Time stopped as the name registered in Zalbag's mind, and all the pieces to the puzzle finally slipped into place. Civilizations rose and fell during the uncomfortable silence as realization dawned on Zalbag.
"Oh. Hrm..." Zalbag grumbled, folding his arms and slumping visibly. Dycedarg is going to burn alive for this. Oh, the horrors he is going to bestow upon him and that Goddamn goat of his when he finds them again for forcing him to go through this.
Then again, he did the same to Gustav, didn't he? Zalbag mulled this thought over... perhaps Gustav, having been here longer, would know something about the location of his "dear" brother, whom might also be here as well. He might possibly even help Zalbag exact his terrible revenge, as he, too, was screwed over the silk-tongued bastard. Problem is, this is Gustav he was talking about. Not exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch,
So, he had a bit of a dilemma: use Gustav to track down and systematically butcher his traitorous brother, or just put it all behind him?
After much deliberation, Zalbag opted for the former; "Dear brother" was going down. He forced a smile. "Ah, it's good to, ah, see you again, Gustav," he said, holding out his hand. "I take it Dycedarg had a hand in sending you here?"
((Now all we need is a Dycedarg application...*waves to other muns*))
"Er, no." Though somewhat mystified by the range of emotions Zalbag had just expressed (especially as it ended in that smile), Gustav extended one of his own hands and shook, using his free one to sheepishly rub at the back of his head. "Actually, it was Wiegraf. Caught up with me at Sand Rats, see."
"Right, right. My apologies, it's been so long since the Death Corps. that my memory's gotten a bit addled as of light," Zalbag replied, forcing his smile a bit more. Better turn up the charisma so Gustav doesn't catch on. How did Dycedarg manage to do this everyday?
"Though I wouldn't be surprised if Wiegraf heard about the kidnapping because of Dycedarg. You know how my brother is when it comes to things like that," Zalbag forced a chuckle here, sounding a bit hollow. "Speaking of which, you haven't, by any chance, seen him around, have you? Perhaps with some large, mutated goat?"
"Sure I know how he... wait, what?" Realization began to hit. Damn damn damn. He'd never thought well of Dycedarg to begin with (or at least hadn't for an exceedingly long time) and in retrospect it really figured that when Gustav tried to jump off of Wiegraf's wreck he would've been done over again, ended up flattened between both of his erstwhile commanders.
"... haven't seen them about here." He had that much to be thankful for. "No goats either."
Something else Zalbag had said caught his attention, and he latched onto it. "So long? How long?"
"About, oh..." Zalbag paused, humming in thought. "Hmm... about 5 years or so. Why do you ask?" Zalbag asked, tilting his head confusedly. Now that he thought about it, Gustav hardly looked a day older than 35.
Then again, Zalbag added mentally, he's also supposed to be dead, so it was a miracle he still looked human. Most dead people don't look that well, what with the rotting flesh and all. That was something Zalbag knew firsthand.
"I didn't think it's been five years!" Gustav blurted. He hadn't even gotten around to going to a class yet. True, there didn't seem to be many, and he'd never been particularly keen on it, but managing to go five years in a school without one class, even one spent staring out a window or passing notes or sleeping with his eyes open, seemed to be pushing it.
But then there were some of the old stories, weren't there? Some of the not-churchy ones they had in the villages, about people going into the woods or into a hole in a hill and wandering out around the time all their loved ones were dead of old age. Off the top of his head he couldn't think of any loved ones to be dead of old age, but... "Five years."
There was a long, awkward silence between the two of them. Zalbag, not having dealt with someone five years out of the loop, wasn't sure how to console Gustav. Should he pat him on the shoulder? Console him?
He settled on changing the subject. "So..." he began, scratching his arm nervously, "have you met any nice women lately?"
Zalbag slapped his hands on his mouth as soon as the words left his mouth. Oh shit.
All right, so the sexual harassment question hadn't been some sick joke of Dycedarg's after all, but this... literally right from the Beoulve's mouth, and Gustav didn't think this one was particularly funny, either.
((Unlike the mun. AHAHAHA))
"Why, yes, as a matter of fact!" he shot back, in a tone that tried to be arch sarcasm and mock good cheer, and came off with more than a touch of hysteria. "I've met some very nice ones! Don't s'pose you'd like to be introduced?"
Not that Gustav wanted to introduce them, especially now he was somewhere he could, well, if not exactly start fresh at least drift amiably along.
((Heh, Gustav is a little sensitive about his past, isn't he :P?))
Zalbag quickly started to backpedal in the hopes of salvaging the situation. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that!" he apologized swiftly, waving his arms frantically, though it seemed to be failing in it's job of subduing the angry death knight. "Really, I didn't mean to imply you still, y'know...."
((Oh yes, at least my take on him... Let's say this is backdated to pre-Sorting, and PM me if you want to RP this some more?))
"Still what?" Gustav demanded, though of course he knew the answer to that, and he didn't wait for it from Zalbag. Instead he stormed off to Gryffindor without voting.
When, some time later, he discovered the results of the Sorting, he wasn't particularly surprised. It was just his lousy luck.
((Let's finish this one off for now and come back to it in another thread. I'm not sure how Gustav would react if Zalbag started chasing after him :P.)) Zalbag facepalmed with a sigh. Well, that went well, he brooded. He might as well have just out-and-out called Gustav a bloody rapist, and it would still have gone over better.
He kicked himself and started to look for the dormatories. He could deal with Gustav later. First, he was going to catch some shut-eye....
"Oh. Hrm..." Zalbag grumbled, folding his arms and slumping visibly. Dycedarg is going to burn alive for this. Oh, the horrors he is going to bestow upon him and that Goddamn goat of his when he finds them again for forcing him to go through this.
Then again, he did the same to Gustav, didn't he? Zalbag mulled this thought over... perhaps Gustav, having been here longer, would know something about the location of his "dear" brother, whom might also be here as well. He might possibly even help Zalbag exact his terrible revenge, as he, too, was screwed over the silk-tongued bastard. Problem is, this is Gustav he was talking about. Not exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch,
So, he had a bit of a dilemma: use Gustav to track down and systematically butcher his traitorous brother, or just put it all behind him?
After much deliberation, Zalbag opted for the former; "Dear brother" was going down. He forced a smile. "Ah, it's good to, ah, see you again, Gustav," he said, holding out his hand. "I take it Dycedarg had a hand in sending you here?"
Reply
"Er, no." Though somewhat mystified by the range of emotions Zalbag had just expressed (especially as it ended in that smile), Gustav extended one of his own hands and shook, using his free one to sheepishly rub at the back of his head. "Actually, it was Wiegraf. Caught up with me at Sand Rats, see."
Reply
"Though I wouldn't be surprised if Wiegraf heard about the kidnapping because of Dycedarg. You know how my brother is when it comes to things like that," Zalbag forced a chuckle here, sounding a bit hollow. "Speaking of which, you haven't, by any chance, seen him around, have you? Perhaps with some large, mutated goat?"
Reply
"... haven't seen them about here." He had that much to be thankful for. "No goats either."
Something else Zalbag had said caught his attention, and he latched onto it. "So long? How long?"
Reply
Then again, Zalbag added mentally, he's also supposed to be dead, so it was a miracle he still looked human. Most dead people don't look that well, what with the rotting flesh and all. That was something Zalbag knew firsthand.
Reply
But then there were some of the old stories, weren't there? Some of the not-churchy ones they had in the villages, about people going into the woods or into a hole in a hill and wandering out around the time all their loved ones were dead of old age. Off the top of his head he couldn't think of any loved ones to be dead of old age, but... "Five years."
Reply
He settled on changing the subject. "So..." he began, scratching his arm nervously, "have you met any nice women lately?"
Zalbag slapped his hands on his mouth as soon as the words left his mouth. Oh shit.
Reply
((Unlike the mun. AHAHAHA))
"Why, yes, as a matter of fact!" he shot back, in a tone that tried to be arch sarcasm and mock good cheer, and came off with more than a touch of hysteria. "I've met some very nice ones! Don't s'pose you'd like to be introduced?"
Not that Gustav wanted to introduce them, especially now he was somewhere he could, well, if not exactly start fresh at least drift amiably along.
Reply
Zalbag quickly started to backpedal in the hopes of salvaging the situation. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that!" he apologized swiftly, waving his arms frantically, though it seemed to be failing in it's job of subduing the angry death knight. "Really, I didn't mean to imply you still, y'know...."
Reply
"Still what?" Gustav demanded, though of course he knew the answer to that, and he didn't wait for it from Zalbag. Instead he stormed off to Gryffindor without voting.
When, some time later, he discovered the results of the Sorting, he wasn't particularly surprised. It was just his lousy luck.
Reply
Zalbag facepalmed with a sigh. Well, that went well, he brooded. He might as well have just out-and-out called Gustav a bloody rapist, and it would still have gone over better.
He kicked himself and started to look for the dormatories. He could deal with Gustav later. First, he was going to catch some shut-eye....
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment