33 - Soldier | Dictated / Action

[radiantwingedone]

[ So Duke had woken up last night, a bit bewildered and confused as to where he was. But the quickly placed and frantically purring weight of his cat, and the intent humming of his Altaria had him... more or less just curling around them and going to sleep. He could deal with everything later.

And so he did. And it was a bit of a grumpy later, to be perfectly honest. Grumpy at the castle, grumpy at those Gentlemen creatures-

On that topic, he reaches over and... Oh, good, he can talk to the journal. ]

Assuming this means the.... gentlemen, were taken care of.

[ Duke's tone indicates if they got away with what they did, he's going to be fairly disappointed in all the residents. But on the other hand, he can talk again. Hopefully that means the damn things had been killed.

After that, Duke can be found either in the kitchen. He's pretty quick to avoid the table, though, despite his collection of snacks. ]

Comments

Dictated

[strangewonders]

[Oh, there's a welcome bit of normalcy in the midst of a mess]

They were taken care of, yes.

[There's a bit of a pause as he tries to figure out what to say next]

Welcome back.

Re: Dictated

[radiantwingedone]

Good.

[ He would have been... Upset at people, maybe. ]

Not certain if the location would render 'glad to be back' invalid, but it is preferable to ... not being back.

Re: Dictated

[strangewonders]

Better here than dead, certainly.

I'm sorry we didn't work out a way to stop them sooner.

Dictated

[radiantwingedone]

[ A vaguely agreeing hum, then silence. Can he figure out how to word this? ]

The feeling is... understandable. However the only thing I am irritated at is my own lack of ability to fend them off.

[ If, for some reason, Howl was feeling sorry because of that. Duke sort of doubted it, but at the same time, that would be why he would say sorry in this situation. ]

And then Luna was a terrible person

[peacockherald]

Welcome back, Duke.

_{[ The relief is palpable in Vanyel's voice. Loosing his friends, even temporarily, had hurt him deeply, like being back in Haven all over and coming home with more grave stones to mark with flowers. ]}

Dictated

[strangewonders]

If it makes you feel any better, it turns out they could only be hurt by human voices.

[Which might be a small comfort, but hey.]

Terrible? where :|a

[radiantwingedone]

[ That relief is a little... uncomfortable for him. Duke spends a little time inspecting an orange. ]

The setting aside.... it is good to be so.

Because I said I would tag when he died and I didn't and I'm terrible ;;

[peacockherald]

I am... sorry for what happened. We should have prevented it.

_{[ And yes, he did feel like he had failed his friend, in a very big way. Letting him die... It was failing, plain and simple. ]}

Dictated

[radiantwingedone]

[ Silence for a little while. ]

Which would explain why they stole voices.

[ He doesn't really like that 'could only' in that sentence, which could account for how grumpy his reply is. ]

Ahhh /petpet. Do you still want to say he has Duke's sword?

[radiantwingedone]

I feel that I ought to be able to have prevented it.

[ Extra grumpy sounding there. He's not sure how to take the rest of that. ]

[lord_wizard]

[There is a certain wizard wandering into the kitchen, but he doesn't seem to notice the man at all. He seems distant and distracted - in this case particularly with a spot on the floor. The spot Duke died, though Felix doesn't know that. He only sees blood]

... ouch-

[radiantwingedone]

[ Duke is a little occupied with his stomach, but he recognizes when he's getting near a spot that he really ... isn't comfortable stepping over yet.

Sorry Felix, Duke accidentally stepped into you. He manages to keep hold of the wedge of cheese and bread he was holding, but that is an apple and orange rolling away. ]

Sorry, wasn't paying attention.

Dictated

[strangewonders]

Yes. A bit obvious in hindsight, really. I'm not happy it took so long to work out.

[Or that he'd failed so completely at coming up with a solution himself]

Duke

[rose_of_battle]

[She had heard he had been a victim, and the relief that floods her when she hears his voice is indescribable. Setting the filter for her friend, she says one word.]

...Duke...

Dictated

[radiantwingedone]

Hmmn.

[ He might be taking a moment to eat a little. ]

Think that the moment we start following that logic when something is taken, the idea would prove false..

[ Although that is starting to make him wonder about the castle, even if he can't think of anything that what was taken can be used as a weakness. It was too varied... ]

Sheena

[radiantwingedone]

... You are back as well.

[ He doesn't know how to react to that relief, Sheena, so it might be a tiny bit slow for him to reply. ]

sorry-not sorry?

[lord_wizard]

[Felix makes a brief move to catch the wayward fruit and stop immediately, finally catching sight of the bedraggled wolf-headed man in front of him. He makes an alarmed sound and backs up a step]

It wasn't your fault.

Never be sorry-

[radiantwingedone]

... Think that is arguable.

[ If Duke had been paying more attention, maybe he wouldn't have walked into him. If he hadn't been standing still in the kitchen, Duke might not have walked into him. either way-

Duke's eyebrows go together for a moment. If he disregards tone(and the sound that came before speaking-), he knows that voice. ]

... Felix?

[lord_wizard]

[Felix shook his head and looked away. The wolf's pain was difficult to look at]

He's not here.

[radiantwingedone]

...?

[ That's odd to him, because he's pretty sure he's talking to Felix. But he can move along regardless. ]

... Alright. Did you want anything from the kitchen? [ He's sort of... going to continue treating him like Felix. ]

Dictated

[strangewonders]

No, certainly not. But it's worth keeping in mind, at any rate.

[lord_wizard]

[He's still stuck on that spot]

I couldn't prevent it.

[radiantwingedone]

... Couldn't prevent...?

[ That seems like a "no, I don't want anything", but Duke finds the table and chairs and sets his food by a chair.

He's going to make tea anyway.

He doesn't know the rest of that sentence, but 'couldn't prevent' seems like "couldn't prevent deaths", in relation to the Gentlemen, which.. seems like a way to go, even if Duke isn't sure why Felix would be feeling this way about it. ]

[lord_wizard]

[He means everything. The death. The leaving. This thing that's happening to him that he can't shake off]

Bad things. The thing that happened to you.

[radiantwingedone]

I'm sure someone would say that "you are supposed to have bad things once in a while."

[ Something about needing happiness and sadness to live a full life.

Duke stares roughly at the kettle. ]

Which is ridiculous.

[ He could have been happy without the unease that footsteps give him now. ]