voicetest the voiceless

[focusedvoid]

They're not dead.

Less dead than they'd felt, at least. Their shell doesn't normally take so long to reform.

Then again. Their shell doesn't usually break of their own violation as they ascended in a boiling rage, ate at least one realm, a god, and all the Godseekers.

(That last point is debatable, actually. There's some odd sense, deep under their...shell? Void? Wherever they once stored things like Isma's Tear, much deeper now...that the sea-mind is still there, sluggish and held in a stasis. They're already adjusting enough, and they don't seem to be dying or trying to kill them, so that problem is neatly sorted as 'for later'.)

They push their body to stand. Their horn clangs uncomfortably loudly against the grate they've apparently woken up beneath. They're somewhere in the Royal Waterways. A quick check of the map--or, not so quick, as it takes time to locate where it had been--shows they've risen about halfway through, closer to the City of Tears than the White Palace. They'll go to the Stag Station in the City Storerooms next.

So they think. Complications arise on the way.

The Infection is gone, leaving dead Flukes, Pilflips, and Hwurmps in piles enough it takes time to force their way past. Their body seems too small. No, their body is fine--there's something wrong with perception itself. That will take time to adjust to.

Then, they discover the Monarch Wings now stretch and warp when used, twisting around the nearest pipes after landing before the Knight forcibly calls them back. Shade Wings, they decide to call these.

Once they're high enough to hear the rain above, they realize a noise they'd ascribed to water running in the distance is, in fact, something swirling behind their mask. Many somethings. All the fragments of Siblings with enough self left, staring out from their eyes. It's disconcerting.

By the time they actually get out of the Waterways, they're using their Shade Wings to grip ledges and drag themselves up, with those holding onto things better than their own arms are with the Mantis Claw. 

The Knight faceplants awkwardly onto the floor of the building Lemm's shop is in. If the City is the same as below, there's little left to try killing them in the area.

They'll just take a moment here, thanks.

Comments

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is hesitant until they start communicating. Alright, alright, he gets it, the Knight who chased off a Goam is not particularly fragile!

He is a lot firmer than he was before. The Knight will find themselves thoroughly rubbed down and scrunched at with the coat, now that they've been clear. It's not the best towel to be using, because it's not like any fabric left sitting in the City of Tears' permeating atmosphere is going to be absorbent before too long, but Lemm compensates with a little extra time taken to be sure they're dry.

The whole thing is finished with a kind of revenge-y little razz at their face with the fluffier part of the coat.

And then it is dumped on them like a blanket. Take that. (No, really, they can keep it, since they wanted to last time.)

[focusedvoid]

They don't actually care that much about getting dry, as they're going to the City of Tears quite soon anyway. This is for...comfort.

That's really the whole idea when they get down to it. For them, this feels pleasant. For Lemm, perhaps it simply feels pleasant too, or perhaps it feels like a contribution in return. They're not going to disrupt this with questions.

Once it's finished, they sit right down with the cloak still over their head. (A pun could be made about bedsheet ghosts, if those were something they had awareness of.)

[capitalcurator]

Quite honestly, Lemm's mostly just doing this to feel involved. It's nice, being involved. Makes him feel pleasantly ordinary, and not like someone who's spent too long in a dead city caring about nothing but objects that can't take offense.

Seeing the Knight just commit to being under the coat, Lemm snickers. He'll keep busy with a bit more of an attempt at de-tangling his beard. Maybe he ought to consider trimming it after today's little embarrassment. (Loathsome idea, dismissed immediately.)

Lemm gathers up his things from under the bench, and - this time with no accompanying uncertainty - pats the Knight on the head.

"Take your time, then! I'll wait with the little one. They've been hovering long enough."

[focusedvoid]

The cloak rustles as they try to wave under it. It just looks like they're trying to get out and failing. Maybe that is the case, with how they eventually slump down without doing so.

(Not really. They're just going to wait a tiny bit longer for relaxation purposes.)

Greenhorn hears and does a happy little flip before drifting back outside by the bag. They're not fully inside it this time, but they are poking at the mess of papers they've made less organized by looking at.

[capitalcurator]

He greets Greenhorn with a similar little pat on the head. It's easier with them somehow. Likely because he hasn't been buying relics off them for most of the time he's known them. They're in a different box, one that does not include making businesslike deals and being vaguely aware that they're much older than they look. (This is still true, but - in a different way.)

He isn't in the mood to make sense of it now. Lemm catches them in the act of prodding the Knight's notes around and clears his throat pointedly.

"I need those as reference." Yes, even the irrelevant stuff! He flags a hand near Greenhorn in an attempt to get them to leave the papers alone and make space for him to re-pack his stuff. "I'm writing a very important historical account, and the Knight is - helping. Off with you."

[focusedvoid]

Aww. They're just moving them, not taking them away! But okay. They flip again, because they can, and it's not something they actually tried before and it's fun. Flippy circles over Lemm's shoulder until they're dizzy enough they need to stop, another new feeling.

The Knight escapes the cloak, packing it away. Time to keep going.

...They could just walk across the room...

Instead, they blast forward with the Crystal Heart and sharply halt just at the entrance.

[capitalcurator]

Seeing the little one whirl about like that is... kind of amusing. Lemm brings a hand up to steady them when it stops. "So much energy. You really are siblings," he remarks offhandedly.

Speaking of. The noise of the Knight blasting off has Lemm whipping around just in time to be utterly convinced they're going to crash into him. Several of the tools clatter noisily to the floor as Lemm clumsily tries to sidestep.

Lemm flashes them a moody look after they've stopped. "Menace," he repeats, stooping to pick up a pair of battered-looking pliers and waggling these scoldingly at the Knight before packing the rest away. "Is that how you shot across Fountain Square? You won't be doing that near my collection, I'm telling you now."

[focusedvoid]

Greenhorn scolds the Knight, hey! Don't beak things! Just because they did by accident doesn't mean you should! The Knight is mildly startled and far more amused as they bow politely to both.

With an unheard huff, Greenhorn sweeps down to help pick Lemm's tools back up.

The Knight leaves them to it, going ahead somewhat. They're calm, not foolish. There were more Goam around here once.

[capitalcurator]

He lets Greenhorn help with a sense of mild surprise. It's still novel to him that they'd want to - even if it's been clear for a while what sort of person the little Shade is.

"Careful now, that's heavy - there you go." It's endearing. In his current high spirits, Lemm can't pretend it isn't. He flips the bag closed and dips his horn to beckon them along. "Hm. I'd make an assistant of you if I didn't think it'd bore you to tears. Come."

He'll follow the Knight some way behind, this time a little less inclined to forget his surroundings in favour of entertaining Greenhorn. The Knight shouldn't be the only one watching for trouble, and he was a fool to forget.

[focusedvoid]

They wouldn't be bored! But they might get nervous staying out without any siblings around. Unless--they float slightly ahead--more wanted to be there to help?

The Knight quickly vetoes that idea. No Siblings invading Lemm's shop without a great amount of warning and introductions, and very few are interested by that at the moment.

They're incredibly careful travelling forward. There are many, many more Goam tunnels than they thought there were. They gesture for Lemm and Greenhorn to stop and wait as they check each, jumping over and making noise above each multiple times.

By some miracle, none appear. Not even a distant rumble.

(And it might be a 'miracle'. The Knight is a Higher Being now. Their rage and direct demand that a surviving thing in a domain claimed by the Lord of Shades, intentionally or no, to stay gone could have influence and repercussions. They don't come near to considering this.)

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is just as cautious. As far as he's got any clue, having a second person paying some proper attention could well have prevented the earlier encounter to begin with, or at least given them all some warning. He's been privately feeling off about that since it happened. If only he'd thought.

(What would he have thought? Nothing, probably, he didn't fully register what might occupy those holes until the Goam appeared. But it's the principle of the thing, and Lemm won't be risking it again by getting carried away.)

It's only after it seems reliable to believe they're in the clear that Lemm draws a bit more closely behind the Knight and breaks his silence. The Station is near, and Lemm is really wishing it wasn't - even if the lightness from their ridiculous splashing around is smoothing over that thought a little.

"Will you be riding, or do we part at the Stag Station? No sense in you coming all the way back, I'm sure."

[focusedvoid]

Truthfully, they feel they shouldn't leave him with how shaky he was after the last time. They have a less pride-wounding reason, though, and feel reluctance to end this whole thing on a sour note.

They respond after taking another careful once-over over the surroundings. (Greenhorn takes a look around too from somewhere around Lemm's shoulder, a bit less carefully.)

I plan on passing through the Resting Grounds after, and it's nearby the City, so I'll be going at least that far.
If you're amenable, I'd like to save any planning for a different trip for another time.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is vastly reassured, even if he only responds with a nod. Another time is about as good as a next time and he'll take that as a sign it hasn't gone too badly. (Also, there will be someone else riding with him, so... yes, he may have been fishing a little bit there.)

He nods. "I'm amenable, and anyway I'll need a break when I get back - I'm a fair bit rustier than I thought." He considers asking what's so important in the Resting Grounds. Are you stupid enough to ask that question? snaps the one part of him with any decorum, and he keeps his mouth shut.

When they reach the Station entrance, Lemm does not stop or steel himself or think about what to say before going in. That way lies madness, probably. Instead he strolls up to the platform's edge and stands there, ordinarily as any bug, and addresses the Stag that he just now realises has been waiting here the whole time oh no. The Knight was right.

Lemm opens strong: "Stag."

The Old Stag watches him, fairly nonplussed. "Relic Seeker," he offers right back in a friendly enough tone, "and two-!"

"City Stor-" interrupts Lemm accidentally, and immediately the fight goes out of him. His hand comes to touch at his forehead, not quite a facepalm, and he shuts his eyes against the sheer force of Shame: The Sequel.

"...Two little ones, this time," the Old Stag finishes, looking at him to see if he's going to do it again. He is doing an absolutely top-notch job of masking a glimmer of amusement, because he is a professional. "City Storerooms, did I hear?"

Lemm forces himself to straighten out and stop cringing. "Yes." He is silent. Dead silent. Then he remembers himself at the last second and in the stiffest voice in the world the Stag receives a... "Thank you."

He steps aside and gestures rather intensely at the Knight. Maybe they'd like to pick a station on the map and get on first that would be great.

[focusedvoid]

They're a little more aware of Lemm's...concerns, now. They still don't think the Stag will hold any kind of grudge or serious bother, but they still hop up as soon as they're able. Might as well try to make this go by as quickly as possible, now that it's too late to be what Lemm might consider exactly painless.

They're partly thwarted by their sibling, though perhaps the distraction could be a blessing. The Old Stag huffs in cautious amusement when Greenhorn makes their way in front of his face, studying him intently. "Do I have something on my face, little one?" he asks, and outright snorts a laugh when they nod.

They don't get it--he does! It's a beard. All over his face.

The Knight tells them not to touch it. No, not even the parts that hang down farther than the rest. It's time to get going, anyway, come along. Lemm doesn't like it. The reminder does get them to hurry, though they examine the seats with some fascination before they anchor onto the armrails.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is less clumsy at climbing up this time now that he's done it once. The Stag still has to accommodate, but at least he's slightly more sure-footed. His grip on the rail is just as tight however.

The result at the other end of the line is a considerably ruffled Lemm with an even worse-ruffled beard - the air rushing past has done the dampness no favours, and there's strands sticking out all over the place. Lemm seems mostly unaware of this as he shakily clambers down onto the platform.

He would love to just walk away with even less acknowledgement than last time. But he's already convinced himself it matters, so with as much normality as he can muster he turns back and gives the Old Stag a jerky little dip of the horns.

[focusedvoid]

The Old Stag is already getting a read on this one, at least for this particular day, and he alters his speech from as much as he wishes to say to a simpler, "It was good to have you."

Greenhorn is a blob against the back of the seat who decides Lemm's right, and they don't think it's as fun as their strongest sibling finds it. As soon as they register how they've all finally stopped, they dive back into the Void, also known as the Knight's eyeholes with enough force to bump them back against the seat.

After recovering from that, they shake their head a bit and jump to the platform long enough to gesture to the Resting Grounds.

Then they turn to Lemm and, as is the norm, give a bow.

[capitalcurator]

He's still rattled! But the Knight was (apparently, if the Stag isn't faking) dead-on about the Stag's patience, and besides, by the looks of it Greenhorn's on his side for this one. Lemm's discomfort about the ride is still at full tilt, but... the social aspect a smidge less so.

They're not always going to get a return bow out of him. But his voice isn't very trustworthy at present, so they get a half-one now.

He dips his head again at the Knight, shrugs his bag more comfortably over his shoulders, and departs.