[Re-Intro] A bit high up there, for a kitchen rat....

[not_snake_bite]

He was just trying to find some air - the kitchens were too hot, Swelter was even more disgusting than usual, and he felt like... he was so very above them all.

The rooftops were his playground - his space of liberty - he skipped from one to the other, until he found himself as high as he could be, atop Gormenghast. Watching over the earldom was

Comments

[iwalkindreams]

This is possibly the weirdest and not in the least less awesome coincidence of the month! You know, before I left, while crossing the street to take the tram, on the faithful day of 24th March, I though, 'I wonder if Wil would ever bring Steerpike back. He was such an intriguing character.' -- typist has seen the series, but hasn't read the books. And what happens now??? Lo and behold, STEERPIKE IS BACK, and typist is very much stunned ♥♥♥.

If Steerpike makes it to one of the porches, at whatever time his typist finds convenient, he'll probably bump into a young man sporting sunglasses and being careful to hold himself in the shadow. He'd be leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette and looking wistful.

[not_snake_bite]

I never planned to drop Steerpike - but sometimes I like to put a puppet on hiatus, particularly those like Steerpike who are, well, problematic. But it was in fact something that I had in mind when I killed him off here, two months ago. ^^ But I'm glad you're happy? XD

Steerpike isn't going to address him right away - he'll observe for a while, curiously. The smoking is strange, so are the sunglasses - but then again, he's not from a place where anything is ordinary either. For all he knows, this guy could be another Groan he hasn't met or heard of yet... or a courtier.

But he's probably easy to spot for Adrian, even if Steerpike is spying on him from around the corner of the porch.

[iwalkindreams]

It takes Adrian a few minutes too notice the slight figure, and its silent, hidden ways make him wonder. He's not scared, but curious, so he decides to call out.

"Hey! You over there! Come closer, I don't bite!"

[not_snake_bite]

Steerpike pauses, examines the man calling - not much older, and odd. A poet, maybe. Ah! That, he can handle - he thinks.

"Oh, hello," he says, coming closer - and puffing his chest just a little. "I'm sorry - I didn't want to interrupt your musings."

[ohmaiden]

yayyyyyyyyy! :D this ought to be good XD

If Steerpike somehow makes it into the kitchen, he'll find a sad-looking (she's always sad-looking, nowadays) young woman sitting at the table, drinking tea--a habit she's picked up from the elves. Iphigenia is still very much in mourning.

[not_snake_bite]

The youth will -- not be tempted to go to the kitchens - they're not good memories. This kitchen, though, is quite small by comparison to the one he's used to, and he'll poke his head in... timidly, almost.

I'm glad you're excited. ^^

[ohmaiden]

She sees him, out of the corner of her eye, and turns to look at the stranger. He reminds her of...well. He reminds her of George, really, but younger--like a son, perhaps. It's very strange, and unnerving for her. She almost wants to look away, but feels that would be impolite, so she waves a little at him, equally as timid as he is.

"...Hello?" she says carefully..

[not_snake_bite]

He looks at her - then at the kitchen - and assumes she's a scullery girl. "-- the Chef's not in?"

Because no authority figure, to him = good things.

[silvereyedphage]

Somewhere along the corridor, Steerpike might hear the rustle of a heavy silk garment and spy a tall man in white, approaching from around a corner in the corridor. The newcomer comes close to quite literally running into him, but catches himself, stopping in mid-stride like a cat pausing with one paw in the air while stalking a mouse. In that instant, he turns his piercing gaze on Steerpike, eying the younger man quizzically, even with a hint of suspicious curiosity which he quickly veils behind a note of embarrassment.

"How embarrassing, I didn't see you there," he says, glancing away and adjusting his eyeglasses.

Someone suggested having Steerpike cross paths with this guy, and I couldn't resist letting them "be creepy together". Query: was "the bricks" deliberate or a Freudian slip? If it was deliberate, I have to agree: I had the omnibus paperback edition from the library and nearly dislocated the phalanges in the back of my hand trying to hold onto it while reading it. o.o

[not_snake_bite]

-- "Oh, I'm sorry, sir," the youth replies, and he does look terrified a moment before he realizes this is not -- well, not someone he knows. "I wasn't looking."

Brick indeed - it was 100% deliberate. I'm currently drowning in academia - so obviously I wouldn't have time to go back to ye books. (Also, OUCH. I hope you're fine. And omg all the fandoms we have in common, I am reeling more!) But yay for miniseries? ^^

[silvereyedphage]

"Nor was I," he replies. Not just a polite lie, as he'd been glancing back over his shoulder, distracted by something and had turned his blind side to the youth. He steps aside politely. "Were you headed somewhere?" Part of his mind is trying to place the youngster as some caretaker or other, but he knows that isn't likely, given the nature of the Mansion.

Yep, the hand is fine, though it sometimes tends to remind me somewhat pointedly about That Book if I try picking up a doorstop fantasy novel that's about the same dimensions, as if to say, "Hey, careful about them doorstops..."

[not_snake_bite]

He tries to be as assured as he can - but it's not particularly effective, because of the questioning.

"I was going to my rooms," he lies, he doesn't have any rooms. "I seem to have lost my way, however."