M11-M20 Hallway
As one hundred percent thrilled as he was to find that his recent thirteen year old victim of good ol' traditional slaughter was alive and, unfortunately, not in pieces, Gabriel was significantly more thrilled that he had self-established himself as a guardian angel for the night to one very, very hapless human
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By the ancestor, maybe he was having a meltdown of sorts this evening!
Or he'd simply misheard, as he hadn't been paying any attention since Kratos had begun changing. It was only polite, and he easily misheard a simple farewell as something sinister. It was this place, just as his roommate had said. And Tolten did like the other man. He was familiar (in a sense) and stable and therefor a comforting presence.
With darkness fallen and nothing planned beyond acquisition of a weapon, Tolten spread the few supplies he had across his bed and frowned down at them. Added to the assortment he'd have a length of pipe. Honestly, this was more than he'd had when he found himself a criminal in his own streets. But then again he'd had a sword, then, and an immortal woman capable of wielding great magical energy. Swords it seemed could be come by, but with all magic abilities being muted with some thing....
Well, he had what he had and it was better than nothing. And perhaps he'd learn something more tonight. And perhaps that drug they'd injected him with wouldn't do anything terrible. Maybe just...inconvenient. Like getting hit with a toxin or a dizzying spell.
Either way, all he could do now was wait for Anise. Or any apparent change....
[For Anise]
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Finally, she made it! M20. Anise tucked the pipe under her arm so she could reach for the door. She gave it a few energetic knocks, then called out, "It's me, Anise! I brought the pipe!" Knowing how easy it would be to mistake a knock for a suspicious stranger, or the rapping of a monster, Anise had made a habit of cheerfully announcing herself whenever she approached someone's room.
Besides, it was a good way to brighten a person's night, and at Landel's, most people's nights were severely lacking in that kind of cheer. Tolten seemed pretty easy to please, too. If her first impression of him was on the mark, then he'd be plenty happy with her little gift to him, even though it was just a hand-me-down makeshift weapon.
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How odd...of course he needed the pipe. He knew he was going to need it, there was no reason to make such a point of saying so! Maybe Anise had had a rough evening. Such as his own.
Tolten was still standing at his bed, trying to figure out what uses he could put such simple items to. He felt as though surely if he applied a little creative thinking, he could figure something out. Unfortunately, that sort of thing simply wasn't in his nature. But now he moved to his desk, retrieving the card he had made during the day.
He wondered how many others had been injected. He frowned as he ran his fingers nervously over the edge of the plate that served as backing for the card. How many people that he knew had been taken and mucked with? Not that there was even any 'taking' involved. But it was strange, how feverishly worried he found himself for people he barely knew.
He hoped Anise was alright.
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"Here! It's really not much, but it helped me out a lot before," she said as she offered it. Hopefully, it'd help Tolten out as much as it helped her. The fact that she was still alive after nearly five weeks probably meant it was more than just a piece of junk, even if it kind of looked like a piece of junk.
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At least until he registered what he had heard, and had to take a step back and shake his head. What about his sorry hide? But Anise was cheerfully smiling and holding out the weapon, and had shown herself to be a kind and polite young woman. This was the second time he'd misheard. What was happening to him?
"Thank you..." he frowned and sighed heavily. Then he finally reached for his pipe. Forget whatever had him off kilter, he had a weapon! "Forgive me, I seem to be a bit...confused this evening. It's been an eventful one. I can't thank you enough. Ah...here. It's...well, it's simply...here."
He held out in turn the small card he had made her, a simple written note pasted to a red paper plate- in turn decorated with gold suns and artistic sprays of glitter. The note was short, and said simply 'I wish I had more than words to show my thanks, but until I do please keep them close'.
He had no power and made no claim to his title here and now, but a king must never abandon or neglect his manners. And hopefully he wasn't making a complete fool of himself.
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He presented her with a thank-you note then, and her smile returned. "Wow! You really put a lot of work into this," she marveled as she took the plate into her hands and looked over the note. Just saying the words 'thank you' would have been plenty, but the fact that he went to the trouble of presenting it like that showed that Tolten really appreciated Anise's help. "Thank you! I'm glad you like it."
She could have taken off just then, but she felt like she needed to ask... "Are you okay, though? You might want to stay in if you're not feeling well."
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"They did something to me at dinner, and I..I simply don't know. And I keep...hearing things as they aren't said. I think. I hope." Was that some sort of side effect of the injection? "I'd rather not stay in another night, especially now that I'm armed, but I was going to be on my own...."
If he was suffering from unexplained ill effects - for whatever reason - it probably wasn't the wisest idea to wander out all by his lonesome. Even with a weapon. What if he got so confused and turned about that he attacked friend rather than foe? He never wanted to experience anything like that ever again.
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But hearing things? That was a new one, as far as Anise knew. "Um... I met someone earlier who was having some pretty bad hallucinations. I'm not trying to scare you or anything, but like... be careful, okay?" There was no telling whether anything like that would end up happening to Tolten, but if he was hearing voices... well, it was better to know what could happen and be prepared for it than to be totally unprepared.
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"Now I'm certain I'm not going to be torn apart in a bloody mess a few moments after I step outside my door...." Tolten frowned. "Really, you needn't go to such lengths to ensure I don't do something foolish! And dragons can't fit inside these halls." Unless that had been a hallucination, too, and Anise wasn't even talking about the nighttime monsters at all. In which case....
"Oh for god's sake! It...it has to be whatever they injected me with at dinner. You're a very sweet girl, you wouldn't be saying any of these things I'm hearing you say! And I know I'm not succumbing to poor judge of character because I've spoken to friends of yours. I'm sorry. I'm terribly sorry. Please...don't let me keep you from whatever plans you've made this evening."
Perhaps he should just stay in. But what on earth would that accomplish? He was supposed to be a leader, a man of action! Why couldn't he be what he was born and raised to be?
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Anise tilted her head to the side, a perplexed look on her face... but she realized before he even said so that it had to be the result of whatever the soldiers did to him. An injection...?
What Tolten fortunately didn't seem to know was that it actually was like Anise to let a few rough comments slip here and there, but if he was convinced that she was too sweet for that, and people were vouching for her, then who was she to argue? Besides, he'd at least be right about her being too nice to tease a guy who looked as distressed as he was at the moment.
Anyway, the way he was acting really did worry her, and it showed in her expression. But he was right in that she couldn't spend the whole night standing there and worrying over him...
"Okay, I'm going to get going," she agreed with a small nod, though there was still an uncertain look on her face. "... Take care, okay?" She hesitated another moment, then walked back into the hallway.
[to here]
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