The knocking was polite, which meant it was Beli.
Arthur didn't look up. "Come in."
The door opened with its usual soft hiss, runes shifting in the threshold. Beli's glass silhouette entered slowly, deliberate, arms close to his sides. No gear-clatter today. Just that faint, static hum behind his ribs when he was focused too deeply on one task to mask it.
"I've made something." Beli said without preamble.
Arthur raised his head. "A knife that cuts time?"
"Not yet." Beli replied flatly, stepping closer. "An earring."
Arthur blinked.
Beli reached into his palm and unfolded his fingers. Resting there was a slender crescent of etched alloy, barely longer than a nail. At its center, embedded with a precision Arthur hadn't seen in weeks, was a beastcore no bigger than a drop of dew.
"Same material base as your belt's core." Beli continued, tone clipped with focus. "Different purpose."
