[Action]

[knightofratatosk]

[It's sunset before Emil makes it back to town... while he was lucky enough not to land in the lake after going through the portal, he ended up in the mountains instead, and it's taken him almost two days to get back. He's exhausted, wet, freezing cold, and most importantly, he's not back in his world. The portal also separated him from Sial, so he's worried about what happened to his chimera companion as well.

He looks about as dejected as he feels right now; every so often he'll stumble over something and fall to his knees before picking himself up and continuing to trudge on.]

Comments

[knightofratatosk]

[He shakes his head. No, he's just fine with the hot chocolate for now.]

[corrinesbell]

[okay. She's going to sit somewhere, then, and try to warm up a little herself]

[knightofratatosk]

[Well, he wouldn't be a good host if he didn't offer her one of the blankets from his nest, so he's going to do that.]

[corrinesbell]

Thanks.

[she'll take it...and if he doesn't look like he minds, will sit on the couch with him. It's got the best angle for the fire, see]

[knightofratatosk]

[Since he can't speak, he just nods in response before turning his attention back to the fire. She's free to sit on the couch if she wants; it doesn't bother him.]

[corrinesbell]

[she will just sit in silence for a while then. She's trying to decide if her talking will help him any]

[knightofratatosk]

[He's okay either way, since it's not like he can hold up his end of a conversation at the moment.]

[corrinesbell]

[well in that case]

...I was gonna go through it. I would've if I hadn't heard that it was fake.

[knightofratatosk]

[Now he looks up, surprised. She wanted to go home that badly too? But... why? Weren't all of her friends here?]

[corrinesbell]

I hate it here. I don't wanna be someone's experiment anymore, and if the world really is all messed up because I'm here...I don't wanna fail like that again. I'd be breaking my pacts and...letting my friends down.

[knightofratatosk]

[... oh. Oh. Yeah, that makes sense; that's a part of the reason he wanted to go home as well. The other part was that he was so desperate to see Richter and Marta again.]

[corrinesbell]

...But I kinda wondered if I'd be...just deserting the people here who need me too. If they'd hate me for leaving.

[knightofratatosk]

[That's something Emil hadn't really stopped to consider. They'd have every right to be angry at him for ditching them, wouldn't they? He hadn't even thought about their feelings at all... and suddenly he feels guilty for being such a terrible friend.]

[corrinesbell]

I didn't think about what I'd think of the people who left if I didn't though. ...But I don't think I'd...I mean, they're just trying to get home too. It's what we all want.

[knightofratatosk]

[Carefully he'll reach out to put a hand on her shoulder. That's all any of them want, really, and to have it dangled in front of them like that and then yanked away... it hurts.]

[corrinesbell]

[she's surprised at the touch, because she was just talking for the sake of talking. But thanks, Emil, have a smile]

I'm okay. Anyway, in the end I guess it's good I didn't try it.

[knightofratatosk]

[Yeah, or else you could've ended up barking like Emil. He's starting to get very frustrated with this inability to speak.]

[corrinesbell]

Maybe it'll wear off soon.

[knightofratatosk]

[Sigh.]

[corrinesbell]

[she's got nothing else to say again for the moment. Back to staring at the fire]

[knightofratatosk]

[Hey, he's fine with that. Just having the company is kind of nice.]

[corrinesbell]

[leave her for too long and she'll start dozing off. It's so nice and warm now]

[knightofratatosk]

[The combination of warmth and exhaustion from his impromptu hiking trip is fast lulling him into sleep as well. He at least has enough sense to finish his hot chocolate and put the mug down before he passes out, though.]

[corrinesbell]

[she'll half-wake if he makes noise and fully wake when the fire starts to die down]

[knightofratatosk]

[Fortunately he's too exhausted for his sleep to be disrupted by nightmares at this point.

Sheena might hear a small scratching at the front door, though.]