Round 131

Silra set down the welder carefully, her hands shaking slightly from the strain of holding back a frustrated outburst. The heat in the room wasn't just from the machinery—it was palpable, almost alive, and it made her skin crawl with an arousal that had nothing to do with desire and everything to do with survival instinct. She turned to face Jeane slowly, using the motion to school her expression into something neutral rather than the snarl she wanted to let loose.

"You're not helping," Silra said, her voice coming out flatter than intended. "If you want this done right, then let me do it." Her eyes darted to Halie, who'd been trying to mediate ever since Jeane started sharpening her claws on the workbench edge like a cat marking territory. It was getting harder and harder to focus on the technical problem when every instinct screamed at her to either give in or run.

Halie stepped forward, placing herself squarely between Silra and Jeane. "Enough," she said, her voice carrying more authority than her gentle nature usually allowed. "Silra's methods may frustrate us, but she hasn't failed yet." The cleric's eyes met Jeane's steadily, though a faint flush crept up her neck—a telltale sign of the building's insidious influence. "The structure's demands are escalating—we all feel it—but rushing won't help if the building fails again."

She turned to Silra, her expression softening slightly. "Your progress is crucial. We need this solution to work." Then back to Jeane, voice hardening again. "Your frustration is understandable, but threatening our engineer undermines trust we can't afford to lose."