Who: Luserina Barows (
miss_luserina) and Luc (
wind_incarnate)
Where: infirmary
When: daytime
What: someone notices some thing's missing
Warnings: noooooooooone
The infirmary was empty at the moment, which was a good thing, considering Luserina wasn't being very quiet, what with turning over every pillow, emptying out the cupboards (though of course, she put everything back), and generally, turning the place upside-down in search of a very important, very missing item. Engrossed as she was in her search, she probably wouldn't have noticed if Queen Arshtat herself had shown up. No, no, she was far too busy and far too frantic to worry about anything other than her missing diary.
"Oooh...Where could it be?!" She muttered, frustrated--wait, was that--no. No, that was just one of Mathiu's many medical notebooks. Drat!
Luc, left with nothing much to do even with Mathiu’s return, was on his way back to that very same infirmary with a book in hand. Unfortunately for Luserina, it was not the book she was searching for… and he was probably the last person she should meet with the circumstances.
While the prank of setting the local wild life loose in the young lady’s room satisfied his temper, some of that grudge still lingered somewhere behind that stoic expression. Honestly… what kind of girl would even develop such a thing as a hobby?
Arriving at the doorway of the infirmary, he heard some of the noise emitting from within. Some shuffling and muttering of a familiar voice. Oh joy… Knowing fully who this individual was, Luc placed a hand on the door knob and turned before pulling the door open. Inside was Luserina as expected, turning items on the shelves and peeking into drawers as if she was searching for something.
Ah… did she finally notice?
“…. What are you doing?” he finally called out to her.
Luserina yelped in surprise when she heard Luc's voice, and stood a little too quickly, banging her head on the cabinet she was investigating. ...Ouch.
"Oh! Um." She made a vain attempt at smoothing down her hair and skirts, but no amount of dusting off was going to make her look any less frazzled or disheveled. Not that she thought Luc cared, but that didn't matter. What mattered was finding her diary (how else could she finish the novel, for one thing?) before someone else picked it up--how could she have been so careless as to lose it in the first place?
"I was just...looking for something. I've misplaced a...a book."
… Okay. He didn’t expect that sort of reaction and almost flinched the moment she hit that cabinet.
“A book…?” He repeated calmly. “… What did it look like?”
"Well...well it's...a book. A pink one." She made a vague book shape with her hands. "And there's...well, there's a little lock on the front.... Have you seen it?"
‘I knew it…’ the wind mage thought irritably.
“No.” He lied. “And you are sure you left it here…? Seems rather careless for you to do so considering it is a book with a lock… Who knows what would happen if it was found by unscrupulous individuals.”
"No." She admitted. "I might have left it somewhere else, I suppose, but I can't think where else it might be!" The thought of someone reading the contents didn't immediately bother her, however, since there was certainly no way anyone would be able to puzzle out the identities of the people involved.
"If you would keep an eye out for me, I would appreciate it--but, oh, don't read it--it's a diary, after all."
The warning’s a little late now… considering that diary had been passed around quite a bit before it made its way to him. At least the results of that trash had made Sheena actually keep his distance.
“I will but… what would you do if someone already beat both of us to it, opened it, read it, then passed it around for others to see?”
"I should hope nobody did, considering it had a lock. I would hope nobody had been that rude." Her sharp words merely covered the fact that she hoped that hadn't happened. Whether or not Sheena and Luc's identities could be puzzled out, there was no denying that the writings contained in her diary were a little...risque for a woman of her status. She cast Luc a suspicious look. "Are you very certain you've not seen it?"
“Are you sure it had a lock?” Luc asked in return.
"I'm quite sure it did." At least, she thought it did. Maybe it was the purple diary that had the lock... Oh dear.
“Hmmm…” Luc droned before walking towards one of the shelves containing some of Mathiu’s medical texts. “Then maybe…” he trailed off before placing the book he had borrowed back with the others before taking another out and flipping through the pages.
Luc's response only made Luserina more suspicious--but then, she was usually suspicious of the mage, for reasons she couldn't fully identify. "If you've seen it, you'll tell me, won't you? I had some very important notes in there."
The wind mage closed the book with a loud snap to cover the “tch” that escaped his mouth the moment Luserina mentioned ‘important notes’. Where in all the hells were the importance in writing that kind of bull crap, so twisted that it’s enough to keep Sheena traumatized for a while?
“…Why not ask that one eyed mercenary?” he said to her, ignoring the initial inquiry.
Luserina jumped at the loud noise the book made when Luc shut it. Somehow he seemed...crankier than usual. It was hard to tell.
"You mean Geddoe? I don't see how he could have found it." She sighed in frustration, unable to believe she'd already spent half a day looking for it, and irritated by Luc's tight-lipped answers. "I think I may ask him, after all, but please tell me if you see it, or if you see anyone with it."
Luc wasn’t so sure as to how he got it too, but the source of where the book originated from seemed to have lead the wind mage back to that man. Although the damage still lay on Sierra and Percival. Oooh… that knight, then that stupid old man who seems keen on nagging him about how life should be lived or how one should be honourable.
“…Whatever.” He muttered.
Luserina couldn't take it anymore. "Do you have some issue with me, Luc?" She was tired of being polite to the man and getting nothing but one word responses in return.
“Yes.” Came the blunt reply.
Ugh. "And? I've been nothing but polite to you, everyone has been polite to you, yet you persist in being...being rude."
There. At least she'd called him out on it.
Polite…? Polite…??
'Oh you have got to be kidding me….' He glared at the young woman.
The treatment he got in this place was known as tolerance, not politeness. They were nice with the expectation of becoming amiable. He was anything but amiable. He took no interest in being amiable. Being amiable just meant making things more complicated if he ever had to make the choice that involves stabbing everyone in the back.
Aside that… there was nothing polite about dictating to him how he should be or how he should act and live. And there was absolutely nothing polite to make a hobby of noting things about his actions into a little book, then twisting into a weird love story for old desperate and retired unmarried women. Which then brings up the next question he’s been meaning to ask for a while now…
“Since when did you make a hobby of writing delusional stories with your note taking?”
She turned on Luc, face pink. "You did find it!"
...Oops. Admitting it hadn't been her goal, but all the same, he'd hidden the truth from her, and how dare he!
"What were you doing reading it anyway? What I write has nothing to do with you!" Mostly.
“Sierra, with Percival in tow, thought it was something I had to read for myself.” Luc explained in a haughty tone. “And after asking around, the book apparently originated from that mercenary. So why don’t you tell me how he ended up with your book?”
"I'm sure I don't know!" Luserina countered in a tone equally haughty, her hands on her hips. "It's hardly my fault someone picked it up and opened it!"
“Indeed…” he muttered. “It’s your fault for writing it and dropping it.”
"You shouldn't have stuck your nose in a lady's diary."
“What lady?” he hissed. “I obviously don’t see one.”
Luserina was affronted. How dare Luc say such a thing?
"You wouldn't know a lady if she hit you!" ...Perhaps not the best response.
“………..” Wait… what? “She wouldn’t be one if she would hit anyone.” Luc raised a brow at her. “What is wrong with you?”
Oh, nevermind. "It's an expression, Luc." She sighed. "What did you do with my diary?"
“Sent it for a swim.” He said simply as he picked up another book from the shelf.
"Sent for a--you didn't!" She'd completely forgotten that Luc could-- Wait a minute. "The holly boys in my room--was that your doing?!"
Oh, but he did… Now, as for Luserina’s visitors…
“Was it?” he feigned with a perfected poker-face. “What makes you think that?”
It had to have been Luc. She was sure now it hadn't been Roy, considering Roy couldn't teleport things as far as she knew. "I can't think of anyone else who might have done it. Honestly, what do you have against me?"
“Probably the fact that you can sleep peacefully at night knowing what you have done and somehow have the nerve to ask me such a question.” Luc said to her simply in a calm voice. “And you have no proof that I was involved in… what was it again? Holly boys in your room?”
"What I have done? Oh yes, how dare I amuse myself privately. You might have at least returned my book." She was, of course, embarrassed that anyone, Luc especially, had seen the contents, but she was equally irritated by his attitude. "Fine, if it wasn't you, it wasn't you." Not that she was convinced.
Luc slammed the book onto the nearby table and glared at her.
“Well, how dare you amuse yourself privately while involving me into it…!” he snapped at her harshly.
Especially when her amusement meant feeding off one of his fears about this place. First Shoon starts ranting about nonsense, then Sheena gets all touchy, then McDohl starts acting weird… A book of delusions was the last thing he needed in that list. Worst of all, it involved Sheena…! SHEENA.
“I have news for you, young lady. Due to your carelessness, your private amusement just went public. I’m disgusted and you have Sheena running around in desperation so he can save his sanity from your inconsiderate actions.” He continued in an angry tone. “Next time you want to be amused, then don’t involve me in any way or form because holly boys in your room will be the least of your problems in the future.”
He faced her completely this time, voice and expression were stern.
“And your behaviour has shown nothing that justifies this politeness you claim. If you want me to be amiable, then you should know that all actions have their limits. And in your case, you’ve come close to crossing those limits beyond forgiveness. I have no intention of being nice to a typical spoiled brat like you.”
Luserina jumped when Luc slammed the book down, but that didn't startled her nearly as much as his words.
"How dare you? I have always taken the utmost care, with you and with everyone else in this castle! A single, small mistake hardly warrants this sort of reaction!" Despite her words, a very small part of her was delighted to hear Luc defend Sheena--but that wasn't the point here. A much larger part was insulted by being called a spoiled brat. "Besides, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? I hardly call transporting holly boys into my room in a fit of pique an act of maturity!"
“An eye for an eye, young lady.” Luc muttered darkly. “You aren’t exactly the epitome of womanhood either.”
"Excuse me? And who are you to judge, anyway?"
“Hmph.” He merely glanced at her with a raised brow before turning back to the shelf to find the item he had originally come for.
Ugh. Luserina couldn't stand it anymore. "Have a lovely day, Luc," she said, grabbing her own things, and trotting out of the room before either of them could say anything else.