fandomhighdorms | 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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"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.

The Stables, Thursday Afternoon

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