zenderael_rl | [EVENT] Acher's Attack on Enghelab

Siegmund would have been offended by her assumption. Why did she think he'd called her here to heal Tai Feng? Of course he understood the desire to help. He was morally obligated to do everything in his power to save someone who was dying. He was not, however, morally obligated to let Eileen put them both in danger by trying to jump into fights she couldn't win.

He flashed her an irritated glance and, without another word, whipped one of his daggers out of its sheath. Looking directly at her with an unwavering, flat expression, he smashed the pommel into the window, shattering the glass.

Super illegal. But a hotel in Las Vegas could almost certainly afford to replace a shattered window, and breaking certain rules to keep yourself alive was morally permissible.

He turned away and used the pommel again to clear the bottom of the frame of glass shards and make sure the hole was large enough to climb through. "We hide here to be safe. God forgives us." He sheathed his dagger again and climbed through the window, into the darkened hotel room.

"God might. The law won't." Never mind the law. Her guild might not forgive her for it.

And, of course, before she even entirely processed what she was doing, she was following him through the window and into the hotel room.

It took her eyes a few minutes to adjust to the dark; she didn't dare move to try to find a light. The power was still out, and even if it wasn't, light would attract whatever was out there right to the room. If nothing else, they weren't going to get into an epic, all-out battle with something in a hotel room.

Still.

Focus. She had to focus, just as she had when sneaking back into Bastan to help the people left behind. She had to think like a soldier. Not like Anais. Not any more, even if it was what she would do. "We shouldn't stay here long. Maybe there's a room further in with only one access point."

He flashed her a glare, this one a very clear message that he thought her comment was the dumbest, most useless thing she could have said in this situation. The law! As if the law were more important than God!

As if the law even mattered in Pakerion!

"What law," he replied darkly, before turning away to find the room's door in the darkness.

Personally he thought staying here was probably safe enough, but he could admit (grudgingly) that it was possible someone might see the broken window and come snooping. Lower floors were more at risk for burglary, so if they wanted to lower their risk of running into hostiles, the best idea was to head up.

"The law that exists everywhere else, even if you people don't acknowledge it here."

For once, however, it seemed as though she and Siegmund were on the same page, as the two of them began to head for the door together. Admittedly, she didn't know that they both would agree that their better chances would probably be up on the higher floors. It was entirely likely that people hadn't even gotten to the higher floors yet, which meant they'd have an easier time finding an empty space and setting up a defense. Just in case. There was always a chance that people would get bored and give up, but considering this was a hotel in the middle of a city that had merged with Las Vegas, she doubted it. The fact that it was now part of Las Vegas alone would be enough to attract people.

"We should head up once we're sure the hall's clear. They probably haven't gotten up there yet." Siegmund was ahead of her, though. If anyone was going to check out the hallway beyond the door, it would probably have to be him.

The hallway was nearly pitch black but for the tiny amount of light that managed to crawl all the way through the door and into the hall from the room's windows, and the glow-in-the-dark lighting tracks along the baseboards that illuminated the footpath to the emergency exits. Siegmund could see in it better than she could, part of the same assassin intrinsic that allowed him to see through stealth.

Okay. So. One, he was annoyed with her for being annoyed with him. Two, because of point one, he was irrationally irritated that she was telling him to do what he had already intended to do. Three, he was starting to get really pissed off that she seemed completely unable to accept his word on anything regarding the way Pakerion ran.

He stopped suddenly, whirling to face her. They were equals in height, so he did not have the capacity to loom, but he did have a carefully-maintained intensity to him that could make him intimidating even when he otherwise shouldn't be. "Shut up!" he snapped, not shouting, but certainly not at a polite volume. "You don't know everything, Eileen! I live here, I know this country, I know how it works. No one cares if we break a window to hide in a hotel from a war outside! Do you think the Spenta hears about it and comes to Pakerion himself to arrest you for doing something to keep safe? There is no law here. And other places can't bring it here because no one will let them.

"Don't tell me I'm wrong when you don't know anything and don't fight with me about making you safe!"

If Siegmund had turned on her like this before, she would have been properly intimidated. She was different now, though. Oh, she was still worried about upsetting him, but the Eileen that was in that hotel room with him now had participated in a war. The Eileen that was there now had helped face down warhounds and lived. Sure, she had mostly just defended herself and healed the people she had been with who had, admittedly, done more than her, but she had still been there. She had dealt with berserkers who had terrified her until they had gotten into the healing tent and she learned how to deal with them.

Eileen wasn't a pushover any more, and the fact that Siegmund seemed to think that she needed him to make her safe tipped the scale just enough for her to not care about that intimidating glare.

"I'm supposed to just shut up and be happy that you now suddenly care about me. Is that it?" Eileen's eyes narrowed at him, and she was sure to keep her voice down, just in case, but that didn't change the fact that she was now furious with him. "I might not know how you deal with things out here or in Germany, Siegmund, but where I'm from, a woman doesn't need a man to protect her. Do you see this?"

She twisted just slightly to show him the hilt of her sword, resting her hand on it's pommel. "I was fighting in a war with this sword while you were off gallivanting around with your guild leader. I don't need you to make me safe. You need me because if you get hurt out here, I can guarantee you no one else will care. You're lucky I even do."

It wasn't until her comment about a woman needing a man to protect her that his angry glower twisted into abject incredulity. That was so far from his actual reasons for doing this that he couldn't even fathom where the accusation was coming from.

Also, he didn't know what 'gallivanting' meant, but he could assume from her tone that it was intended to be derisive. And that pissed him off, because she wasn't the only person here with combat experience.

"No, you idiot," he hissed. "Someone who knows not the city needs someone who does to make them safe. If we are in Bastan, then I think you will protect me. I don't need you here because I am not so stupid to try to fight out there and get hurt.

"And I fight in the war, too. I scout Bastan when you go to rescue the Spenta. You think the Ahura did nothing? You think the people with him did nothing?

"If you don't need me, fine. Go fight through the city, get killed because you think Pakerion is Everea. I don't care." He turned on his heel and stalked off, following the light tracks in the darkened hallway toward the stairs.

The tirade did not leave him feeling any better. It just left him feeling angry and stupid. Couldn't get his feelings across properly in a language he hadn't mastered, couldn't swallow his pride long enough to admit he was upset that Eileen kept saying she didn't care about him and didn't want to be friends with him anymore, and would rather leave first than risk her walking out on him. It also hurt to know how badly she'd misjudged his character and how worthless she apparently thought he was.

He was starting to wish he'd known a different healer to call in.

Trust Siegmund to go and miss the point. Never mind that English wasn't his first language and he wasn't a mind-reader. It wasn't that she didn't care about him, because she did. If she hadn't, she never would have come out to Pakerion in the first place. He was the only person she would have come out to Pakerion for, anyway. The worst part was that she couldn't even be angry at him for it, because, really, he was right. She was just angry because he was, and that wasn't even a very good reason. Siegmund was always grumpy.

And she couldn't just leave him by himself, either. Knowing her luck, he'd get hurt trying to get out of here and she'd never forgive herself if he did when she could have prevented it.

Eileen let out a frustrated sigh, glancing back towards the broken window before darting into the hallway after him, glancing up and down the hall to see where his body blocked out the light to judge where he was. She jogged after him as quietly as she could and was fortunately small enough where she could slip past him. At least he was heading the right way towards the stairs. Hopefully there wouldn't be an alarm going off when they went through the door.

"If this is supposed to be you caring, you have a funny way of showing it," she hissed as she passed him. "Especially since this is the first time I've even heard from you since you've been back."

He saw her out of the corner of his eye, and certainly heard her approach, but he didn't bother to spare her a glance, continuing to stare at the light tracks on the baseboards. "I don't care," he repeated in correction, petulant.

If the comment about her not hearing from him sooner was meant to be a hint about why she was angry, he completely missed it, too wrapped up in his own gloom.

"No, I think you do on some level," she pointed out, resisting the urge to smile a little at that. She was still supposed to be mad at him, damn it. Smiling helped nothing. "After all, this actually let me know you were all right and that the Armaiti didn't decide to kill you or something while you were off with her, but you still should have told me."

She paused only once they reached the door to the stairwell, opening it as quietly as she could so she could poke her head around it and peer into the darkness. No sounds save for what sounded like the muffled sounds of people destroying things further down, but that meant no one was in the stairwell. Well, she mentally amended, not yet, anyway, but she had enough negativity to deal with right now. She'd worry about potentially frenzied berserkers coming after them once she got this mess with Siegmund sorted out.

"It's clear." Eileen moved onto the landing, pushing the door open so Siegmund could follow. "Come on."

He rolled his eyes at her rebuttal. Of course he did! His argument wasn't even very convincing! But that wasn't the point.

At least there was the explanation for why she was mad at him, but he was Siegmund. Of course he wasn't going to respond the way she wanted him to.

He followed her onto the landing and started up the stairs, sparing a brief glance over the rail into the darkness below. Distant sounds, they should be safe enough in here.

"Why should I tell you?" he shot back, continuing up the stairs without looking back at her. "You don't even want to be friends with me."

"Only because you don't seem to want to be," she snapped, hurrying after him up the stairs. Honestly, how was he missing that? Or were all boys that dense? "I don't hear from you for ages, and the first thing I do hear from you isn't even a 'hello, I'm back.' It's 'come out to Pakerion and heal someone for me.'"

Like a dog, she remembered thinking, something he could call on only when he needed something and that was it. That wasn't friendship at all.

"Friends don't do things like that to each other, Siegmund."

His anger flared at the accusation. He stopped suddenly, turning to her again. "You want me to waste time when someone is dying?" he challenged. "I don't ask you because you are my friend. I ask you because I won't let someone die and you are the only healer I know."

He understood that she wasn't actually angry that he'd asked her to come and heal someone. She was angry because he hadn't gotten in touch with her any sooner than that to let her know he was okay. There were a lot of reasons for that, the foremost of which was that he'd simply forgotten immediately after his return and then had forgotten that he hadn't said anything afterward.

But he didn't want to admit he'd done anything wrong, so he stuck with trying to guilt her for being mad at him.

Sadly, on the stairs, he was taller than her, and the fact that he was almost peering down at her was almost enough to get her to be quiet. After all, a few of the higher ranking paladins did that quite a bit. It wasn't hard, being on the shorter side, but that wasn't the point. The fact that he was trying to do something like this, the fact that he was trying to guilt her into something, irritated her.

"I meant before today." There was enough room on the stairs for her to join him on his step, and she moved up to do so. She wasn't going to let him scare her off, thank you very much. "It takes a minute to shoot me a PM on the forum or to dragon mail me to let me know you're back. But do you? No." Before she could stop herself, she reached out to poke Siegmund in the chest. "I have been worried about you, you know that? For all I knew, you had been eaten by a sea monster or something."

And then she would have been alone. Oh, she would have had the other paladins, and her roommates were here, but most of them didn't have the experience she had of being stuck here. Not like Siegmund did, anyway.

The admission that she'd been worried about him--and the subsequent realization that her worry was probably the reason behind her lashing out--were lost on him. He was too busy being angry himself.

"It does take only a minute! So why you never PM'd me to ask if I was okay, if you are so worried about me?"

"Because electronic devices don't have an infinite charge!" she pointed out, resisting the urge to roll her eyes as she moved up the stairs. "I hadn't seen you on the forums for awhile and I assumed whatever you were using to post on them in the first place had died. And it's not like I could have sent you dragon mail, anyway. It doesn't work across open ocean like that. You know why." Never mind that she could have sent him a PM and he could have responded to it once things were charged up. She was still angry with him. "But that doesn't change the fact that you still could have messaged me to let me know you were back. If it had been me, I wouldn't have waited for someone else to take the initiative."

Or had that just not occurred to him because Siegmund wasn't used to having friends? Eileen hesitated, briefly glancing back down the stairs to where she thought Siegmund was on the stairway. She hadn't even considered that a possibility before, because, well, who didn't have at least one friend? But Siegmund was so abrasive sometimes. Maybe that put people off. Maybe he honestly hadn't really had a friend before.

Now she just felt bad for yelling at him.

"My phone is solar," he shot back. "Don't yell at me for forgetting to tell you, when you were obviously not worried enough to try asking if I was okay."

Siegmund had friends back home. He wasn't particularly popular, but he'd had a handful of people who hung out with him and enjoyed his company, unrelated to the members of his congregation. But that was back home. That was before life had taken this strange turn and he had never once needed to get in touch with any of them to let them know he was in dire danger and then again to let them know he was okay.

He'd handled the situation poorly because it was unfamiliar to him. Rhys knew he was back, anybody else could see him present on the forums, that had seemed to be good enough. He hadn't stopped to think about anybody else who may have been worried, like Chisaki or Nix or Eileen.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that?" she demanded. And who would even think of making solar-powered phone, anyway? "It never came up in conversation and I'm not psychic."

Though, really, the blame was as much on her as it was him. She still could have sent him a message or something...

No. She was not about to let Siegmund guilt her into apologizing. As far as she was concerned, this was still his fault. "And don't you pin all of this on me, because this isn't about me right now. This is about you. You have to know more people out here than just me" -- well, she thought as she started to climb the stairs again, she hoped so, anyway -- "and how many of them did you bother to tell about you being back? Any of them?"

"So? You can still try!"

Siegmund wasn't stupid. He knew that was a trap question. The only thing he could do was own his answer and refuse to back down. "No one," he said, and swept past her, continuing up the stairs. It wasn't exactly correct, but he didn't care. It was the 'thoughtless asshole' answer she expected to hear, so let her take it and run wherever she wanted to with it.

"I thought so. Which makes you the worst friend in the history of friends, by the way." Well, no, she had hoped he would have told someone he was back, even if it wasn't her. Even if that would have stung more. "I just kind of hoped you were better than that."

"Yes," he snapped, without looking back at her. "I am the worst person who ever lived."

Honestly, he had defenses he could give against this, but he didn't care. If she was intent on thinking he was awful, she'd find reasons to think so regardless. It was just easier to put up that shield of bratty anger than to open himself up and let her attack something that actually mattered.

"I didn't say that." She wouldn't deny that there was a small part of her that was certainly thinking it if he asked, although she doubted he would. "I just thought we were important to you or something."

But why would she have been? She barely knew Siegmund, after all, and who knew why he even still talked to her? They were only barely friends because of Evelyn, and even then, with Evelyn gone, chances were good that he had only kept in contact with her because that was what Evelyn would have wanted. Did that even really count?

"I don't care why you didn't even bother to tell me," she said as she hurried after him, "but people care about you out here. You could have at least told them."

"They can be mad for themselves! They don't need you to be mad for them."

The stairs had glow-in-the-dark strips at the edge of every step to mark where one should walk, but Siegmund's attention faltered while he was busy being irritated at Eileen and he stumbled in the dark. Thankfully he caught himself on the banister and only had to reaffirm his footing, but even if she wasn't looking, there was an obvious sound of mishap.

That just made his mood worse, in that stupid way where stubbing your toe when you're already angry fills you with rage. That extra bit of anger was why he snapped at her again with, "Maybe I don't want to be important to somebody who thinks I am a terrible friend."

"Well, maybe we were never really friends in the first place."

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and Eileen froze in mid-step when she realized what she had just said. She hadn't meant to say it or particularly wanted to; it just slipped out. Even if she had thought it, and there were times when she had, the thought of saying it had never once crossed her mind until it was too late.

Like now.

Why didn't do-overs exist in real life again? Or a reset button? She would have taken that! But no, she had said it, and she couldn't exactly take it back now, no matter how much she wanted to. She might as well continue with the thought, then. "I mean, I thought we were, but whenever you've been the one to talk to me first, it just seems like you have an ulterior motive for doing it."

Oh.

Oh.

He emerged onto the next landing and threw the door open with a vicious amount of force, an audible slam against the wall that echoed down the stairwell. "Leave, then," he muttered. "No one forces you to stay with me."

Siegmund, a pro at self-sabotage, did not bother reassuring her that she was wrong. He did not voice the fact that he didn't want to stop being friends with her. He said nothing about how upset and angry and afraid he was about losing one of the few people he was close to.

He just stalked away from her, into the darkened hallway on the fifth floor of the hotel, and told himself he didn't care what she did next.

[EVENT] Acher's Attack on Enghelab

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