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 Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:46 pm
Barth asked Christof to take him back to his room, still looking pale. He was quiet on the way up the long hill to the Demon dorms, but the moment they were back, Barth had the door locked and vines crawling anxiously up the walls.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn," he said, dropping into his oversized chair. Not the sort of cursing he'd been studying. Handsome wandered over, concerned, to snuffle at Barth's feet, and Barth nudged him away with a booted toe.
He looked desperately at Christof. He wanted to say, You won't be going back to Fell, but that entailed a why and a how and a lot more in terms of commitment and other things Barth wasn't ready to press...but they were running out of time, and if the exams (which must be rigged, the Boogeymen were there to ensure they wouldn't cheat, but who was to say the Boogeymen wouldn't cheat?) failed, there was no telling when Fell would be here- or if he was on his way already. It was now or never. And the terms Christof had parted with his Master Creator on were...less than ideal. Barth softened the statement, slightly.
"You can't go back with Dr. Fell," Barth said.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:50 pm
Christof had been moving on auto pilot, his expression blank and movements stiff as he had accompanied the demon back to his dorm, his eyes mostly locked firmly on his boots. "Must-obey-Master." Was all he gave by way of slow, deliberate signing.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:13 pm
Barth looked at Christof. Took a deep breath. Fiddled with his claws.
"Well it- doesn't have to be him, does it?"
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 7:48 pm
Christof still stared at his shoes, hands twisting in front of his chest. "He-is-creator. Cannot-disobey-him. Must..." He stopped, the rest was.... inherent.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:05 pm
"This isn't how I wanted to do this," Barth said, frustrated. He did not want to dither through. He hadn't planned the speech at all. And at the moment, he was anything but confident.
"Christof," he said finally, "you've disobeyed him already. A variety of times. At multiple opportunities. It's no use pretending you haven't. The fact of the matter..." he drew up in his chair, "the fact is that whatever you pretend or convince yourself of, you are too smart for masters. In the long run. For your Creator, or Riley, or...or- me," he finished quietly, deflating at the last admission.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:35 pm
Christof glanced up sharply, his expression going dark, his hands balling into fists. This was dangerous talk for the Igor. Very dangerous talk. "Not-so-simple. He-let-me-get-away-with-it. Not-so-lucky-next-time. Will-be-bad. Cannot..." His movements stopped, his eyes getting glassy, "Will-be-punished. He-still-has-" He paused again, this time to pace across the room.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 8:49 pm
"He's a scientist and businessmen," Barth said. "My father does business with him. I don't want to see you- I won't see you disassembled or sold off. I had hoped- I mean I wanted...by graduation, I had a few devices and investments...but if it's now, I'll Deal with him. I mean. ...I would be willing to Deal with him, if you- if you wanted to-"
Barth's face burned.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:02 pm
Christof kept his back to Barth as he spoke, keeping quiet and for a long while it looked as though he wasn't going to respond. Finally, his head rolled, turning gently to sign, "Not-strong-enough. Will-get-hurt." He hesitated again, his hands trembling, convulsing a bit as he managed somehow to form the words, "Am-valuable-experiment."
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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 3:20 pm
"I'm not going down there for a round of fisticuffs," Barth said. "Or going down there at all. I know I'm...young. But I'm not lacking in finances or resources." Barth leaned back into his chair. "Dr. Fell was very rude during the last visit, and I have no intention of being his guest again."
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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:13 pm
The hunchback went quiet again, eyes now locked on the ground before slumping to sit as he listened Barth through. He didn't like the sound of any of his friends getting anywhere near his Master.
He was out of ides... and he wasn't entirely sure he'd buy anything Barth might pitch.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:08 am
"I can't- talk to you, properly. Not while you have other Marks. But if- if you're on board I'll do what I can. If you're not- I didn't want to press this now. I know I'm not...being fair, exactly. But I can't see- if you're with someone else, then you're with someone else. There's no use with me bothering about it. Do you understand? It's one or the other, for me."
Barth had said it as plainly as he could. He would like to tell Christof how much he valued him, how important he was, how he would like to be partners... but it was impossible to tell what Fell was and wasn't listening for, and it would complicate the bargaining process.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:29 am
Was... he insinuating what he thought he was insinuating? Christof glanced up, brows furrowed. Did he mean.... shedding himself of what Marks he had that weren't.... of... of Mistress' mark? He looked visibly drained, as though all of the Fear had been sucked from the room, pale as he pulled his knees up to his chest.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:39 am
Too soon, it had been too soon, he thought, feeling like his heart had dropped into his stomach.
Although he had wanted to seem steady, Barth looked half-sick, not doing much better than Christof. He waited for an answer without any further contributing errs or nervous additions.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:20 pm
Christof merely buried his face against his legs, silent for some time before his shoulders shook and a tight whine escaped his throat. He hadn't cried in a long time, lately just getting angry before feeling so... helpless. But what could he do? What could he say? His hands were shaking as he slipped them around his legs, signing almost unintelligible as he made out, "complicated", "property" and "scared".
So much he WANTED to talk about, to plan, to explain, to... to deal with, but he couldn't. He physically couldn't. And he couldn't even explain why he couldn't because of why he couldn't.
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:48 pm
"I know," Barth said, "...But what, then? You'll just- you'll just go with him?"
Barth withered into his chair, the vines thickening.
"Do you even want to go with me?" he whispered.
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