The road to Getsemiel

[Drusia]

"I'll be glad to quit this town." He said. "I hope you slept well, Desiree, we'll have miles to go today if our luck has anything to do with it. Of course it might take us a while to leave with our company numbers expanding so suddenly." He added meaningfully.

I blink. "Numbers expanding?" I ask, confused, "I thought we only had one more person. Who else besides Brother Timothy?"

-- Desiree

[Alberich]

Tim found himself having to hold back tears. But hold them back he did. He hadn't had pets of any kind since leaving home, but the bird had been so friendly...well, doubtless, it was a hard world when you were doing the Patriarch's business. And breaking down like that would ill befit a man, or an officer. He resolved to bury the bird decently when the time came and leave it at that. He awaited Rose's instructions to move.

[Graybeard]

Brother Tim might have been succeeding in holding back the tears, but he wasn't succeeding in fooling Sister Rose. A sentimental Orthodox priest ... whoda thunkit? she thought. And he has the bad fortune to get friendly with the only one of those birds I've ever seen that had a pleasant disposition. Let's try to fix this. (As Tim would come to realize, that last thought-sentence was just about Rose's mantra.)

"Best not to get too attached to the carrier parrots," she said gently. "They're really not animals, more in the line of constructs. And most of 'em don't have that friendly a disposition, either." She giggled in spite of herself. "You should have seen the first time Argus interacted with one of them." Another giggle. "Maybe he can tell you about it while we're on the road. If you want to pick up the subjects who are being 'questioned,' we'll get the wagon ready to go, as soon as you arrange an appropriately stern-looking escort." Not a giggle this time, but a wink.

And a concerned look at Argus, as soon as Tim was on the way to the cloisters. "I'm going to worry about him," she confided. "He seems like an awfully nice kid ... and the nice ones, particularly the ones who don't have a lot of experience of the real world, can be in for a terrible shock when they see what things are like on the road." A chuckle, and a weak smile. "Well, I guess he'll just be someone else for me to mother."

Although I'd much prefer the real thing ... Dammit, Argus, what's it going to take to get it through your head that we're falling in love?

It never occurred to Rose, however, that the "we" might not be as reciprocal in that thought as she believed it to be ... although, then again, it might.

[Alberich]

Tim opened his mouth and shut it again. There was no reply to that one, and he wasn't about to admit he was starting to love the bird anyway. Of course he'd seen enough animals killed -- he'd lived among farmers his whole life, and that was a part of it. Children died, hogs got butchered, accidents happened, but if it touched someone the right way, even a vicious little rat-catcher could be a hard loss. He wondered slightly at Rose's amusement -- how could anybody get even a single laugh out of a dead parrot? -- then dismissed the thought.

Tim couldn't read Rose's internal monologue. If he could, he would've been derisive - as if his Orthodoxy, the basic and perfectly sensible faith of the whole country, should make him incapable of human feeling. As things were, he stowed the dead parrot on the wagon for burial out of town, and was ready to leave.

[Drannin]

Argus gently laid a hand on Rose's shoulder. "You've done pretty well do far. And he's a tough kid. I'm sure he'll pull through just fine." He gazed at Rose a moment longer, taking in her pale features. "Is there anything else you want to tell me about this Getsemiel place?" He had a hunch about that...

[Graybeard]

"Is there anything else you want to tell me about this Getsemiel place?"

Sister Rose took Argus' hand, gave it a squeeze, took a deep breath ...

"It's the closest town to where -- Kenny was killed," she said. There, I said it ... and I didn't even start crying. "The actual site was down the coast a short distance, in a little cove where something had washed ashore that we Special Ops people were trying to deal with. We --"

That was as far as she could go on that particular subject at the moment. She physically shook herself. "If you could go there with me -- afterward -- well, I'd like that." Another squeeze.

[Drannin]

Argus winced. Oh, weave... what a shot in the heart that must be. No wonder her contact was so apologetic. "Of course," he said quietly. "Of course I'll come with you. I... can imagine how hard this must be for you." Thinking back to events in his own past, Argus realized that he did, in fact, understand just how agonizing this must be for Rose. His heart ached in sympathy, and he gave her hand a squeeze back.

"Do you need a moment? I'm sure the others would understand..." For his part, Argus didn't feel too inclined to leave Rose's side at the moment.

[Graybeard]

"Do you need a moment? I'm sure the others would understand..."

Sister Rose thought about it, then squeezed Argus' hand again. "No, no, we have a job to do," she sighed. "I'll be okay. Really." She started to say and besides, I shouldn't be feeling so sorry for myself, your losses have been as great as mine, and there were more of them and they were more recent. But then she caught herself: why remind Argus of his own pain? Another squeeze. "Just thank you for caring, and thank you for being there, and thank you for being willing to ... go see. Thank you for being you."

She was starting to say something else, but along came Brad and Lillith. Brad's open face was filled with concern at first; he was very fond of his cousin, and he'd grown fond of what he thought of as his father-in-law-to-be, and Lillith was right, there'd seemed to be some tension. But now he could see the two were holding hands ...

"All right!" he exulted softly, so that Lillith could hear him. "Looks like progress is being made, sweetheart, they're ..."

And that was when Rose turned to face him.

The very soft "oops" that escaped his lips wasn't really intended for anyone's ears.

[Jack Rothwell]

"Numbers expanding? I thought we only had one more person. Who else besides Brother Timothy?"

"Well...uh...no-one. But he has... umm... made an impression." Eli shuffled his feet and ran a hand through the morning mess of his long hair. "But they picked us up in Snamish before this town. I expect by the time we reach our desination we'll be a regular travelling circus." He spared a thought for Harkin. "A bigger travelling circus."

[Sareth]

"Numbers expanding?" I ask, confused, "I thought we only had one more person. Who else besides Brother Timothy?"

[OOC]You're pregnant, you just don't realize it yet.[/OOC]

[OOC]It's twins.[/OOC]

[OOC]Kidding.[/OOC]

[OOC]No, really. I'm kidding. Don't look at me like that.[/OOC]

"All right!" he exulted softly, so that Lillith could hear him. "Looks like progress is being made, sweetheart, they're ..."

And that was when Rose turned to face him.

The very soft "oops" that escaped his lips wasn't really intended for anyone's ears.

Lillith carefully, gently, and forcefully jabbed her femininely sharp elbow into Brad's ribs, causing him to wince. She gave the pair a smile. "Father. Mo" she winced, as though applying the elbow to herself. "Sister Rose. Something happened last night that you should probably know about. We met a child who's uncle had apparently been murdered. I think he implied the murder had taken place in the stable that burned yesterday." She noticed the sharp look Rose and Argus suddenly gave one another, but she continued on without comment. "The boy was terrified. He believes demons were responsible. And it's worse than that. His uncle had told him that some of the demons were Tsuirakuan. He mistook us for them at first and tried to defend himself with this." She pulled a bundle out of Brad's pocket and unwrapped it to reveal the little statue from the night before.