milliways_bar: Rocks fall, everyone dies
Liir hasn't ever really run much. There's never been anything he's had to flee at such a speed, at least not when there wasn't a horse to go faster or a lengthy journey to consider. There'd been a few scattered bits of jogging away from things and even the occasional sprint and of course, plenty of hopping about during sport
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"What's happened? Who's after you?"
He keeps Liir behind him but close and watches the door.
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"No one's after me. Put the sword away!"
He shakes his head and falls, as much as he can into Trism.
"By the Nameless fucking Name..."
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"What's happened, Liir? Where's the baby?"
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And that's a very confusing statement (or pair of them) when you weren't downstairs a minute ago.
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"Candle? Candle's here? Why on earth didn't you bring her up with you?"
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"Because I didn't know what the fuck to do! Because I wanted to warn you! Because I didn't know how things were going to go! She doesn't even know you're here yet!"
He shakes his head, shakes everything. Everything's shaking, within and without.
"I don't know. I told her the truth. She seemed like she wanted to run away from me and never come back."
A breath.
"She promised she wouldn't take Trindle. I'd turn Unionist just to pray she's Bound."
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He draws his lover close again.
"I'm not offended or worried by Candle's presence, and I don't think she'd run with the baby. Oz is just as dangerous for her as it is for us, and Fiyero's with them."
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"You think she won't want me with you? With Trindle?"
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He stops.
"I don't know what to think."
He shakes his head.
"Sometimes, I don't think I know how to think."
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"They're with Fiyero!" he barks. Barks! "I'll just be here."
Was that it? Was that it? Had that been it all along, lost little loopy Liir dooped the whole time again. Wouldn't be the first time he'd had someone disappoint him like that. It wasn't as if Cherrystone'd done any fathering that didn't serve his purposes.
Did Trism want Candle? She was certainly more desirable. She was good around the farm, she could play beautiful music. She was beautiful, that dusky rose skin and those magnificent cheekbones. She could make more babies, start a family with him. Shell would leave them alone, to be sure, since he'd only been a hostage, right? Right?
Whisps of smoke. Barely that. But he couldn't smell anything but that.
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"I don't want to go without you. We'll have to talk this all out together. I understand that you want to be with Candle now, she's the mother of your child and all, but I want to be a part of that too. She's my daughter now as well, and I've a fondness for Candle."
He tips Liir's face up.
"And I can't be without you. I just can't. Even if you never let me sleep with you again I just can't walk away."
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He looks back, looks up, eyes as hard as chips of jade and looking to draw blood.
"Well, she's here now. You two can go on back to Oz, start a family, do as you like, of course. You've got your little daughter, see that she eats her greens, ha! and no one will bother the poor kidnapped menacier, no, ho, no, of course not. She'd told me you asked her to run away with you, to leave the farm with her. I didn't know what to think then, but I suppose it's clear enough now!"
He's breathing hard, harder than when he'd run up, and his vision is hazy, unclear. Off. He's not sure of half of what he's saying, no, more than that. Three quarters, perhaps even 90%. He can't tell, though. He can't tell anything but the stinging at the back of his throat and the ache and the string of curses running at the back of his mind.
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"What the hell are you on about, man? Of course I asked her to run with me. It was for her safety! And we wanted to look for you. She decided that she should stay and I should look. And, I don't want to go back to Oz for any reason, and especially not to start a family with another. I want you, Liir Thropp. I always have. I thought you knew that."
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A family.
"I--" he starts. False start. "I don't... I don't know. I don't--"
He tears himself away from Trism and makes it to the bathroom before he loses the contents of his stomach.
I'm going to end up like her. I'm going to end up alone and without her and without him and Trindle will grow up and hate me as much as I wish I hated her because of course she'll succeed where I failed. It's easy enough. I'm going to be alone and insane and so horrible no one will even want to look in on me when I die...
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