Nightshift 23: M1-M10 Hall

[tartaros_avatar]

Recluse was practically watching the door, waiting for the lock to click open. He had hidden the angle iron he had begun to work on, as well as a good amount of rust, stored in a small sack made from a portion of his sheets. His years of working at Paragon City's shipyards had shown him that rust could really come in handy, if you knew the proper

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[look_bunnies]

Raistlin hadn't been in a particularly talkative mood when dinner came around again, though that wasn't much of a surprise; he rarely was, anyway. He'd found a couple of the people he'd been forced to be around quite...aggravating, moreso than certain other company that he'd kept in the past. More vulgar. Keeping an eye out for weapons had slipped his mind while he devoted his attention to remembering faces and who to avoid, not that the silverware would have been particularly useful, anyway.

He had been wondering, though, what had become of his follower. When the disembodied voice announced the experiments, Raistlin wondered if Bast may have been one of them, as the place's punishment for attempting to go find Jack.

"Rabastan." He said in a soft, flat tone, acknowledging his follower before inclining his head slightly. "You disappeared after breakfast." Let him take that as he would at first. Raistlin was more interested in if Bast's self-appointed 'mission' had been a success. The more the human shields, the better the chances of getting through to a weapon. "Did you manage to rescue your...friend?"

[rabastlestrange]

Bast edged around the door enough to peek in, keeping low incase any curses were headed his way. Approaching the Dark Lord when he could be upset was dicey at best.

"You're not mad, are you, Master Raistlin?"

There was a quaver to his voice that could have been real or something done to make himself seem ingratiating. Who knew if Bast was acting or not. It sounded sincere and worried at least.

At the question, Rabastan took that as an invitation to come into the room instead of cowering in the hallway. It meant less cover incase Raistlin decided to smite him, but it was easier than lurking at the other side of the door. The mention of him vanishing after breakfast brought a flush to his cheeks. He knew better than to just wander off, but it was Jack!

"I didn't find Jack, but he got out anyways. Didn't you hear him in the little box? He talks to everyone a time or two each night, but he talks to me whenever I need him."

Showing Raistlin his now silent radio, it was up to Raistlin to decide if Bast was merely hearing the voices in his head or if Bast's radio was somehow special and talked to him. Bast wasn't the most in-touch with reality person around.

"I ended up being locked in my room all day. Did Severus take care of you like I asked? He's one of your followers too, but he fakes being a follower of the old grey man. I don't know why everyone thinks he's so wise anyways. That old fool is barking mad. Saviour of the wizarding world. Pfft."

Bast actually looked a little disgruntled there. Whoever this 'old grey man' was, he must not have been high on Bast's list of favourite people.

"You're not mad, are you? I don't fancy being a cockroach or in agony. That's bad."

[look_bunnies]

Raistlin stood up from his bed, reaching under the covers to find the stick that lit itself with the push of a panel, and came closer to the door.

"No, I'm not mad," he said in as gentle a tone as he could, a tone he'd used to manipulate Caramon and hoped would work on his follower. He wasn't too mad, at any rate, and he figured it would be better to keep Bast around.

But even if he had been horribly angry, what good would really come of turning him into a cockroach or keeping him in such pain? He did try, and wasn't afraid of the darkness like Caramon had been, not to mention he had stuck around him like a leech, and Raistlin was determined to use that to the fullest so that he could escape. No, he needed Bast in one piece, one loyal piece. Besides, Bast seemed to forget that he was unable to do much in this place, and he wasn't about to remind his follower of that important fact.

Raistlin looked at the silent box that Bast was holding and forced back his disbelief. He very much doubted that it really talked to him whenever Bast needed it to, though who could say? Either way, he was more interested in the comment about the 'old grey man', because the first one to pop into his mind was Fizban, one of Paladine's ways to watch over Krynn. Being this so-called Dark Lord's follower, and pretending to be that of good, as well? Foolish. Solinari and Nuitari wouldn't have allowed it.

"I'll have to remember to listen for him later," he said, going back to a colder, more detached tone. "I didn't see Severus after breakfast, though nothing happened during the day. It's infinitely safer, so I don't think you need to worry as much." If nothing else, that was annoying. He was a grown man, even if most of his magic had been stripped and he wasn't very physically imposing. He could still take care of himself to a certain extent. Not much of one, but that didn't give anyone license to worry about him like a mother would for her child if faced with one of Takhisis's dragons.

"You said that the kitchen would likely have weapons?" Perhaps even some spell components, which he might be able to help expand his range of magic, but he'd keep that to himself for now. He'd rather see it for himself.

[rabastlestrange]

Rabastan cheered immensely when Raistlin said he wasn't displeased with him, the tone of the archmage's voice probably sealing the deal. It sure beat twisting around on the floor in Cruciatus. That tended to be hard on the clothes. The few feet between them was quickly crossed once he was assured of his own safety and that of his clothing, once more at poor Raistlin's side.

"Worry? About you? Oh no, Master. It's not that. Well, mostly it's not. You see, when we're around others like we were Denim last night, I have to act that way. It makes people think that I'm stupid and you're not a threat really. That way, when they try something, we can kill them. Or I can. I know you don't like to get your robes all messy with blood and stuff. I don't mind if it's what you want. I have lots more in my closet."

Bast grinned up at Raistlin, the very picture of innocence like a kitten happy in a ball of string. The sad part was, he was completely honest... or as honest as Bast could be. If Raistlin told him that someone needed to die, Bast would put the full power of his strange mind into making it happen. They weren't real after all. He felt no more remorse at killing anyone than a regular person would at cutting up a piece of construction paper. There was the critical difference in his mind between those real and those not.

"I know you can take care of yourself even if I weren't here. You'd have other followers or make some," he said with a shrug. "I'm disposable, you're not. It's just easier for me to do the messy stuff like the Longbottoms. Didn't expect to have to wait fourteen years for you to come back while I was in that wizard's prison with the monsters, but you did, and here we are! And Severus is too! He's awfully smart, like I said. A Potion Master. He can make anything with a cauldron and the right ingredients."

Speaking of that.

"I guess the weapon would. Kenren and Bellatrix seemed to think it would, but Jack said something about gods and wine. That makes me wonder. The kitchen could have more to it than just that. The wine cellars were beneath our kitchen back at Lestrange Estate. Jack sometimes talks about things that we can go find, rewards if you will. But he said topsoil too and digging. Maybe we should go outside to the flowers and stuff."

Bast tilted his head thoughtfully, mentally retracing how to get back outside like they had been the other day.

"What do you want to do, Master Raistlin?"

[look_bunnies]

Well, that was...an unexpected thing to hear from Bast. He was smarter than Raistlin had been giving him credit for, and Raistlin allowed himself to show a small bit of shock for a brief second before nodding once in Bast's direction.

"I see. Very good, Rabastan," he replied, giving him a small, twisted smile. "I'm sure they'll quite regret it once it's too late." But the sad part, as Raistlin saw it, was that Bast seemed perfectly happy with being disposable.

"Wine and topsoil," he repeated softly to himself. "Well, isn't wine made from a plant? Let's go outside to see what we might find." Also, he could always see if there were any plants he might be able to pick up that could be useful as a poison to slip in someone's drink if he might need to.

The archmage had to make do with what was available, after all, so it would be best to see just what all was available.

[rabastlestrange]

Rabastan was delighted with Raistlin's reaction. All in all, Rabastan was perfectly fine with people thinking he was stupid, cowardly, insane, or whatever else they wanted to. What did their opinions matter after all? They weren't even real. It only mattered what Raistlin thought. At least until Raistlin stopped being real.

"They always do, Master. The Longbottoms did anyways, and they were Aurors. You remember, the magic constables? Then there were those brains with tentacles in the Department of Mysteries."

That was one of those things that Raistlin probably didn't want to know about Bast decided as he headed for the door and opened it, peering out.

"All right, Master Raistlin! Follow me! Lumos!"

Tapping his wand against his hand, the tip of Bast's wand flared with light. With that, Bast headed out into the hallways and looked back to Raistlin to make sure he didn't lose the man.

((Bast dragged poor Raistlin here))