Betrayal at House on the Hill

[angelcage]

[ You sleep, the ground cold beneath your cheek. The ground is hard as stone, cold marble beneath a fine layer of dust that doesn't come anywhere near acting as a cushion. The dust stirs with your breathing.


>> Wake up ]

Comments

[withintreason]

[ laughs -- and coughs, spitting up blood ]

Fool. This won't be where I die. Here and now will not be my death.

[ and she's going to start dragging herself away. where to? who knows. ]

[dendarii]

Yes. By all means. Go die twenty feet down the hall.

[ He's settling back now, just staring up at the ceiling. ]

[withintreason]

And what of you, you're just going to give up here --?

[dendarii]

Can't. Bones'll shatter worse if I stand. Sternum's already bad.

[ Damn Lucifer for that weak spot. He thinks he can feel the bone shifting in his chest. ]

[withintreason]

Then crawl, or are you really a dead man already?

[dendarii]

[ He turns towards her. ]

Crawl where?

[withintreason]

Out, obviously.

[dendarii]

[ Out? Can he even make it up those stairs? Does he even want to try? He's convinced this is a dream, but ...

He's silent a moment. Then, with a groan of pain, he manages to flop onto his non-injured side. He doesn't dare flop onto his stomach because that will certainly drive his sternum into his heart but - if he stays like this, he can just barely crawl along the floor towards the basement exit. ]

[withintreason]

. . . Hey, what's that? You're going to try, huh?

[ honestly, laughs a little ]

So much for that. I'm thinking better of you, dwarf.

[ she's pulling herself along too, a bit, but when he's at a closer distance she's offering a hand to him.

like, there's definitely a very clear intention of just picking him up, as if she's in any condition to do that. ]

[dendarii]

[ Miles grits his teeth. Still stubbornly pulling himself along until he comes to her outstretched hand. Pride yells at him to ignore her; practicality makes him reach up for her hand anyway. It's his only chance of getting out of here alive. ]

Miles. Not dwarf.

[ He wheezes wetly. ]

[withintreason]

[ she pulls him -- it's incredible, her strength even as a small girl. even as a dying girl. well, maybe it's the adrenaline -- it's something she's mastered, fighting and pulling herself out and clinging to life through the skin of her teeth. even when she was alive, even when she had nothing to live for but to kill arthur.

she's pulling him on his uninjured side to lean against her, and she'll drag them both along with her sword along the ground. ]

Miles?

[ bizarrely, like she's in a good mood ]

What sort of name is that?

[dendarii]

[ More evidence that this girl is fucking crazy. But the fucking crazy girl is currently dragging him to relative safety, and that's something. And besides, he's Barrayaran. Fucking crazy violent people are kind of the norm on his planet.

Simon was still completely, ridiculously unnecessary in his opinion, though. ]

It's my grandfather's. [ Wheeze. ] Means soldier.

[withintreason]

[ true, she is literally fucking insane. listen though he pissed her off, that's really why she killed him ]

Ahhh. Hah. Not much of a soldier if you don't want to kill though, huh?

[dendarii]

Well. I command more than I soldier. Conversion always served me better.

[withintreason]

Well, that explains some things.

[ is she going to insult you while she's carrying you

yes

there's a beat ]

Saber. You can call me that.

[dendarii]

[ gee thanks a lot. He just snorts, though. He's heard worse. ]

Saber, huh. It suits you.

[withintreason]

Well, what's a Saber without a sword? Obviously no one looking like me could be an Assassin, right?

[ ahhh stairs. she doesn't want to. but she does, just, drag them up. her breath is short and ragged but she seems to be in a good mood, anyway. ]

[dendarii]

I beg to differ --

[ Ow fuck stairs. Sorry Mordred, he's coughing blood all over your shoulder. ]

[withintreason]

Oi.

[ coughs, also. ]

You saw that armor I was lugging around. You think an Assassin wears that? Could it be that this commander is an idiot?

[dendarii]

[ He subsides after a moment. ]

N-no. Not my point. Mustn't ... rely on appearances. S'how I surprise people.

[withintreason]

[ mumbled, a little ]

Sure surprised me with that tackle of yours.

[dendarii]

[ A sharp, pained laugh. ]

Just so. Same applies to my people. Scrape together every advantage you can get.

[withintreason]

Hah!

[ --- coughs ]

Ah, damn. That's something I can respect. --damn, these stairs go on forever.

Your people all tiny like you?

[dendarii]

[ Another of those wet laughs. Despite everything, his vision is starting to darken and blur. Not good ... hold on, dammit ... ]

Alas. No. Most are at least five and a half feet, on average. I'm the smallest by far.

[withintreason]

[ i guess that's what size humans are normally ]

Huh. And here I thought you were like, a commander of gnomes.

[ grunts, as she finally gets to the top of the stairs -- and she squints, taking a moment to pause. ]

Oi oi, that wasn't there before, was it?

[ about the exit door ]