Cold Division: The Squeakuel (Part 2)

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Cold Division: The Squeakuel (Part 2)

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chatterghosts

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@chatterghosts a year ago

(( Tairais:

Me: Shrugging lazily, Huxley turned away from Elinaos and the stairs and began to stride toward Elias’ room. Elinaos fell into step behind him, and in no time they were back at Elias’ door.

Elinaos set the tray on Elias’ bed and knelt at the edge of Artemis’ bed. Huxley, meanwhile, pulled Elias upright (with no small effort - asleep, the man was dead weight), holding him by the shoulder with one hand and keeping the other, which had begun to glow a soft gold, a mere inch from his face.

Instead of touching him gently, however, he pulled his hand back and slapped the golden light across Elias’ face, yelling, ”Wake up!”

As soon as the smack connected with his face, Elias groaned to life with a painful start, lifting a hand to touch his cheek. “Ow.”

His eyes, tired and bloodshot and (perhaps strangest of all) blue-gray, betrayed no feeling, and his cheek was still blush-red from the rude awakening — but he said nothing, simply staring at Huxley and Richard in something like but not quite confusion.

Tairais: Richard gritted his jaw, but otherwise remained calm and pleasant to the outside world.

Internally, he pushed his instinctive rage aside. He was tired. Rage was further tiring. He wouldn't have any energy left to help if he chose to get angry now.

He did so dislike it when emotion became a luxury he couldn't afford. Every thought became scribbled out with chalk in the background, lest he remember something, anything at all.

"Good morning. Or afternoon, as it might be- I am afraid I cannot remember which."

Elias seemed to stare straight past Richard, an action (or inaction) that had Huxley scoff and wave a hand in front of Elias’ face — which gained little more reaction than a little blink. “He’s a blank slate.”

“Of course he is,” Elinaos responded flatly. “Elias has lost his capacity to feel much of anything. I anticipate he has the memories to know how to greet Richard in response, but lacked the courtesy and reasoning to be compelled to. A book with no writing.” Pausing, he tried, “Elias, say hello.”

Elias swiveled his gaze to them. Without a second of contemplation, he answered, “Hello.”

“Precisely what I thought.”

Jekyll1886:

Anger-ire-wrath, Weir's mind silently translated the Greek.

Appropriate, he reflected, given the emotion he'd perceived.

"Alright," he affirmed with a nod.

"Who's the one in the closet, then?" he asked with a tilt of his head, curious.

Me: “Diatias,” Thymos rumbled. “Ugly son-of-a-b\*tch...”

A rarity for Elias, or a part of him: Thymos was a man of, apparently, few words.

Magnet:

“If... it helps any, Lepus and some of his friends will be there,” Hela mentioned with quiet hopefulness, a touch hesitant, “And I’m... I don’t hurt people anymore, if that’s what you’re worried about... I’m on a strict, ‘destroying only poorly made furniture’ diet, at the moment.”

Finding a tray, she began to pile on an assortment of greens, carrots, tea supplies, and a small pitcher of milk.

Me: Deilos stared warily at Hela for a long-suspended moment before breaking his gaze away to the floor. “I’ll...I’ll go.”

Cirol smiled and clapped his hands together. “Excellent!” ))

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Jekyll1886 • a year ago

"Wherefore"? Weir's mind tried to translate. It was the closest meaning he could think of. Yet he couldn't say he felt an abundance of curiosity emanating from the closeted facet. It simply didn't fit well.

There was a not entirely dissimilar word meaning "to preserve", but was that appropriate here? It could be damnably difficult to read a person--let alone an aspect--without looking him in the eye.

For the moment, Lewis instead focused on Thymos, whose name did perceptibly fit.

"I wouldn't know," Weir confessed with a shrug. "I didn't see his face."

He regarded Thymos.

"Would you like to see Elias--or what remains behind--or Richard, or Huxley?" he asked.

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chatterghosts  Jekyll1886 • a year ago • edited

An uncaring shrug was first the only answer Thymos gave - despite the apparently permanent scowl, he seemed largely indifferent to things not involving an immediate need to punch something. “Don’t care.”

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago

"If you've no preference, please come with me," Lewis requested.

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chatterghosts  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Thymos eyed him for a moment, then crossing his arms and rearing his head back toward the closet he’d come from, the one Diatias was probably still hunched on the floor of. “And...him?”

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago

"Let's see..."

Lewis opened the storage closet.

"Would you care to go to Elias's room, Diatias?" he asked.

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chatterghosts  Jekyll1886 • a year ago • edited

Diatias was just riding to his feet when the door opened, and he turned his head to the light of the open door with a groan.

Thymos was not inaccurate in calling Diatias an ‘ugly son-of-a-b\*tch’, and despite their shared face, the two couldn’t have looked more different. It seemed as if every hit Elias had ever taken in the face had simply never healed and remained there, his image state of permanent injury: his face was lined with scratches, bruises, scars big and small. Worse, his nose was bleeding - but given the grunt and thud moments before Thymos emerged, that was a little more obvious. But perhaps most offsetting was that his irises were a dead black - you couldn’t see where the color stopped and the pupil began.

”F\*ck you,” Diatias hissed at Lewis.

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago • edited

Lewis noted not only the scars and bruises but the pitch-black nature of the irises and the way they seamlessly blended with the pupils.

Like staring into an abyss...

Or a mirror, he thought with the mental equivalent of a chuckle. He looks like me at the end of a rough night.

"Not if you ask me like that," Weir retorted with a playful, smirking smile.

"Come along, then," he said, offering his left hand to help Diatias up.

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chatterghosts  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Snarling, Diatias stood on his own and swatted Lewis’ hand away. “Piss off.”

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago • edited

A short sigh.

"That's not going to happen," stated Lewis, as if it were incontrovertible fact. "Don't tell me I'm interrupting your plans of staying inside the closet all day," he added, arcing an eyebrow with an air of skepticism.

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chatterghosts  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

“I’ll do whatever I damn well please,” he seethed, glancing briefly toward Thymos, “and I sure as hell ain’t goin’ with him!”

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago

"Not to worry. You certainly don't have to," Lewis stated calmly.

He turned to Thymos.

"Shall we?" Weir suggested, gesturing down the hall toward Elias's room.

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chatterghosts  Jekyll1886 • a year ago • edited

Thymos gave a shrug and turned, heading toward the hall indicated without another word.

Diatias glared at him as he went.

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago

Lewis accompanied the former to Elias's room.

I'll be back for you later, Weir thought of Diatias.

"Huxley, Richard," Lewis greeted the two. "This is Thymos," he introduced them.

"Kindly don't anger him," he advised.

He looked at the now-conscious Elias (or what remained of him), along with whoever the other facet was.

Despite his curiosity, Weir felt he oughtn't leave Diatias unattended for too long.

"I'll return presently," he said, and went back for the facet in question.

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chatterghosts  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Diatias was no longer in the closet when Lewis returned for him, but his energy hasn’t gone far - he seemed to have moved for the lower level as soon as he thought Lewis wouldn’t notice.

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago • edited

Lewis spotted him rushing for the Society's front doors.

This is like herding cats! thought Weir as he yanked him back by the collar just in the nick of time.

"Sorry to prevent your walk, but you're needed elsewhere," he apologized matter-of-factly.

"Is there any chance at all we can do this the easy way?"

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chatterghosts  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Diatias gave a gasp of surprise and wrenched his collar away. “What about ‘piss off’ don’t you get?”

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago • edited

"Diatias," said Lewis, tone deadly serious. "We are trying to piece Elias back together again.

"We can't do that if you leave. You are needed upstairs.

"Please come with me."

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chatterghosts  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

"I don't care," Diatias barked. "I don't care about Elias. I don't care about any of you."

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago

"I'm sorry to hear that," stated Lewis.

In one swift movement, Weir whirled behind Diatias, grabbed his arms, forced them behind his back, held them immobile at the wrists with his left hand, and snaked his right around Diatias's throat. Lewis stood slightly right of center behind him--enough to prevent any potential headbutts.

"We are going upstairs," he reiterated. "Resist, and I will render you unconscious." The pressure on Diatias's neck was currently just short of accomplishing this. "Start walking."

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chatterghosts  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Diatias went still as a corpse, no movement save for even, measured breathing.

Slowly, a crawl of a pace, he started walking forward.

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago

Eventually--Diatias insulting Lewis the whole way--the two came to Elias's room.

"Your opinion is duly noted," stated Weir as he walked Diatias in.

"This is Diatias," Lewis informed the others. "I recommend restraining him so he doesn't bolt."

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Tairais  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Richard had been about to answer Elias regarding his counterpart perched awkwardly on the bed when Lewis returned with Diatias, prompting him to turn and face the pair.

"I would say that is an accurate reaction to this situation, yes," He muttered, only halfway to himself. In truth, he couldn't quite wrap his head around the matter yet. Better to let Huxley do so, presumably.

At Lewis' urging, Richard moved to take Lewis' place in restraining Diatias, pondering how best to start the next series of revelations as he did so.

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chatterghosts  Tairais • a year ago

Diatias winced a little at the change in restraint, but made no move to try and escape it.

Elias and Huxley stared between Diatias and Thymos in confusion, the former shocked and the latter uncertain. An uncomfortable silence settled in the room.

“We should kill him,” Thymos finally said, turning to glare at Diatias.

Huxley whipped around to face him. “What? We can’t just kill him, he’s part of Elias!”

“Sure he is, if you count—“ he counted the traits on his hand— “distrust, past addiction, self-destructive behaviors, lying. He’s against others and he’s against Elias. He’s only in it for himself.”

Frowning doubtfully, Huxley looked to Lewis and Richard for an answer.

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago • edited

"That's a terrible idea," countered Lewis.

"We all need a bit of selfishness from time to time.

"And if you eliminate his sense of distrust, Elias will eventually trust exactly the wrong person. In a world where the likes of Ariadne Radcliffe and Lady Jekyll--not to mention London's criminal element--exist, that would be a very foolish course of action. It would endanger not only Elias but the entire Society."

((Tairais ))

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Tairais  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Richard nodded, also loosening his grip on Diatias' wrists slightly enough so as to alleviate discomfort, but not enough to slip free from, especially once you considered his grip was not like a normal man's.

"Lewis is correct in this regard. In addition, selfishness and lying work hand in hand with self-preservation. I would very likely have never made it to stand here had I not indulged in either from time to time in my past."

He then gave a pointed glare to Thymos.

"Not to mention, I believe rage is a rather selfish and self-destructive emotion, if we consider it: You would destroy a part of yourself were you to kill him. Though I am certain that, if he is as you say, he would be most vindicated by this."

(( chatterghosts ))

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chatterghosts  Tairais • a year ago

“You don’t understand!” Thymos snarled, growing more angry with Lewis and Richard - dangerously so - by the second. “Elinaos functions just fine to determine who’s trustworthy and who isn’t. Diatias is an excess of all the values that are good in moderation—“

“You mean like anger,” Huxley cut in flatly.

“Yes—wait, n— no! No, I’m different because I exist naturally. Diatias is a product of Elias’ history. He is critical of everything anyone does and that leads Elias to do bad things. He devalues everything and everyone, he’s selfish, and—“

“But so is anger,” said Huxley, echoing Richard’s statement moments before. “And who’s to say you’re doing this for him and not for you?”

“I’m not selfish! I care about Elias, and I’ve known Diatias long enough to see that he’s doing nothing to help him!”

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago

"Stand down," said Lewis as he purposefully interposed himself between Thymos on the one side and Diatias and Richard on the other. Weir raised his hands to chest level--without touching anyone--as he looked to each side in turn.

"No one is eliminating any facet of Elias here today," he stated with the air of a mother separating two quibbling children. "The longer we argue, the longer it will take to round up the others."

Bloody Hell, what is wrong with everyone?

((Tairais ))

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Tairais  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Irritation seethed and swelled behind his teeth, riding the ever-rising tide of everythingeverythingeverything that had been building since Charricthran's series of revelations regarding Blizgulis and his ilk.

Still, for all he'd love nothing more than to sink his teeth in the throat of something (or someone), he knew it to be counter-productive at the time.

Instead, he glanced down at Diatias with a frown and a mumble.

"Are you all right?"

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chatterghosts  Tairais • a year ago

Diatias looked up at Richard between his eyelashes, still glaring. “As if you care.”

Thymos rubbed at his temples and gave an exasperated groan. ”Why won’t you listen to me? I’ve lived in the same headspace as him for years, I know what he needs!”

Huxley joined Lewis in standing between Thymos, Richard, and Diatias. “It won’t do anything good to kill any part of Elias—“

”No! All Diatias does is limit and deceive and hurt Elias, and if you won’t do it then I’ll do it myself!”

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Jekyll1886  chatterghosts • a year ago

"In point of fact, he does," asserted Lewis in response to Diatias. "As do Huxley and I, despite your assumptions to the contrary."

Huxley spoke.

Then Thymos.

"You. Will. Do. No. Such. Thing." Weir's words were pointed as he turned his attention to the latter, trusting Huxley and Richard to tend to Diatias. "Do not force my hand."

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Tairais  Jekyll1886 • a year ago

Richard had opened his mouth to respond to Diatias when Thymos, Huxley, and Lewis all spoke in rapidfire succession.

He promptly shut his mouth with a loud 'CLACK', teeth grinding together as he gave a small smile, nodded, and shifted his center of gravity to prepare himself for whatever storm was brewing.

He would not allow himself to give in to his mounting irritation. This drive was only partly due to the knowledge of the katars in his arms.

That would be very poor form, indeed.

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Tairais • a year ago

Richard nodded and sighed at the same time, rather worrying he was going to start sounding like a leaky kettle.

"Now we are left with an explanation, but still no course as to how we might fix this. Is it a better idea to herd all of the other aspects here prior to whatever might be attempted to do so, or might we solve this particular puzzle a single piece at a time?"

The question was directed to both Huxley and Elinaos, each appearing to have more knowledge on the subject than he.

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chatterghosts  Tairais • a year ago

Huxley looked to Elinaos expectantly, who seemed to be lost in thought, for the time being. Rolling his eyes, he said, “I can check, hold on.”

The futur provided vague glimpses at best - embraces and fading into starlight, certain thresholds needing to be met, emotions needing addressing.

Whatever Huxley had seen made his face crinkle in confusion. “I- well, alright, that’s a little vague,” he mumbled.

Elinaos returned his attention to the two of them as needed, silent reanalysis of the situation paused for the moment being. “Right. Did you see something?”

“I...think so,” Huxley slowly responded, after a moment. “From what I can see, Elias’...uh... aspects have to resolve some of their own issues, somehow, before they can go back.”

Elinaos tilted his head questioningly. “After a certain threshold of personal resolution, we would just...go back?”

Huxley shrugged. “That’s just what I got from it, anyway.”

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Tairais  chatterghosts • a year ago

"Ah. Well, 'tis a start, yes?"

Richard trailed off into thoughtful silence, regarding Elinaos with a curious stare.

"What could be at fault with logic and preservation, if anything, beyond being listened of in excess or to the minute?"

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chatterghosts  Tairais • a year ago

“Well, I do represent more than that,” Elinaos said - though he didn’t characterize his words with any particular feeling, his posture seemed to shift into something more proud and open in apparent eagerness to talk about his role. “Outside of ensuring Elias pays better attention to his biological needs in the preservation of his physical state, I am the anchor to ground his more emotional tendencies - I moderate his feelings with reasoning skills and employ curiosity, deduction and objectivity as an appeal to their more unpredictable, emotional natures.”

Huxley chuckled and leaned against the wall. “What, so you don’t feel anything? I don’t buy that. Elias has way too many emotions all the time for it to not effect you.”

“I don’t know what you expect me to say. Feelings don’t pollute my decision making— I imagine that’s why Elias listens to me so little, really.” While he said this, he nudged the tray toward Elias. “Eat.”

Elias, knowing no better, silently obeyed, picking up the muffin and boredly nibbling at it.

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Tairais  chatterghosts • a year ago • edited

Richard grinned with all the fond exasperation of someone who has made a mistake and learned from it, only to watch someone else make it.

"No thought or logic is truly unbiased, my friend. We are creatures of the senses, whose senses relate to the memory of what came before. One might remember that to touch a stove is to experience blistering heat, yes, but it is also to experience pain and frustration, and thus know in the future that, logically, putting your hand on the stove will hurt.

"And yet, while it is not logical to go where the fire burns the brightest and hottest, we will do so to save someone that we love, because the fire becomes the lesser of the two pains when compared to losing the one we love. It is logic, then, to accept the lesser hurt, but logic can go against preservation, and preservation might go against logic."

He chuckled and shrugged.

"Our demon friend is right: believe what you will, but you are no more untainted by emotion than I am. As of now, the only one of us that is is Elias." He said, gesturing to the man as he ate his muffin. "And that is simply because what should, by rights, be internal, is now external."

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chatterghosts  Tairais • a year ago

Elinaos stared at Richard in uncomfortable silence as he listened to the deconstruction of his beliefs. He went silent for a time, trying to think how he could argue the scenario Richard had posed.

He couldn’t.

It terrified him.

“I...admit,” begrudged Elinaos, “Elias, and myself, we find it hard to internalize others’ desires for us that may be at cross-purpose from what we think to be right. I have always thought that there— I, I— I thought that any intentions not aligning with his were wrong, illogical, because I thought there were no feelings to cloud our judgement.”

Elinaos’ gaze fell to his feet, a certain heaviness in his voice. “His biggest fear is being alone. I fear I might have resigned him to a self-fulfilling prophecy by pushing away others so that he might be best protected.”

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Tairais  chatterghosts • a year ago

Richard's gaze softened, smile gentle and unworried as he gestured first to Huxley, then to himself.

"You have done no such thing, my friend, merely caused concern where there should be none. Elias has Huxley, has myself, has Charricthran and Nicolette and Fiona if I recall correctly, as well as a number of individuals in this building thank think of him with varying fondness. He is not so alone as you fear.

"More to the point, you protect him, yes, but you harm him as well. 'Tis human nature to seek out what company we find in those like us, but I am as alike to him as the moon is to rain. Both of us wish the best for each other, though we do not always agree on that 'best'; it is through mutual appreciation that we strive to find a sort of balance between those two best, and so you too must find a balance between yourself and the other aspects of yourself: each has its own best to follow."

He shrugged.

"That is how I see it, at the least. I am hardly a paragon of virtue in that regard."

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chatterghosts  Tairais • a year ago • edited

Richard’s calm, unfazed nature did its own part to calm Elinaos’ formerly climbing nerves, and the truth in his words caused him to visibly relax.

“I do suppose that’s right, but...”

He gazed toward Elias with the faintest of chuckles.

“We’ve never been good at balance. All that we can do is try, I think.”

He turned to Richard and sighed softly, something distant and reflective in his eyes. “This was an eye-opening conversation. I... I hope I can make you proud...”

His words tapered into silence at the distinct, numb feeling in his hand; looking down, he found it dissolving like golden starlight.

“...That must be the resolution Elias needed from me, then. Hm. Curious.”

Sighing, Elinaos looked to Huxley and offered the hand that was unaffected, which Huxley shook with a surprisingly honest smile.

“This was an experience to remember. I hope your endeavors with the other five will be just as easily solved,” Elinaos said.

Then he faced Richard and extended his hand. “Thank you for watching over him.”

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Tairais  chatterghosts • a year ago

Richard took Elinaos' hand and shook it, gentle but firm, and smiling in the snaggle-toothed way of his unrestrained joy.

"And my thanks to you, for keeping him alive long enough that I might meet him. It has been a pleasure to meet you, Elinaos."

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chatterghosts  Tairais • a year ago • edited

"The pleasure was all mine."

With those words, the golden light began to move upward, from legs and hands to shoulders and stomach.

Huxley watched in riveted silence as Elinaos faded into illuminant mist and hung there momentarily, before surging toward Elias and disappearing through his chest.

Elias drew a deep, shuddering breath, a twisting and unwhole sensation curling around his heart for just a second.

Then, it settled, and Elinaos was home.

Elias opened his mouth to speak, but the croaking dryness in his throat still remained. Logically, some part of his mind spoke, the water would be a very good idea right now.

Elias reached for the glass of water on the tray Elinaos had brought, and drank the entirety in a single go.

Back and operational, Elinaos, thought Huxley merrily.

Finally, Elias cleared his throat —

but as he went to speak, he saw Lewis arrive, greet them, introduce someone and leave, all in a matter of seconds. Standing in his wake was someone who resembled both him and Oliver in different ways, who walked into the room and sat at the edge of Elias’ bed awkwardly, arms crossed.

"What,” said Elias, “the hell.”

see more

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Helen Jekyll • a year ago

((Sorry for the delay! I could’ve sworn I’d already responded to this. ^^’))

Hela breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the tray, offering each of them the beginnings of an eager grin.

“In that case, pick out what you’d like to eat or drink, and I’ll show you the way to the party—I’ll make sure no one calls you thieves.”

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chatterghosts  Helen Jekyll • a year ago

That seemed to ease Deilos’ nerves, if only slightly, but he made no move to reach for any food. Cirol, however, immediately began rifling through the cabinets: moments later, he whooped in success and swiped some poor Lodger’s leftover shortbread cookies into a plate. “Haha, mine now! I’ll leave them a nice note.”

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