(no subject)

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

Who: Noric and Xavier
Where: ramshackle rustic house near the Lacerta border of Lepus
When: Year 185, late spring (and onwards)
What: married life

[In the kitchen, Noric shouts through the door into the next room.]

Xavier, either you move this pile of books from where they are, or they will tragically find themselves knocked into the fire.

Comments

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

[it takes him a minute to register]

Sorry, did you say something?

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

I said I'm eating this copy of Dragons of the North for dinner.

[and then the sound of paper ripping]

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

[gets up quickly, snatching it from his hands]

That is savagery. Unethical.

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

You have two copies. Now move this stack, it's already a fire hazard, this close to the cooking fire.

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

Move it where exactly?

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

Somewhere else.

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

[there's an annoyed huff as Xavier takes the books and puts them on top of another stack of books which are away from the fire]

There.

[YEARS LATER]

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

[ Xavier slams the door as he storms in ]

Re: [YEARS LATER]

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

[the house is still empty. Noric isn't back yet.]

Re: [YEARS LATER]

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

[he tries to take a book to read, but after flipping the pages aimlessly, he tosses it aside and focuses on the complete silence in the house]

Re: [YEARS LATER]

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

[Dead silent.]

Re: [YEARS LATER]

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

[covers his ears]

It's nothing, Xavier. It's nothing.

Re: [YEARS LATER]

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

[No response.]

[King's Year 193, winter]

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

[It's a day like any other. The house is quiet, as it has been for months now... over a year.]

Re: [King's Year 193, winter]

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

[he's sitting down with his soup, and a book on the table, flipping over a page ever five minutes or so]

Re: [King's Year 193, winter]

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

[there's a knocking at the door, suddenly.]

Re: [King's Year 193, winter]

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

[that startles him and he spills some soup on the pages]

Oh, bugger all. [getting up grumpily to open the door] I hope you have a good excuse for visiting me in the night.

Re: [King's Year 193, winter]

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

[It's Noric, but looking infinitely different from when you last saw him. He's wearing the black of the priests now, a long cloak over more closely fitted gear. His sleeves are loose, terminating at the elbow, where steel vambraces take up the rest of his arm from wrist upwards. A metal amulet bearing a shield design hangs around his neck. His hair's gotten longer, too, but the wry look he gives Xavier is exactly the same. He holds up a wrapped package that looks suspiciously like a book.]

I like to think it is. Hello, Xavier.

Re: [King's Year 193, winter]

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

Noric.

[waits, frowns] You're late.

[Year 186, fall, Lepus]

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

[He's been in this house for two months now. Before that, two months on the road to get here, travelling slowly while he recovered. A month in the Pavo healing centre... or so he's told. Time tended to blur in those walls.

It still feels awkward here, like being in an ill-fitting skin. Some days he thinks he's adjusting, getting used to it. Others, he really, REALLY just doesn't want to try.

Today is one of those days. So it's after noon and he's curled up in bed under his blankets, trying to block the world out.]

Re: [Year 186, fall, Lepus]

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

[knocks on the door]

Noric? It's late.

Re: [Year 186, fall, Lepus]

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

[doesn't reply, but there's a flicker of irritation.]

Re: [Year 186, fall, Lepus]

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

[ignores it]

You need to eat sometime.

Re: [Year 186, fall, Lepus]

[xceptional.insanejournal.com]

I'll eat later.

Re: [Year 186, fall, Lepus]

[xistential.insanejournal.com]

You said that yesterday.