Room 505, Thursday Night

[thatsamilkshake]

So it turns out that punching a tree? Kinda stupid. SAM. Which was why the girl with her chin buried in the fur of a hunting hound (that she was still allowed to call a puppy because...YOUR FACE) looked like she was flipping people the bird if they walked past the half-open door. It wasn't them; it was just the splint. ...Okay, it was also the mood. But still not them.

Brynne, unsurprisingly, was very good at cuddling; Owain...tried to be? But there was a reason the owl on the bed was currently cuddling with Francine's birthday present (whose name was apparently Agravaine, according to -- well, that thought wasn't depressing, was it) instead of Francine.

Look, she wasn't letting them spend the night in the stables tonight, shut up. Also, just... shut up.

[OOC: Open but emo. Last post before Francie heads off for the backpacking trip, but probably not the last post in Fandom.]

Comments

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

When the day passed with no word from either Arthur or Merlin, Firekeeper and Blind Seer's suspicions were pretty much confirmed. Which was why they were upstairs knocking on Francine's door, wondering if her friend knew yet.

"Francine?" she queried, poking her head through the open door.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Hey," Francine said quietly when she realized who it was. Brynmor perked up, though, barking a puppy-no-matter-what-size-I-am greeting at Blind Seer.

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

Blind Seer returned the greeting, tail wagging in amusement at the puppy's (who was younger than Blind Seer, and thus totally a puppy) enthusiasm.

"What happen?" Firekeeper frowned, nodding at the splint as she pushed the door open.

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine glanced down and flexed her finger at the only joint that would. "I was stupid and didn't let Arthur give me boxing lessons before he disappeared into thin air, so the tree won."

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

...Yeah, Firekeeper only followed about half of that. Still, she pounced (figuratively) on the part she did understand:

"So," she glanced at Blind Seer, who stayed infuriatingly silent. "He find his way back, then. And Merlin too?"

[thatsamilkshake]

"And Morgana." Francine curled the fingers of the other hand in Brynmor's fur. "I guess." It was less guess than her sullen mood wanted to admit; the surety that they'd get home had in that moment become surety that they had, but after that, there was nothing left to be sure of. What happened after, whether they were safe, whether she'd ever see them again... "They just...poof. Gone. Right in front of us."

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"Magic!" Firekeeper said with a snort, though at least by this point it was more exasperation than outright distrust. "Always trouble."

[thatsamilkshake]

At other times, Francine might have argued that, but this was hardly the best time to catch her disagreeing. "I don't know what they did to make it work when it wouldn't before. There was a monster; maybe that did it."

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

Firekeeper nodded. "That was our thinking, when we telled them of the creature's presence," she admitted, seeing no reason to hide this fact from Francine.

[thatsamilkshake]

"You saw it too?" At least she wasn't alarming anybody by mentioning something that was already gone, then -- though Firekeeper would be the last person Francine would expect to be...alarmed, exactly.

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"This past night," she nodded. "We was hunting in the preserve when we see it! I lose an arrow," she was still somewhat put out by this, despite the relative ease with which she could acquire new arrows.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Arthur and Merlin killed it," Francine said, a weird vein of pride running through the mope. "I think. Arthur got it with a spear and it fell."

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"He say he have something to settle with it," Firekeeper told Francine. "I am pleased he do so," the corner of her mouth quirked up in something like a smirk.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Oh, good for him." Sorry, Arthur; not your fault, but then again you weren't here to get smacked by the wave of pissiness anyway, so maybe it all evened out. "Glad that worked out. Too bad it meant they all disappeared without getting to say goodbye and left Brynne and Owain and the horses behind and who knows if they'll ever come back."

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"I- both of us would be lying if we say there would be no sadness if we not see them again," Firekeeper admitted, resting a hand on Blind Seer's back. "But..." she shrugged. "We also know what it is like to be here, and not allowed to go home for so long a time. When the chance come, it would have been cruel not to let them take it." Perhaps she was projecting a little there, due to her own longing for news of the Isles.

[thatsamilkshake]

"I don't blame them," Francine replied, even if at the moment that was sounding iffy even to her. "I just hate feeling like they got taken away."

Or like you got left behind, just like the dog and the owl and the horses some slightly more cynical part of her said, and she'd have punched it but she already had one splinted finger; she didn't need more.

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

Firekeeper nodded. "Perhaps they will find a way to get word back?" she suggested, though it sounded weak even to her.

[thatsamilkshake]

"Merlin said he was going to try to make the phones work by magic somehow," Francine said. Of course, that was planned in the cotton candy cloud land where Fandom would just let them walk home across the causeway and come back when they pleased.

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"Such a thing could be possible?" Firekeeper asked, surprised.

[thatsamilkshake]

Francine shrugged, half hopeful, half not wanting to invite Murphy's Law by being hopeful. "Maybe? He's Merlin."

There had to be some sort of magic at work here considering how many places the phones in Fandom reached. If this island could do it, why not That Merlin?

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"Then perhaps I should learn more of my own such," she mused. Look, she knew what buttons to press on speed dial to reach a handful of people. And how to retrieve a voicemail. That was about it.

[thatsamilkshake]

"You should let me put my number in your speed dial, at least," Francine said, offering her a small, wobbly smile. "We're supposed to be leaving on the senior trip tomorrow."

She tugged lightly on Brynne's ear, then smoothed down the fur. "I don't know, though. Brynne and Owain and the horses were supposed to go back to Camelot too. Who's going to take care of them if we leave for a whole term?"

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"Blind Seer and me take care of horses every week!" Firekeeper pointed out, digging out her phone and offering it to Francine. "Two more would be no trouble. Neither would a dog and bird."

[thatsamilkshake]

"Really? Are you sure?" Not about the phone - that was getting Francine's number regardless. "I'm not even sure I want to go now, but..." But maybe Fandom would seem less empty now if they weren't in Fandom for a bit.

[kestrelswolf.livejournal.com]

"Would not say it if I were not sure," Firekeeper scoffed. "You go! See new places!" it was not an opportunity Firekeeper or Blind Seer would ever in a million years consider missing. New and exciting places!