(Untitled)

[merlinianblood]

The relatively scrawny young man who shuffles into the bar looks very much like he's just rolled out of bed. His hair is tousled, his Pac-Man tee is rumpled, his boxers are... well, boxers, and he's only wearing one sock.

He looks around, blinks, and decides that this is somehow Bennet's fault.

"Dude," he sighs, turning to face the door through which

Comments

[777thdegree]

Glucose imbalance. That's right, Dave.

That's why your hallucinations have re-occcuring themes.

Like a lanky-haired sorcerer with an odd taste in clothing.

Like that one at the bar with a cinnamon roll half the size of his head (only half, because he's already made his way through the other half).

[merlinianblood]

Dave considers this for a long, long moment, gaze sliding back to the ring.

At some point, he is going to find himself back in his apartment, with the ring-his ring. What then? He's not ready to go looking for magic training and be important. He's David Stutler. He's a physics nerd. The things he's good at include math and the sciences and building things that could kill people.

"Important... in what way?"

[777thdegree]

"Well... not for your fashion sense." He finds himself hesitant to explain the extent of it - the boy has taken no oaths, has been bound to no masters... he could just disappear, and it seems there is precious little he can do about it on that side of the door.

That could mean the end of the world.

No, he has to be careful, very very careful.

[merlinianblood]

"What about you?"

This is more of an accidental, blurted-out question than a carefully thought-out one.

"I mean, you're the one who gave me the ring in the first place. You're the one who dragged me into all this and made everyone-including me-think I was nuts!"

Except he also knows that Balthazar disappeared after that little incident.

To where, he's not exactly sure.

"Isn't this kind of your responsibility?"

[777thdegree]

"It would not be my choice, to not be there to train you." He promises, solemnly. He never thought he wouldn't be there. Off the top of his head, he cannot think of any Morganians currently free that can possibly put him down... but there must be someone.

He'll have to look into that.

[merlinianblood]

Thinking.

Thinking, thinking.

Remembering.

"There was a guy," Dave says suddenly, dropping his hands to his sides. "Made of, uh. Cockroaches. He came out of this... little Russian doll thing. The kind where you put one inside of another inside of another?"

[777thdegree]

Little Russian doll thing.

The Grimhold.

Someone got out of the Grimhold.

Horvath. Horvath was the last Morganian he trapped there, and before that, Sun Lok. The Chinese sorcerer he's fairly sure he could beat again (that man's control of fireworks made for an exceeding difficult capture), but Horvath...

So of all of them, only Veronica will survive. There's an irony to this, somewhere.

"Do you still have it? The Russian doll?"

[merlinianblood]

"No," Dave answers, after some hesitation. "I panicked after everything went down, and I just kind of... thew it."

He bites his lower lip.

"That's bad, isn't it?"

[777thdegree]

It really is a testament to Balthazar's self control that he doesn't do more than wince. Really. He's been guarding the Grimhold for as long (if not longer, if only by a few minutes) than he's been searching for Dave.

"That doll contains the most evil sorcerer the world has ever known."

Yes Dave. It is very bad.

[merlinianblood]

Dave flinches at Balthazar's reply.

Oops.

Big, big oops.

He really has no idea what to say. Should he apologize? Should he try to be reassuring?

"...good thing we haven't met yet, huh?"