Private Finished I'm proud to say I'm flawed but not that much

ReD · Aug 28, 2017

Lochlann was not hung over.

Being hung over would imply that, at some point, Lochlann had stopped drinking. And he hadn't, not really. He wasn't drinking now but that was because he wasn't allowed to bring alcohol into school, so he drank before he came to class. He had a remarkably high tolerance for alcohol, but Lochlann was tired, and the professor forgot Lochlann wasn't supposed to sit next to the window, so the warm sun hit him and the lecture became dry and Lochlann couldn't keep his eyes open anymore.

He passed out in class. Which, of course, got him sent to talk to someone. Christ, Lochlann hated talking to someone. Talking to someone was just one dangerous step away from juvie island.

Lochlann was already on the defensive as he sat outside the door, his arms crossed over each other, as he waited to be seen.

@World Devourer

WorldDevourer · Aug 29, 2017

Charlie sat in his office, grading a dissertation on the effects of time distortion spells on mechanical devices. It was a little outside his wheelhouse, but the paper had been used to prop up a desk leg on one of the scratty desks he had removed, but he felt a responsibity to mark it on behalf of the office's previous occupant. The owner of the paper might come back to collect it, despite the date on it being in the late 90s.

He finished grading the paper and placed it in the lower left hand drawer on the desk, filled up an electric kettle, and turned it on. He had spoken to the headmistress a few days ago about getting more involved with the academy. Truth be told he was bored. Many students found Necromancy too taxing, or, Charlie thought, to be honest, abhorent. The headmistress had suggested getting involved with helping out students with difficulties. He agreed immedately, because he thought this would be helping out students with disabilities. That was simple. Missing an arm? Why not have a necromantic skeletal one instead?

This was not the case. Students with difficulties turned out to be students with difficulties behaving. But he was still determined to do this job as best he could. Help put students back on the path to a productive education, instead of going off the rails, like this case.

Lochlann Cabyll-Ushtey. A water-horse with a perchant for cannibalism, a medium-functioning alcoholic, and all around hopeless case. The file containing his record could have been used to prop up the ill fated desk, or kill small rodents. It was currently sat on Charlie's desk. Lochlann had passed out in class, drunk, and so his case had been passed to charlie to deal with and hopefully get through where others had failed. He was currently sat outside charlie's office. Charlie took a deep breath and stepped outside, with his best friendly smile on his face, greeting the sullen boy who sat cross armed on the chair outside his office.

"Hi, you must be Lochlann" he said, holding out a hand to be shook "i'm Professor Rotmoore, but please, call me Charlie. I believe you were sent to me to have a little chat? Please, come in."

@ReD

ReD · Aug 29, 2017

Lochlann jerked when Charlie's voice cut through the otherwise silent hallway. When the professor held out his hand, Lochlann jerked again, as though expecting to be hit, but after a second he realized the professor wanted to shake hands.

Lochlann stood up on slightly unsteady legs and reached for the professor's hand. Lochlann had a surprisingly firm shake courtesy of years of his father teaching him how to be human. A firm handshake was on that list. His palms was calloused and rough and a thick line of scar tissue ran across the center of it.

"Ah, yes," Lochlann said. He wasn't slurring, which was either a good or a bad sign. Lochlann couldn't tell right now, but he at least had the impression that he needed another drink. He was still a bit woozy, which Lochlann did consider a good thing.

"I'm sure this was a mistake," Lochlann said, though he none the less followed the professor into the office. "I'm not studying uh..."

Lochlann's face faltered for a moment.

"Sir, I don't actually know what you teach, which is probably a good indication that me being sent here for a chat was a mistake. I'm sure you have better things to do this afternoon, so I can just be on my way then," Lochlann said, hovering near the doorway. He was stubborn, reluctant to step any further into the office. His eyes glanced around the room, looking for a window and the presence of the scary crow man who often indicated a trip to juvie island.

WorldDevourer · Aug 30, 2017

Charlie watched as the young man lingered by the door. He looked ready to run. This was a boy who really wanted to be anywhere else rather than here, or the juvinile detention island.

"It is not a mistake Lochlann, the headmistress asked me to do this. She believes, like I, that it might be better to talk things through, rather than have you sent to the island of misfit toys whenever you misbehave" Charlie smiled as he said this "and, from what i read you have a tendancy to... leave the island. Twice i believe. Quite impressive. Please take a seat"

Charlie gestured to the two comfortable looking leather sofas on the left hand side of the room. He sat down on the one facing the door and began pouring water from the kettle into a china teapot, which sat on a coffee table between the two sofas. Noticing the mess on the table, he cleared a bundle of papers which had been sat on there into a pile on the floor.

"Would you like anything to drink? I have tea, although from what i read i think you might need a cup of coffee to err... sober up?"

He moved a pair of mugs to the table from a shelf, where they had been used to prop up a bundle of papers which fell flat with a resounding thump. One of the mugs, charlie's, was black, slightly chipped and read 'Old necromancers never die'. The second, which he kept arond for guests, was brought from the Edinburgh necropolis gift shop

"So i have a file here on you, but please tell me
I would prefer it straight from the horses mouth, as it where" Charlie chuckled, as he removed his glasses and briefly polished them with a handkerchief before replacing them on his face. "Your likes, your dislikes, and maybe we can figure out where its all coming from and how to improve in the future, and avoid visits from our black feathered friend. I know this may, frankly, sound like a lot of bullshit, but really, i do care"

"And you asked what i teach. I teach necromancy" Charlie smiled, and as he did this, and his glamour flickered for a fraction of a second, like a ripples on lake, briefly revealing fragments of the crowned skull beneath. "And i really don't have anything better to do this afternoon"

@ReD

ReD · Aug 30, 2017

While Charlie's comments were well-meaning, unfortunately, every single one sent the first spikes of panic through Lochlann's body like a shot of poison. He froze with the words headmistress.

Lochlann wasn't certain how he was not expelled yet, all things considered, but he assumed it had something to do with his relatively stable grades and the fact that his first foray into juvie island had been semi-willing. His last stint definitely wasn't and the comment about his two escape attempts had Lochann looking back over his shoulder at the door again.

He swallowed.

He took a few hesitant steps in and sat at the very edge of the couch, as far from the professor as he could. He shook his head 'no' in reference to the tea, but the professor was already pouring.

Lochlann was trapped.

He needed to find a way out of here.

It did sound like a lot of bullshit. Lochlann couldn't figure out what the man's ulterior motives were. The necromancy comment and the brief site of the skull had Lochlann sweating, though not because he was afraid of the man.

Maybe he can talk to everyone you've ever killed, the little voice in Lochlann's head said. Lochlann was a painfully efficient killer; he consumed almost every single part of his victim, and what he didn't quickly dissolved into the lake or ocean. Lochlann swallowed again. He wanted to put his head between his knees to quell the rising nausea but that would mean taking his eyes away from the other man.

"I'm sorry to hear that, sir," was what Lochlann finally managed to say. His voice was dry and cracked and Lochlann struggled to get control of that. His comment was in reference to the professor not having anything else to do on an afternoon like today.

He tried to find a way to dodge the professor's questions. Lochlann chose to sit there in silence, but that had never worked very well in his past experiences. It only made things worse.

Lochlann took a wager the man already read his file. Lochlann didn't know what was actually in his file, only that it was big and that it automatically got him a bunch of plastic bracelets around his arm each time he ended up in the hospital.

So he said, "Is there...something specific?"

Lochlann crossed his arms to hide how bad his hands were shaking.

WorldDevourer · Aug 31, 2017

The boy was nervous, Charlie could see this easily. Lochlann's hands were shaking, his eyes darting, and the boy looked like he was ready to run. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights, deciding which outcome would have the least number of negative effects. Charlie could almost think what was going through his head. Should he run, and possibly face a trip to juvie island, or stay, and maybe make things worse.

"It's fine, really. Please" said Charlie, idily waving one hand at the mug which sat on the desk, while picking up his own jet black mug with other "it might calm your nerves"
The cup was full of dark brown tea, swirling in the mug like the revolutions of Charybdis. Charlie relaxed back, slumping into the sofa, and sipped at the tea. warming his cold bones with the hot liquid

Charlie looked at the file, which sat closed on the table. He picked it up and slid it under the sofa, out of sight. The file contained a large number of psychological definitions, most likely the work of Valli Bryndísarson. Charlie really didn't care about phrases like 'anger problems' or 'gynaecidal'. Lochlann was a person, with likes and dislikes.

"There's no need to be nervous. Anything you say here doesn't leave these four walls, even if the headmistress asks." Charlie smiled, in what he hoped was a kind friendly manner. No visit to the island, no raven man swooping through the door to take you away. Personally, i think the juvinile detention facility won't do you any good. It won't change your problems. If anything it will make them worse."

Charlie sipped at his tea. He was trying his best. Despite all his pretentions, he was very new to caring about the lives of living creatures. He only started to relearn about the living at the turn of the previous century. That was a blink of an eye ago. He was trying his best to not come across as insincere, or creepy, or downright threatening.

"I'm not a therapist. I'm not getting paid for this. I'm not here to psychoanalyse you. I'm here as a friend. We can talk about anything you want. Politics. Music. Medieval literature?"

@ReD

ReD · Aug 31, 2017

Lochlann was trapped. His heart beat reminded him with every thump against his chest: trapped, trapped, trapped.

His fingers went to his jacket pocket and Lochlann started to touch the pack of cigarettes tucked into them, but he removed his hands almost immediately and crossed his arms over his stomach again.

He glanced at the cup of tea the man had left for him, then back at Charlie's face, watching him drink his own cup.

Lochlann was torn between feeling rude for refusing the drink and worrying that it was drugged with something....Which, honestly, if Lochlann had put it in the tea himself might not have been so bad, but he didn't like the idea what he could drink this and then wake up someplace else. No thank you.

Trapped, trapped, trapped, his heart said.

When Charlie mentioned that whatever he said would stay in these four walls, Lochlann frowned. His response was a little more dour than even he intended. "That's exactly what they said in the hospital, but it still wound up in the file."

He stretched out one leg for just a moment, a phantom pain making it hard for him to stay crunched up, but he returned to his previous on-the-edge-of-the-couch position a moment later. He was ashamed for that moment of weakness.

Lochlann generally presented to be older than he was; part of this was because Lochlann had no idea how old he actually was. He could act younger or older with minimal consequence simply because age was a construct that had to be taught to him. But right now, sitting in the edge of the couch like this, before a man who was, quite plausibly, some kind of undead, made Lochlann feel surprisingly young. He felt like a kitten before a grizzled lion.

Trapped, trapped, trapped, his heart reminded him again.

He wiped his palms on his jeans.

The professor's last comment caught Lochlann's attention. A flicker of interest crossed his face, his eyebrows lifting up in surprise, but it quickly turned back to suspicion.

"Was....was that in the file, too?" Lochlann asked. He swallowed. That was way too specific to be entirely a coincidence, right?

But one thing was certain: the professor had his attention now.

WorldDevourer · Sep 1, 2017

This was the first time Charlie had seen the boy actually make eye contact. The mention of medieval literature had clearly got his attention. Lochlann had clothed himself in the armour of indifference, but charlie had found a chink in the armour.

"No" Charlie chuckled, sipping his tea "Its not in your file, nothing as sinister as that. I walked past you while you were reading The Song of Roland a few weeks ago."

While this was true, it wasn't the whole of the truth. He had seen Lochlann sitting on a bench, reading the book, but it was also in the file, in a small attendum, and the bottom of a page, beneath some much more flashy information. The file was more of a guide to someone's misdeeds and misorders than who they actually were. Sometimes the carrot can be much more effective than the stick.

"So do you have any favorites?" He smiled I'm a fan of The Canterbury Tales myself. The pardoner's tale is hilarious. And Chaucer, now that man could drink. Did you know he was given a reward by King Edward III of a gallon of wine a day?" He smiled as he said this, adjusting his legs and deftly kicking the file further under the sofa. Things thay went under the sofa sometimes came back different than they came in and sometimes disapeared for good. He suspected either Lulu or Rhymein had something to do with it.

Charlie tipped the mug and drained the final dregs of the tea from the mugs, taking care not to notice Lochlann's untouched cup, slowing cooling on the coffee table.

@ReD

ReD · Sep 1, 2017

Lochlann froze when he found that he was caught reading.

"It was for school," he blurted out.

Lochlann wrapped his arms a little bit tighter around himself, but he was distracted enough now that he missed Charlie's kick of the file. He considered what Charlie said, looking again at the door and chewing on the inside of his cheek.

When he responded, his words were hesitant.

"....I've never read the Cantebury tails. It was always checked out of the library when I went in," Lochlann said. "For school, I mean. But I don't have favorites."

He scratched at his hand, rubbing his nails along the scar.

He frowned again.

"But I hated Gawain the least," he said.

He didn't lean back in the chair. Lochlann wouldn't relax completely. But he didn't seem like he was waiting to spring out of the chair the first chance he had. Lochlann ran his hand through his hair for a moment, and then crossed his arms again.

"....Did they really give him a gallon of wine a day?" Lochlann asked. He glanced up at Charlie again. "What was he rewarded for?"

There was a hesitant quality in his voice, as though Lochlann was afraid to admit any interest. He was still suspecting a trap, but the bait was intriguing.

WorldDevourer · Sep 2, 2017

Charlie smiled as he sat there. He had found something that the boy cared about. And that was the way through to him.

"Funnily enough Chaucer never told me, no matter how much we drank. I'm pretty sure it was writing a poem for the king to woo his mistress, but i suppose he took that secret to grave" Charlie winked at that. He had met Chaucer many years previously, while he had been walking to London from Cambridge. Chaucer offered him a lift to London in his carriage and they sat and discussed literature.

"Fan of Gawain Huh? the ladies man. I mean Bercilak was a character for sure. He was undead, did you know that? the buggered up necromancy work of Morgana Le Fay." He shook his head at this. "Did you know i met the court of King Arthur once?" It was strange, Charlie thought. the mysticism people placed onto these individuals. The romanticism of history. Arthur wasn't noble, he was a brute with a magic sword. Percival was a bore and Lancelot was a slut. Now Merlin, there was a formidable mind. Both in magic and in argument. Charlie was pretty sure that one of the duels between Merlin and Morgana had simply been an arguing match.

"well you might also like a look at this." Charlie stood up from the table and walked over to the bookshelf and plucked a short, fat book, with a strange mottled grey cover. "This is a copy of the story of Gawain and the Green knight." he said as he returned to the sofa "It's a first hand account, written in 1125 by Geoffrey of Monmouth, who actually witnessed the duels between Gawain and the Green Knight. I acquired it because the cover is made of human skin, of an executed criminal. I had the idea that i could use necromancy to make the book tell the story contained within, but never got around to implimenting it. Although technology has caught up with that one eh?"

Charlie turned the book around and placed it in front of Lochlann.

"feel free" he said, smiling at the boy.

@ReD

Search

Private Finished I'm proud to say I'm flawed but not that much

ReD

Sex & Death Everywhere

WorldDevourer

To summon me, sacrifice tea.

ReD

Sex & Death Everywhere

WorldDevourer

To summon me, sacrifice tea.

ReD

Sex & Death Everywhere

WorldDevourer

To summon me, sacrifice tea.

ReD

Sex & Death Everywhere

WorldDevourer

To summon me, sacrifice tea.

ReD

Sex & Death Everywhere

WorldDevourer

To summon me, sacrifice tea.