I hope the office is still where you left it, and that no chair-thieves have happened on it in your absence. And that your month off hasn't atrophied your leg muscles too much, so that cycling there doesn't result in you leaving the bike at the office and being taken home in the back of an ambulance (or on the back of a moose, which seems much more Canadian to me) :)
[And I've run over the character limit somehow... sorry. I guess I'll double-post for the first time in a while.]
Returning Fabian shifted his weight from his left foot to his right foot. He was about fifteen minutes early but he'd been too nervous and too worried to sit around in his office any longer. He'd tried to force himself to walk slowly and casually to the Halls of Sunset and only realised how badly he was failing after he overtook a third pedestrian, silently cursing their sloth in his head. Then, finally, he'd put his head down, stared at his feet and willed them to go slower and now here he was, standing in the shadows of the columns, only fifteen minutes early. "I wasn't trying to hurt you," said a familiar, but unexpected, voice behind him and Fabian jumped so violently he had to check his shoulders to see if he'd wrenched one. While his heart was racing in his chest, pounding like a demented blacksmith determined to finish one last poker before the forge cooled too much, Sebastian Framer stepped out of the shadows by the doors. Next to him, a moment later, was Dread. "I think you nearly killed me just then," said Fabian, rubbing his left shoulder with a bit more force than was really necessary, trying to suggest that Sebastian had hurt him nonetheless. "Couldn't you have said hello first?" "You'd still have jumped," said Dread. "And we weren't going to sneak away and then come back banging drums and singing just to avoid you getting a mild fright." "Mild! You call making me jump out of my skin and tear the ligaments from my shoulders mild?" "You make too much fuss. Anyway, that was, by my estimation, an apology."
Fabian looked at Sebastian. The man looked as though he hadn't had much sleep: there were huge black rings around his eyes and his skin was paler than Fabian remembered. His blue robes looked tattered and maybe a little dirty and there was that odd bulge around his middle where he was probably hiding his extra arms. "I... thank-you," he said. "How are you? You don't look... well, well I suppose." Even as he said it he could feel his ex-wife elbowing him. This would be tactless as she'd told him on so many occasions. Framer seemed not to notice the lack of tact. "I'm not well," he said. "Something terrible is happening to the spider elves and the Empire is at fault, but I can't see to stop it. I don't know what's going on, but it's getting worse." Fabian looked at Dread, who, standing behind Sebastian so the elf-mage couldn't see him, gestured quickly to the Halls of Sunset. "I think we might be finding out some more of that in a few minutes," said Fabian cautiously. "But... are you sure it's the elves being treated this way the Empire?" "Hello!" The Maestro's whisper was almost a shout and Fabian jumped again as the Maestro had somehow conspired to sneak up behind him. "The illithid returns, I see." Framer, who looked at though he'd been about to answer Fabian's question, snarled. "Bone-botherer!" "Enough," said Dread in a voice that sounded like he was used to this kind of squabbling. "You can fight all you like after we're done, but for now, we're all here are we?" "Rystin," said Fabian, who now got the third shock of his evening as Rystin tapped him on his shoulder and murmured, "I've been here for a while." "Damnit! Next time we do this you all have to buy tickets and present them to me in an orderly, clearly visible manner!" "I really hope there won't be a next time," said Dread. "Right, let's get this done. I don't want to spend any longer in there than we have to until we really know what's going on." He nodded to Rystin, who produced the Staff of Five Elements, and the pair of them turned to the doors. "Where did you get that?" asked Sebastian, staring at the Staff. "The Museum," said Fabian, feeling just a little smug. "We have a lot of old stuff like that hanging around, you know?"
3 comments:
I hope the office is still where you left it, and that no chair-thieves have happened on it in your absence. And that your month off hasn't atrophied your leg muscles too much, so that cycling there doesn't result in you leaving the bike at the office and being taken home in the back of an ambulance (or on the back of a moose, which seems much more Canadian to me) :)
[And I've run over the character limit somehow... sorry. I guess I'll double-post for the first time in a while.]
Returning
Fabian shifted his weight from his left foot to his right foot. He was about fifteen minutes early but he'd been too nervous and too worried to sit around in his office any longer. He'd tried to force himself to walk slowly and casually to the Halls of Sunset and only realised how badly he was failing after he overtook a third pedestrian, silently cursing their sloth in his head. Then, finally, he'd put his head down, stared at his feet and willed them to go slower and now here he was, standing in the shadows of the columns, only fifteen minutes early.
"I wasn't trying to hurt you," said a familiar, but unexpected, voice behind him and Fabian jumped so violently he had to check his shoulders to see if he'd wrenched one. While his heart was racing in his chest, pounding like a demented blacksmith determined to finish one last poker before the forge cooled too much, Sebastian Framer stepped out of the shadows by the doors. Next to him, a moment later, was Dread.
"I think you nearly killed me just then," said Fabian, rubbing his left shoulder with a bit more force than was really necessary, trying to suggest that Sebastian had hurt him nonetheless. "Couldn't you have said hello first?"
"You'd still have jumped," said Dread. "And we weren't going to sneak away and then come back banging drums and singing just to avoid you getting a mild fright."
"Mild! You call making me jump out of my skin and tear the ligaments from my shoulders mild?"
"You make too much fuss. Anyway, that was, by my estimation, an apology."
Fabian looked at Sebastian. The man looked as though he hadn't had much sleep: there were huge black rings around his eyes and his skin was paler than Fabian remembered. His blue robes looked tattered and maybe a little dirty and there was that odd bulge around his middle where he was probably hiding his extra arms.
"I... thank-you," he said. "How are you? You don't look... well, well I suppose." Even as he said it he could feel his ex-wife elbowing him. This would be tactless as she'd told him on so many occasions.
Framer seemed not to notice the lack of tact. "I'm not well," he said. "Something terrible is happening to the spider elves and the Empire is at fault, but I can't see to stop it. I don't know what's going on, but it's getting worse."
Fabian looked at Dread, who, standing behind Sebastian so the elf-mage couldn't see him, gestured quickly to the Halls of Sunset.
"I think we might be finding out some more of that in a few minutes," said Fabian cautiously. "But... are you sure it's the elves being treated this way the Empire?"
"Hello!" The Maestro's whisper was almost a shout and Fabian jumped again as the Maestro had somehow conspired to sneak up behind him. "The illithid returns, I see."
Framer, who looked at though he'd been about to answer Fabian's question, snarled. "Bone-botherer!"
"Enough," said Dread in a voice that sounded like he was used to this kind of squabbling. "You can fight all you like after we're done, but for now, we're all here are we?"
"Rystin," said Fabian, who now got the third shock of his evening as Rystin tapped him on his shoulder and murmured, "I've been here for a while."
"Damnit! Next time we do this you all have to buy tickets and present them to me in an orderly, clearly visible manner!"
"I really hope there won't be a next time," said Dread. "Right, let's get this done. I don't want to spend any longer in there than we have to until we really know what's going on." He nodded to Rystin, who produced the Staff of Five Elements, and the pair of them turned to the doors.
"Where did you get that?" asked Sebastian, staring at the Staff.
"The Museum," said Fabian, feeling just a little smug. "We have a lot of old stuff like that hanging around, you know?"
Greg - it was indeed still there. And I'm still waiting for the heat to bugger off so that I can trying biking to work again.
Ah, good to get back into this tale again. Quite looking forward to seeing what happens this visit!
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