Work Text:
Sandrone hummed as she drew the sketch of the inner mechanisms of a Field Tiller. It wasn't the first sketch she had done of the beautiful machine, of worn bronze-colored metal and mechanics. Khaenri'ah's designs were truly ingenious, a pity that Pierro refused to answer her queries on their basic engineering, so she had to… experiment a bit. Sandrone sighed as she looked up from her sketch, gazing out the window of the carriage, her own custom Ruin Machine walked alongside in all its finery, sticking out against the landscape of Fontaine.
It was proof of her success and her dilemma. She couldn't recreate the power source that traditionally accompanied Khaenri'ah's engineering marvels; she tried everything until turning to the last option. People. It worked and she carried on. The same principle was used for the Katherynes. They at their core, were human on some level. A necessary sacrifice, a life for a life, she supposed. Not like people's lives were worth much anyway.
People were like cogs and the world was the machine. When all the parts moved correctly, it was perfect, but sometimes replacement parts were needed. Her machines fit that role, ordering the world by her design. But sometimes… The cog was a bit too eye-catching. Precious even. Hmm, perhaps her comparison needed some work.
Sandrone set her sketchbook aside before opening a small storage compartment that blended into the walls of the carriage, the perks that came with being a Fatui Harbinger and Patron of the Adventurers' Guild. She placed the sketchbook next to a small coin purse and pulled out a wooden statuette before closing the compartment shut. She turned it over in her hands, an amused smile growing on her face. Her fingers tracing over the vague shape of a helmet and coat.
A pity that her dear Captain could not come, but the Tsaritsa willed it so. He was fated to journey to Natlan in service of Her Majesty's design. Arlecchino would be poor company. Oh well… she would see him again soon, after all this was said and done.
"Oh, what's this?" Sandrone asked, looking at the wooden thing that Capitano had deposited into her hands. She's seated on a bench in Zapolyarny Palace's Gardens, which were free of snow, a testament to the Tsaritsa's power. The flowers are colored in shades of purples and reds, contrasting against green grass. Capitano looms over her, trying to gauge her reaction. She looks up at him, her face serene, doll-like.
"A symbol of a promise." Capitano said, his voice uncharacteristically soft as the breeze on the shores of beautiful Fontaine. Sandrone examined the piece of wood, it was about the size of porcelain doll, it was carved to resemble the Captain in all his finery. Sandrone lets out a little laugh before speaking again.
"That you will return? How foolish, I trust you to be a match to any foe." Sandrone spoke, her eyes looking down at the carved wood before continuing. "If anything it is I you should worry for, who knows what the Knave will do, considering what a brute she is." She remarked, Capitano laughed slightly before returning to silence. It is how they both preferred the palace. He moved to sit beside her, his face impossible to see as it always was. Was this romance? Sandrone did not know, all she knew that this all was rather…. Hmm, she lost the word. Oh well…