[Semi-Closed Post: Aornis Is a Real Headache]

[timebethine]

Somewhere around midnight, a migraine descended on Laertes like a thunderhead, and he still hasn't come out from beneath its anvil. He's spent most of the day hiding in bed with the curtains drawn, feeling as though he's about to be sick--and that feeling's only grown worse as the sun has drifted sluggishly to a low apex in the sky.

It isn't until mid-afternoon that he feels well enough to make progress on all his plans. He needs to speak to SecUnit about its drones, to Dionysus about whether Avernus (that is her name, isn't it?) is a goddess, and to Nightingale about whether he can offer magical support in case their confrontation goes sour. He needs to talk with Claudius about what to say when he does speak to her.

So it is that he starts making his rounds through the mansion and its grounds, seeking out friends old and new, clinging grimly to the thermos of coffee that smells sickeningly strong but also helps drive back the pain. His face is wan, his eyes shadowed. He would rather be doing anything but this.

Comments

[vineleaves]

“Let’s hope whatever the plan is, it works better — better than expected, you know? Then it won’t come to that at all.” He offers what he hopes is an encouraging smile.

There is still absolutely nothing about this entire situation he approves of, but it doesn’t seem like he has any choice in the matter.

[timebethine]

Laertes smiles back--strained at the edges, but he means it, and maybe Dionysus will be able to feel how much he means it. "I'll be careful. After all, I have yet to take advantage of your acting lessons, and Nina does so want me to be in her play."

[rememberettersberg]

"What do you mean to do exactly?" Nightingale is groping around for a notebook he hasn't used in weeks, wincing as he fails to find it in the shredded breast pocket of his uniform. "And what interference have people been experiencing in their dreams?"

[timebethine]

"I mean to speak with her, and to learn all that I can of what she has done and may yet do, and why," says Laertes. "I do not expect her to be truthful with me, but to that end, I'll have some spies close to hand, watching her from near and far, who might better be able to guess at her true meanings than I. I haven't met her yet, except in passing," he admits. "Nor have I spoken to anyone of the dream interference who had it directly--only to those who have stories secondhand."

[vineleaves]

Dionysus allows himself another moment of seriousness, then forces his smile even larger. "Of course! You can't back out on those lessons now, not when I've already started planning and you've gotten my hopes up!"

[timebethine]

"I'll see you again soon," Laertes promises, and goes.

[vineleaves]

Once the door closes behind Laertes, Dionysus allows himself to start crying. He picks up a bottle of wine from the table and moves to a small altar tucked away in a corner of the room. He's fairly certain nobody from his family will be able to hear him, trapped as he is here, but he's going to try to call in a few favors anyway.

[recognizance]

"That's per segment. It'll add up." Look, it knows seconds don't sound like much to humans, but a lot can happen in a second, okay? (Like an entire emotional crisis, if you're Murderbot.)

Really it would like a lot more concrete information on this whole operation. But a second is also more than long enough for it to conclude that Laertes is not an optimal color for humans right now, and probably not in a great frame of mind to discuss tactics. "Anyway, the short answer is yeah, I can do that for you."

[timebethine]

"Excellent. Do you have a drone already in the library? That's where I mean to speak to her. The earlier it can be placed, the less she will come to regard it with suspicion, or to associate it with my coming." Laertes reaches up to dig his thumb into the hollow of his left temple--at first it's meant to be just a quick little gesture, but the pressure doesn't ease, so he keeps rubbing that spot as though trying to dig the ache out of his skull.

[recognizance]

"Three of them, usually." It's big, and the sight lines are terrible. "They've been in there for a while. Probably before she even showed up here." Then, eyeing the temple-gouging with misgiving. "Are you sure you don't need an analgesic or something?"

[timebethine]

It takes a solid twenty seconds for Laertes to process the word. He has to drop back into Greek, algos, and then he briefly detours into trying to remember why it isn't an anaponic. Then he remembers that he is actually talking to a person, who asked him a question, that contains the word analgesic. "Yes," he says. "Yes, I would love an analgesic. They may be difficult to find, though, in this season." By now, Sagramore has apprised him of the problem with the cabinets.

[recognizance]

It's already on its feet, but pauses to ask. "What do you mean, in this season?"

(Because SecUnit, introvert that it is, hasn't actually clocked this yet -- it never needs food or medication itself, it's used to wearing the same outfit for months, and even it can only read so many books at a time.)

[timebethine]

"The house no longer yields up food or drink as it did before," he says. "Sagramore thinks it's because the season is no longer Winter, but Dark. I know not whether medicine is any different."

[recognizance]

SecUnit's expression sharpens. It hasn't paid much attention to the calendar, either, since its own internal timekeeping is far more precise, but clearly it needs to take another look. Meanwhile, Susan and her nonperishable supplies are starting to make more sense. "Great," resignedly. "Well, I don't know either, but I know there were some in the bathroom cabinet in my room, the last time I looked, and I know I haven't used them. I'll go check."

[timebethine]

"My thanks. I'll wait upon you," says Laertes--and at long last, he allows himself to stagger into a seat.

[wickedwit]

“Then put them down. They will wait for thee, and I will wait to listen.”

[rememberettersberg]

"Forgive me for saying so, but this all sounds a little vague. I wouldn't wish for you to put yourself in harm's way without a clear picture of what might occur."

[timebethine]

At that, Laertes subsides. The pain shifts and moves, ebbs and swells, but does not go; it is a squall grinding a rocky shore, and he can do nothing but shelter in the lee of Claudius until it has blown itself out.

[timebethine]

"You've dealt with dangerous people," says Laertes. "How--knowing they may do harm, and knowing that they may lie or conceal their plans to better do that harm--would you find them out?" A hesitation. "And how--suspecting, as I do, that the mind is where her greatest power lies--could you trust yourself to have a clear picture of what might occur?"

[rememberettersberg]

"In my experience, the only way to protect oneself from undue mind influence is a fortitude that comes from experience and practice, and unfortunately that's not something I'm able to provide. Perhaps I should join the ranks of your spies."

[timebethine]

"Have you the power to observe from afar? If not, I've made arrangements with SecUnit for it to observe through its drones, and to share what it sees with Claudius upon a CRT. You may join him in that vigil, if you wish."

[wickedwit]

Claudius guards Laertes while he sleeps, guards his peace if not his life, breathing slowly in Laertes’s arms. It lets Claudius rest, too, losing some of the brisk tension he first approached Laertes with. He just focuses on their breath.

[timebethine]

When at last Laertes stirs again, the storm has broken. He nestles a little closer--not for comfort, but out of gratitude and affection; his lips find Claudius's temple, his cheek, his lips.

[wickedwit]

Claudius hums a little against Laertes’s lips, returning a lazy, contented kiss.

[timebethine]

"My thanks," says Laertes, low, still half-drowsing. "I fear I spoke some dire nonsense to thee earlier."