannes smiled playfully. “Well at least you can put a bandaid on me and kiss it better when I inevitably get hurt again,” he said.
Hodari laughed. “With how I’ve seen you run around Bahari, I reckon it won’t take too long.”
Hodari stopped for a second to ponder as he put the cloth and bandaid paper back into his bag. Should he actually just… No, if he thinks about it too long the moment is going to pass, then it’s just going to be awkward. Before he had the chance to consider it further he extended his hand to gently wrap it around Hannes’, and softly but quickly landed a kiss on the freshly wrapped bandaid.
“There,” he said as he pulled back, hopefully far enough from the light for Hannes to not see him blush in the darkness.
Hannes’ face was still well lit enough for Hodari to see the blush on his face. Hodari tried to suppress the smile he felt forming onto his face, simply trying to act casual about the whole thing, like it was just a joke. But he was thankful for his reaction. He would much rather see Hannes be a bit flustered, rather than weirded out.
Hodari coughed. “Anyway, do you think that has anythin’ to do with the… ‘haunting’?” He asked as he pointed at the whatever gadget Hannes still had in his hand.
Hannes turned his attention back to it. “I don’t know, I’m not entirely sure what this even is.”
Just as he said that, they felt a low rumble on the stone floor again. Clearly the same noise as before, but milder. It still made Hodari jump. He looked around as if some beast was about to jump on them from the darkness and he’d have to fight it off. But none came. The growl died down again, and Hodari turned his attention back to Hannes, who looked noticeably less startled. He had his brows furrowed, Hodari could almost hear the gears in his head turning.
“What is it?” Hodari asked.
Hannes turned to look at the device in his hand, before he turned to look at the darkness again. “I think I know what that might be,” he said as he got up.
Hodari let out a small “huh?” before he followed suit to see where Hannes was going.
He made sure to walk close, knowing his lamp was their only source of light. Hannes didn’t seem too bothered in the darkness though, it’s like he somehow knew exactly where he was going. Suddenly they came to a halt.
“Shh, do you hear that?” Hannes asked.
Hodari was about to open his mouth before he heard it. The faint sound similar to the growl, this time much further away. It was like metal grinding somewhere in the distance. Then, it stopped again.
“I think that’s it.” Hannes continued their journey again without warning.
Hodari took a few running steps to catch up with him. He decided to not ask any questions until they got to their destination. Hannes had that same look in his eyes that Najuma got when she was so sucked into a project she forgot to pay attention to anything around her. He figured he wasn’t going to get any answers just yet.
Then Hannes stopped again. Even in the darkness Hodari could tell by the surroundings that they were somewhere near the flooded fortress.
Hannes knocked on the stone wall. “You hear that?” He knocked again.
“It’s… hollow?” Hodari said, a bit unsure of where Hannes was about to lead them.
“Yes it is. Wanna see what’s behind it?”
Hodari looked at Hannes, and then at the hollow stone wall. Then back to where they came from, then back at Hannes, then finally at the stone wall again.
“Well, we came this far,” he said as he took out his pickaxe.
Hannes took out his as well, wherever he was even carrying it in all this time. It didn’t take that much mining for the wall to begin crumbling. They could see a small closet-sized room behind it. Glazed in white and gold like all the other human ruins around. Once they had made a passageway big enough to squeeze through, Hannes wasted no time getting in.
“What is this place?” Hodari said, looking around as he followed him. Hannes was already looking over some sort of container.
“I think this might be some sort of room for a power source.” Hannes explained. “Whatever rune workings this is powering, if they’re still somewhat functional that might explain any weird sounds or sights…”
“So that loud sound earlier was…?”
“Gears, or something similar. They’ve probably gotten stuck in the ground over the years, so if they try to move it just makes lots of noise.” Hannes put his hands on the container, over what looked like a latch, and tried to pry it open. “ I’d assume this is the power source. If we get rid of it… it should stop the rune work from trying to…” his explanation was cut short by the realization that the latch wasn’t going to budge. He pulled on it with what looked like most of his strength. After no success he relaxed again, ever so slightly winded. “...trying to… you know?” he continued. “Can you actually get this for me?”
Hodari stepped forward, face neutral, but secretly thrilled for the chance to show off his strength to Hannes. He put his hands on the latch but stopped just before doing anything.
“Are you sure this is safe?” he asked.
Hannes shrugged. “About 86% sure.”
“86%, so there’s what, ‘bout a 24% chance this is goin’ to blow up on me?”
“It’s actually 14%... but fine, whatever. Let's say 95%. I can say 100% if that’ll make you feel better.” Hannes said before he stopped to think again. “Okay actually, wait.”
Hannes turned to knock on the marble wall. First with one hand, then with the other. Hodari had occasionally seen him do things like that, which Hannes said was kind of like a superstitious thing. Then he turned back to Hodari.
“Look, I wouldn’t have asked you to open it if I thought it was going to explode. Would I have still tried to open it myself? Probably. But I wouldn’t have gotten you into it,” he reassured.
Hodari stopped for a moment. “You would have still opened it yourself?”
“Not the point here, Hodari. Can you open it or not?”
He decided he’d rather have this conversation about Hannes’ recklessness later. Instead he opted to sigh and conclude: “Okay, I trust you.”
The latch really was stuck, but not nearly as much as Hannes had made it out to seem. After just a bit of struggling he heard it click. For a second he was proud of himself for getting open, then he felt Hannes scoot in closer to see if Hodari was about to lift the lid yet, that made his overprotectiveness seep in again, and he instinctively put his arm in front of Hannes before slowly and carefully opening the lid.
And there it was, a small magenta ball resting on whatever attachments were inside the container. Attachments that were probably connected to a Maji knows how big of a rune work. A rune work that was still trying its best to function despite having been underground and unused for thousands of years. The ball had a faint glow that went from weak to strong, like a pulse.
Hannes looked almost giddy to put his hands on it before swiftly pulling it out. As he did so, Hodari could almost feel something around him stop. Like the machine was finally put to sleep.
“It’s a flow battery.” Hannes smiled looking at it. “And still functional.”
Hodari looked at it. It wasn’t like any battery he had ever seen, but humans had always had a bit of a weird approach to technology.
“Poor guy, was still trying to work over all these years,” Hannes said. “But it’s amazing, isn’t it?” he asked, as if waiting for Hodari’s confirmation.
“Huh? Yeah I guess it’s pretty great,” he responded. Leta would have probably been just as excited about this find. A good power source like that would certainly be useful in the mines, but to be honest Hodari didn’t think he was missing out on much by not having human technology.
Hannes chucked the battery into the air before swiftly catching it again. “Well, mystery solved!” he said as he rolled the ball in his hand.
“Careful! I know it didn’t blow up when we opened it, but don’t go tossing it ‘round like that, alright?”
“Hm?” Hannes hummed as if the possibility of danger didn’t even occur to him. “Oh? No, this is durable enough, I can tell.”
“Ya can tell?” Hodari asked, unconvinced. “How?”
“Because of the-” Hannes took the battery to his eye level to examine it closer. “Hmmm… Okay just watch,” he said before he geared up to throw it at the wall.
“No no wait!” Hodari prepared for impact, covering his face and turning away from the potential explosion. But it never came.
Clank.
The battery rolled on the floor between them.
“See?” Hannes motioned toward it, before bending down to pick it up again.
Hodari allowed himself to relax just a bit. “I think my life flashed before my eyes,” he said, surprisingly winded.
“Sorry, sorry,” Hannes laughed. “But I think we’re pretty much done here, wanna head back?”
Hodari exhaled, still trying to catch up with his breath. “uh-huh.”
They stepped back into the more familiar, yet still dark mines. As Hannes slipped the battery into his bag.
“Ya really think that was the reason for all the… weird stuff?” Hodari asked.
“Oh so you admit there was something weird going on?” Hannes teased.
“After tonight I think I’d be stupid to claim otherwise,” Hodari said. “And didn’t you say I wasn’t stupid, just stubborn?”
“I still stand by that,” Hannes said. “And hey, you wanted a rational explanation, didn’t you?”
“That I did,” Hodari responded.
As he said that his lamp died out with a quick sizzle. Leaving them in the darkness.
“Ugh, this old thing.” Hodari leaned down to try to turn it on again, to no avail. He turned back to look at Hannes.
“On second thought, do you wanna just… speed walk out of here?” he asked.
“Yes, good idea.”