fandomhighdorms | Just Outside the Main Gate, Friday Morning

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Just Outside the Main Gate, Friday Morning

He'd been assessing people resources for most of the previous day. Since there had yet to be word from Lady Zoe, Arthur took the opportunity today to scope out how much space there would be for a barricade - if one could even be feasible.

This brought him to the area just outside the gates, wearing full armor and backed by Merlin-the-idiot-sorcerer, his eyes shooting towards the road in front of them from time to time.

[[ open, especially to merlin, and zombie-ok as well! ]]

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It was a wild-eyed and indignant Romeo who was deposited at the school gates under stern orders to get inside and stay safe.

Orders which he, of course, was ignoring.

"It's happening again," he said, to no one in particular. "Death steals my loves, and leaves me no token."

"Romeo?"

That was a bit... dramatic. Arthur turned his head to give the man a look. "What's happened?"

Drama, sadly, was Romeo's thing in moments like this; Arthur was only lucky he hadn't gotten around to more suicidal threats yet.

"The beach," Romeo said, managing a straight answer for once. "Reno and Yurika were both taken and turned. I saw them, and I think they wanted --" he couldn't finish the sentence. "Some blond woman with a gun bundled me back to campus."

"Reno's been taken?" That was... bad news. Arthur tried not to let it show on his face, but some of it may have slipped through unnoticed. "Right. You should get to the indoors, Romeo," he added, with his best placating tone. The last thing they needed was another loose cannon throwing himself into the fray. "Find some calm."

"An unquiet mind rarely leaves me in the calm," Romeo said, but the tone of command helped a little, at least. He steadied himself and walked through the gate, then turned.

"Don't kill them, if they follow me this way," he blurted. "I cannot let them be taken further away. At least while they walk there's some tiny hope to see them restored."

"I'll make my best effort to keep Reno and your Dojima safe," Arthur promised him, "You've got my word, Romeo. Now get some rest."

Romeo let out a ragged breath, trusting in the secured promise. The two people dearest to him in Fandom would have life of some sort, at least, if one that filled him with horror.

"I shall. And I'll be out again soon. I can't sit by for long while the ghouls walk."

Right then, he needed to rest, and to cry.

Whoa. That was a little hard to ignore. Turtle frowned with concerned.

"Romeo? You okay?"

Stupid thing to ask, maybe, in a zombie invasion, but Turtle felt she had to.

Romeo laughed, harsh and wild. "Okay and I are not on speaking terms, this day. My love is a ghoul, my best friend the same, and this is not the first time those close to me have died. Perhaps my curse is that I will live and will not die and will just watch those around me as I lose them and I mourn."

Not okay at all, then.

Nope. That was categorically not okay.

"Maybe you should go inside, Romeo," Turtle said, her concern deepening to a point where she felt it in her stomach. "Everything's going to..."

She drew in a breath. To say that things like these always turned out perfectly fine was not exactly true.

"...it'll be fine, Romeo. It will. Everyone's working really hard to figure out what to do..."

"I didn't know there was anything to do, save try to kill them and hope for a miracle," Romeo said dubiously. "But I've been ordered inside firmly enough. I suppose it's the best I can do, for the night."

He held up a shaking hand. "I tremble too much to be of any use, anyhow."

"Um, yeah," said Turtle, nodding. "Definitely time to go inside for a bit. You need any help?"

Besides the obvious oodles of it.

"Yes, but none you can provide at this moment," Romeo said truthfully. "I'll go up to my room, rest, call someone."

He took a step toward the dorms. "Stay safe," he said, almost a plea.

Edited 2009-04-04 02:25 (UTC)

"Only if you do, too!" Turtle called out after him, because if there was anyone who was going to wind up doing something stupid in a bout of rational emo...

The expression that crossed Romeo's face was almost a smile. "I promise. It would do little good for me to get killed myself and add to the burden for everyone else."

Tempting as that option was, if you were Romeo.

No offense to Romeo, but she'd imagine people would have other things to immediately worry about than his death. But she nodded all the same, waving him on to get inside before he started being contagious.

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withoutverona - 2009-04-04 02:37 (UTC) - Expand

Sokka blinked at him. "Uhhhhh... Okay. That's a bit melodramatic, don't you think?"

Romeo whirled on him, face contorted with anger and grief. "When you have two dead best friends, a dead wife, and a dead beloved -- two of whom are so newly dead as to walk among us -- Sokka, you may judge me. Until then, leave me in peace before I punch you again."

Sokka frowned, trying to parse this new and strange language Romeo was speaking. "Wait -- Dojima's a ZOMBIE??!?! DUDE, are you all right? You sure you don't want to... lie down, or ... grieve, or ... something?"

"She is, and Reno as well," Romeo said testily. "As for lying down and grieving, I was hoping to get to my room to do precisely that."

"Dude. Um. Wow. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." Sokka swallowed nervously and looked around. "They'll be all right. Somehow. The island doesn't... I mean, people don't... It's not permanent. It can't be." He set his jaw defiantly. "We'll fix it."

"It seems permanent enough to me," Romeo said honestly, as a bit of the hard edge on his voice cracked. "I can only pray you're right, and this isn't the island's blessing turned to a curse."

"It... It's not," Sokka told him. "I won't LET it." Not that he could do anything ABOUT it, but still. "Mel came back from the dead, and Naminé, too. They'll be okay, you'll see."

"I know not. Perhaps," Romeo said, hope dawning in his eyes. "You'll be careful, won't you?"

"Of COURSE I'll be careful! 'Careful's my middle NAME! I..." Sokka sighed and shrugged. "Yeah, I'll try."

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