Ky glanced at him irritably. "And my alternative is to wander around until I find a brawny-looking spirit and then somehow figure out how to convince them to follow me around twenty-four hours per day to protect me from Michael, all while not being allowed to tell anyone that Michael is still here, and then me having to pretend like I don't see the extra person in the room and not mention any of this to anyone?"
"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]
"You're looking for answers that I don't have," Septimus said. "That's my best idea, which I don't owe you at all. Take it or leave it."
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
Ky pulled another book onto the stack in her arms, taking a moment. She really disliked this man. And yet she was being needlessly rude. She was only being this unkind because of who he was -- which wasn't like her at all. If he'd been a complete stranger behaving like he was now, she'd still be being polite. She needed to...
Well. She wasn't sorry. But. Well... if she wanted him to keep helping her... "... thank you."
"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]
"Hmf." He pulled out the book he'd been reading before and sat down in the armchair. "Good luck to you."
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
"...yeah." She took another book and then took a step towards the door, not at all sure of herself. Her better sense was chastising her. She really ought to be using the resources available to her -- sweet-talking Septimus and trying to piece more of the puzzle together. This wasn't like her at all to be this harsh to someone she'd only just met... well... to be this harsh at all, really. And yet... he just unleashed this visceral hatred in her. She didn't want to be nice to him. Didn't even want to be civil. Especially not since he didn't seem capable of talking longer than thirty seconds without slandering her father.
"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]
"Give Gaius my regrets, if you decide to tell him about me," he said, opening the book and finding his page.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
"Mm?" Ky asked, turning back to him. Absolutely not. If he wanted to make a proper apology, she'd seriously consider passing it along. But he wasn't going to reap the benefits of her coming up with an apology for him if he didn't really mean it. He wasn't going to get away with being vague if he wanted her to be his mouthpiece.
"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 looked back at her through his spectacles. "My regrets. Nothing more."
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
"Mm." She considered him another moment, trying to gauge whether he actually regretted anything at all. He didn't seem like he did.
"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]
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
Ky watched him for a moment longer then turned back towards the door and started towards it, not at all enjoying what she felt in that moment.
"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]
Gaius had sent for tea to be brought up to his study with two mugs and was fiddling with his letter opener. It could kill a living person, certainly, but he didn't know of any weapon that could kill a ghost.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
Ky decided to take her good old-fashioned time, the epitome of being conflicted. She shouldn't go back to Gaius. Not until she figured things out on her own. And yet it'd be unkind to leave him stewing in his office with the expectation of her coming back, if she wasn't actually coming back. Not to mention that would risk him running into Septimus -- and she was terrified that maybe whatever was happening to her may suddenly happen to him or Tomhas, in which case she needed to make sure neither of them was in the room with either of the monsters ever.
And... what was she supposed to do about the knowledge that Michael was around? And could hurt her? She clearly couldn't tell Gaius that. But she also knew herself enough to know she simply couldn't bear to have a ghostly bodyguard and not mention it, either. Not to mention what if the bodyguard needed to actually defend her?
She couldn't help but imagine how utterly traumatizing that one would be. Having to watch a ghostly fight -- with the very real possibility of needing to dodge if it got close to her -- while trying to pretend it wasn't happening if someone else was in the room with them when it happened.
Maybe she needed to just pretend she couldn't see any new ghosts that she passed and hope to god the others kept their mouths--
No.
She couldn't rely on that at all.
She didn't trust Septimus even a tiny bit, and now that he knew, she had to assume he may tell Michael. She was a Loquitur, after all. Not even an Ash by name. Why would he care to protect her? Especially now that she'd been rude to him.
Gods.
"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]
The tea arrived and he stirred cream and sugar into his, then poured some honey in as well. He sipped at it greedily, shivering as he looked around his study. He needed someone in here with him, to stay and guard him. To keep him safe. He needed to get all the doors locked as well, though he wasn't sure what good it would do. Perhaps he could trap Michael somewhere. Or maybe he needed to move the bones. That seemed logical. Moving the bones elsewhere would mean he couldn't be close, right? Keeping his tea close to him, he wrote down that question and started a bullet point list of things he needed to know.
"The artist deals with what cannot be said in words. The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words." --Ursula K. Le Guin
Ky shuffled down the hall, dread building in her gut. She didn't at all know what to do. And she didn't know who she could ask. Clearly she wasn't trusting anything out of Septimus's mouth, he thought...
...surely he wasn't telling the truth about Tomhas.
... was he?
That... no. No.
"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]
I love her dearly, but I can’t live with her for a day without feeling my whole life is wasting away. — Miss Kenton, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
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