"Nobody has ever seen a troll and lived to tell the tale," Gaius said grimly. "Not in centuries. They're creatures of the Old North, if the stories are all true."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
“… then should the guards leave? So they don’t get hurt.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
"There's no time to get everyone off the wall," he replied. "An hour won't do it. We'll just have to hope it doesn't come too close."
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky shivered and nodded. How long would it take? Surely they could send a stable boy or two to sprint down the length and tell everyone to go inside.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He started up the stairs and immediately stopped, gripping the wall as his vision blackened with pain. He swayed, blinking to try and clear his eyes.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky glanced at him. He clearly wasn’t going to make it up the stairs on his own. At least not without considerable pain.
“You can lean on me if you need… want.” She glanced away, embarrassed and also not courageous enough to make eye contact when she was being this cheeky. “I’m stronger than I look… still got my farm muscles.”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He glanced at her, panting quietly as he caught his breath. He might need to. He wasn't going to make it to the fifth floor without support, even while he had his cane. "I'm not very heavy," he said reluctantly, nodding his assent.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
Ky was surprised that he agreed, but was pleased that she could be helpful. She hesitated, trying to think of how to help him. If she offered him a shoulder then it’d be no better than leaning on the wall — he’d still be doing all the work. So she wrapped her arm around his waist, still not looking at him, and took some of his weight.
(Just gave me a random flashback lol my maternal grandpa refused to eat the last few years of his life so he was very thin and tall and used a walker to get around and once he needed to go across a field so I wrapped my arm around him and basically carried him and he grunts and goes “guess I’m with the right one of ya” cause the rest of my cousins weren’t raised on a farm and were therefore weaker haha)
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(Aw poor guy That's exactly how Gaius might feel though, like really tall and bony, no muscle or fat)
Gaius shifted his weight onto his left foot and draped one long arm over her shoulder with a small sigh, gripping his cane as best he could with his right hand.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Exactly haha exactly same vibes. My grandpa was very light. Pretty sure even one of the others could have carried him. But it made my little farm kid self puff up with pride that he called me strong haha I was always the weakest of my siblings so it felt nice)(by which I mean I could “only” control 80 pounds and only lift like 100 pounds max haha)
He seemed ready, so she took a step upward, waiting for him to actually take the step even though she was basically carrying him. She wasn’t quite strong enough to carry him. Well. She might be. But not strong enough to do it with one arm. And she damn sure wasn’t going to offer to toss him over her shoulder. It still felt like a bit of a crime — but now one that she had license to commit. The ends justifying the means and all that.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
He moved with her, gritting his teeth even though the leg was up off the ground now. "Sera wants me to cut it off," he muttered.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Me too these days xD nearing a decade of academia is taking its toll lol)
She didn’t have any idea at all how to respond to that. She glanced at him. “…oh?”
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(Man maybe I better work out; I'm only an undergrad right now)
He nodded, not saying any more as he focused on getting up the stairs without putting too much weight on Ky.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
(Haha yeah honestly I’d recommend it. I’m not weak by any means and have the benefit of my job being moderately physical, but a few months ago I tried to do a workout video I did almost daily in high school on the intermediate level and I had to pause it like every two minutes on beginner haha made me feel old)
That was certainly not a can of worms she planned to mess with while they were this close. In fact, it was probably best not to talk at all, lest she risk upsetting him. Aleth had been working on forcing her to be physically proximate to himself without flinching, but she still trembled sometimes. She couldn’t help it. And she didn’t want to do that with Gaius. She didn’t want to think of him like that.
"u and rina are systematically watering down the grammar of yws" - Atticus "From the fish mother to the fish death god." - lehmanf "A fish stole my identity. I blame shady" - Omni [they/he]
(Oh ouch. Yeah I don't want that to happen to me Especially since my job will very likely be a desk job or time spent bending over a table looking at exhibition designs)
"Can you get us to the room at the end of the fifth floor hallway?"
Last edited by Ljungtroll on Thu May 05, 2022 9:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that." -Karis Nemik
When she transformed into a butterfly, the caterpillars spoke not of her beauty, but of her weirdness. They wanted her to change back into what she always had been. But she had wings. — Dean Jackson
