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 Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:14 pm
Marius wasn’t hungry. He rarely had much of an appetite and he had to be careful with his stomach even now. At first he wasn’t sure what Lucien’s intentions were with the food, but the longer they sat together, the more obvious it was that Lucien intended for them to help themselves if they wanted it.
Marius had gone through the food and shared with Celyn, taking the opportunity to let him sample Alastorian cuisine. Some things he was unfamiliar with, but there were plenty of bland enough foods that he could eat. Lukas had probably insisted on packing that if he assumed that Marius was going to be with Lucien; the young man at the front desk was rather aware of Marius’ delicate state.
He was more interested in what Lucien was doing, if only because that was a solution to part of their problem. He’d conversed with Celyn about unimportant things–mostly easy, distracting questions that required some thought to answer. He didn’t want him to work himself into a panic, and having him focused on something else should help.
It was good for Marius, too. Though, he was still watching the horizon for Madison and thought it might have been wise to caution Celyn about his favorite doctor. The only warning he’d gotten so far was ‘If any part of you is hurt, you should let Dr. Eld give you a checkup when he gets here. He might seem like he’s mad or angry, but he’s probably just really worried about Devyn and Percy, too. Please don’t let him scare you, he’s not mad at you.’
He said nothing bad about him, but he knew that Madison could be a lot, especially if you were first meeting him.
When Lucien finally explained what it was and what it could do, Marius was leaning forward, resting against the knees he’d drawn to his chest. It was a beautiful little device and outside of wanting to see it work for practical reasons, Marius wanted to see it work because it seemed like magic. He didn’t understand how Lucien thought it was going to work, but with the Mauvian’s air of confidence, it was hard to doubt him.
He wondered if Lucien was pretending for them like he’d been pretending for Celyn.
“That sounds really useful. Will it be able to reach him even if he’s halfway up the mountain?” he asked.
In the distance, he could see where Devyn had set off just a few days ago, but the mountain was too far away and the forest was too dense so it wasn’t like he could make out any of the towns Devyn was visiting on this trip. Or, maybe he’d hurried through them and was already at the large city on the other side.
…Either way, he didn’t envy what was going to be an undoubtedly hurried return.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:16 pm
Lucien puffed out his chest a little and scoffed when the capabilities of his device was questioned. He didn’t look offended, but he did look like he was ready to defend his little bird.
“Of course it will reach him. It’s got a homing beacon calibrated to him. It knows exactly where to find him.”
In other words, Lucien had it calibrated to Devyn’s Senshi pen. Lucien had created it, after all. He’d upgraded it twice now. Fixed it once. He knew the henshin pen very well, and anything he made could easily connect to Devyn that way. Because he knew Devyn would never go anywhere without his pen.
“Hopefully he is somewhere that has horses. I can’t imagine running would be the best route back,” he sighed, but pressed a couple extra buttons on the side of the bird’s wing, and gave it a gentle toss into the air.
Part of it was magic. But the other part of it was just pure technological genius. Mauvians had a very unique skill with technology, after all. Celyn stared in wonder and awe as the little bird took flight and flitted away over the trees to an unknown destination. He had no idea how Lucien got the little bird to work, but he was impressed. He was also impressed by the way Marius had kept him distracted this whole time with gentle conversation and food, which was all interesting and delicious. He wasn’t sure what Marius meant by his doctor being mad or angry -- were doctors usually mad or angry on Alastor? But he was trying to prepare himself for that. Which-- “Did anyone put on lotion to protect against the sun?” A man barked as he approached from the road, and Celyn immediately shrunk against Marius. The man had honey blonde hair that he kept in a ponytail over his shoulder, hazel eyes that reminded him of the leaves changing colors, and a scowl that could frighten… probably everyone. “When the ******** did you get back? We could have used your help a few months ago, a*****e,” Madison scowled as he eyed Lucien, his arms crossed defensively over his chest. It didn’t take long for his gaze to settle on Marius, briefly on Celyn, but then returned to Marius. “What am I going to tell you?” he prompted Marius to guess.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:20 pm
Marius would have liked to sit with Lucien and ask more about his technology. He wouldn’t have meant any offense, but in Villefort, these things were unheard of. He’d never seen anything so technical, so precise, and even if he’d only had a few seconds to admire it, it had been enough for him to know that Lucien must have been an expert craftsman. Genius, probably, and incredibly talented.
He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but he didn’t have the energy to focus on making them make sense, and if he was only meeting Lucien for the first time, he didn’t want to make a bad impression.
Madison Eld did not give him the chance to make a fool of himself with questions for the Mauvian.
Marius did not seem intimidated or flustered by Madison’s hostilities, or his choice of expletives. He must have liked Lucien. He was too tired to squirm under Madison’s gaze.
What was he going to tell Marius?
Well, ‘you look like s**t,’ probably, and ‘you need to get in bed immediately’, obviously, but Marius looked up at Madison with an expression torn between exhaustion and exasperated. “That I made the right decision and you’re proud of me?”
Which was, maybe, something he actually did want to hear because he’d worked very hard to make sure that neither Lucien nor Celyn had any inkling of how guilty he felt for leaving Percy, or how many times he’d replayed what had happened in his mind and wondered if he’d done any one thing differently, said any one thing more, if they would even be in this situation in the first place.
No, best to bury those thoughts.
He sat up a little straighter and half-turned to Celyn to introduce, “This is Dr. Eld. He’s probably the best doctor on Alastor. Dr. Eld, this is Celyn. He’s from Sessrumnir. I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about sunscreen. I didn’t think I needed to take any with me to Jupiter.”
And he’d been a little preoccupied after he got here. An effort was made, between the shade under the tree and keeping under the parasol.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:21 pm
Lucien rose to his feet so he could stand to greet Dr. Eld -- as much as the doctor would let him. He nodded his head politely, at least.
“Apologies, doctor. I had the misfortune of being assigned to a place with minimal technology, very far from here,” he explained, although he doubted Dr. Eld cared to hear it, what with the teeth he bared in return.
That was okay. This was not the first time he met the doctor, after all. And this was one of the people entrusted to keep Devyn safe, so Lucien had little choice but to trust him as well. Celyn, on the other hand, was more than a little flustered by the abrasive man. For someone who looked so pretty, he sure had a mean temper and foul mouth. Was this man really a doctor? He was used to, well… nicer people who smiled pleasantly even when there were bad things to share. He supposed it helped not to sugar coat things. Sometimes. But Marius seemed to trust him and wasn’t afraid of him, so that was a good thing. That didn’t mean he wanted to come out of hiding any time soon. Madison stared at Marius, his jaw clenched tightly shut as he drew in a long breath through his nose and let it out in the same way. Even if he wanted to tell Marius that he was proud of him, he wasn’t going to say it in front of other people. Still, it was enough to stay his hand in harping at Marius that he needed to get in bed immediately. “You look like s**t,” he scoffed instead, and then made a gesture that clearly meant for the two of them to get up off the ground. “Why are you out here, anyway? You should be inside,” he frowned, eyeing the garden and then Marius before making another gesture for them to retreat indoors. “You can get more sun later if you insist on baking. Once you put on proper protection.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:24 pm
Marius laughed, but it didn’t sound mirthful. Madison was predictable, and there was comfort in that. Marius had deliberately avoided looking in mirrors or any reflective surfaces, but he felt better now than he had ten minutes ago so he must have looked a bit better, too. Still bad, obviously, but not enough that he’d actually caught any worry in Madison’s expression when he looked him over.
Most of their lunch was packed up enough that Marius was able to get everything together while Madison and Lucien were talking, and he forced himself to his feet. He held his hand out for Celyn to help him up, even if he didn’t much have the strength for himself.
He’d sleep well. As soon as he knew Percy was okay.
If he tried now, he’d just give himself nightmares and probably wind up throwing up and giving everyone unnecessary stress.
“Oh, sorry. We were trying to stay out of the way. I asked Celyn if he wanted to see the garden. We weren’t going to stay out for long but we can go in for now.” There wasn’t any point in arguing it. If Celyn wanted to come out again, he’d make sure he was able to, or he could probably distract him with some of Alastor’s books. Or maybe he could just give him his notes on Villefort’s plantlife and his efforts to rejuvenate his hometown.
He was sure no one would forcibly separate them; it wasn’t like they were close, but Celyn wasn’t here because he wanted to be, and Marius felt responsible since he’d mostly dragged him here, anyway.
The tickle of a cough danced in the back of his throat but he managed to chase it away with a sigh. It took no small effort to stay steadied on his feet but he was determined to present in good condition. He even picked up the picnic basket like he had strength to spare.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:27 pm
Lucien spared a glance towards Dr. Eld, as though trying to determine his thoughts just by looking at him. The fact that he hadn’t immediately asked what was going on implied that he’d been given enough information about the situation on the way. Or perhaps he was just so used to Devyn and Percy getting into trouble that this was simply routine.
Since Lucien had only heard more about what was going on once Marius arrived, Lucien decided it was likely just business as usual.
“If all things go according to plan, we should be receiving word from Devyn in another ten or so minutes,” Lucien said as he held open a device that seemed to be tracking the little bird.
He could see Marius using the last of his strength to pick up the picnic basket, and while normally he would have allowed a prideful young man do what he wanted, Lucien caught sight of a small group of people walking nearby. They didn’t seem to be paying too close attention, but just in case…
“Allow me. You should be cautious of your health, Master Marius,” he lowered his head in a small bow and placed a hand over his heart in a polite gesture, before reaching to take the basket from him. Celyn was also watching Marius with concern. He’d seen how pale he’d gotten, and how he was pretty sure there was blood he was coughing up. How sick was he? Was it really bad? He sounded like he was feeling bad, but was also being stubborn about it. “Don’t push yourself,” he quietly cautioned, but was already flinching back with the expectation of being waved off. He was worried! About Marius, about Percy! He wanted to cry, but was doing his best to hold himself together. Madison just scowled at everyone, and then huffed and grumbled and made more gestures for them to hurry up. “What’s Percy doing this time?” Madison frowned as he started getting the group moving towards the Hall again. Although he did take a moment to glare at the group lingering nearby.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:29 pm
The politeness caught Marius off guard, especially given the juxtaposition between Lucien and Madison. “Just Marius, please,” he insisted quietly, but he didn’t protest when Lucien took the basket. He heard Celyn’s worry, and in apology he smiled briefly as if to assure he wouldn’t push himself too hard.
As long as Madison didn’t walk too quickly.
They’d be inside soon. Maybe he could find something nice to distract Celyn with while he disappeared for a moment to try and pull himself back together.
It wasn’t the first time Marius had summarized the event. “Trying to protect Sessrumnir. Some men broke in and came for him. They found a way to disrupt his magic.”
He couldn’t let himself sound worried. He couldn’t let Celyn know how anxious he felt.
Marius didn’t want to sound indifferent, but maybe that was better than sounding afraid.
“We were with him when they attacked. He told us to run, so we came here. They were looking for something and needed him to find it.”
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:31 pm
Lucien spared another glance at Dr. Eld, who met his gaze before sniffing indignantly. But Lucien could tell there was something more in those irritated gestures and loud words being thrown around.
He could see the way Dr. Eld kept looking over at Marius, and while the young man didn’t seem like he was on the verge of collapse, Lucien knew a little of what happened with Villefort. He busied himself with checking on his bird once more, before setting the tracker back into subspace.
“Shall we sit inside near the fountain and you can tell me what you like best about the food you’ve tried?” Lucien asked Celyn, who looked like he wasn’t sure if he was being spoken to at first, but was immediately flustered when he realized.
“Come, it will only be a short while,” he insisted, making an effort to take a seat first, although he had to be careful about getting his tail wet, so he curled it around himself with the picnic basket in his lap. Celyn wasn’t sure what to think. He didn’t want to be separated from Marius but… he thought he was smart enough to take the hint. It was clear that they were probably trying to give Marius a moment with his doctor, and Celyn was fine with that! He really was worried about Marius. They might not have been friends, nor did they know each other very well, but Marius had looked after him when he didn’t have to. Besides, no one here owed him anything. He was just an outsider trying to stay out of the way while things were figured out. So he nodded and moved over to sit next to the large man with the cat ears and tail. Madison hadn’t said anything in response to the explanation Marius had given, but he crossed his arms defensively over his chest, and looked off in the direction of Arista before making his way into the Hall. “I need to talk to the Council then. Marius come with me,” he demanded, striding through the lobby with enough confidence that others gave him plenty of berth, lest they be subject to his scathing criticism.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2024 9:33 pm
Marius didn’t want to tell Madison that he was having trouble keeping up with his long strides, but by now every muscle was burning. He kept his face as relaxed as possible, but at some point his brows had knitted together. He had bangs enough to cover most of it but it wasn’t a perfect mask.
“I’ll be back soon,” he promised Celyn, though he didn’t know how long it would take. He just wanted him to know it was okay. “I’ll see if I can find you a book, too. I just had one that I thought was really interesting, you might like it, too.”
He put his energy into a smile, and then a little wave, and then hurried after Madison.
Who was probably not trying to get him to start huffing and wheezing again, but he tried to follow in his wake while there was still a cleared path behind him.
He kept his eyes focused on Madison’s back and ignored the shadows swimming at the corners of his vision. He felt less like passing out now, but he still found some relief in knowing that Devyn was going to be on his way soon, and Madison was here and would make sure things got done.
Not that anyone was slacking, but he still found relief in just having Madison around.
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