[ titan's call eventually stops serving alcohol, at like two or something in the morning, but you know what doesn't stop serving? the bottle you take with you and promise thebe will be returned.
he's a shambles when his feet take him to the room temenos and mizuki don't even sleep in. sits heavy, right there on the floor in the hallway outside. why not? ]
[ actually, temenos is in his room this evening. arthur and throné are having a moment, likely and therefore he's giving them their privacy! and luckily for nodd, maybe... he's something of a night owl.
so. two or three in the morning is fine. when temenos hears a thump outside, he pushes himself up. he's in his nightclothes - real big victorian nightgown energy on this when when he pokes his head out of the door, still leaning on his staff like a walking stick.
hello ]
Nodd? [ a beat. his nose wrinkles, voice quiet in the dim darkness of the early morning late night. ] You smell like a distillery. What are you doing?
[ the door opens and nodd thinks, for a second, that he's imagining it. because it would be nice if it opened and temenos was there in his cute li'l nightgown to scowl at him. wishful thinking.
and then temenos is there doing those things. ]
Oh. Inquisitor. Hey.
[ stumbling, using the wall as he climbs to his feet. ]
I didn't think you'd--why are you here? At your room. Hm.
[ a simple answer, almost dismissive, because that's not what matters here? hello? when nodd starts stumbling he crosses the space in the hall, letting the door shut behind him to come closer and investigate, and also maybe keep nodd from falling on his face or something??? hello ]
Why are you here? What - happened, what did you do. And don't say drank the bar out of liquor, I can tell that from basic observation.
[ throné would be that way about just about anyone, honestly. probably. ] And I'll tell you the same thing I did just a few days ago - I'm a grown man who does not need protecting.
[ he's a strong independent inquisitor. anyway, watching him do this for a moment - he huffs, then, and walks to catch up with him easily. ] Stop moving around, you're going to fall on your face.
that's... a little sad, actually. his expression shifts - a frown, more serious this time, a furrow between his eyebrows, and he starts to walk with nodd over in the direction of the showers, hobbling a little but steering nodd with a steady hand anyway. ]
...An unreality. [ a moment in time influenced by a curse. temenos is too harsh to say anything otherwise, to not point out the truth of the matter. his eyes flick to the bottle, too, but that can wait, at least for now. ] You are always escaping off into those, Nodd.
[ and it's worrisome - troubling. it's the opposite of what temenos does, the opposite of what he's ever wanted. ]
[ he's been saying that a lot. there's much nodd knows, after all. whether it's put into useful practice or not is another story. a sadder one.
little attention is paid to where they're headed. placing a foot in front of the other takes a lot of attention to detail. ]
Like I said, I didn't--you weren't supposed to be around. I was gonna sit for a short time and then go to my room unless Greg's in there and then I'd...
[ not want to be in the midst of both him and rodya in his present state ]
I know what's 'wrong' with me. But every time, it's--I try to change and there I am again.
[ pushes some hair behind an ear. immediately it slips right back into its original position ]
I miss the monastery. I miss having nothing. Wanting nothing.
[ it's a confession, in and of its own. these are the sort of conversations temenos is used to happening - the kind where someone pours their heart out into his cupped hands as he holds the pieces together, and carefully reforms the back into place. the cleric, at his best.
so he listens, letting nodd talk through his emotions, as raw and real as they are, guiding him carefully towards the bathroom area. i miss having nothing, wanting nothing. ]
...You don't need to deprive yourself of all things, or allow yourself to take them all in, either. [ it feels like they've had this conversation before, and temenos can see the threads of it here, too, the sort of core being that makes up the kind of person that nodd is. it's...
it's a little heartbreaking, really, though he keeps that thought to himself. ] What you need is moderation, though that is not easy to learn.
[ nodd has never had a cleric in his party. nor guidance, being by far the eldest. before that, the monastery offered the structure of having nothing he could yearn for. sparring became another form of meditation. tending the mushroom forest was a necessity. repairing the buildings granted him a skill.
as long as he was separated from everyone or anything that could destabilize him, nodd could live. and that felt like it should be enough. could be. ]
Para told me to leave the Spires before she died.
[ his first response might make it seem as if nodd didn't hear temenos' words. but he did. ]
She must've noticed I wasn't learning to moderate. Maybe she thought I'd find it somewhere else.
[ no malice to para for depriving him of a place to return to. much love to the old bat. ]
[ prana's a unfamiliar name, but he can put two and two together, he thinks. as they round the corner, careful, he hums his understanding, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. ]
[ yeah gonna have to work off of context clues if you don't outright ask the drunkard for clarity.
he stops when they near the door to the showers. ]
...I know we aren't here for anything fun.
[ if he had cat ears instead of long, they'd be flattening. ]
It was, uh. Few months ago? I stuck around until she passed so I could take her ashes to the northern sea. Really nice of me. She should've let me stay.
[ he smiles a little, there. voice a little lower, that enigmatic, almost mischievous little smile on his face, foxlike. one might even call it a little flirtatious. ]
[ but this does get nodd to enter the room without holding his arms and feet against the frame like an actual beastie. he spares a glance toward temenos' legs. glances elsewhere. the sinks. ]
[ the unfortunate thing about the return of their powers (in part) is the return of nodd's incredible tolerance (in part). he's already in danger of shifting from wasted to tipsy after their drinkless walk.
he takes a silent moment to meet the priest's gaze. then, ]
If you want me to.
[ speaking soft so his jaw needn't move too much. ]
I can look.
[ hands slipping behind him to meet at his lower back. nodd will look with his eyes, see? ]
[ that's about what he's expecting. he removes the hand from his chin - the look on his face barely changes, just a slight eyebrow raise. a nonverbal keep your eyes on me with the way his fingertips linger.
and once he's assured of that, he sets a finger in the center of his chest, and starts to walk nodd backwards. back towards the showers. eyes on me. ]
Very good. [ almost a hum, low and soft. back one step. two, three. ]
[ like a lamb to the slaughter, nodd's eyes are on temenos'. all sense of self-preservation evaporates with this dreadfully individual attention. he walks backwards with surprising grace for a drunk. the stumbling from earlier scared out of him by being told he's very good. ]
Inquisitor...?
[ he knows. they had that moment in the arcade and temenos made his position crystal (rat) clear. so, nodd knows. but what is that saying about ignorance being bliss? why start critically thinking this late in the game? ]
[ he says in that same low, approving tone. leans forward...
and then without mercy, hits the button to turn on the shower spray and steps deftly out of the way so he doesn't get caught in it, then continues to step back, and it is not the one with the hot water, either.
with the sweetest smile on his face in the world: ]
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week 6; saturday (late late)
he's a shambles when his feet take him to the room temenos and mizuki don't even sleep in. sits heavy, right there on the floor in the hallway outside. why not? ]
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so. two or three in the morning is fine. when temenos hears a thump outside, he pushes himself up. he's in his nightclothes - real big victorian nightgown energy on this when when he pokes his head out of the door, still leaning on his staff like a walking stick.
hello ]
Nodd? [ a beat. his nose wrinkles, voice quiet in the dim darkness of the early morning late night. ] You smell like a distillery. What are you doing?
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and then temenos is there doing those things. ]
Oh. Inquisitor. Hey.
[ stumbling, using the wall as he climbs to his feet. ]
I didn't think you'd--why are you here? At your room. Hm.
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[ a simple answer, almost dismissive, because that's not what matters here? hello? when nodd starts stumbling he crosses the space in the hall, letting the door shut behind him to come closer and investigate, and also maybe keep nodd from falling on his face or something??? hello ]
Why are you here? What - happened, what did you do. And don't say drank the bar out of liquor, I can tell that from basic observation.
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[ as if the smell and the unsteady feet weren't enough, sober-ish nodd would simply not say such things. for himself, if nobody else. ]
Anyway, she's great. She likes you a lot. Told me to stay away from you. What do you think about that?
[ his pupils are blown and he pushes off from the wall to step further toward the middle of the hall. ]
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[ throné would be that way about just about anyone, honestly. probably. ] And I'll tell you the same thing I did just a few days ago - I'm a grown man who does not need protecting.
[ he's a strong independent inquisitor. anyway, watching him do this for a moment - he huffs, then, and walks to catch up with him easily. ] Stop moving around, you're going to fall on your face.
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[ weeks ago, he'd been determined to never talk nor be kind to temenos again after a certain embarrassment of a trial. that didn't happen. ]
And I came here because it was the last time I felt--hm? If I fall, I'll heal.
[ swiping a thumb along his own cheek, recalling some old injury that's now a faded, barely visible scar. he stops toddling, though. ]
I didn't mean to wake you.
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The last time you felt what.
[ don't think you're gonna get away with that. he makes his way over, though, putting a hand between his shoulderblades. ] Walk.
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Oh.
[ hand on back. doesn't shrug it off. takes a step. walkies? sure. ]
Good. Last time anything actually felt good.
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that's... a little sad, actually. his expression shifts - a frown, more serious this time, a furrow between his eyebrows, and he starts to walk with nodd over in the direction of the showers, hobbling a little but steering nodd with a steady hand anyway. ]
...An unreality. [ a moment in time influenced by a curse. temenos is too harsh to say anything otherwise, to not point out the truth of the matter. his eyes flick to the bottle, too, but that can wait, at least for now. ] You are always escaping off into those, Nodd.
[ and it's worrisome - troubling. it's the opposite of what temenos does, the opposite of what he's ever wanted. ]
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[ he's been saying that a lot. there's much nodd knows, after all. whether it's put into useful practice or not is another story. a sadder one.
little attention is paid to where they're headed. placing a foot in front of the other takes a lot of attention to detail. ]
Like I said, I didn't--you weren't supposed to be around. I was gonna sit for a short time and then go to my room unless Greg's in there and then I'd...
[ not want to be in the midst of both him and rodya in his present state ]
I know what's 'wrong' with me. But every time, it's--I try to change and there I am again.
[ pushes some hair behind an ear. immediately it slips right back into its original position ]
I miss the monastery. I miss having nothing. Wanting nothing.
no subject
so he listens, letting nodd talk through his emotions, as raw and real as they are, guiding him carefully towards the bathroom area. i miss having nothing, wanting nothing. ]
...You don't need to deprive yourself of all things, or allow yourself to take them all in, either. [ it feels like they've had this conversation before, and temenos can see the threads of it here, too, the sort of core being that makes up the kind of person that nodd is. it's...
it's a little heartbreaking, really, though he keeps that thought to himself. ] What you need is moderation, though that is not easy to learn.
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as long as he was separated from everyone or anything that could destabilize him, nodd could live. and that felt like it should be enough. could be. ]
Para told me to leave the Spires before she died.
[ his first response might make it seem as if nodd didn't hear temenos' words. but he did. ]
She must've noticed I wasn't learning to moderate. Maybe she thought I'd find it somewhere else.
[ no malice to para for depriving him of a place to return to. much love to the old bat. ]
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[ prana's a unfamiliar name, but he can put two and two together, he thinks. as they round the corner, careful, he hums his understanding, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. ]
And how long ago was that?
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he stops when they near the door to the showers. ]
...I know we aren't here for anything fun.
[ if he had cat ears instead of long, they'd be flattening. ]
It was, uh. Few months ago? I stuck around until she passed so I could take her ashes to the northern sea. Really nice of me. She should've let me stay.
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[ he smiles a little, there. voice a little lower, that enigmatic, almost mischievous little smile on his face, foxlike. one might even call it a little flirtatious. ]
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Cheater.
[ but this does get nodd to enter the room without holding his arms and feet against the frame like an actual beastie. he spares a glance toward temenos' legs. glances elsewhere. the sinks. ]
How's walking?
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he lifts his hand, catches his chin, and pulls his face back over so he's looking at temenos, instead. ]
Perhaps you'd take a look at it for me.
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he takes a silent moment to meet the priest's gaze. then, ]
If you want me to.
[ speaking soft so his jaw needn't move too much. ]
I can look.
[ hands slipping behind him to meet at his lower back. nodd will look with his eyes, see? ]
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and once he's assured of that, he sets a finger in the center of his chest, and starts to walk nodd backwards. back towards the showers. eyes on me. ]
Very good. [ almost a hum, low and soft. back one step. two, three. ]
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Inquisitor...?
[ he knows. they had that moment in the arcade and temenos made his position crystal (rat) clear. so, nodd knows. but what is that saying about ignorance being bliss? why start critically thinking this late in the game? ]
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You may call me by my name.
[ little lamb.
another step back. two. three. they're nearing the back wall, now. ]
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Temenos.
[ his hands held behind him touch the back wall first. then his shoulders. this is absolutely a trap and yet it's such a dazzling one.
a pink-red petal caught in the corner of his mouth before he sucks it back in with a sharp inhale. ]
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[ he says in that same low, approving tone. leans forward...
and then without mercy, hits the button to turn on the shower spray and steps deftly out of the way so he doesn't get caught in it, then continues to step back, and it is not the one with the hot water, either.
with the sweetest smile on his face in the world: ]
Sober up, now.
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THERE IS NO JUSTICE. THERE ARE NO GODS. ]
You are a monster.
[ he is the wettest rat that has ever been and there are so many rats that were on this ship ]
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