Runelords 09.2 - Question of Morality

Walking out of the Rusty Dragon and into the late afternoon streets, Virgil sighed and started to meander towards the lighthouse ruins. The morning had been hectic, and he was still feeling short-tempered. Now that he was paying attention to it, he could notice his tightly-wound emotions which had already led him to snap at Quint and nearly at Eamon as well. It was frustrating, and that only served to make him more irritable: the very thought of being aligned to wrath served to make him angry. He decided to sit alone for a while and try to calm down somewhat, for all the good his attempt would do. He sighed, and tried to stop being fatalistic; he could keep his temper in check until they found another runewell.
As he took another few steps, he was suddenly confronted by Khyrralien's dewy eyes as the fey popped up beside him and leaned over, taking up his field of vision. "Soooo, Virgy," he intoned in his sing-song voice, "tell me all aboooout it."
Virgil raised an eyebrow, "...Weeee, walked back to Sandpoint with the horse, and resummoned you. Nothing else really." He huffed slightly, "We have to find another runewell, because apparently falling in that one the other day recalibrated my affinity, so now I'm feeding on wrath and am completely messed up, so, I'd like that fixed as soon as possible."
The fey's eyes glittered as he gushed, "Ooooh, that's interesting...what's it like? Tell me all about that!"
Virgil blinked at him dryly, "I'm in a terrible mood." When Khyrralien continued to grin, waiting for more, Virgil continued, "...That is the long and short of it. I am in a terrible mood, and I don't know if its because of the runewell, or because of the thought of the runewell. I am angry, and I feed on anger, and that makes me angry and I can't tell if I'm angry because I'm aligned to wrath or if I'm just plain angry at the concept. The confusion, of course, makes me more angry. This is where we are now." 
"Hmmm...that sounds like perhaps not the most fun one could be having," he mused, cocking his head as he added, "That wasn't quite what I was meaning, though. What did it feel like when it changed?" 
Considering that question for a moment, Virgil eventually replied, "...I don't know. I didn't really even notice what had happened, until yesterday. At the time...I guess it was cold. Whatever liquid was in it was so cold it burned...but we were in the middle of fighting, so I just pulled myself out and went back to it. I wasn't thinking about it then, besides the pain. Maybe...maybe it would have felt like something if it didn't hurt so much, and I wasn't focused on eviscerating golems." 
"Fascinating!" The fey exclaimed, eyes dancing, "How strange. I wonder if that feeling is unique to the wrath pool...hmmm..." 
"We're going to find out," Virgil muttered, "I'm throwing myself into the next one we find, and we are going to find one."
"Oooh, yay! You must make sure to pay closer attention to what it's like next time, pretty please?" Khyr asked with a giggle. His gaze slid away and he stared off dreamily into the middle distance for a few long moments, before turning slowly back to Virgil. "But that's not what I was going to ask you about at all..." He trailed off with a slight giggle, flashing a pointed grin, "I noticed that a certain handsome devil seemed to be sporting a flashy new look these days. I'm interested in the scoop on that."
It took a few seconds for Virgil to register the fey's meaning. "...Oh. That. Yes, with the barghest." He sighed torturedly, "I am attempting to correct that. I doubt that my mood is helping. Or maybe it is. Who knows. Still, correcting it." 
"Awww, but you just got it! Or at least, I assume that to be the case." His head slowly tilted in the opposite direction, "What'd you do to get there anyway?" 
Virgil shrugged bitterly, "Hell if I know." 
Khyrralien's green eyes flickered in a flurry of blinks, "Noo? How not? You must have felt the click, you can always feel the click when it changes...soooo? When was that?" 
"Ugh..." Virgil groaned, looking halfway between frustrated and thoughtful. "It was...just after we left the glassworks, after we banished the quasit. So, not long after I fell in the well, I guess. I was talking to Shadliss at the time, so I suppose that was the tipping point. But that can't possibly have been enough to have pushed me over by itself, so I suppose I was fucking up before that. I don't know." 
"It does generally take some work to climb around the scale, yes. Hmmm..." the fey tapped one finger exaggeratedly against his lips before suggesting with careful nonchalance, "Well. If your comment the other day is anything to go on, perhaps the attitude you are bringing to your dealings with her may be a contributing factor, mmh?" 
"Ugh!" he snapped shortly, rolling his eyes and looking aggravated. "Yes, that was a dick comment! Yes, I wasn't clear enough with her about not getting attached! I have attempted to rectify that!" He folded his arms and huffed, muttering as he looked sidelong, "I don't know if I actually did or not, but that's besides the point." 
Khyrralien regarded him, unfazed. "There's a lot of 'I don't know' floating about the air here," he murmured lightly, seeming to gaze after unseen things floating about them before asking, tilting his head once more, "What is the point, then, might I ask?" 
"The point," Virgil spat, "is that I'm going to get a reprimand from the team leader about appropriate conduct," he said with no small amount of angered sarcasm, "whether he puts it into words or not, and from the Morality Police, who will put her distaste into words, and if I don't get back to a neutral reading before I get back to Pandemonium, they're going to throw me out if they're feeling merciful, or draw and quarter me if they're not." His tone was sharp and irritable as he finished, "So, I'm going to be on better behaviour, and hopefully I'll get back to neutral before anyone is the wiser. I would appreciate discretion on your part in the interim." 
The fey's large eyes rested upon him consideringly for what felt like a very long moment, seeming to hold an uncharacteristic clarity. In an instant, his usual dreamy expression returned as with a flick of his ears and a giggle he replied, "Of course I'll be discreet! When am I ever indiscreet? We must do all we can to avoid the disapproving frowns from the peanut gallery, 'tis of the utmost importance!" 
Virgil rolled his eyes with pointed sarcasm, but said, "Thank you," his expression and body language hinting at his attempt to reign in his flaring temper. 
"No need, no need!" Khyr chirped back brightly. Whether he was unaware of the other man's anger, or simply unfazed by it, was difficult to tell. "I'd imagine you are going to have your work cut out for you, though, what with not knowing how you got here. It's very hard to know how to get back from somewhere if you don't know what brought you there in the first place, I always find," he mused dreamily. 
Raising an eyebrow, Virgil said dryly, "...This isn't a place, it's not like following a road back. I just have to check my actions a little more closely." He gave a small shrug, "I've done it before; it's not a huge deal. Just, working for Pandemonium is a bad time for the universe to consider me evil, and I don't want it going on a report or something," he looked sidelong again and muttered, "or have Luna grouse at me for it." 
"Hmmm...I find it rather like a road, myself. But each to his own, each to his own. I'm sure you'll do just splendid at any rate." Bringing his gaze back to Virgil once more, he asked, "Why does Luny-lu's opinion matter so much?" 
"It doesn't, really," he replied, his manner belying no trace of dishonesty. He shrugged and added on as an afterthought, "...but I'd asked her to point out when I'm being unreasonably dickish, so she'll certainly give me an earful for this. I didn't do any one serious thing, so it must have just been a lot of small things that added up; she didn't..." He paused, thinking for a second before he continued, shaking his head, "She didn't ream me for much of anything before, so anything she reams me for now will just be in general and a pain to listen to, since it's late. I'm short-tempered enough as it is, and I don't need to be snapping at her for something I admittedly asked her to do." 
"Aaahh yes, that would be unfair. Why in the worlds would you ask her to do something like that, though, mmmh? Seems like it'd be a recipe for irritation." Once more, the fey looked intrigued. 
Virgil looked at Khyr flatly for a long moment before replying bluntly with unbroken eye contact, "...Because sometimes I don't pay attention, or don't notice." 
The fey simply grunted and inclined his head conceedingly at this. After a moment he said, "Well! If you need any assistance with this little project of yours, do let me know." 
"Thank you; I'll let you know if it needs to be brought up again," Virgil replied. "Aaaand, now I think I'll go have a cigarette and try not to have an aneurysm!" he added brightly with false chipper. 
Category:Rise of the Runelords