"No, thank you. If I was actually after 'juicy' I would frankly prefer to wind up a film. Text all by itself can't wind me up. I'm more concerned with..."

Bella trails off into silence, looking at the sword. Her eyes snap to the way it's held in Dyssia's hands, to the grip so tight it's cutting off blood to the fingers. She watches the blade tremble with an uncomfortable intensity on her face. She is stillness contrasted against all of Dyssia's nervous, excited shifting. It is startling when she suddenly moves her arms to lean her elbows on her desk and rest her chin atop her thumbs. Like watching Galatea suddenly come to life, if Pygmalion had been into stuck up, monster catgirls in weird suits.

She takes a very deep breath, and is slow to let it out as she watches the sword now resting between them. Then, as if changing her mind she swaps to a burst of sharp, rapid sniffs. She reacts with a scowl; Azura biology has always been a difficult nut for her to crack. The chemical codes of their bodies aren't quite what she's used to and even on Beri she spent single digit hours in the same room as any, so there wasn't a lot of opportunity to practice the craft. Dyssia mostly just gives off chemical odors, the sharpness of an oil paint and a general bite that is always hanging over her thanks to her innate excitement. Was she lying? Nervous? Just... her? The usual tells weren't giving her anything.

With a click of her tongue, Bella stands. She runs her fingertips along the edge of the blade.

"People don't appreciate," she murmurs, now brushing the tip with her thumb, "How twisted the god of love really is. Then again..."

Her fingers wrap around the hilt. She does not lift it, but simply squeezes tight as if holding hands with a dear friend for the first time in a while. Stands like this in silent stillness for an uncomfortable moment before shaking her head and sitting herself down again.

"...Never mind. That's not your problem. [i]This[/i], though? What the fuck. This sword? You're sure that gun became [i]this[/i] sword? And now you can't find NBX-462?"

Bella frowns. Click click click, she taps the claws on her left hand against the one on her right.

"That doesn't make any sense. [i]A[/i] sword, whatever. It's an esoteric. But [i]this[/i] sword... no. Tell me what happened. Tell me everything. Don't leave out a single detail."