Stone Man Pass

[Sareth]

Lillith cocked her head a bit, contemplating the passed out Brad. With a smile (and a slight wince) she bent down and covered him with blankets before slipping over to her own. She rolled to face Brad, then slipped off into slumber.

[Graybeard]

OOC: On that pleasantly peaceful note, things could fast-forward to the third (early morning) shift, when Rose wants to have that aforementioned conversation with Drusia. Anybody want anything to happen on Argus' and Harker's (and Brad's, if and when he wakes up) shift? Or shall we just move on?

[Drannin]

(OOC: Might as well just go to morning)

[Porcelain Fish]

[OOC]I am good with skipping to morning.[/OOC]

[Graybeard]

[OOC: OK, so on to the final shift it is...]

Not too surprisingly, Sister Rose didn't sleep well during the midnight shift. She'd had no difficulty getting to sleep, for sure; the fatigue from the spellcasting had seen to that. However, her sleep had been plagued by too many bad dreams. There had been one where Maduin was being carried away by a headless torso wearing the dark robe ... and then he cast a spell, and it wasn't Maduin any more, but Kenny. And another where she and Lillith were out gathering wood, and had been interrupted by a terrifying, 15-foot-tall statue speaking elvish and waving a Lancea. And another ...

She put the dreams out of her head and went to where Argus and Brad were sitting by the remains of the fire. Argus was looking a bit the worse for wear; he stood quickly and retreated to the tent with barely a sound. But Brad ... "How can you possibly look so -- I guess I'd say 'beatific' after what happened earlier tonight?" Rose asked.

It was true; Brad's face was almost luminous in the last light of the embers, and he looked like he'd had a vision of heaven itself -- which, in his own mind, he had. "I don't know, Rose. I've just been sitting here, thinking about ... When I woke up to take this shift, Lillith was lying there asleep in her bag next to me. She was facing me and she was smiling. And I've just been thinking about how I'd like to spend the whole rest of my life like that, waking up in the morning with her smiling at my side. I know, I know, I should have been praying for the souls of those two people who died last night. But I just couldn't. I couldn't tear myself away from thinking about her." His face got serious for a moment. "Have I sinned? Should I confess?"

Rose cringed inwardly for just the briefest of instants, thinking back to the moment in time when she first realized she was in love with Kenny. Then she gave him the only possible answer. "No, you haven't sinned. Love can't be a sin. But you need your rest. Dream about her, then wake up and do your prayers in the morning. Luminosita's Peace be with you."

Brad returned the blessing, rose, floated back to the tent, his head in the clouds. Rose watched him go, a wistful smile on her face; to be that utterly, blissfully in love ... with someone who might never take you seriously ... Well, here came Drusia, to join her on shift.

And, she hoped, in conversation. "Drusia, we need to talk about Snamish, and about Lillith ... and maybe also about Brad."

[Drusia]

"Drusia, we need to talk about Snamish, and about Lillith ... and maybe also about Brad."

"Both Brad and Lillith would be welcome in Snamish," I tell Rose. "We can always use new blood there." I smile at Rose; I figure there's at least a fifty percent chance that I just guessed her question. It's always nice to help the elven mystique by sounding creepily insightful.

-- Drusia

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose wasn't so sure.

"That's what I thought you'd say," she said, not trying for any conversational one-upmanship; they were getting to understand each other by now. "At the same time, I have to tell you that when -- Kenny and I got married, it took probably two years before some of his relatives warmed up to me. They just saw me as this human, Veracian, religious-freak threat that posed a danger to them and theirs. It used to bother him, maybe even more than it did me. Yes, they eventually got over it and accepted me as part of the family, but it took some time, time that Lillith and Brad may not have. Are you sure this is going to work?"

There ... I was able to get a whole minute's worth of speech out about Kenny without crying. She poked absently at the embers.

[Graybeard]

OOC: Haven't heard from Drusia, so let's assume the conversation happened and move on to morning.

[Drannin]

Argus groaned as he slowly woke up, and suddenly panic filled his soul.

He couldn't breathe.

Each breath was a labor, slowly being drawn in, as though the air was refusing to enter his body... or his body was refusing to take in air. The possibilities ran through his head. Was it the calcification? Had it suddenly accelerated and reached his lungs? Argus couldn't even cry for help... Panicked, he grasped his chest instinctively... and felt something furry. Confusion breaking through, Argus glanced down... and his expression turned thunderous. He took a long, slow breath.

"Harker, get the HELL of my stomach."

Harker peeked up innocently. "Aww, but boss, it's so comfy! And familiars are 'sposed to cuddle up..."

With a growl of irritation, Argus yanked Harker off of his torso, the familiar yelping with protest. Argus inhaled deeply, breathing easy now without that weight on his chest.

Blasted familiars.

[Porcelain Fish]

Maduin could hear the others moving around him. He opened his eyes, the glow coming through the green walls of the tent confirming that it was indeed morning. After he'd finished washing every last grain of dirt, every last trace of mud from his skin and his hair, he'd slept a deep, exhausted sleep.

Off to one side he could hear Argus berating his familiar, and Harker's disingenuous protests. It should have made him smile, except that he couldn't seem to find it in him to do so, which was curious indeed because he'd always managed it before despite the circumstances.

In a way, he felt ashamed for not standing by, watching as Thomas was buried, saying or doing something to mark his passing. And yet, he wasn't sure he would have been able to bear it, watching as the man who had lit that spark of attraction in him was laid to rest. He rolled over onto his side.

The worst part was, it wasn't the first time he'd seen those burning cobalt blue eyes. Something in him doubted it was the last time either. The thought was enough to make him shiver despite the warmth in his sleeping bag. His eyes went to the door of the tent. Sister Rose was probably out by the fire with Druisa. She deserved to know. So did the others.

He got up, began to wash, scrubbed his skin with cleansers, rubbed in moisturizers and lotions until his countenance glowed, not a remnant of last night's distress visible. He added a light dusting of mineral powder, donned a cream-colored robe, pale red shirt, and khaki slacks, and went out.

"Sister Rose," he asked quietly, "Do you have a moment?"