Prose log with Euram and Percival
Who: Euram and Percival
What: With all of the misunderstandings and arguments these two became the perfect candidates for the 'trapped in an elevator' scenario to fix it...right...fix it.
Warnings: Mood swings and awkward silences.
Euram pushed the button for the elevator waiting impatiently for it to take him to his destination. He had been trying to not be so reclusive by making it a point to go out at least once a day but it was still not that easy which was why he was on his way back to his room. The elevator must have been acting up, he had been sure he told it to go up but it seemed to want to go down; wonderful.
Percival had taken to using the dungeons to get to and from the stables instead of walking right out the front door of the manor, because it was less likely he'd run into Zexen councilors that way. He stood tapping a metal-clad toe, waiting for it to make its way down to the second dungeon to pick him up so he could get out of armor and try to unwind.
Euram was not thrilled when the elevator doors opened and the person he least wanted to see was standing there. If the elevator had stopped on any other floor than one of the dungeons he would have gotten off instantly, but they were dark and cold and he’d rather spend the minute in the enclosed space with the knight than walk through them. So instead he stood straight and looked at the suddenly fascinating walls.
By Percival's heavy sigh, anyone could guess he didn't want that sort of company either. But he was in a hurry, so he had to suffer it. He clanked in and punched the button for the top floor with a gauntleted knuckle, settling to wait with his face straight ahead at the panel of buttons.
The silence was uncomfortable but bearable as the elevator made its slow ascent. That is until a loud grinding sound was heard from above, the only precursor to the violent lurch as the elevator came to a sudden halt. Euram had looked up wide-eyed and lost his footing as the floor shook but he managed to grasp the wall before completely falling.
Percival threw out his arms to brace himself against the wall, looking wildly around. "What the hell was that?" he exclaimed.
Euram pawed at the walls trying to keep from falling, it shouldn’t have been this difficult, yet it was. He made his way to the buttons and started pressing all of them, movements getting more frantic as nothing happened.
Percival started and leaped toward the slight noble. "What are you doing? Stop that! It's not going to help things, you'll just make it..." The elevator jerked again, as if attempting to move but deciding at the last minute that it just wasn't going to do it. "...worse." The knight sighed again, clapping a hand to his forehead.
Euram tried to bat Percival away as he tried to fix this problem. However, he hadn’t taken into account the knight’s armor and yelped in pain as he hand connected metal. “Ow!” he whined shrinking back and pouting up at him like this was somehow all Percival’s fault.
Percival glowered in annoyance, setting his hands on his hips. "Serves you right," he sniffed before going to the panel, carefully checking solely the buttons that would open or close the lattice doors, and noting that nothing was happening. At all. He peered up at the ceiling. "It appears that we're stuck," he announced. "Between floors."
Euram nursed his injured hand as Percival took stock of the situation. For as calm as Percival was being Euram was the exact opposite. “What?” he exclaimed louder than was comfortable in such a closed in space. “Don’t just stand there! Fix it!”
Bristling, Percival whirled in place and stared Euram down. "Me? I don't know how this thing works, I'm not a mechanic!" Something occurred to him, and his shoulders heaved with a sigh. "And Shizu left to return to her teacher. I don't know if anyone in the castle can fix it..."
Euram didn’t have it in him right now for a stare down. He was already close to hyperventilating because of being trapped and being yelled at one top of that was just too much. He shrank back entirely, huddling in one of the corners.
For once, Percival felt a little bad about raising his voice, seeing the reaction. He clawed a hand through his hair, sweeping back his unruly forelock for just a moment. "Just...let's calm down, for a minute," he said, more for himself than for Euram. "It won't be long before someone notices there's a problem, people use this elevator every day." He paced briefly before going to the lattice-like door again and trying to pry it open. It took all his strength, and even then he only budged it a couple of inches to reveal a solid brick wall before it snapped shut.
Euram didn’t move from his new position, but he did noticeably relax. Even if he didn’t like Percival he’d still take his assurances. Of course he made no move to help with the door, but he did watch over shoulder and sunk with what it revealed. “So we have no recourse but to wait until someone may or may not try to use this infernal contraption?! This is unacceptable! Do something!” he ordered.
It was going to be very hard to take his own advice to stay calm with Euram yelling at him, Percival thought to himself. He only glanced over his shoulder. "What, exactly, do you want me to do?" he asked in a low, seething tone. "Unless you're hiding a Blinking Rune in your pocket, there is nothing we can do, except wait."
“I don’t know!” Euram said arms flailing whacking into the walls before he pulled them in. “Pull a lever! Fix a gear! However these things work!”
Percival held up his hands in a helpless shrug. "Where? There are none, not that I can see! I honestly don't know how this contraption works, there are very few people in the world who do." His gaze darkened briefly. "Panicking isn't going to help, either, so just calm down and breathe normally. Maybe then we can think of something."
Euram turned a stern gaze back to the wall as he tried to ignore Percival again. Something that was quite difficult in such an enclosed area, especially when the other kept speaking to him. “I am not panicking!” he snapped, more to convince himself than anything.
Percival was just fine with being given the cold shoulder, it was easier to handle than flailing and screaming. He paced back and forth across his side of the elevator, rubbing his chin while he looked around and thought. He didn't know if the elevator had any hidden panels to get in or out in an emergency, or just the door, but now would be the time to hunt for one.
Euram held the cold shoulder for as long as he could. However, despite his assertions he was far from calm and Percival’s pacing was not helping to say the least. He cringed more and more as it continued before he turned to snap at the knight. “Stand still!” he ordered, a whine evident in his tone. “There are no words for the terrible clatter I must endure with every step!”
Percival spun toward him again, ready to retort, but he was aware that his armor did make quite a bit of noise when he walked. "Look," he said, fighting to remain patient. "I'm not any happier about being stuck here with you than you are, but we have to face it. We're stuck. We can either tear each other apart, or we can stay calm and try to think of a way to help ourselves." His brow furrowed sternly. "It's your choice."
“I am calm!” Euram said flinging his hands down to emphasize just how calm he was. “Of course thinking of a way out is of the top priority. A process made much easier without that terrible clanking!”
"Would you be happier if I stripped naked in front of you?" Percival snapped - even though he did have trousers and a shirt and jerkin underneath the plate. He couldn't help but say it and sort of wanted to see the reaction.
Euram was not sure how to react to that as he hadn’t expected it in the least. It especially didn’t help that he already thought Percival was licentious at best. He tried to think of a scathing and witty retort but none were forthcoming. “Wh..Why would you even suggest such a thing!” Euram screeched at him. “Y..tc…argh!” If he wasn’t already in the far corner from him he would have moved away further as he sputtered.
Pleased with himself, Percival laughed loudly. "That's what you get for complaining about my armor. Believe me," he added more seriously, "I'm sure before too long I'll be itching to take it off myself, but I don't want to clutter up the floor with bits and pieces of armor. It will make this place even more claustrophobic."
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Euram grumbled at apparently being the butt of a joke. “Low-brow humor….unfit for a knight even one such as you.” The last of the sentence trailed off into silence as he again stared at the wall and not Percival. If he was stuck there he decided he was at least going to be comfortable and sat down claiming one corner and wall as his own.
"Is that the worst you can do?" Percival restrained himself from pacing, instead setting his hands on his hips and looking up. He couldn't tell in the dim lighting whether that was an escape hatch or just a panel on the ceiling. "You really do need to grow a sense of humor, Barows. I was only kidding. I'm not naked under here." He lifted a corner of his skirtlet to reveal his brown riding breeches.
“I have a perfectly good sense of humor when there is something to be whimsical about,” Euram replied as haughtily as he could from his sitting position staring up at the knight. “I find nothing funny about this situation or such a crude attempt at wit.” He wasn’t impressed by the show of the other being clothed, and returned to looking anywhere but at him.
"Oh, this is going to be a long day," Percival sighed openly, turning away. He had no intention of being baited further into an argument, because if there was one thing he was secure about, it was his wit. Instead of engage his fellow prisoner, he lifted his head and chanced a shout. "Hello! Is anyone out there? Can you hear me? Hellooooooooooo!"
Euram would assert that he was not the one baiting, as Percival seemed to enjoy his monopoly on that subject. He was doing his best to ignore him but still looked up hopefully when he yelled. Oh please let someone, anyone save him from this cramped prison.
There was no answer. Percival waited and then called again, only to be met with cold silence from above. He hung his head in defeat and decided to save his voice, turning and leaning against the wall. "It's no use. If no one's passing by the elevator doors..." He shook his head.
Euram audibly sighed and sunk further at the news. Yes he had wanted to regain the social life he once had but doing so by being trapped in a small space with Percival was not how he’d hoped it would happen.
Despite the nature of his company, Percival hated the heavy silence even more. "We can keep trying, on and off," he suggested just to have something to say. "I don't want to make myself hoarse, though. I think we're trapped between the lower level and the main floor, so someone's bound to notice. Viki, maybe."
Euram was not a fan of long silences any more than Percival. If it hadn’t been for their last meeting he would most likely have been chatting excessively; after calming down of course. He was certain this had to be a punishment. “Such a foolish contraption,” he said, mostly to himself. “Terrible, completely unnecessary and only serves to cause more problems then it solves.” Nevermind that before this he had enjoyed the interesting way to move floors.
Percival folded his arms over his chestplate. "I don't know, I've been enjoying the convenience lately," he mused. "It's quite nice to get to the cafe or the stables without running headlong into Zexen councilors."
“Hmm,” Euram agreed non-committal. “These councilors are an interesting lot. It has become rare to find people so easy to converse with in this environment.”
That made Percival raise an eyebrow. "I should have known you'd take a shine to them immediately," he grumbled.
Euram raised his eyebrow right back at that reaction. Naturally the councilors behavior didn’t seem odd to him in the slightest, he was just happy that someone around this castle finally made sense. “I should have guessed you would dislike them,” Euram replied smirking a bit. “Tell me Sir knight, do you have a total aversion to culture or is it something else.”
Percival stared at him for a long moment in utter disbelief. "You think culture has anything to do with it?" he sniffed. "Mister Barows, do you have any inkling of a clue why the majority of the people in this castle are displeased by the presence of Zexens?"
Euram was so proud of himself for getting a jab in that he didn’t want to ruin it by admitting that he had no idea. “Naturally,” he lied immediately, nodding. He stopped and looked harder at him. “Why, do you have more information than might have been given?”
Percival held his temper in check, but he kept his arms folded sternly and closed his eyes. "Unfortunately, they haven't been very forthcoming with either myself or Lord Salome," he admitted. "They don't seem to want us around, which makes me even more suspicious."
Now Euram was curious, and not hiding it well. “Most interesting,” he said leaning in a bit more. “You sound as though you suspect something of a nefarious nature. My my, how curious.”
Percival tilted his head slyly, catching on that Euram didn't know what the hell he was talking about. "If you truly knew anything of the relationship between the Zexen Council and this castle, you would have already suspected that as well," he pointed out.
Euram bristled at that, but managed to keep most of his calm. “Perhaps you will recall that this is not my home country and how truly short a time I have had to become familiar with everything that is so alien from my true home.” His tone was between biting and sullen.
"I suppose that's true," Percival shrugged. "If you want to know, all you have to do is ask, Euram. You happen to be stuck in an elevator with one of the men who knows pretty much everything of political gossip and intrigue in Zexen."
Euram may have wanted to know but he also didn’t want to give Percival a reason to think he was better than him again by knowing more than he did about something. “Hmpf,” he said as though he didn’t care, nose in the air looking around the elevator again.
"Suit yourself," Percival said airily, tilting his head back against the wall. "I just thought it would pass the time nicely."
Another silence fell over the small space as they both were acting too proud to want to deal with the other. Euram passed what felt like an hour tapping his finger on the floor. The truth was it was a minute at most before he turned back and snapped “So what is this precious information that supposedly only you have access to?”
Percival glanced away coyly, idly removing his gauntlets and letting them clatter to the floor. "There was a time when Zexen tried to lay claim to this land," he began, rubbing his tired, sweaty hands. "They came down on Lord Thomas pretty hard. I was here, charged with upholding the law, so I saw it all first-hand. Including the Council's penchant for completely breaking that law, taking bribes from Harmonia, and worse."
“I see, I see,” Euram said as he thought about that information. It didn’t seem unusual, and he was sure if he talked to them they’d have a different take on it. Instinctively his thoughts turned to how he could turn information like this to his own advantage, he was no stranger to workings like this and if he could join them maybe he could improve his new dismal standing. The plan had merit, and that thought actually made him stop short. His thoughts were plainly visible on his face changing from a look of cunning to shrinking and looking away again as he told him self quietly to “stop it.”
Though he might not have known a thing about his companion's past or inner thoughts, Percival could read Euram like a book. Easy read, with an emoting face like that. "Suffice it to say," he said emphatically, "anyone willing to go to those lengths to take over an insignificant castle in the middle of a war with the Grasslands is not to be trusted. Five years isn't long enough for them to change their tactics. And so, people around here worry, and I don't blame them. I see antics like that from the merchants of Zexen far too often to think them very innocent."
Percival might as well have not been there for how much attention Euram was actually paying to him right now. He was almost done with his speech before Euram even realized he was being spoken to and looked back. “Ah yes, innocence, a very rare thing indeed.” There that should make it seem as though he had been paying attention.
Raising an eyebrow, Percival folded his arms over his chest again. "Moreso among the noble class," he sniffed, not sure at all what Euram meant.
As true as that might have been Euram was sick of the knight’s insults. He snapped to face him, slamming his fists down glaring at him. “You’re opinions are not necessary! Just…shut up!”
Percival just arched that eyebrow again. "Touched a nerve, have I?"
Euram glared at him, chest rising and falling rapidly. The stare down didn’t last long before he flung his arms up in a flurry of ruffles and sat with his arms folded over his bent knees facing away childishly.
Percival gazed at him for a few minutes, using the silence to listen for any signs of anyone coming to rescue them. There weren't any, so he spoke up again, his tone quieting. "I don't know why the things I say upset you so easily. I get the feeling I've done more than touch a nerve, sometimes."
Euram scoffed, not moving his gaze. “I find that most hard to believe,” he retorted. “With their frequency your offenses they can only be seen as intentional.” It was a passive-aggressive way to deal with it, but considering their past encounters he wasn’t about to spill his most carefully guarded secrets (though many knew now) after just that.
"Well, maybe I do like needling you now and then," Percival confessed airily, looking at the ceiling, "but it's only because it's so easy to do. Most of the time it isn't intentional, though. You simply have a knack for misinterpreting everything I say, or do, or don't do for that matter."
Euram sank lower onto his arms grumbling to himself at Percival’s response. “So you admit to taking joy from it,” he said, still not looking at him. “A common source of fun for many it seems.”
The fleeting sense of empathy Percival had felt maybe once or twice before flared up again, hearing that. "Are you saying...a lot of people pick on you?" he wondered.
The change in Percival’s thoughts was lost on Euram, who true or not felt most were out to get him. He was more likely to think it was a plot against him than Percival had any sympathy. He didn’t know how it was a plot, but he was sure it was there. This would have been the time to storm off, if he wasn’t trapped in here with him. “I do not see how any of this concerns you,” he said trying to end the conversation. He hated this.
The knight's countenance grew serious. "If I have hurt you, deeper than just bruising your ego, then I'm sorry. Giving an arrogant nobleman his comeuppance is no excuse for being actually mean."
Euram looked over at him not sure if he believed him. Naturally he thought an apology was due to him…mostly. With how confused he’d been about his place he’d been bouncing back and forth between his normal arrogance and feeling he doesn’t deserve anything. The later only happened when he thought about things, which this conversation was making him do. “Comeuppance?” he repeated shrugging slightly. “Yes, this castle does seem most apt at providing just desserts.”
Completely perplexed, Percival frowned. "I'm not entirely sure I follow you," he said warily. "One minute you're ranting at me, the next, agreeing with me. Is everything all right, Sir Barows?"
The bluntness of that snapped him out of his thoughts. It was a fair question as everything he said or did followed his moods, which could change at the slightest provocation. “I don’t know,” he answered shoulders shaking slightly. The noises were hard to make out at first but as they grew louder it sounded like laughing. Euram dropped his head on his arms stuck between laughing and crying, “I have no idea. None at all.”
Percival's brow knit even more. "You're not...er, it isn't claustrophobia or anything, is it?" he asked in concern, hoping that the younger man was not about to have a first-class hysterical fit from being trapped in the small elevator space.
The shoulder shaking and laughter didn’t stop, in fact they both amplified. “Oh..ha ha..If ..hee…if only things were that easy.” A shuddered breath that wracked through most of his body stopped the laughter briefly. He raised his head and whipped at his eyes, before laughing softly again. “Yes, a simple easy problem with the same as a solution. How nice that would be,” he said, more to himself though he glanced at Percival. “Of course, perhaps both are simple I just can’t see it. That would be most probable…don’t you think?”
Percival froze in place, his hands braced against the wall behind him. He didn't know what in the world was going on, and here they were - trapped. "I, er...I don't know," he replied, cocking his head. "Something is obviously the matter, but..."
This wasn’t the first time these thoughts had gone through Euram’s mind, but it was the first time someone else was in the room with him when they had. He’d been trying to avoid that to maintain at least some of his dignity, but it was a little late for that now. “Obviously…yes…there is something the matter. If only I knew what.”
Percival relaxed a little, and slid into the corner so he could rest his shoulder against the wall. He was getting tired of standing in place in his armor. "You're upset about something. If it's me, I would try to make up for it. If it's something else...well...then I don't know. I don't think I'd be much help."
Euram wasn’t comfortable with sitting as he was with the other towering over him anymore. He stood and leaned against one of the walls. He stared at the opposite wall but felt more at ease with their heights more equal. The movement had the added effect of taking time for him to halt his thoughts and bring his rambling to an end. “I want to go home,” he said simply, sounding again like a child.
"To Falena?" Percival asked, sincere sympathy in his voice. "To Rainwall? Or...do you mean, to the time you came from?" His eyes saddened. "I'm sorry."
“To back before everything went all wrong,” Euram answered. He was homesick, still not knowing what had happened to his mother only intensified the feeling, but it was deeper than that. He just wanted to go back to somewhere where he felt he had a place, and knew the rules even if only because his father kept telling him what they were. “That would be best of course,” he began again, “though that’s a hard time to establish as well. Even to when I was brought here, though dad was still mad at me…You see? Yet another answer that I’m certain is so simple but it alludes me.”
"I see." Percival kept his eyes averted, scratching idly at the end of his woolen shirt's sleeve where it poked out from under his bracer. "I don't suppose seeing Falena in the present day would be any help. It would only remind you of what you left." He sighed softly. "Particularly if you had a falling-out with your father and only recently found out that he..." He stopped there, aware that mentioning it would only make Euram's mood worse.
That reminder no longer caused Euram to fall apart as it had been added to the list of other things that did so. “It wasn’t so much a falling out,” Euram explained. “I just…did something that…I ruined everything! Oh he was so furious. Terribly so.” He hand brushed against his cheek at the memory, it had been one of the few times he’d been struck though he knew he’d deserved it and told his father so many times as he had begged for forgiveness. “He was still most put out, but agreed to put it behind.”
"Ruined everything?" Aside from "a civil war," Percival didn't really know what the Barows siblings or the royal family of Falena had been caught up in. History books in Zexen barely even mentioned the country far south as existing. Part of him wanted to know the story, but he wasn't sure it was polite to ask.
Euram was getting caught up in the conversation, this was even better than writing out the thoughts, though they still weren’t at a point of making sense. “Oh yes, completely,” he laughed lightly again as thoughts on how he should view things became more confused. “How extraordinarily fitting..ha… to ruin something so completely twice around the same act years apart. Of course, father considered the first a victory…”
Percival stared across the elevator at Euram, still boggled, but realizing this was the most ungarded the young noble had been since they first crossed paths. "Is that so?" he said to keep him talking. "I admit, I know very little about...your situation, in Falena..."
“Ah yes well, it was…” Euram looked back at Percival at his question and suddenly seemed to come back to the situation and who he was talking with. “Nothing, Absolutely nothing.” He finished quickly, eyes wide at the idea that he might have just told the knight something like that. He waved his arms to emphasize how nothing it truly was. “So, do you suppose anyone has taken notice to our plight as of yet?” he said quickly and obviously trying to change the subject.
Percival huffed an impatient sigh. Oh well. "I don't know," he shrugged, "I haven't heard any noises from above us. Fancy giving another shout to see if you can get anyone's attention?"
“It didn’t work the last time,” Euram replied staring up at the top of the elevator. Naturally his smooth transition had protected him from having to go into any further detail. “There has to be some other course of action that may actually succeed!”
"You're welcome to think of one," the knight offered. "I don't know what else can be done, unless there's some kind of hatch in the ceiling. Of course," he noted, "with my armor on I'd be too thick and heavy to climb up through it."
Euram looked up at the ceiling trying to find some kind of hatch, there didn’t appear to be on to his untrained eye, and he was distracted by the new real reason they were stuck. “Of course!” he exclaimed as it came to him. “You’re armor is much too heavy, obviously the elevator doesn’t have the strength to continue it’s upward ascent! We must find some way to remove it and remove it’s weight.”
"What?" Percival straightened up from the wall and blinked at him. "You must be joking! I can take my armor off, certainly, but it's still stuck in the same elevator with the two of us." His brow twitched at the mere thought of dumping his armor. "And anyway, I've been in here with five other people before and it's never had this kind of problem."
“Well it is clearly different this time,” Euram said stubbornly not liking that how his opinion was dismissed. He thought it made perfect sense. “If you won’t take my perfectly reasonable suggestion then you find a different way out!”
Percival decided to call his bluff. Without further word, he simply started taking off his armor, undoing the buckles under his left arm and piece by piece stacking the plates with his gauntlets on the floor next to him. At last, down to his plain (albeit sweaty) trousers and shirt, he set his hands on his hips in daring. "Well? Now what, oh wise one?"
Euram pursed his lips together willfully in an attempt to keep a tirade at being made fun of in check. “Well, get rid of them!” he said as if it obvious. “Find or create some hole in the floor and dispose of them into the outlet and we will obviously finish the ride!”
"With what?" Percival yelped, throwing up his hands. "I have no tools to break through this solid wood. And you know, any hole large enough to fit my chestplate will fit you as well. Would you like to accidentally fall through the floor instead?"
“Then figure something out!” Euram yelled back. “You are more familiar with this castle. Do something to fix it!”
It didn't take more than one step for Percival to move within range, and he was slapping Euram across the face. Just once, and with just enough force to snap him out of his hysterics. "Get a hold of yourself!" he demanded sternly. "You're panicking again!"
Euram was had not been panicking, but he was now. Percival might not have thought it was hard but it was enough to get Euram backed into the corner with his arms over his head to block anything else.
Percival clapped his hand over his own face now. "I give up," he groaned. "Dear Goddess, just take me away. I don't care where, I don't care how...just get me out here..."
What: With all of the misunderstandings and arguments these two became the perfect candidates for the 'trapped in an elevator' scenario to fix it...right...fix it.
Warnings: Mood swings and awkward silences.
Euram pushed the button for the elevator waiting impatiently for it to take him to his destination. He had been trying to not be so reclusive by making it a point to go out at least once a day but it was still not that easy which was why he was on his way back to his room. The elevator must have been acting up, he had been sure he told it to go up but it seemed to want to go down; wonderful.
Percival had taken to using the dungeons to get to and from the stables instead of walking right out the front door of the manor, because it was less likely he'd run into Zexen councilors that way. He stood tapping a metal-clad toe, waiting for it to make its way down to the second dungeon to pick him up so he could get out of armor and try to unwind.
Euram was not thrilled when the elevator doors opened and the person he least wanted to see was standing there. If the elevator had stopped on any other floor than one of the dungeons he would have gotten off instantly, but they were dark and cold and he’d rather spend the minute in the enclosed space with the knight than walk through them. So instead he stood straight and looked at the suddenly fascinating walls.
By Percival's heavy sigh, anyone could guess he didn't want that sort of company either. But he was in a hurry, so he had to suffer it. He clanked in and punched the button for the top floor with a gauntleted knuckle, settling to wait with his face straight ahead at the panel of buttons.
The silence was uncomfortable but bearable as the elevator made its slow ascent. That is until a loud grinding sound was heard from above, the only precursor to the violent lurch as the elevator came to a sudden halt. Euram had looked up wide-eyed and lost his footing as the floor shook but he managed to grasp the wall before completely falling.
Percival threw out his arms to brace himself against the wall, looking wildly around. "What the hell was that?" he exclaimed.
Euram pawed at the walls trying to keep from falling, it shouldn’t have been this difficult, yet it was. He made his way to the buttons and started pressing all of them, movements getting more frantic as nothing happened.
Percival started and leaped toward the slight noble. "What are you doing? Stop that! It's not going to help things, you'll just make it..." The elevator jerked again, as if attempting to move but deciding at the last minute that it just wasn't going to do it. "...worse." The knight sighed again, clapping a hand to his forehead.
Euram tried to bat Percival away as he tried to fix this problem. However, he hadn’t taken into account the knight’s armor and yelped in pain as he hand connected metal. “Ow!” he whined shrinking back and pouting up at him like this was somehow all Percival’s fault.
Percival glowered in annoyance, setting his hands on his hips. "Serves you right," he sniffed before going to the panel, carefully checking solely the buttons that would open or close the lattice doors, and noting that nothing was happening. At all. He peered up at the ceiling. "It appears that we're stuck," he announced. "Between floors."
Euram nursed his injured hand as Percival took stock of the situation. For as calm as Percival was being Euram was the exact opposite. “What?” he exclaimed louder than was comfortable in such a closed in space. “Don’t just stand there! Fix it!”
Bristling, Percival whirled in place and stared Euram down. "Me? I don't know how this thing works, I'm not a mechanic!" Something occurred to him, and his shoulders heaved with a sigh. "And Shizu left to return to her teacher. I don't know if anyone in the castle can fix it..."
Euram didn’t have it in him right now for a stare down. He was already close to hyperventilating because of being trapped and being yelled at one top of that was just too much. He shrank back entirely, huddling in one of the corners.
For once, Percival felt a little bad about raising his voice, seeing the reaction. He clawed a hand through his hair, sweeping back his unruly forelock for just a moment. "Just...let's calm down, for a minute," he said, more for himself than for Euram. "It won't be long before someone notices there's a problem, people use this elevator every day." He paced briefly before going to the lattice-like door again and trying to pry it open. It took all his strength, and even then he only budged it a couple of inches to reveal a solid brick wall before it snapped shut.
Euram didn’t move from his new position, but he did noticeably relax. Even if he didn’t like Percival he’d still take his assurances. Of course he made no move to help with the door, but he did watch over shoulder and sunk with what it revealed. “So we have no recourse but to wait until someone may or may not try to use this infernal contraption?! This is unacceptable! Do something!” he ordered.
It was going to be very hard to take his own advice to stay calm with Euram yelling at him, Percival thought to himself. He only glanced over his shoulder. "What, exactly, do you want me to do?" he asked in a low, seething tone. "Unless you're hiding a Blinking Rune in your pocket, there is nothing we can do, except wait."
“I don’t know!” Euram said arms flailing whacking into the walls before he pulled them in. “Pull a lever! Fix a gear! However these things work!”
Percival held up his hands in a helpless shrug. "Where? There are none, not that I can see! I honestly don't know how this contraption works, there are very few people in the world who do." His gaze darkened briefly. "Panicking isn't going to help, either, so just calm down and breathe normally. Maybe then we can think of something."
Euram turned a stern gaze back to the wall as he tried to ignore Percival again. Something that was quite difficult in such an enclosed area, especially when the other kept speaking to him. “I am not panicking!” he snapped, more to convince himself than anything.
Percival was just fine with being given the cold shoulder, it was easier to handle than flailing and screaming. He paced back and forth across his side of the elevator, rubbing his chin while he looked around and thought. He didn't know if the elevator had any hidden panels to get in or out in an emergency, or just the door, but now would be the time to hunt for one.
Euram held the cold shoulder for as long as he could. However, despite his assertions he was far from calm and Percival’s pacing was not helping to say the least. He cringed more and more as it continued before he turned to snap at the knight. “Stand still!” he ordered, a whine evident in his tone. “There are no words for the terrible clatter I must endure with every step!”
Percival spun toward him again, ready to retort, but he was aware that his armor did make quite a bit of noise when he walked. "Look," he said, fighting to remain patient. "I'm not any happier about being stuck here with you than you are, but we have to face it. We're stuck. We can either tear each other apart, or we can stay calm and try to think of a way to help ourselves." His brow furrowed sternly. "It's your choice."
“I am calm!” Euram said flinging his hands down to emphasize just how calm he was. “Of course thinking of a way out is of the top priority. A process made much easier without that terrible clanking!”
"Would you be happier if I stripped naked in front of you?" Percival snapped - even though he did have trousers and a shirt and jerkin underneath the plate. He couldn't help but say it and sort of wanted to see the reaction.
Euram was not sure how to react to that as he hadn’t expected it in the least. It especially didn’t help that he already thought Percival was licentious at best. He tried to think of a scathing and witty retort but none were forthcoming. “Wh..Why would you even suggest such a thing!” Euram screeched at him. “Y..tc…argh!” If he wasn’t already in the far corner from him he would have moved away further as he sputtered.
Pleased with himself, Percival laughed loudly. "That's what you get for complaining about my armor. Believe me," he added more seriously, "I'm sure before too long I'll be itching to take it off myself, but I don't want to clutter up the floor with bits and pieces of armor. It will make this place even more claustrophobic."
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Euram grumbled at apparently being the butt of a joke. “Low-brow humor….unfit for a knight even one such as you.” The last of the sentence trailed off into silence as he again stared at the wall and not Percival. If he was stuck there he decided he was at least going to be comfortable and sat down claiming one corner and wall as his own.
"Is that the worst you can do?" Percival restrained himself from pacing, instead setting his hands on his hips and looking up. He couldn't tell in the dim lighting whether that was an escape hatch or just a panel on the ceiling. "You really do need to grow a sense of humor, Barows. I was only kidding. I'm not naked under here." He lifted a corner of his skirtlet to reveal his brown riding breeches.
“I have a perfectly good sense of humor when there is something to be whimsical about,” Euram replied as haughtily as he could from his sitting position staring up at the knight. “I find nothing funny about this situation or such a crude attempt at wit.” He wasn’t impressed by the show of the other being clothed, and returned to looking anywhere but at him.
"Oh, this is going to be a long day," Percival sighed openly, turning away. He had no intention of being baited further into an argument, because if there was one thing he was secure about, it was his wit. Instead of engage his fellow prisoner, he lifted his head and chanced a shout. "Hello! Is anyone out there? Can you hear me? Hellooooooooooo!"
Euram would assert that he was not the one baiting, as Percival seemed to enjoy his monopoly on that subject. He was doing his best to ignore him but still looked up hopefully when he yelled. Oh please let someone, anyone save him from this cramped prison.
There was no answer. Percival waited and then called again, only to be met with cold silence from above. He hung his head in defeat and decided to save his voice, turning and leaning against the wall. "It's no use. If no one's passing by the elevator doors..." He shook his head.
Euram audibly sighed and sunk further at the news. Yes he had wanted to regain the social life he once had but doing so by being trapped in a small space with Percival was not how he’d hoped it would happen.
Despite the nature of his company, Percival hated the heavy silence even more. "We can keep trying, on and off," he suggested just to have something to say. "I don't want to make myself hoarse, though. I think we're trapped between the lower level and the main floor, so someone's bound to notice. Viki, maybe."
Euram was not a fan of long silences any more than Percival. If it hadn’t been for their last meeting he would most likely have been chatting excessively; after calming down of course. He was certain this had to be a punishment. “Such a foolish contraption,” he said, mostly to himself. “Terrible, completely unnecessary and only serves to cause more problems then it solves.” Nevermind that before this he had enjoyed the interesting way to move floors.
Percival folded his arms over his chestplate. "I don't know, I've been enjoying the convenience lately," he mused. "It's quite nice to get to the cafe or the stables without running headlong into Zexen councilors."
“Hmm,” Euram agreed non-committal. “These councilors are an interesting lot. It has become rare to find people so easy to converse with in this environment.”
That made Percival raise an eyebrow. "I should have known you'd take a shine to them immediately," he grumbled.
Euram raised his eyebrow right back at that reaction. Naturally the councilors behavior didn’t seem odd to him in the slightest, he was just happy that someone around this castle finally made sense. “I should have guessed you would dislike them,” Euram replied smirking a bit. “Tell me Sir knight, do you have a total aversion to culture or is it something else.”
Percival stared at him for a long moment in utter disbelief. "You think culture has anything to do with it?" he sniffed. "Mister Barows, do you have any inkling of a clue why the majority of the people in this castle are displeased by the presence of Zexens?"
Euram was so proud of himself for getting a jab in that he didn’t want to ruin it by admitting that he had no idea. “Naturally,” he lied immediately, nodding. He stopped and looked harder at him. “Why, do you have more information than might have been given?”
Percival held his temper in check, but he kept his arms folded sternly and closed his eyes. "Unfortunately, they haven't been very forthcoming with either myself or Lord Salome," he admitted. "They don't seem to want us around, which makes me even more suspicious."
Now Euram was curious, and not hiding it well. “Most interesting,” he said leaning in a bit more. “You sound as though you suspect something of a nefarious nature. My my, how curious.”
Percival tilted his head slyly, catching on that Euram didn't know what the hell he was talking about. "If you truly knew anything of the relationship between the Zexen Council and this castle, you would have already suspected that as well," he pointed out.
Euram bristled at that, but managed to keep most of his calm. “Perhaps you will recall that this is not my home country and how truly short a time I have had to become familiar with everything that is so alien from my true home.” His tone was between biting and sullen.
"I suppose that's true," Percival shrugged. "If you want to know, all you have to do is ask, Euram. You happen to be stuck in an elevator with one of the men who knows pretty much everything of political gossip and intrigue in Zexen."
Euram may have wanted to know but he also didn’t want to give Percival a reason to think he was better than him again by knowing more than he did about something. “Hmpf,” he said as though he didn’t care, nose in the air looking around the elevator again.
"Suit yourself," Percival said airily, tilting his head back against the wall. "I just thought it would pass the time nicely."
Another silence fell over the small space as they both were acting too proud to want to deal with the other. Euram passed what felt like an hour tapping his finger on the floor. The truth was it was a minute at most before he turned back and snapped “So what is this precious information that supposedly only you have access to?”
Percival glanced away coyly, idly removing his gauntlets and letting them clatter to the floor. "There was a time when Zexen tried to lay claim to this land," he began, rubbing his tired, sweaty hands. "They came down on Lord Thomas pretty hard. I was here, charged with upholding the law, so I saw it all first-hand. Including the Council's penchant for completely breaking that law, taking bribes from Harmonia, and worse."
“I see, I see,” Euram said as he thought about that information. It didn’t seem unusual, and he was sure if he talked to them they’d have a different take on it. Instinctively his thoughts turned to how he could turn information like this to his own advantage, he was no stranger to workings like this and if he could join them maybe he could improve his new dismal standing. The plan had merit, and that thought actually made him stop short. His thoughts were plainly visible on his face changing from a look of cunning to shrinking and looking away again as he told him self quietly to “stop it.”
Though he might not have known a thing about his companion's past or inner thoughts, Percival could read Euram like a book. Easy read, with an emoting face like that. "Suffice it to say," he said emphatically, "anyone willing to go to those lengths to take over an insignificant castle in the middle of a war with the Grasslands is not to be trusted. Five years isn't long enough for them to change their tactics. And so, people around here worry, and I don't blame them. I see antics like that from the merchants of Zexen far too often to think them very innocent."
Percival might as well have not been there for how much attention Euram was actually paying to him right now. He was almost done with his speech before Euram even realized he was being spoken to and looked back. “Ah yes, innocence, a very rare thing indeed.” There that should make it seem as though he had been paying attention.
Raising an eyebrow, Percival folded his arms over his chest again. "Moreso among the noble class," he sniffed, not sure at all what Euram meant.
As true as that might have been Euram was sick of the knight’s insults. He snapped to face him, slamming his fists down glaring at him. “You’re opinions are not necessary! Just…shut up!”
Percival just arched that eyebrow again. "Touched a nerve, have I?"
Euram glared at him, chest rising and falling rapidly. The stare down didn’t last long before he flung his arms up in a flurry of ruffles and sat with his arms folded over his bent knees facing away childishly.
Percival gazed at him for a few minutes, using the silence to listen for any signs of anyone coming to rescue them. There weren't any, so he spoke up again, his tone quieting. "I don't know why the things I say upset you so easily. I get the feeling I've done more than touch a nerve, sometimes."
Euram scoffed, not moving his gaze. “I find that most hard to believe,” he retorted. “With their frequency your offenses they can only be seen as intentional.” It was a passive-aggressive way to deal with it, but considering their past encounters he wasn’t about to spill his most carefully guarded secrets (though many knew now) after just that.
"Well, maybe I do like needling you now and then," Percival confessed airily, looking at the ceiling, "but it's only because it's so easy to do. Most of the time it isn't intentional, though. You simply have a knack for misinterpreting everything I say, or do, or don't do for that matter."
Euram sank lower onto his arms grumbling to himself at Percival’s response. “So you admit to taking joy from it,” he said, still not looking at him. “A common source of fun for many it seems.”
The fleeting sense of empathy Percival had felt maybe once or twice before flared up again, hearing that. "Are you saying...a lot of people pick on you?" he wondered.
The change in Percival’s thoughts was lost on Euram, who true or not felt most were out to get him. He was more likely to think it was a plot against him than Percival had any sympathy. He didn’t know how it was a plot, but he was sure it was there. This would have been the time to storm off, if he wasn’t trapped in here with him. “I do not see how any of this concerns you,” he said trying to end the conversation. He hated this.
The knight's countenance grew serious. "If I have hurt you, deeper than just bruising your ego, then I'm sorry. Giving an arrogant nobleman his comeuppance is no excuse for being actually mean."
Euram looked over at him not sure if he believed him. Naturally he thought an apology was due to him…mostly. With how confused he’d been about his place he’d been bouncing back and forth between his normal arrogance and feeling he doesn’t deserve anything. The later only happened when he thought about things, which this conversation was making him do. “Comeuppance?” he repeated shrugging slightly. “Yes, this castle does seem most apt at providing just desserts.”
Completely perplexed, Percival frowned. "I'm not entirely sure I follow you," he said warily. "One minute you're ranting at me, the next, agreeing with me. Is everything all right, Sir Barows?"
The bluntness of that snapped him out of his thoughts. It was a fair question as everything he said or did followed his moods, which could change at the slightest provocation. “I don’t know,” he answered shoulders shaking slightly. The noises were hard to make out at first but as they grew louder it sounded like laughing. Euram dropped his head on his arms stuck between laughing and crying, “I have no idea. None at all.”
Percival's brow knit even more. "You're not...er, it isn't claustrophobia or anything, is it?" he asked in concern, hoping that the younger man was not about to have a first-class hysterical fit from being trapped in the small elevator space.
The shoulder shaking and laughter didn’t stop, in fact they both amplified. “Oh..ha ha..If ..hee…if only things were that easy.” A shuddered breath that wracked through most of his body stopped the laughter briefly. He raised his head and whipped at his eyes, before laughing softly again. “Yes, a simple easy problem with the same as a solution. How nice that would be,” he said, more to himself though he glanced at Percival. “Of course, perhaps both are simple I just can’t see it. That would be most probable…don’t you think?”
Percival froze in place, his hands braced against the wall behind him. He didn't know what in the world was going on, and here they were - trapped. "I, er...I don't know," he replied, cocking his head. "Something is obviously the matter, but..."
This wasn’t the first time these thoughts had gone through Euram’s mind, but it was the first time someone else was in the room with him when they had. He’d been trying to avoid that to maintain at least some of his dignity, but it was a little late for that now. “Obviously…yes…there is something the matter. If only I knew what.”
Percival relaxed a little, and slid into the corner so he could rest his shoulder against the wall. He was getting tired of standing in place in his armor. "You're upset about something. If it's me, I would try to make up for it. If it's something else...well...then I don't know. I don't think I'd be much help."
Euram wasn’t comfortable with sitting as he was with the other towering over him anymore. He stood and leaned against one of the walls. He stared at the opposite wall but felt more at ease with their heights more equal. The movement had the added effect of taking time for him to halt his thoughts and bring his rambling to an end. “I want to go home,” he said simply, sounding again like a child.
"To Falena?" Percival asked, sincere sympathy in his voice. "To Rainwall? Or...do you mean, to the time you came from?" His eyes saddened. "I'm sorry."
“To back before everything went all wrong,” Euram answered. He was homesick, still not knowing what had happened to his mother only intensified the feeling, but it was deeper than that. He just wanted to go back to somewhere where he felt he had a place, and knew the rules even if only because his father kept telling him what they were. “That would be best of course,” he began again, “though that’s a hard time to establish as well. Even to when I was brought here, though dad was still mad at me…You see? Yet another answer that I’m certain is so simple but it alludes me.”
"I see." Percival kept his eyes averted, scratching idly at the end of his woolen shirt's sleeve where it poked out from under his bracer. "I don't suppose seeing Falena in the present day would be any help. It would only remind you of what you left." He sighed softly. "Particularly if you had a falling-out with your father and only recently found out that he..." He stopped there, aware that mentioning it would only make Euram's mood worse.
That reminder no longer caused Euram to fall apart as it had been added to the list of other things that did so. “It wasn’t so much a falling out,” Euram explained. “I just…did something that…I ruined everything! Oh he was so furious. Terribly so.” He hand brushed against his cheek at the memory, it had been one of the few times he’d been struck though he knew he’d deserved it and told his father so many times as he had begged for forgiveness. “He was still most put out, but agreed to put it behind.”
"Ruined everything?" Aside from "a civil war," Percival didn't really know what the Barows siblings or the royal family of Falena had been caught up in. History books in Zexen barely even mentioned the country far south as existing. Part of him wanted to know the story, but he wasn't sure it was polite to ask.
Euram was getting caught up in the conversation, this was even better than writing out the thoughts, though they still weren’t at a point of making sense. “Oh yes, completely,” he laughed lightly again as thoughts on how he should view things became more confused. “How extraordinarily fitting..ha… to ruin something so completely twice around the same act years apart. Of course, father considered the first a victory…”
Percival stared across the elevator at Euram, still boggled, but realizing this was the most ungarded the young noble had been since they first crossed paths. "Is that so?" he said to keep him talking. "I admit, I know very little about...your situation, in Falena..."
“Ah yes well, it was…” Euram looked back at Percival at his question and suddenly seemed to come back to the situation and who he was talking with. “Nothing, Absolutely nothing.” He finished quickly, eyes wide at the idea that he might have just told the knight something like that. He waved his arms to emphasize how nothing it truly was. “So, do you suppose anyone has taken notice to our plight as of yet?” he said quickly and obviously trying to change the subject.
Percival huffed an impatient sigh. Oh well. "I don't know," he shrugged, "I haven't heard any noises from above us. Fancy giving another shout to see if you can get anyone's attention?"
“It didn’t work the last time,” Euram replied staring up at the top of the elevator. Naturally his smooth transition had protected him from having to go into any further detail. “There has to be some other course of action that may actually succeed!”
"You're welcome to think of one," the knight offered. "I don't know what else can be done, unless there's some kind of hatch in the ceiling. Of course," he noted, "with my armor on I'd be too thick and heavy to climb up through it."
Euram looked up at the ceiling trying to find some kind of hatch, there didn’t appear to be on to his untrained eye, and he was distracted by the new real reason they were stuck. “Of course!” he exclaimed as it came to him. “You’re armor is much too heavy, obviously the elevator doesn’t have the strength to continue it’s upward ascent! We must find some way to remove it and remove it’s weight.”
"What?" Percival straightened up from the wall and blinked at him. "You must be joking! I can take my armor off, certainly, but it's still stuck in the same elevator with the two of us." His brow twitched at the mere thought of dumping his armor. "And anyway, I've been in here with five other people before and it's never had this kind of problem."
“Well it is clearly different this time,” Euram said stubbornly not liking that how his opinion was dismissed. He thought it made perfect sense. “If you won’t take my perfectly reasonable suggestion then you find a different way out!”
Percival decided to call his bluff. Without further word, he simply started taking off his armor, undoing the buckles under his left arm and piece by piece stacking the plates with his gauntlets on the floor next to him. At last, down to his plain (albeit sweaty) trousers and shirt, he set his hands on his hips in daring. "Well? Now what, oh wise one?"
Euram pursed his lips together willfully in an attempt to keep a tirade at being made fun of in check. “Well, get rid of them!” he said as if it obvious. “Find or create some hole in the floor and dispose of them into the outlet and we will obviously finish the ride!”
"With what?" Percival yelped, throwing up his hands. "I have no tools to break through this solid wood. And you know, any hole large enough to fit my chestplate will fit you as well. Would you like to accidentally fall through the floor instead?"
“Then figure something out!” Euram yelled back. “You are more familiar with this castle. Do something to fix it!”
It didn't take more than one step for Percival to move within range, and he was slapping Euram across the face. Just once, and with just enough force to snap him out of his hysterics. "Get a hold of yourself!" he demanded sternly. "You're panicking again!"
Euram was had not been panicking, but he was now. Percival might not have thought it was hard but it was enough to get Euram backed into the corner with his arms over his head to block anything else.
Percival clapped his hand over his own face now. "I give up," he groaned. "Dear Goddess, just take me away. I don't care where, I don't care how...just get me out here..."