fandomhighdorms | The Stables, Thursday Afternoon

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The Stables, Thursday Afternoon

After a fruitless morning spent throwing himself repeatedly at the end of a road (and shouting things at it, and demanding things of it, which as it turned out wasn't very effective) Arthur finally gave up on that avenue of things and guided his horse back into the stable. If he hadn't been antsy before, he certainly was now.

He stared at the horse's flank for more minutes than he'd be comfortable admitting to. There had to be something he could do - there weren't any sorcerers left on the island he could even consider trusting (which wasn't really new) and there didn't seem to be any other way home. Or... wherever Merlin had gone.

Except... portals.

And willing very hard wasn't going to call one of them to life.

Not for the first time, he felt utterly helpless and useless in this place, but now there was no one around to as much as make a bid at chasing off the despair that was threatening to crowd the rest of him.

He didn't like it. He tousled his own hair with one frustrated gesture.

[[ stables are open, as is this post! ]]

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So, fresh-baked snickerdoodles and no answer when Francine knocked on her boyfriend's door. No Merlin in the common rooms or his boss' place either. She could just sigh, wander back to her own room and eat them herself, but there was the chance he was down here polishing ... something. Armor or tack or for all she knew, Arthur's horse.

The combined smell of snickerdoodles and horse was ....interesting, Francine supposed, as she looked around. "Merlin? Are you in here?"

"Francine."

Her presence jerked Arthur out of his thoughts, and he looked aside to find the source of her voice.

"Not-Merlin," Francine answered as she followed his voice over. At least she had a ready-made excuse to flee ~~when~~ if the conversation ended up in Awkwardville like... every other conversation they'd ever had. "Is this your horse?"

"Yes," Arthur answered, automatically. Then added: "Merlin's... indisposed at the moment."

Yeah, even he was wincing internally at how that one sounded.

"Indisposed?" Francine repeated. If that was code for somebody gave him a black eye too, there was gonna be some hot badgerfacing in the old town tonight. "Is he okay?"

Arthur had absolutely no idea. "He's gone," he clarified, after a moment. "Some of the causeway's magic has taken him. I'm looking to get him out."

You know, if she had any ideas she'd mind offering to him without him having to ask.

"Gone??!" She was doing a lot of repeating today, but that one was pretty much unavoidable. Also, accompanied by a flailing bag of cookies. Please don't scare the horses, Francine. "What? When? How? Where?"

Arthur winced just the slightest bit. "On the causeway this morning," he said, tactfully. Was he going to have to subdue another hysterical woman? He had his own problems.

Possibly, yes. Unlike Katchoo who didn't actually get hysterical, she just got murderous, especially when people accused her of being hysterical, Francine really was.

Then again, Francine had never traveled via the causeway, so she had only the vaguest idea how said magic worked. "What happened? Are you saying he disappeared? Or did he just go into the city?" Which had its own issues, because Lexington Park was a lot bigger than Fandom Island, and a medieval kid on a horse would stand out. To say the least.

Edited 2009-05-07 17:00 (UTC)

"He vanished," he clarified, "But I'm looking into it. No need to worry."

Because Arthur was doing that enough for the both of them underneath about fifteen layers of determined-Knight and contained frustration.

"Don't worry?" Yes, telling Francine that always worked. Once she got over the panic, she was possibly the best worrier in any dimension, thank you very much. "You're kidding, right?" Francine shook her head, then shoved her hair back out of her face with her non-cookies-holding hand.

"Why was he out on the causeway? Where were you going?" She knew you could get places that weren't Maryland from there, but from what she understood, Merlin and Arthur hadn't exactly had a lot of luck with that before. Still, knowing where they'd been trying to go might tell them where Merlin was.

Edited 2009-05-07 17:25 (UTC)

"We were trying to return to Camelot," he said, which was all the explanation she should need. "I remained where I was, but he's vanished." Pause. "I'm not 'kidding'," he added. "There's no reason for concern. I'll-- deal with it."

Lots and lots of reason.

Francine needed a hell of a lot of explanation about trying to return to Camelot, actually, but the phrase threw her so off-guard that she entirely forgot to panic for at least five seconds. "You were trying to get someplace you haven't been able to get back to, and Merlin disappeared, and what if you got stuck there like you got stuck here? I-- We'd never have seen ~~Merlin~~ either of you again and never even know what happened to you!"

Okay, three point seven seconds.

Edited 2009-05-07 17:54 (UTC)

Oh, brilliant. "I realise that," Arthur said, tactfully, "But there's more important things to focus on right now." Like how to get Merlin back or, ideally, the both of them to Camelot.

Actually, ideally would've involved him in Camelot and Merlin here, where he wouldn't wind up dead of his own stupidity.

He caught himself before he said something stupid, like, I'll make sure to get him back to you.

Francine opened her mouth to argue that point, then took a deep breath and acknowledged he was right.

So she went back to arguing the other point. "Okay, yes. Like trying to get him back. What do you mean you'll deal with it? Do you know how?"

At least she wasn't throwing another fit at him. "I'll-- see what the Lady of the Castle knows about the causeway," Arthur said, smartly, because that would be very reassuring.

"...Who?" Not one of Francine's quicker-on-the-uptake moments.

"The Lady Zoe," Arthur corrected, somewhat irritably. "If anyone should know why Merlin's gone missing, it will be her."

"Oh." As you might imagine, this was a word with which Francine was extremely familiar. "Principal Washburn. Uh, Winchester, I mean. That's a good idea, yeah." Not that it erased the worry-line between her eyes, but it might have softened a little.

Which yes, meant she had more faith in Zoe's ability to do something about the problem than Arthur's, but can you blame her?

Arthur would be incredibly offended if he wasn't as completely lost for any solutions as he was right now. This entire island was like a concentrated assault on his pride. "I know it's a good idea," he said, to save said pride, "So I'm going to get to that, and you'll return-- to your business."

Francine sighed. "My business was sharing some snickerdoodles with Merlin. That's kind of out now. You can have some if you want, though."

"..."

Arthur eyed her.

"Absolutely not," he said.

Francine looked slightly hurt. "Why not? There's nothing wrong with my snickerdoodles." It's the ones from the Junior Achievers Bakesale you have to watch out for.

"I'm sure there's nothing wrong with your... snickerdoodles," Arthur said. Politely.

"I guess I could go have snickerdoodles by myself," she said, "But it's just not the same." Though it would mean more snickerdoodles for her. "You sure you don't want any?" This time, though, she held up the bag of cookies.

Arthur would just be over here, trying not to stare, thank you. "No, thank you," he said, "I'm not hungry. I..."

He did not look awkward in the slightest, thank you. "Need to speak with the Lady Zoe. I'll make sure you're kept informed of whatever happens."

Francine, on the other hand, looked like she wanted to do what she always did in situations where she was worried out of her mind. Namely, flee, so she could eat the entire bag of cookies, half a gallon of milk, and whatever else she might find in the refrigerator. Any refrigerator.

At Arthur's last words, though, the tension in her face softened for a moment. "Thank you."

Arthur and thanks never really did blend well. He merely nodded at her, curtly. "Francine," he said, which was a dismissal and some recognition at the same time.

"I'll just..." Oh, for [word she learned from Katchoo but sadly how not to conjugate it properly]'s sake. She wasn't glued to anything this time either, and for once, she could take a damn cue to go. "Yeah. Bye, Arthur."

Despite some interested sniffing as she passed the horses' stalls, she managed to escape with both her composure and her snickerdoodles intact.

Liir wasn't actually heading for the stables of course, but if Makejoy wanted to go there to chase mice, he certainly wasn't going to fight her. She'd gone on her walk, behaved herself quite well after the madness of Tuesday, and she deserved a little fun.

He was surprised to see Arthur there, but thankfully Makejoy behaved herself around him, gave him a glance, and headed off for the much more useful mice.

"Good day," he said, though from all appearances, it wasn't.

Oh, terrific. Lose one wizard, the rest comes out of the woodwork.

"Liir," he said, after a slight internal war on whether he actually cared enough to respond; he'd settled on a compromise that involved keeping his attention disinterested and squarely on the horse as he said it.

"Arthur," he replied with a hitch of breath; no fear, just withheld amusement. He knew the other boy's name as well, after all.

"What're you doing out here?"

A few squeaks had Makejoy racing past him and outside.

...

Arthur glanced from the horse to Liir, back to the horse, and then back to Liir once more. "I'm in a stable and I have a horse. Clearly," he said, "I'm knitting."

He snorted.

"I was under the impression you had other people to take care of your horse."

He wasn't going to mention Merlin because it would be rude. Also, it would irritate him and make him sharper than he should be; Arthur and Merlin really weren't any of his business, after all.

"And you could be knitting. It's a nice enough day and the hay is fresh and soft."

Oh, for the love of-- "Just because I have a servant doesn't mean I don't know how to tend to my own horse," he said. Normally, it would be a minor annoyance (of the kind he suffered here daily) but on days like this, with more pressing concerns on his mind, they added to the fire, and the distinct feel of disdainful, quasi-amused sarcasm on his end. "If obvious questions are all you've got, there are other people who can use your attention."

"Fair enough, then answer this: what's the bee in your bonnet?" he said, sitting down to watch the dog use up some of her energy.

"You're usually better at making fun of me."

There was a pause.

"Also, your hair is sticking up at the back, if you didn't know."

"There is no bee in my bonnet, but thank you for caring," Arthur said, because honestly, who did Liir think that he was?

He did, however, reach up to flatten his hair before he even realised he was doing it. "Trust me, I've got better things to do than making fun of you."

"I'm sure you do.

"Do you need any help with them?"

Simple. Immediate. Honest. Not even a hint of mocking. He would drop his plans for the day if Arthur needed assistance. The other boy had his faults, but so did Liir and Liir figured he owed him something for the talks they had. Maybe he did and maybe he didn't, but that's how he saw it.

That kind of behaviour made it really hard to be frustrated at someone, but Arthur felt - perhaps mulishly - that he was allowed to be. "I can handle my own problems," he said, "So unless you know anything about portals, the answer would be no."

"If I thought you couldn't handle something," he told Arthur with a sideways look, "I wouldn't look up to you or ask you for advice.

"All the same, I've never actively dealt with them other than going through to a few places, home chiefly, though the once was about 500 or so years into the future for me.

"What do you need to know?"

He thought perhaps the Principle might know something, not that he knew where to find her. Liir was just a big fan of Asking Superiors.

Caught between irritation at the easy way he'd opened himself up for that remark and some odd spark of pride that at least someone around here didn't see fit to question him like he was some idiot savage, Leto, Arthur returned his attention to the horse. And the saddle.

Until he remembered that he'd already removed it, and now his hands were merely set on the horse. "Well, that's useful," he decided upon, testily, "Nothing you've ever concerned yourself with, by the sounds of it."

What was it with all of these wizards that didn't know anything useful if it smacked them in the head? Arthur almost preferred the kind that tried to kill him on a regular basis.

"All I know I've learned through having a problem and needing to solve it. No one's ever had a problem with a portal before so I've never tried," he said with sigh as he put his hands out for the dog. She came as requested and flopped on his feet for petting.

"I'd be willing to try, of course, but it might take a while."

...a while could be months, of course, but he wouldn't mention that. The way he learned magic was a bit like learning a language, only he kept memorizing different vocabulary sets instead of starting from the bottom and going up. It made for, well, odd 'sentences' and quite a few missteps, but it was the best he had.

Yes, definitely preferred the murderous kind; at least with them, everyone involved knew their place in the state of things.

It was possible he was just exhausted, and running on little but a reserve of energy that mostly powered the parts of his mind that liked swords an awful lot. He swallowed back his annoyance. "If you're really out to do something useful," he said, "See if you can find anything about that causeway."

He looked at Arthur for a moment, just watched him, before he finally nodded.

"I'll see what I can find out."

He ruffled the dog's hair.

"In the meantime," he said with a sigh, "would you like for me to bring you out something to eat? I have to put her back in the room anyway, so it wouldn't be out of the way."

"I'm not hungry," he said, tone short.

Were it any other day, he'd be wondering about Liir's bizarre obsession with cooking for everyone. (Or simply not-caring. It was a toss-up, really)

Another hitch.

"All right."

He ruffled the dog's hair before pulling himself up to standing and dipping his head in something almost like a bow.

"Good luck. I hope you find someone more helpful. Some of the administration or the teachers might be a good place to start, if you can find them."

And without further ado, he and his dog exited at a trot, Liir's mind somewhat full as he considered what might be his hardest challenge yet.

[thank you ^_^]

Yes, because Arthur hadn't thought of that.

...To be fair, he hadn't.

But shut up.

He promptly ruffled his hair back up and began slowly pacing in earnest.

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The Stables, Thursday Afternoon

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