The Chains of Arunsia

[Deleted User - 819397]

The trio left by Carolyn and Gilly's absence were fairly quiet. The main topic on everyone's mind seemed to be their companions' frustration towards each other, and none of them seemed willing to discuss it with a supporter of each side there. Plus, Varus had to admit that part of it might be relating to his outburst a moment ago...he'd shown that if pushed too far he could be someone far fiercer than how he was normally. That wasn't the kind of reputation he wanted in the group, as he believed it was far better to have everyone getting along out here instead of being wary of one another, but there wasn't really any helping it anymore. He'd shown his hand, now the threat of him doing it again would always be present, no matter how much he tried to explain he only did that to stop one of them from killing the other.

The corrupted man sat down with his back to a tree as they waited. Whatever Carolyn and Gilly were doing, it was taking a while. The silence was just starting to be too uncomfortable to bear anymore when the harlequin called to him and Perran, telling them that she'd been bad and asked for help. Varus sighed, looking over at the noble. "I promised I wouldn't interfere so long as they didn't get violent...can you go find out what's going on?" Perran frowned. "She called for both of us, what if it's something that needs us both?" A shrug. "If so, call for me when you get over there and I'll head right over. I just don't want to get blamed for interfering after I promised I wouldn't...don't need her getting even madder at me."

Perran's frown became a scowl. "You should give her more faith than that, you know...she's not a terrible person like you seem to think she is. Her acting out is her trying to keep herself safe...I don't think she actually wants to kill anyone." Varus held up his hands in a placating manner. "I never said she did. Note I trusted her enough to go off alone with the woman she was claiming to want to kill a moment before. I'm just saying she doesn't like me and I'd rather not make it worse." "Maybe if you did what she asked when she's not asking something horrible you'd get along more!" Perran retorted angrily.

This back and forth continued for a while, ultimately with Varus winning the argument insofar as stating he wasn't going to go over there unless Perran thought it necessary, though neither of them were happy about it. Perran moved over to where Gilly's voice had come from in time to catch Carolyn's request for water and Gilly's refusal. "Hey, sorry I'm late, we were talking things out ourselves over there." He noted the empty bottle a short while away, then looked back at the instrument maker's prone form. "You two finished it? Well, looks like mostly Carolyn, but...here, let's get you off her..." he fairly gently freed his girlfriend's arm before detaching the redhead's water skin from where she kept it. "Here's your water...slow sips, alright?" He then turned to the harlequin. "Did you two work out your problems? I...really don't want to see Varus like that again...anything else about him aside, I definitely don't want to have him mad at you anymore." He sat down next to her as he spoke, arm finding its way around her shoulders in a quiet gesture of comfort. Sure, his girlfriend may be hopelessly attracted to Carolyn, but that didn't mean he couldn't act on his own feelings...especially when Gilly had agreed to give them a shot.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Had Carolyn said all those things? Had the previous bit of time really happened? Much of those things were perfectly harmless, or even beneficial to her relationship between Gilly. Carolyn was thankful that things were cleared between them, until she remembered that they had said some nasty things about each other's partners. That was going to put a wall between their relationship, again. This was going to be a struggle if Carolyn wanted to truly get back on Gilly's good side, and farther. But they had run into their next stumbling block almost immediately after crawling over the first. Gilly believed that the Arclight was the cause of all of the group's problems, including Gilly being taken from her brother, a point that she was still sore on. Carolyn didn't remember everything she had said; the last she remembered was Gilly's belief that Carolyn and the Arclight were already intimate. "We haven't done anything more then kissing, Gilly. You and Perry are much more intimate then the Arclight and myself." Normally, that sort of exertion was unnoticable, but in Carolyn's current condition of extreme dehydration and the processing of the remaining alcohol, speaking was a difficult task that made her headache worse. And unfortunately, Gilly didn't have any water, and desired her arm back. "Can't move, sorry." Carolyn was feeling so sick, that any movement had the high potential to make her expunge what food she had left in her stomach. Just lying down without moving was everyone's best option at the moment. "Gilly, I'll make a deal with you, ok?" Carolyn was willing to try almost anything to make things work with Gilly, short of harming the Arclight in any way. "I'll try to see the good in Perry, and you try to see the good in the Arclight, ok?" While waiting for the answer, someone walked over and spoke. It was Perry and he was alone, causing a disappointment to well in Carolyn's mind. She was able to suppress it before she let any expression of it out; he might have some water he'd be willing to give to her. His first action was very cruel though, causing her to groan out in pain as she was moved off of Gilly's arm. He made up for this cruelness by giving her some water, removed from Carolyn's own water skin. "Thanks, she said, between small mouthfulls of liquid. "Perry," she asked, once she felt recovered enough from that vast journey he made her take. "Think back to your time in Human's Sanctuary. You're told to lead a squad of barracked police against a group. They're considered illegal in the eyes of the law, but you have no opinion of them. They've done nothing against you and your friends and family. Would you lead the police against that group?" Carolyn had attempted to phrase the question so that only Mary Anne's place would be affected by his answer. Perran would most likely have raided the Young Arunsians; it was understandable that you would want to destroy a group that was trying to destroy you. But if Carolyn understood it right, the people who gathered at Mary Anne's place just wanted to love who they wanted to love, regardless of who was in charge. They posed no threats to the nobles. Hopefully Perran would answer in a way that would allow Gilly and Carolyn to get back over the current and hopefully last block to their relationship.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

It was as Gilly was contemplating how best to phrase her response to Carrie's request that she try and see the good in Johnny that Perry finally arrived; commenting on how Carrie had seemingly finished what was left of the bottle of moonshine "Told you I'd been a naughty girl" Gilly replied with a shrug; a mischievous smile briefly appearing at the corners of her mouth before disappearing again "what, no Johnny? well at least one of us has a boyfriend that cares enough to come and help you" she sneered at the other woman as she attempted to massage some life back into her arm "...and no, it appears we have far more problems than we initially thought we had" Gilly said in response to Perry's earlier question. Though to be honest he'd probably already picked up that that was the case by the waspish tone Gilly was using to speak to the mortally hung-over girl.
Feeling the comforting arm going about her shoulders, Gilly found herself naturally leaning into the embrace so as to rest her head against Perry's shoulder; glad to see that he was no longer as shy as he had been where displays of affection were concerned. This for Gilly was a good thing as she found it far easier to react to what Perry was doing rather than try and summon up feelings of her own. Not that she didn't have any, because she truly did care for him, far more than she ever had for any other boy and even some of the girls she'd met before, but being intimate with a man just wasn't a natural thing for her, not like it was if she was flirting with another woman and as a consequence her own displays were just a little too full on to be real. And although she was still far too scared to use the "L" word just yet the very idea of losing Perry in any shape or form was just unthinkable.
It was just as she was about to bring up the topic of how she and Perry were going to carry the drunken Redhead back to where the others were by themselves, seen as Johnny couldn't be bothered to show up that Carrie started to ask Perry a rather strange question.
It didn't take long for Gilly to work out exactly where Carrie was heading with her seemingly strange line of enquiry and was less than impressed about it considering their own conversation only a short while ago. Her body tensing within Perry's arms as her fingers curled up into fists "Stop it Carrie, I don't know what game you're playing but stop it!" she growled quietly at the girl, unsure as to what she was trying to achieve and terrified of the answer that Perry would unwittingly give for such a loaded question.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

(OOC: Johann accidently touched on something that is quite close between me and Perran, so for a couple of reasons I'll be posting for Perran just for the next couple of posts (I have been reading))

Perran gave Carolyn some of the water before screwing the lid back on and putting it on her belt. As he did so she began to ask him a question. Perran thought it slightly odd and Gilly obviously didn't like it, first tensing and then hissing at Carolyn to stop playing at some kind of game. This must be a point of contention between them... Maybe about me. Perran wasn't entirely sure where Carolyn was going with this but he figured that the girl deserved an honest answer and that's what he was going to give her. He squeezed Gilly just a small amount to reassure her and rubbed her shoulder with his right arm as it draped across her back. She had nestled into him and it was reassuring to have her presence there. Perran knew he had nothing to fear and so he opened his mouth and responded. "That depends Carolyn. Depends on what they've done. They might have had nothing to do with me but might still be a threat to the city. If they were a group of murderers, or street thugs, who killed with no kindness, no remorse and no passion then I'd lead the squad of policemen in there and arrest them, as it is the place of every citizen to face trial for the crimes that they commit, so that they might learn from their mistake. I don't believe much in our justice system mind you, but I think that without a justice system the basic structure of society falls apart. If they were harmless though, if they didn't pose a threat to society... I wouldn't. You assume that my kind, the nobles, the rich of the Citadel, are all the same. That we all live lavish lives, that we all would happily tread on those beneath us as dirt and peasants. And in doing so, you're just as bad as the ones you claim to hate. Who campaigned for reform within the city? My family has tried for the past fifty years to reform the prison system, to make it so that rather than locking up criminals and turning them into harder, more bitter criminals, we give those people skills, the ability to seek work. You think the government has given up on the people and the King certainly did, but not everyone. If that group posed a threat to the lives of any citizen of Arunsia I'd walk in there and arrest them myself and then I'd ensure they were shown the error of their ways. Not by locking them up and throwing away the key, that achieves nothing. Rather, I'd want to help that person, to teach them, to explain why and to offer a way out. And if that person had done nothing wrong in my eyes? I'd stand outside the building and make them arrest me first. Our city, our society, is pretty judgemental. I'll be the first to say that. That said, the last thing it needs is the judged judging the judgers and assuming mutual hatred, because that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. When we assume that everyone is the same as their fathers, or their mothers, we burden ourselves with the false thought that we are above everyone else and that they can never truly understand. The moment we assume that the other side won't understand is the moment that we give up on ever working things out with the other side and go to war with them. So the only answer I can give to your question is: It depends. It depends on the people standing inside. Why?"

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Gilly didn't have to rub in the fact that the Arclight hadn't arrived with Perran. Carolyn was certain that there was a sufficiently good reason for his absence. She'd have to ask him later, once she felt well enough to move agian. Through her slightly blurry vision, Carolyn could see Gilly and Perry sitting together, looking all cute and such. It had only been a few moments since Peran had given Carolyn some water, but she still felt nearly as bad, with her headache growing slightly more intense. For some reason, Gilly was apprehensive of Perran's answer to Carolyn's question. It was possible that she was worried that his answer would prove Carolyn's point about the nobility. For Gilly's sake, Carolyn hoped that she was wrong about Perran, and was giving him this chance to perform that feat. "No games, Gilly. It's ok; please answer Perry," spoke Carolyn, voice no longer muffled by the vest, for she was now on her back. After Perry reassured Gilly that everything would be alright, he gave an answer. It was a fairly long answer, exactly what Carolyn would have expected from somebody trained in politics and oration. His answer could be distilled down into a couple simple statements. He would only arrest a group if they were hurting or killing people. And then he wouldn't want them imprisoned forever. Only long enough to rehabilitate them into useful workers of society again. A well intentioned notion, but it was an unfortunate unreality. If he had ever been to Abraham, he would see an entire complex filled with people who could never be reclaimed by society, Janine Upton included. There wasn't anything that could be done for them, and the problem with what to do with them was one of the touchiest topics in the meetings of the Young Arunsians. But that wasn't the issue at hand at the moment. Perhaps Perry and Carolyn could have a long discussion on the subject, but that would have to wait until this problem was cleared up. And it might have just been cleared up with his answer. Carolyn's temporarily poisoned mind took a few moments to process the answer, but she didn't find any major moral disagreements between them. Nothing serious enough to consider him a threat against GIlly, and that was what was important to Carolyn. He made her happy, or it seemed to appear so on the surface. "Just clearing up the air, Perry. Gilly, you were right. I'm sorry, to both of you. I think I'll go back to sleep now. If you'll excuse me." Presently, Carolyn was sound asleep, fortunately lacking any dreams of dark ballrooms and shady dancers.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Despite her best efforts Gilly found herself anxiously listening to Perry's very long winded and to be honest confusing response to Carrie's loaded question; the Harlequin just dreading the moment when Perry would unwittingly admit that he would arrest her and all of her friends out of hand and for nothing more than being different. However through all the long and flowery words he used Gilly was to learn that that wasn't the case with Carrie then apologising to the pair of them stating that she was only clearing the air.
Gilly wasn't too sure how to take this; whether she should be mad at the redhead for trying to drive a wedge between them or glad that she'd gotten an answer to that rather awkward question and it had all worked out for the best.
With poor drunken Carrie drifting back to sleep, Gilly found that she couldn't stay mad at her, sure they still had a lot of issues to work out between them but at least that confused, hurt feeling was gone "Perry, be a good boy and watch pretty Carrie for me, I need to give Johnny a slap" Gilly said with a sweet smile on her face after having sat within his arms for a short while; watching as the girl slept. Giving the nobleman a quick peck on the cheek she then gets up and heads over to where the rest of the group was waiting for them to return.
Delivering a blow to the back of the Arclight's head that was strong enough to sting without constituting as a full on attack, Gilly's eyes blazed as she turned her anger upon the immortal "Right you useless scunner! You’re girlfriend is feeling sick at the moment and could do with a little sympathy; which you would know if you'd bothered to show up! So if you want to keep her you'd better get moving hadn't you?" She snarled angrily at him not even sure why she was helping the moron you're not helping him, you're doing it for her...that and it felt so good to hit him her mind gleefully supplied as she stood before him with hands on hips like a disapproving mother "what are you still doing here!? Go to her now before I change mind and steal her from you, Go! Shoo!" she said using the appropriate hand gestures to get her point across and hopefully send him on his way.
Assuming of course that Johnny didn't simply blow his top at her again Gilly would then proceed to collect both hers and Carries weapons from where they still lay on the ground catching sight of Melkie as she does so "you might want to follow him Melkie as I doubt we'll be going anywhere else today" she said in a far friendlier voice than she'd ever used with him before with her even going so far as to offer him a tentative smile "...also...um...seen as we're all doing this clearing the air...thing....I....I'm sorry that I...um....attacked you back in the mines....you may have noticed that I...um...have...issues" she finished awkwardly, not really sure as to whether she should stick around and see what he had to say about the matter or leave before things got any more awkward especially with that strange crush thing he seemed to have for her since leaving Hira, like things couldn't be any more awkward between them.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Perran hadn't been gone long when Varus heard someone returning. "I'm guessing it wasn't anything too b-ow!" he jerked forward as Gilly hit him in the head again, though this time he didn't feel he deserved it. "What in the world was that for?" he grumbled, rubbing the sore spot she'd left. The harlequin started going on about how Carolyn was feeling sick and he should be there with her if he wanted them to stay together. "What are you talking about?" the corrupted man asked, bewildered. "I didn't go over because I promised I wouldn't interfere while you talked…I told Perran to tell me if it was something I needed to go over for…wait, Carolyn's sick? What…" Deciding it'd be easier to just see for himself, he got up. "I'll be right back then…" he muttered as he walked off.

'Sick' turned out to be really hung over…apparently needing a drink had meant more than one, and strong stuff too if the smell was anything to go by. Perran was over there, and he nodded at the noble before sitting next to the instrument maker. He confirmed that she'd been given water, then settled in. They wouldn't be moving for a while, that much was obvious. As he'd said though, there wasn't a huge rush to get the fragments…the world had been stuck like this for nearly a millennium…a little longer wouldn't break the bank. Plus, if they'd been able to work their differences out it'd be far better for the group as a whole in the long run. Completely worth the minor delay.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"...anyway I...I just thought I should...um...let you know" Gilly said deciding to go with the leave before things get anymore awkward option, her relationship with Melkie being far too strained and distant at this point in time to be fixed by a simple apology. Besides which she wanted to get back to having a hug with Perry whilst pretty Carrie slept off all that shine she'd tricked her into drinking stop giggling! Its not that funny…ok maybe it was a little funny.
Upon returning a still smiling Gilly would gently place Carrie's sword belt beside her as she slept before then dropping her own weapons in a heap on the ground; deciding that she wouldn't need them again today or so the theory went anyway.
Climbing into Perry's lap Gilly snuggles in close to the former nobleman and wraps his arms about her body so that her head rested against his chest. It wouldn't be the first time that she'd used him as a blanket in order to keep herself warm, even going so far on one occasion to unbutton his tunic so that she could put her arms around him inside his clothing.
And so with the sound of Perry's heartbeat slowly beating within his chest lulling her into a doze that was no doubt aided by the alcohol she'd had earlier. Gilly slowly tried to figure out what she was going to do about Carrie because although it was clear that Gilly was more than a little fond of her and Carrie herself had admitted to liking Gilly neither of them wanted to risk losing their boyfriends and nor did they like either of them enough to share them. A concept that Gilly was still having a little trouble trying to get her head around, maybe she'd ask Carrie for a few intimate details when they next had a little girl talk?
All in all she was right back to where she started; living with a girl she couldn't have because she was in love with a complete los...no, she had to try and be nice Carrie had been nice to Perry so she should try and be nice to that useless twerp Johnny...ok this was going to be harder than she thought.
Glancing over to where the immortal sat beside Carrie's sleeping form Gilly rolls her eyes in despair at the immortal He's got the prettiest girl for a hundred miles in love with him and he's just sitting there! "You know Johnny...perhaps you should try giving her a cuddle or something?" Gilly quietly suggested to the immortal as her first ever attempt at being nice to him "...girls like that you know?...though maybe you'd better lie behind her in case she needs to be sick...I am afraid Carrie is a bit of a lightweight when it comes to drink"

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Things seemed to have truly calmed down between the Dreamers...this was good...Varus could tolerate a lot, but the group trying to kill each other wasn't one of them. He didn't want to treat them like soldiers, as that would be unfair, but at the same time he'd rather do that than let them fall prey to infighting. Gilly was holding Perran, Melk was arriving behind them, and Carolyn was sleeping next to him. Much better than a short time ago. Like this, they actually had a chance to make it to the next fragment and beyond. Plus, they were actually good people when they were calm and controlled, even Gilly.

The Harlequin confirmed his thought a moment later by telling him he ought to cuddle the snoozing instrument maker. Something about girls liking that. He had to concur in this instance...Carolyn had made sure they slept in each other's arms every day. He'd been a little hesitant to make an assumption that it would still be the case when she had been drinking enough to need to sleep it off, but...he didn't think Gilly would be the kind of person to mess with a relationship...especially when one of the ones involved was someone she liked as well, someone who she'd want to stay in the good books of. So, hesitantly, he moved so that he was behind the slumbering instrument maker before wrapping an arm around her, taking care not to wake her. He didn't slide his other arm under her as he figured she'd take notice of that, and he'd need to get up quickly if somrthing attacked them. Otherwise, it seemed they were content to sleep, doze, or otherwise relax for now, and as he'd said earlier...there was no rush.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Carolyn wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed; she kept fading in and out of reality, catching moments of scenes happening around her. Somebody walking away, a muffled ow in the distance, the dropping of some heavy objects. That last one made Carolyn flinch a bit. That loud noise wasn't a very nice gesture, and Carolyn would have to make a fuss about it later. It wasn't like she'd get the opportunity for any sort of payback; unless they ran into another city, the group was completely out of alcohol for the rest of this journey. That in itself was a sad fact, but at least Carolyn was able to partake in alcoholic consumption once during this journey. The next time Carolyn flashed into wakefulness, she was lying against a wall of soft, velveteen wall. This was really nice. It was soft, it was warm, and Carolyn wanted to stay next to it forever. Carolyn sleepily rolled over and buried herself into the soft barrier. Another time later, Carolyn opened her eyes, and saw nothing but darkness. It took some serious mental power to prevent herself from freaking out. She thought she had gone blind from the large amounts of high purity ethanol, but as she moved her head a little bit, a small amount of light leaked past and revealed that Carolyn's eyes were still perfectly fine. She gave a muffled sigh of relief and tried to get up. Her movement was impeded by a weight over her body that, upon brief inspection, was proven to be the Arclight's arm. Fighting back a sudden wave of nausea, Carolyn slowly moved the arm off her body, so as not to disturb his sleep, and rolled over. She felt absolutely terrible at the moment, and it was a struggle to prevent herself from vomiting. She was suffering from the worst hangover she, and probably anyone else she knew, had ever experienced. She managed to get up and walk away just in time for Carolyn to lose the fight against vomiting and let it all out. She felt weak and collapsed near the puddle, struggling against a headache and light sensitivity. She knew that the next few hours would be long, painful hours. To try and pass some of that time, Carolyn thought back to that recent past with Gilly. Most of what happened was still fairly vivid, but there were a few black spots. Carolyn would have to ask Gilly about those spots, once she felt better.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Other than a little fun and games with Perry that hadn't required them to get undressed, the night had gone uneventfully with Gilly waking the following morning to the sound of somebody retching a short distance away.
With a short, disappointed sigh she carefully removed herself from Perry's embrace and walked over to where Carrie was currently crouched before a pool of vomit and looking decidedly worse for wear "Sorry pretty Carrie, If I'd known you were such a lightweight I'd have never have let you drink so much of it by yourself" Gilly quietly spoke; managing combine an outright lie and an apology all in one as she carefully moved the girls hair away from her face lest she needed to be sick again. A quick glance up at the sky telling her that it was still far too early to contemplate breakfast just yet and that waking the others would not be appreciated "come on, lie down the others won't be up for a while yet and you can't fall off of the ground" she gently spoke before carefully lowering the girl back down onto the ground and putting her arms about her. Gilly's own hangover after the binge she'd had with the shine had been horrific and so she figured that Carrie's wouldn't be much better if at all.
Gently stroking the other girls hair, Gilly laid beside her in such a way that if Carrie needed to be sick again that she'd be able to help up her and hold back her hair; something that Gale had done for her on many an occasion for her in the past "Carrie....I...I know we still have issue to work out but...can we be friends again? I didn't really like hating you but it was the only thing I had left" she said, her voice dropping to a whisper that hopefully only she would hear as she continued to speak to the heroically hung over girl "...I think I love him Carrie...I am very fond of you and want to do things with you that I really shouldn't but...I can't imagine being without him...what do we do pretty Carrie?"

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Carolyn was nearly flat on the ground, panting from the overexertion caused by the unwelcome retching. There was much pain flowing throughout Carolyn's body, ebbing and flowing with each breath. It seemed that a bit of that pain was being leeched out by the sweating, but it wasn't nearly enough to drain the pain out faster then it was being poured it. Being hungover was suffering. After a couple cycles of puking out yellow bile and laying down to attempt some sort of recovery, Carolyn attempted to make the long journey back to the rest of the group. Instead, Carolyn made it about two steps before she had to crouch down, barely two steps from her original puddle, and fight off another wave of nausea and dizziness. After a couple minutes, footsteps could be heard approaching from the distance. If it was a beast, Carolyn would most likely be dead within an instant, what with the hangover and the lack of weapon. She could only hope for a quick end and pray the Arclight wouldn't be too torn up over her loss. As she braced herself for the worst, the footsteps stopped, and Gilly's voice washed over Carolyn, pinpointing her headache onto every point of her head, eliciting a moan from Carolyn's mouth. Why was she so loud? Carolyn was certain that Gilly didn't really mean it, but her words hurt Carolyn's head. And she seemed sorry for helping Carolyn get so drunk and so hungover later, now that was. And Gilly was being helpful, She had pulled Carolyn's hair back, and after it was proven that she wouldn't be puking anthing up for at least a little bit, helped Carolyn descend into a laying position. "I'm not a lightweight," Carolyn croaked out, onc she was solidly on teh ground. "I can drink quite a bit. That was pure ethyl. Should've caught on fire when the bottle was opened." Another groan of pain escaped Carolyn, as the exersion took its toll and increased the pain within her body again. But that pain was somewhat abated by Gilly's gentle hair rubbing, an act which Carolyn unconsciously encouraged by automatically cuddling up closer to the harlequin. From the help with the hangover and the supposed genuineness in her voice, it seemed Gilly really did wish to make amends and be real friends again. "Yeah, I'd like that, Gilly. I'd really like that," Carolyn croaked through barren throat. "But this current situation, it seems much more complex then it should be. We both want what we want, and if it was just us, then it'd be fine. But I don't know how Perry would feel about this sort of scene, and the Arclight, well I don't know how he thinks. That outburst yesterday, that was the closest he's been to his extremely confident, decisive self. He was a very charismatic leader back in the day. I think I'm the only one who's seen him like that. But that's about all I know of him, what I saw in my Dream and what we've seen of him during our travels. He doesn't know anything about love, you know? I'm teaching him everything, but it's slow going. We'll get there eventually, but until then, it's frustrating. I'll survive. But for now, I think I'd like to sleep again. Maybe I'll feel better after a nap." With that, Carolyn closed her eyes, and attempted to fall aslep again. The headache was making it hard, but maybe the head rubbing would counter it enough to make the feat possible.

 

[Apelatia]

Melkanai still felt a little overawed by how scary Loyal had made himself become in that small instant. He had gone from being the solemn, steady, fallen Arclight to a commanding, tyrant-like being, before quickly resuming his previous personality. Quite frankly, Melk found the changeover strange, and deep inside him he knew that his heart held some fear of what Loyal could do if he wanted to. These feelings and more were at the forefront of his mind as Loyal drew near with Melk resisting the urge to turn and run from the approaching figure. He kept his eyes angled downwards as Loyal brought some powder to relieve his pounding headache. Apparently, he was required to take the powder with some water, and the result would be relief from the pain, coupled with sluggish thoughts. Melk didn't know exactly what sluggish thoughts would entail, but it couldn't be that bad, could it? It took him only a split second to come to the conclusion that pain relief was the best option for him. Knowing what he needed to do next, Melk nervously removed his water skin from his belt before loosening and removing the cap. He then took one quick look in Loyal's direction before simultaneously putting the powder into his mouth and filling it with water.

Nothing happened at first, though Melk wasn't sure whether this was intended or not. Perhaps these things were supposed to take some time to take effect? A few minutes later though and Melk could feel the constant pain gradually receding. There appeared to be a lot going on around about him. Carol and Gilly had walked off somewhere, and Var.... Loyal was having an argument with...was that Perran? Melk wasn't sure, but what was for certain was that he felt very strange within himself. Coming from quite a poor background, Melk had never had much opportunity in life to do much more than begin to learn the ways of his chosen profession - trading. He had never been given the opportunity to attend school, and as such any learning he had done had been conducted at home with his adopted mother, Fliana. An unfortunate consequence of not being well-to-do was that he often lacked knowledge and experience of some of high society's daily luxuries. Alcoholic beverages had been something that he had never been given the opportunity to indulge in, but rather had only heard tell of from his few friends. From what he could recall from the stories, however, alcohol had the power to induce slowed thinking, decreased reflexes and coordination, among other things if taken in large enough quantities. The feeling that had overcome him since taking the powder matched up reasonably well with some of the common symptoms of alcohol toxicity.

Tentatively, Melk took a few steps forwards to test out his coordination. To his surprise, he found that he was able to walk perfectly well. His issue, it seemed, was more related to his senses and ability to process what was going on around him. Gilly had come up to him, and was saying something or other about mines, being sorry and following her. On top of that, she appeared to be smiling at him, which seemed a bit too much of a far cry from what Gilly would normally do to make much sense to him. Still, he smiled back at her, or at least he tried to smile back at her, though what expression actually showed on his face was up for debate... Perhaps if Gilly was telling him to follow her, it must be important. So, after a few minutes thought, Melk walked in the direction Gilly had taken. Was this the right way? Fortunately, his sense of direction was good enough to bring him to Gilly's location. At present, she was sat on the floor with Carol and was stroking her hair, whilst saying something about doing things that she shouldn't with Carol. Carol then started speaking some nonsense about something he didn't understand, though he caught a bit about love and the Arclight towards the end of her speech. He wondered why Gilly had told him to follow her after all. Perhaps he had misheard. Still, no harm in asking. Clearing his throat to catch the Harlequin's attention, Melk waited until Gilly had realised he was there before speaking, or at least...trying to speak. "You said follow to you..." This was going to be a problem... "I came and understand not now. What did say you and what Carol doing is?" Melk's expression clearly showed his discomfort over how he was speaking, and also brought across how confused he was at present. He hoped Gilly would be able to help - she had not realised he had been stood there waiting for a few minutes, but maybe she would help now?

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"Oh please...there was barely quarter of a bottle, who do you think drank the other three quarters?" Gilly responded in disdain; rolling her eyes at Carries protests over being called a lightweight, though she had to admit that seeing the bottle burst into flames would have been really cool.
With Carrie cuddling up to her Gilly couldn't help but react; moving the pair of them into a slightly more intimate position; burying her face in that lovely red hair of hers and breathing in her scent "Poor Perry...he's so desperate for me to love him I think he would accept whatever stupid lie I told him" Gilly said in a sad little voice that was only slightly muffled by the other girls hair. The very fact that she would actually consider doing as much making her feel like scum; not that it stopped her from leaning over to give Carrie a kiss. However remembering that Carrie had just spent the past couple of minutes losing her lunch in the surrounding bushes quickly re-directed her affections to her cheek instead.
It was just as she was going to comment on Johnny and the fact that he seemed so useless when it came to women that she heard a sound coming from behind her. With her hand moving to her dagger she slowly turns her head to look; ready to throw the blade should it prove to be a monster only to find Melkie stood there instead.
Panic filled her how long has he been there!? Oh dark did he just see me kiss Carrie? though to be honest it was more than obvious what they were up to with Gilly gently stroking Carrie's hair with one hand and with another up until very recently resting upon the other girls chest; the kiss was just the icing on a very bad, group destroying cake "Oh dark...Melkie....please you can't tell Perry, its not what it looks like!" she babbled fearfully, her panic filled mind not even registering his dilated pupils and slurred and jumbled speech as she sought to rectify the situation she’d gotten her and Carrie into "...please Melkie, I'll do anything, you mustn't tell them, please!"

 

[Apelatia]

Melkanai was very confused. Gilly had turned around to face him, and had started speaking too quickly for him to completely understand what it was that she was saying. From what he could tell though, Gilly didn't want him to tell them about something or other. What that was though, or who them could be, he had no idea whatsoever. This should have been obvious to Gilly in his next words. "I know not what to tell!" The teenage boy exclaimed in a bewildered, yet slurred voice. What could there be to tell anyone? It wasn't as if there were that many people to tell anything exciting to anyway. This in mind, Melk continued on his train of thought. "You said follow with. I followed to you and need now explaining from you." Melk paused, then carried on. "What did not to say to them? I no understand what you be meaning..." Melk's expression looked almost comical as he struggled to speak to Gilly. To any regular onlooker, it would be clear that he had no clue whatsoever what was going on, but for someone caught in Gilly's situation, it might not be so obvious.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

It should have been clear by the way that he struggling to even speak a coherent sentence that Melk was completely out of his tree on something and that he didn't have a clue what was going on. But all Gilly could focus on was the fact that somebody had saw her being very affectionate towards Carrie and that if the others learnt of this then it would not only jeopardise her own relationship but Carries too, not to mention what it would do to the group.
Wrongly interpreting his jumbled and slurred questions as to what it was he wasn't to tell and to whom as him tormenting her. Which considering their previous relationship wasn't too big of a leap for the panicking Harlequin to reach, Gilly continued to miss what was staring her in the face "No Melkie please! It was only a kiss, it wasn't even on the lips its not like we were sleeping together or anything! Please Melkie you can't tell them it'll ruin everything!" she babbled at an even faster rate than before.
With the boy not simply laying out his terms for keeping quiet Gilly continued to panic as she searched for a way out of what she viewed as an impossible situation. To make matters even worse the air around here was getting rather thin for some reason which made thinking rather problematic "I'll do anything Melkie, you name it! Just don't tell..." suddenly Gilly's ability to breath seemed to leave her entirely as her lungs seemingly forgot what to do. Desperately clutching her throat she started to gasp for air. She needed to relax, but she couldn't because she couldn't breathe and she couldn't breathe because she couldn't relax. Worst of all Perry wasn't here to help her like last time, well hopefully not like last time but all the same he wasn't here to help her "...Can't...breathe...Melkie...I...Can't...Breathe"

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Now Gilly was talking about telling Perry some sort of lie to convince him she loved him. But didn't she already have feelings for the fallen noble? So why would she lie to him if she only had to tell the truth? Wait, what was happening? Why was Gilly kissing her? She had just thrown up and her breath probably was smelling very bad and her mouth probably had some of that bile still contained within it. Luckily, before she could even try to protest, Gilly remembered that fact and moved to her cheek. And where was her hand going? Carolyn really should be protesting all this, but she liked it and she did like Gilly too and it'd probably be easier to explain anything to the Arclight after the fact. But before anything could progress further, they were interrupted by Melk, who was saying words that individually had meaning, but he put them together in such a way that they didn't make any sense whatsoever. But whatever it was that Melk wasn't saying caused Gilly to begin freaking out. Carolyn didn't really see any reason for Gilly to be freaking out. Melk was stringing words together, but they weren't making much sense. Through careful interpretation, Carolyn could make out that Melk was confused and believed that Gilly had asked him to follow her. "It's ok Gilly; he's just wondering what you said," Carolyn groggily stated, as Gilly got up and started to really freak out over nothing. She was freaking out so much that she experienced some sort of panic attack.

"Alright, now. Don't worry, you'll be just fine." This was a case that was unfortunately growing much more common in recent years. Dr. Edward Upton could treat this ailment just fine, but it was starting to get annoying to deal with this, when there were other, more serious maladies that he should be treating. Despite this inward frustration, he didn't let any of that show. Sufferers from panic attacks wouldn't be helped by negative emotions. "Alright little Carrie, watch closely now. You might have to do this someday if I'm not around. This is very simple, so you should remember what to do." Edward turned to the patient, a young woman gasping for breath and flailing her arms around. As young Carolyn watched in fascination, her father placed his hands on the panicking woman and gently yet firmly placed her into a chair. "You're alright," he calmly said, as he deliberately breathed very slowly. "Concentrate on your breathing. We'll get through this. Breathe slowly. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10." Young Carolyn's fascination grew larger and larger as the woman calmed down, seemingly as if by magic. In a few minutes, she was perfectly calm, and was able to function perfectly fine. "See, little Carrie? It's that simple. Please remember this simple treatment for when I'm not around. Simple sentences, calming voice, place to sit. Be calm and gentle, and they'll be perfectly fine in a minute. You might have to do this in my stead, so remember well." She nodded, wide eyed and mouth agape. In a few years, she'd find such lessons pretty silly and entirely unnecessary, but at 11, she still fully believed in her dad.

This was not good. Gilly was suffering from a panic attack, Melk was suffering from temporary insanity, and Carolyn sitll had the worst hangover anyone had ever experienced. But the inability to breathe was a slightly more pressing issue then a headache, dry mouth, and nausea. Slight insanity was also severe, but could be dealt with after the harlequin was healed from her malaise. With great effort, Carolyn placed her own problems to the side and got up to help the suffocating woman. "You're alright, I'm here for you," Carolyn softly spoke, voice and body free from all her own ailments, at least temporarily. She placed her hands on Gilly's shoulders and gently guided her to a sitting position on the ground, back leaning against a tree. Her breathing was slow and deliberate. "You're alright. You're fine. Breathe with me. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10." Carolyn turned to Melk for a second, and gave out an order. "Melk, go get the Arclight and Perran. Only if you can, though. If you don't feel up to it, if you don't understand, sit down." Carolyn turned her focus back to Gilly again. "Stay with me. There's nothing to fear here. Breathe with me. We're all good." It was a struggle keeping calm in this situation; her hangover was threatening to overcome her again, her best friend and potential lover was suffocating on anxiety, and the only other person here was acting very strange. That would have to be investigated, but first Carolyn would have to pull Gilly out of her anxiety attack.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Feeling herself being gently lowered to sit against a nearby tree Gilly tried her best to get across her fears as she continued to desperately gasp for breath, needing to warn the other girl of their impending doom "He...knows...Carrie...he...knows..." she feebly croaked; her voice coming out as a thin breathless gasp that was barely audible let alone coherent. With her grey eyes locking onto Carrie's green, Gilly tried her best to focus on what Carrie was saying; mimicking her by taking long, slow, deep breaths as she counted along with her. By the time that she'd reached five her breathing had become less ragged however this was soon reversed when Carrie instructed a very dozy looking...well...dozier than usual Melkie to go and fetch the others "What!? No Carrie you can't...let...him..." the sentence went unfinished as her heart began to race and her breathing once again started to falter prompting the harlequin to hurriedly drop the subject and restart her count. By the time she reached ten Gilly was once again back to normal, if a little shaken by the experience with her hands trembling where they lay within her lap.
She wanted to give Carrie a hug; to hold her and go back to soothing the poor girls head like she had before the interruption that had brought all this on, but with Melkie still only a short distance away she daren't lest he finally twig what was going on between them or even worse he managed to wake a far more lucid Johnny or Perry and they figured out what was going on. She didn't know how Johnny would react to the situation and despite all of Carries words about him being confidant and charismatic, Gilly didn't want to see Loyal make an appearance again. That version of Johnny scared the hell out of her and the less she saw of him the better.
With her pulse no longer racing and the nervous trembling in her hands rapidly fading Gilly cautiously catches the other girl's eye before timidly speaking to her "Thank you Carrie...do you think he'll tell them anything?" she asked wanting to get the Redhead's opinion of the situation concerning Melk who now that she had time to think in a more logical and less panicked manner, she decided probably didn't know what was going on after all. Though she had to wonder what on earth he’d taken in order to get himself into such a state and more importantly where he’d gotten it from and was there any more?

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Shortly after Carolyn began the simple treatment, she discovered the source of Gilly's extreme disease. She was worried that somebody knew something, and it didn't take much thinking to accurately guess who she was talking about and what she thought he knew. Before Carolyn could say anything about that subject, Gilly nearly had a relapse. Carolyn had forgotten that you were meant to pay constant attention to the person suffering the panic attack until you were certain they had recovered from the episode. Luckily for Gilly, she began to recover again when Carolyn returned her attention to the harlequin. It didn't take long for Gilly to return to normal, and Carolyn sat down again, head in her hands and sweat breaking out all over her. Now that the crisis had ended, Carolyn could attend to her own unfortunate circumstances. Melk was still nearby, still suffering from whatever was causing him to turn loopy. And while Gilly wasn't suffering from any panic attacks, she was still concerned about what Melk knew and whether he would tell anyone what he knew. "I wouldn't worry about it, Gilly," Carolyn croaked, as she laid back down on the ground again. She wanted to go back to sleep, but the present situation threatened to send Gilly into another panic attack, and Carolyn needed to be there to resolve whatever conflict arose from it. Hopefully by taking apart the problem and solving it away, Carolyn would be able to recover through the use of somnic therapy. "I'm not entirely certain if he even knows where he is. Actually, I think I've seen this a few times before. I don't know, but he might have had something recently." Carolyn turned to face the zonked out teen, mustering all the concern she could manage through the hangover. "Melkanai, you have anything recently? You seem a bit too out of it recently. Don't worry; you're not in trouble. Just got to make sure you're alright, and see if I need to treat you for something." That wasn't an endearing prospect to Carolyn's brain; sure they were in a monster filled wasteland, but was it unreasonable to ask for a few minutes to recover?

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Lowering her head in order to see the boy dilated pupils Gilly couldn't help but giggle in delight at the state he was in. The situation could have only been made better if it had been Johnny that had been tripping the light fantastic "Wow, your right pretty Carrie he's definitely on something" though the question was what?
During the course of her life Gilly had sampled certain things though Gale would only let her have the tiniest of amounts as there was no telling how they would react with his sisters already frayed psyche. That and like cake, drugs were definitely something for the rich unless you wanted to become very, very poor or someone’s plaything which was something that neither her nor Gale had wanted.
Trying her best to sound caring Gilly offered the boy a smile before following up Carries question with her own gentle suggestion "Melkie...are you feeling sleepy? Because if so you should take a little nap" she kindly suggested, praying that the teen wasn't buzzing as they'd then have to find a way of burning off all that excess energy. Had it been Perry or Carrie in such a state then Gilly could think of a very enjoyable way of burning it all off though she didn't feel that such an activity would be a suitable idea for Melk "…go on, you go to sleep Melkie and I'll tell you all about it when you wake up" Gilly continued in the same voice, hoping that he would take her up on the offer so that she could go back to having a kiss and a cuddle with Carrie, though this time around she'd get her to rinse her mouth out with a little water first.