Rogue and El- A Chance encounter

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Sun Feb 05, 2012 6:49 pm

The new bandages alleviated some of the pain again, and Armeno relaxed fractionally, enjoying the relief while it lasted. He made a non-verbal mumble in response to Foen. He hadn't exactly been subtle in giving Kassandra the potion, and he wasn't surprised that the sorcerer had guessed. Undoubtedly Kassandra would, too, when she woke up. She was definitely not going to be pleased with him, not in the least... He shifted slightly and his back flared in response, causing him to grunt in pain. In fact, she was going to be furious with him... Hopefully she wouldn't go into shock or anything like she had last time. She didn't see him being injured, or see Tabri, and he'd have bandages on and be cleaned up and such by the time she did see him. Nonetheless, he managed to feel guilt alongside his firm belief that he had done the right thing. That dragon wasn't going anywhere soon.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:28 pm

Shaking his head disappointedly, Foen just concentrated on tidying up his whirlwind of mess he had made finding bandages and whatnot to fix (fix, ha! That was going to be an interesting task) Armeno’s back. Once the elf had been dealt with as best as possible, Foen would make sure to go and check on Kassandra, just to make sure she was okay. The potion Armeno had stolen didn’t have many side effects, but it was always good to be safe. Oh, what a mess. He had to content himself with bandaging up Armeno’s back for the night, using up as much burn ointment as he dared and saving the rest for the morning, and all the other burns that the elf was no doubt hiding.

==X==

As for the past couple of nights, the nightmares didn’t leave Kassandra alone for long. At first, they were just normal dreams- but then, of course, the sky went black and she appeared. The dragon. Sometimes she woke up before she got close, but tonight, it was worse than before; Kassandra could feel the dragon’s hot fire on her skin as she tried to escape. Every way she turned, it was there, and there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and nobody to help. A snap of those jaws, and it would be over…

Kassandra woke up with a start, tensing up into a ball under the covers and letting out a small whimper. Maybe, if she didn’t move, then the dragon wouldn’t see her. If she couldn’t see the dragon, it couldn’t see her.
But that was silly. She curled her hand around the edge of the blanket, letting out a long shuddering breath before whispering under her breath.
“Armeno?”
There was no answer. She waited a moment, then steeled herself and sat up, trying not to flinch at the shadows on the walls from the light outside. There was nobody else in the room.
“Armeno?” This time her question was more frantic, and her breath caught as she looked about the room. A strange, bitter taste in her mouth came to her attention with the rush of cool air, and she grimaced. What the?

The noise of people shouting and loud crashes and bangs came from outside the window, far enough off to be quiet, but close enough to obviously be in the city. Nothing made such a noise in the middle of the night except a gang brawl, or a fire… a fire? The dragon! She leapt out of bed and ran to the window, pressing her hands against the cold glass. Her breath fogged up on the window as she pressed her face close, and she had to rub it away to see. Plumes of smoke billowed up into the air, the golden flicker of fire plain to see even from a distance.
“No, Armeno… no…” she moaned, resting her forearms up against the glass and putting her forehead against it too. “No, no, no…” This couldn’t be happening.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:03 pm

When Foen applied the ointment, the medicine smooth and cool on his searing skin, Armeno gave another huff of relief, his pain immediately halved. He sat in silence for a moment or two before mumuring,
'Thank you, Foen.' This done, he resumed his quiet motionlessness.

However, a loud thump from upstairs, something crashing onto the floorboards, caught his attention and jerked him awake.
'Kassie,' he breathed, starting onto his feet and drifting towards the stairs as if pulled on a fishing line. After a second, however, he forced himself to turn away, dragging his gaze from the stairwell, and hobbled over to Foen, staring into his eyes with an alarming intensity and panic.
'Foen. What do I do?' he demanded. 'Why isn't she asleep? Maybe she just fell out of bed... But no, it would've been louder than that...' His sore throat forgotten temporarily, he forced out the hoarse words in a rough, croaky voice.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Fri Feb 17, 2012 3:54 pm

With Armeno in some sort of stable-looking state (and not about to chase off after his horse or the dragon again), Foen was left to tidy up a bit of the mess he had managed to make getting downstairs, and everything else after that. It didn’t take long for him to get bored of tidying though- and he was too busy looking across at the elf to make sure he didn’t try anything too athletic- so eventually just wound up making a hot cup of tea-mixed-with-the-remnants-of-coffee and sitting down at the table. No doubt he would probably be up for the rest of the night, so it was alright to get a bit of energy in his system.

Even still, he was drooping in his seat when Armeno suddenly lurched to his feet. He jerked awake with a startled “hey!”
“Erm, I don’t know why it wouldn’t have worked, maybe you picked the wrong potion or something?” Foen knew he was clutching at strings, but it was the best he had. It was all lies, but hey, they might work on the delirious elf? “Just sit still, I’m sure she’s fine. Unlike you, if you keep moving around so much!” He took a light hold of the elf’s arm, trying to steer him back towards the table. Jeeze, he cared so much about everyone else, but took no care of himself…

==X==

Staring through the window wasn’t enough for Kassandra; she had to know if Armeno was out there, alone against that dragon. She span on her heel, thinking to grab her stuff and leave, fast, but somehow the movement made her dizzy, and she nearly fell against the window behind her. Holding one hand to her forehead, she staggered across the room, fumbling (and missing) for her weapon before managing to find it and cross to the door. Why was she so tired? Even her frantic wish to get outside didn’t seem to make it any easier to wake up, which was strange- she should have been wide awake by now.

She barely made it down the stairs, almost sliding all the way to the bottom on a heap of papers. Bloody Foen! She still ended up sitting on the last step anyway, hanging onto the rail with both hands and struggling to keep her eyes open. This was anything but right.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Sun Feb 19, 2012 2:43 pm

Foen's suggestion did nothing to calm Armeno; it only earnt the sorcerer a glare, before the elf tilted his head to listen again. The uneven and heavy footsteps seemed to be moving out of the bedroom.
'She's coming downstairs!' he hissed, whisking his arm out of Foen's grasp and storming around the room, searching for something to hide his bandages. 'How you can have just about every book ever written down here, along with several houses' worth of clutter, but not a single shirt...' He knew that he was being unreasonable, but his top priority was hiding what had happened from Kassandra. His injuries were temporarily forgotten once more.

After a little more frantic searching, Armeno came up with a buried jumper, the sleeve of which had been poking out from under a heap of books on the table. He pulled it on over his bandages, hissing in pain as the movements pulled on his back, before flopping back into the chair, silently thankful that Foen had tidied away the burn ointment and such. He was somewhat doubtful that Kassandra would be fooled... And it certainly wouldn't last in the morning, but from the way she slipped to the bottom, she didn't look entirely in control of herself. Maybe the sleeping potion had had some effect, then- he at least hoped that her mind, too, was still somewhat clouded.
'Are you alright?' he asked with genuine concern, pulling himself to his feet and trying to keep from letting on about the searing pain in his back.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Sun Feb 19, 2012 6:55 pm

Foen tried to stop Armeno as he rushed around the room, but it was an... effort. He was doing himself no favours, and refused to do himself no favours either. He had to run to save a couple of piles of books as Armeno hunted for a shirt, frantically whispering back, "This isn't my bedroom you know, I do have my whole house to stash things in!"
Why would he keep his clothes downstairs, where they could be mixed with all his books and such?
"And hey, no need to insult my house. Just because I don't keep everything perfect, doesn't mean it's not... organised." He ruffled a tower of papers back into some sort of order, before running after the elf again. Of course the papers just slowly bent in half under their weight, then toppled onto the floor in a flood of cream and white. He had to leave them there, sprinting back to his chair at the table and trying to be nonchalant as Kassandra finally made her way to the bottom of the stairs.

A long breath was let out as Kassandra slumped against the banister of the stairs, seemingly quite the feat to get all the way to the bottom. She ran one hand along the front of her face, then wearily looked up, room swimming around the edges. Her vision focussed as Armeno spoke- he was alright, he was here, alive!
"Armeno..." she said, struggling to her feet again, trying not to fall over as she stood. "No... you're fine? You've just been downstairs, all the time?"

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:09 pm

Armeno hardly noticed Foen chasing him and trying to keep the disruption he caused to a minimum.
'It's not like you don't keep plenty of other things down here to get mixed up with your books,' he had time to mutter in response before Kassandra appeared.

'Be careful,' he warned her as she tried to stand, catching her arm to give her support and restraining a wince at the strain it put on him. 'I have been downstairs, yes. I was just restless... I couldn't sleep.' All technically true, but he hated lying to her even by omission. He knew that this would only make things worse in the morning, but it just felt like everything would be easier to deal with in the morning. 'Come and sit down,' he advised Kassandra. 'You don't look too steady on your feet.' She didn't, it was true, but as he pulled her over to the table and pulled out a chair for her before reseating himself his main motivation was that he knew he couldn't support himself for too much longer.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:18 pm

"Couldn't sleep..." Kassandra muttered under her breath, letting Armeno lead her over to the table. She kept his eyes on him, the rest of the room a dark blur from the potion still working on her, and the low light levels from the few lamps that Foen had had time to put out. She noticed him slightly as she sat down, the sorcerer making sure the two of them were okay (and still in one piece) as Armeno too sat down.

He was okay. She had to hold onto that thought. It had just been a horrible nightmare.

Her gaze wavered as she sat, no longer having to force herself to stay upright and completely lucid. It was easy to slump back into the chair, let herself relax as she calmed a little. Everything would be okay, it would, it was. It was a comforting thought, so comforting that she started to lean sideways slightly, drunken-style, before she rescued herself from falling and sat upright again, before laying her arms across the table and resting her head on them.
"Really tired," she mumbled, the words slurring slightly as she spoke half into her sleeve. Now her panic was over, the potion was starting to take hold of her again, letting her slip back into sleep.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:34 pm

'That's right,' Armeno agreed, relieved that Kassandra had accepted his words so easily. Even as she fixed her eyes on him, he held her gaze, trying to look as healthy and reassuring as he could. When she began to list sideways, he held out a wary arm to catch her should she fall, but she caught herself before he needed to intervene and laid her head on the table.
'You can go back to sleep, everything's okay,' he soothed her, stroking back a few stray locks of hair from her face. He stayed in the position, leaning on the table and watching her face, until her muscles slackened entirely as she slipped back into sleep.

Letting out a horrible groan of pain, Armeno straightened up from Kassandra. He wished that he could move her from what was surely an extremely uncomfortable position on the table, but he knew he was in no condition to do so- and he could hardly heal himself like last time, not with Foen standing right there.
'I'm sleeping until morning, then we can find somebody to heal Velox. Hopefully me, as well. Until then...' He shifted slightly, grimacing at the movement. 'Do you have any potions which might be able to make a difference in my back by morning? It would be significantly easier for me to do what I need to if I wasn't in such a bad condition.' He looked hopefully at Foen, hoping that the sorcerer wasn't going to ban him from action the next day. He was hardly in a condition to put up resistance.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:22 pm

"Sorry Armeno, I don't have anything more," said Foen, shrugging and standing as Kassandra slipped off into sleep again. "The best thing I could have given you would have been that sleeping potion; you need to rest, its the best medicine. Sleep and stay still." His words became slightly pinced, irate that the elf hadn't listened to a word he had been saying, all the time he had been asking for help. How was he supposed to help, if he didn't listen?

He sighed, stepping over to Kassandra's side and touching one hand to her wrist, to check whether she was properly asleep. She didn't move, so he slowly started to tug her chair backwards, still speaking. "I'll try and get in touch with some of the other sorcerers tomorrow, but it'll take time. We... don't get on so well, me and some of them. " Chair moved back, he eyed Kassandra doubtfully, then hefted her into his arms, groaning and pulling faces at her weight. How Armeno carried her around all the time... He headed straight for the staircase, struggling with even the first step up. Ooh, this was going to be fun.
"Elfie, upstairs, bed, now," he ordered, not waiting for Armeno to follow him.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Sun Feb 19, 2012 9:38 pm

It didn't come as a surprise to him that Foen had no other medicines.
'Don't worry about it,' he muttered, nodding slowly. 'I'll sleep.' He followed the sorcerer up the stairs, making a feeble attempt to help him with the dead burden of Kassandra's weight, but he soon gave up as he realised how much of a challenge it was for him to even get himself up. 'I'd appreciate it if you could talk to the other sorcerers. I... I might still know somebody who can help, too.'

When they finally reached the bedroom and Foen had placed Kassandra in the bed, Armeno nodded a thanks to him.
'Here,' he muttered, pulling off the jumper and replacing it with a soft fabric shirt of his own before climbing into the bed, arranging the blankets around himself and Kassandra, and falling immediately into sleep.

~*~

When the elf awoke, it was to birds singing outside. He instinctively attempted to sit up, but soon remembered his injuries in a blaze of pain as he stretched the skin on his back. Making a small noise of pain, he glanced over at Kassandra. She seemed to still be asleep, but he had no idea how long that would last. Thankfully, his body had woken him up at dawn as it always did.

The rest seemed to have done him a great deal of good, and his legs felt far stronger underneath him than they had the previous night as he slid out of the bed and took a few experimental steps. Satisfied, he dug out some clothes and hastily changed into them, stuffing his feet into scorched boots before slipping out of the room as quietly as he could and making his way downstairs.
'Foen?' he called in a hushed voice, hoping that the sorcerer was within earshot- and, indeed, awake.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:09 pm

Foen hadn't made it upstairs again after Armeno had woken him up, just dosing up a bit on caffeine then working through the rest of the night. He had done it before- had done it when he hadn't had any sleep at all, all night! This meant he actually got some proper experimenting done for once too, instead of all this fuffing around after Zack and Ciqala and Armeno and Kassandra. He enjoyed all that, of course, but it was nice to retreat into his work now and again too.

He had made himself a large breakfast of whatever random assortment of foods he had in his cupboards, and was sitting in his favourite chair with a book, eating at his leisure when Armeno came down the stairs. He didn't notice him at first, too engaged in his work, but as soon as he spoke he sat up, startled by the elf. His plate of food almost fell off the chair arm, but he managed to save it from going everywhere just in time, picking it up and safely carting it over to the table, with his book.
"What are you doing up?" he asked, frowning as sternly as he could manage. Being so short, it probably made him look more like an angry hamster than a fierce warrior, but it was the best he could do. "You should be in bed, resting, or at the least, if not resting, explaining to Kassandra, when she wakes up, what happened last night!" His voice took on a less scolding tone. "How's your back, your burns?"

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:27 pm

‘What am I doing up?’ Armeno echoed the question in surprise, raising his eyebrows at Foen. ‘You really don’t know? I need to get out and finish off the dragon before Kassandra wakes up. She won’t let me go if she finds out, and I can’t let it go off to heal again.’ He paused, looking hopefully at the sorcerer. ‘Although… I did wonder if some sort of spell to keep her away from the city would be possible. And I need to get a healer for Velox, no matter what we do about the dragon.’ A strong look of determination came over his face. ‘My back’s still very painful, of course, but I feel a lot better in general. But…’ he sighed, glancing at Foen’s clock. ‘I should probably have some more ointment before I go out and do anything else,’ he admitted, peering at the plate on the table. ‘I might get myself some food, too…’ He crossed over to the larder and opened it to peer inside, reaching out with his left hand to turn around a jar and look at its label. However, the pain when he took hold of it made him hiss and pause to examine the injury. In the haze of agony from his back, he’d entirely forgotten the damage to his hand last night, but it was certainly making itself known now. Foen was not going to be pleased. Sheepishly, Armeno turned back to his host and admitted,
‘I forgot about it, but I hurt my hand last night too.’

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:57 pm

Foen listened with first disbelief, then growing anger as Armeno announced his grand plans. What the hell was he thinking? He was mad for thinking to go after that dragon again.
No, he was mad for thinking he could disobey Foen's instructions. The sorcerer may be small, and young, and only human, but by god, he was going to be listened to when he knew what he was talking about.
He followed Armeno over to the larder as he went to raid it, leaning silently against the wall with his arms folded sullenly over his front. The elf was making no effort to save his back any iota, just going about his business as if everything was just fine and dandy, not as if he had been up all night, and half barbequed by a dragon. It was when Armeno showed him his hurt hand that he really snapped.

In one movement, he shook his hands in disbelief at the elf, then grabbed hold of the door and swung it shut, pressing his back flat against the wood. "You bloody idiot!" he yelled, not caring if he woke up everyone else in the house. He was fed up, and it was his house anyway, and he wanted to get his way for once. "I told you, you're not bloody leaving, and I'll keep you in this cupboard until you either give up or... give up!" He angrily kicked the bottom of the door, leaving a mark, and instantly wished he hadn't done so. "Listen to me for onceeee!"

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:13 pm

At first, Armeno was surprised by Foen's apparent lack of reaction to his plans. However, when he showed the sorcerer his hand, the response was more extreme than he would have guessed. He realised what was happening fractionally too late- he lunged for the door in an attempt to stop it from closing, but he got there a moment too late and was forced to jerk his hand back lest his fingers be crushed in the frame. 'Dammit, Foen!' he yelled back through the wood, pounding it with his good fist despite the fact that he knew he wasn't getting out of the cupboard any time soon. He sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair before lowering himself to the floor and cradling his hand in his lap. 'That man...' he muttered incredulously, shaking his head before adding a few curses in Elvish. The sorcerer was really just as stubborn as he was. He would have resigned himself to a day locked in the pantry if it weren't for the fact that Kassandra would probably have woken up and want an explanation, and the even more pressing issue that Velox was dying somewhere in the city. God knew where the horse had ended up. Armeno rested his head against the wall of the cupboard, allowing himself a moment of emotion and sliding his eyes shut. He stayed in the position for a minute or two, before leaning cautiously forwards again and trying to make out what was on the shelves of the pantry in the meagre light which filtered around the door. His eyes were adjusting, but slowly, and after a few moments of squinting he gave up and felt along the shelves for something which felt like a good idea for breakfast. As he ate, he attempted to rest again the wall again, eventually turning sideways to avoid having his back come into contact with the surface.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:36 pm

"You're going nowhere Elfie, so don't even try!" Foen yelled back, giving the door another kick for good measure anyway. It would need repainting now, so he might as well just do the damage. Zack and Ciqala could have some fun with brushes later if they wanted a job to do. Or even if they didn't want a job to do.
"I told you I wasn't going to let you go out and do whatever the hell you liked, so just get used to it, right?" he said a little quieter this time, sliding his back along the door so he could sit in a pile at the bottom. He was at a slight disadvantage in comparison to Armeno, having nothing to do and nothing to eat- damn that food and work looking so tempting on the table- but he wasn't about to get up and give the elf a chance to escape. He could hear Armeno cursing through the door anyway, and it was obvious the first chance he had to escape, he would take it.

==X==

Kassandra was woken by the shouting and banging downstairs, her eyes flicking open before she quickly rolled over and onto her feet. What was going on? Armeno had gone again from the bed, and although it was now daylight outside, filtering through the little gap she had left in the curtains, it still worried her as to where he had gone.
Maybe that was him downstairs? She was sure she could hear his muffled voice from somewhere.
Grabbing her cloak from where it hung over a chair and swinging it round her, she quickly padded down the stairs, taking the bottom ones two at a time when she saw nobody in the lower room. She was sure she had heard someone down here.
"Ah, you're awake."
Foen's voice from the pantry (but the door was closed?) drew her over to that part of the room, where she saw he was sitting on the floor, back against the door of the little cupboard.
"Don't suppose you could pass me that book, and plate of food?" he asked, pointing to the table.
"What's going on?" Kassandra asked, tipping her head to one side as she fetched the plate, her eyes skirting warily around the room.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Wed Feb 22, 2012 8:52 pm

The voices vibrating through the door captivated little of Armeno's attention until he realised that Kassandra had spoken.
'Kassie,' he muttered, turning towards the door and pressing his ear against the wood to better hear the conversation. Her tone was wary and suspicious, and he promptly decided to reassure her that there was nothing wrong with him, at least.
'I'm here!' he called out. 'I'm fine.' Well, he wasn't dying or anything. Maybe his hand needed some attention, but not as much as Velox did. He gritted his teeth, hoping that the arab could hold on until he got out of this infernal pantry and found somebody with stronger healing magic than his own.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:53 pm

"I shut Elfie in the cupboard," said Foen blatantly, flicking his book open to the page he had been on and going back to reading again, picking mindlessly off the platter of food next to him. "You should probably talk to him. Tell him to stop being an idiot, he's not listening to me."

Kassandra's frown deepened, but she stepped close to the door of the pantry, tapping one hand against the wood to show that she was near. "Armeno? Are you okay?" she asked, raising her voice enough that he might be able to hear her through the door. It was made no easier by Foen sitting by the door, in the way, but mostly a eavesdropper on their conversation.
"Do you mind moving? Or letting him out?" she asked, but he just shook his head and kept reading.
"Why's Foen locked you in the cupboard? He's refusing to move. Did you argue last night or something?" They had seemed fine when she came downstairs, but everything from there was a bit of a blur. Maybe they had quarrelled afterwards? It was hard to tell, what with the sorcerer refusing to tell her anything.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:21 pm

'I don't have much choice but to listen to you,' he pointed out wearily to Foen. 'Do you see me trying to get out of the cupboard.' He shook his head, muttering darkly, before shuffling across the floor to where Kassandra seemed to be.

'I'm...' He sighed, tipping his head back to think for a few moments. He was going to have to tell her about his expedition at some point, and he knew that the longer he lied to her, the angrier she'd be when she found out. The worst scenario was if she found out from Foen or some other source before he had told her. All in all, he was unlikely to gain anything by waiting.
'I'm mostly okay. Foen locked me in the cupboard to stop me from leaving the house. We didn't exactly argue. There wasn't much discussion before he closed the door on me. I...' He paused to knead his forehead in frustration. This would be so much easier if they could see each others' faces; the cupboard was really starting to annoy him now. On the plus side though, he could almost read the labels on some of the containers. 'Last night, I... I went out.' He leant away from the door slightly without even thinking about it, braced for a potential onslaught.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:43 pm

Armeno's voice seemed to come from somewhere near the floor, so Kassandra crouched down by the door instead of standing, pulling her cloak over her knees so she didn't stand on it, or slip over it's folds. He sounded worn out, and that was slightly worrying- as was the fact he was sitting by the door, and not standing. She would have thought he would have been angry, and trying to get out. She listened with growing concern as he explained what had happened, but she knew he was keeping something from her. That much was obvious, from the way he was wording things. She could feel herself getting a little nervous, heart beating loudly in her ears. She licked her lips before speaking, trying to not let her worry show through her voice.
"What... what do you mean, you went out last night?" she frowned, thinking back to the night before.
There had been fires outside...

The breath caught in her throat, and she put the back of one hand to her mouth. "The city... was burning..." she said slowly, words hardly more than a whisper. He might have heard them, with his elf's hearing, but a human wouldn't have through the door. "What did you do?" she said, a little louder. Foen finally looked up from his book, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder, but she shrunk away from his touch. "Armeno, what did you do?"

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:31 pm

Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, Armeno listened to Kassandra's whisper, and then ground his teeth when she spoke more loudly. He could hear the edge of panic in her voice, and he was terrified that she might go into shock again- or have an even worse reaction. 'Kassie, everything's fine,' he tried to soothe her. 'Look- dammit, Foen, I need to get out!' He jumped to his feet and began shoving at the door, trying to push Foen out of the way.
'You're not going to be happy whatever I tell you, but I will tell you the whole truth,' he said to Kassandra through the wood, hissing as his sore muscles shoved against the scarcely-moving door.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Thu Feb 23, 2012 9:48 pm

As Armeno suddenly jumped up to standing again, banging on the other side of the door, Kassandra almost lost her balance on her toes, wavering and having to put one hand on the wood in front of her. Foen looked shocked at the sudden noise, visibly jumping and almost making his book slide out of his lap. Kassandra looked worried, not liking the tone Armeno had chosen. What had he done...
She rose to her feet again, putting her hand around the doorhandle. "Foen, will you let me into the cupboard?" she asked softly. "You're not going to let him out, right?"
He nodded, then moved slightly away from the door, obviously going to shuffle back into place once she was done. Steeling herself for the worst- he had seemed fine last night, but had she been hallucinating?- she pulled open the door, then ducked inside the pantry and closed it again behind her. It was dark, and hard to see against the bright morning light outside.
"Armeno? What's happened?" she asked, blinking rapidly to try and make her eyes adjust to the sudden darkness.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:19 pm

Hearing Foen and Kassandra's conversation on the other side of the door, Armeno backed up, shuffling backwards until he was touching the shelves. Once Static had come inside and the door was closed again, he took another step forwards and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him for a few moments before stepping back a little and giving yet another terse sigh.
'Well... First. I'm fine, Kassie. I'm... a little battered, maybe, but I'm fine. But last night, I went out, as I said. I was woken up by noises in the city. The dragon. I couldn't leave it to kill people, but I...' Trailing off, he attempted to make out Kassandra's face in the gloom before continuing, guilt laced throughout his voice. 'I couldn't let you be hurt by it. I took Foen's sleeping potion and I gave it to you once you fell asleep... Then I went out again on Velox. The dragon couldn't move when I left. I got off lightly compared to her, and compared to...' He swallowed tightly. 'Compared to Velox.' Knowing that she would have plenty to say to his confession, he stayed quiet, waiting for her reaction and ready to catch her if she fainted or any such thing.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:57 pm

Kassandra was a little surprised when Armeno suddenly hugged her as she let herself into the cupboard, letting herself be enveloped in his embrace before lightly hugging him back. Just from this little action, she knew something wasn't quite right... but she let him explain before making any judgements.

Although first, she had to stop him, eyes widening slightly. "Did you just call me... Kassie?" she asked, voice full of wondering. "I've always kinda wanted to be called that... but nobody's known me well enough to." She dropped her eyes to the floor for a second, then looked up again, ready to listen again with newfound interest. The open look on her face changed as he explained himself though, first falling into realisation, then upset and... anger? Her forehead creased slightly, lines appearing at the edges of her eyes.
"You... you went after it?" She couldn't call the dragon a "she", it was too destructive a being even to give it such a slice of personality. Kassandra squinted through the darkness, trying to make out Armeno a little better in the poor light- there was a slight wrinkle under his shirt, a certain stiffness with how he held himself.
"What did you do?" she breathed, taking half a step backwards and resting her weight against the shelving behind her, breathing fast. "You... you..." She had to take another deep breath, turning around and leaning one hand against the shelving, looking down at the floor. It felt like the world was spinning around her with all this knowledge, but at the forefront was he had done the thing she had feared, left her alone, and almost got himself killed.

Subject: Re: Rogue and El- A Chance encounter Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:51 pm

Kassandra's interruption took Armeno by surprise, forcing him to stop and consider his words.
'I don't know... it just came out. I suppose that's how I think of you now...' He was quiet for a few moments, contemplating this, before he continued on.

When she leant backwards, away from him, he instinctively reached towards her. 'I did go after her,' he admitted. 'But it wasn't like last time, Kassie. I was prepared. I'm okay. I'm here.' Unsure of whether or not she would want him to, he stepped closer to her again and hesitantly slid his arms around her again. He had no idea what was going through her head; she was obviously angry, but he didn't know if she wanted him to be there or not. It occured to him that, bizarrely, he had still only known her for a few weeks- and while he'd spent just about every moment of those weeks with her, it wasn't like he knew everything about her. He peered anxiously down at her face, praying that she wouldn't lose it again.

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