Before he could answer Irene's dreadful announcement, the blonde woman pulled a grimace and pointed over his shoulder. "You have a shark looking for you," she said sourly, then looked at him and smiled. "This was pleasant, Dongho from the Surface. Chaire." Then she turned and left in a hurry, very nearly running along the pathway through the narrow streets.

"Coward," came the grumble from behind him, and he turned to see Yeri glaring after the retreating form. So she was the shark Irene had mentioned? Dongho's lips twitched in amusement, the petite girl in front of him looking nothing like said creature, but then she shifted her glare to look up at him. "What?"

His smile wiped off his face and he shook his head, not wanting to muss her already ruffled feathers. "Hello," he said to cover his slip.

Her eyes narrowed but she didn't question him, and she looked after Irene once more. "So you ran off with the-"

"She was showing me around," he interrupted, not wanting to know what name Yeri was going to call her, sure it wasn't a flattering one. "She was really nice," he added with a pointed look at the short redhead.

Her eyes darted back to him when he said that, then her lips lifted in a slightly frightening smile. "Oh, was she? And what did she show you? All the inner caves?"

Oh, her eyes glittered when she said it, and he knew she wasn't speaking about actual rock formations. A frown finally creased his own face then and he shook his head at her, not willing to even answer that insult. The other girl had been kind and didn't deserve Yeri's cruel tongue. With a sigh he brushed by her, headed for the doors of the Triumvir Center.

"Where are you going?" Yeri called after him, sounding miffed that he hadn't responded to her jibe, but he didn't stop. She grumbled quite a bit but she only caught up when he was reaching for the door handle. "You can't go in there," she told him, all traces of cruel amusment gone as she looked up at him. "Only the People may enter it unless you're summoned."

He looked at his hand, closed around the handle as it was, then at her own where it closed around his wrist. "Aren't I one of the 'people' now?" he asked, trying his best to keep any sorrow from his voice. "Since I must call Elbalin my home now. At least for the next few weeks," he added, turning his gaze to her face to see if she would react to that.

And oh, she did. Her beautiful face went pale and she looked at him with wide eyes, her lips parting in surprise. Then just as quickly, her face twisted in anger, and she hissed out a curse. "That whale told you about the dome?!"

Back to the insults, but at least they were on the topic he wanted to be on. He tugged ever so slightly on the door, and she closed her fist more tightly around his wrist until it was painful. "I think I have a right to know if I am going to die in just a few weeks time," he told her flatly. "There is no way I have enough air in my tank to make it back to the surface."

Her lips pursed as she stared up at him, obviously unwilling to be the first to break eye contact, and so when he finally dropped his gaze to allow her the win, she heaved a sigh. "Okay," she said slowly, and released his wrist. "You cannot go in there unless summoned, but I will tell you what I know if you will stop trying. Deal?"

He pinned her with a serious look. "I am going to hold you to that, Yeri."

it was the first time he had said her name, he realized, because she gave a slight shiver and her glare returned as soon as it slipped past his lips. But she nodded anyway, turning away to lead him along the streets. They had traveled all the way to the edge of the dome when she finally turned back to him, her eyes dull as she motioned behind her. "Look for yourself," she said flatly.

Dongho might not be from the underworld city, but he could see what she meant right away. The glass like surface that surrounded the city was covered in finite cracks, each one only spiderweb thin but combined, they were certainly a threat to the city's safety. "So once this falls," he began softly, eyes roving over the surface as far as he could see, studying the fr