[voice]

[wannabethehero]

[The audio on this message is a little hard to pick out from some background noise - it sounds like Kiwi is in a public area with a lot of chatter.]

Hi everyone. So, Will is staying with me for a while. He's been really stressed and sad, after the monster attack and...some friends of his getting sick.

So I want to do something to cheer him up; I'm putting together kind of a last minute party. Nothing too fancy...if you want to come over, we can play some games or just talk. I just want to remind Will that we love him and we're still here!

Let me know if you'd like to come...and don't tell Will about it! I want to surprise him.

Comments

[original_is_best]

"I am. But I can't speak of the details here. You can come with me to my place after."

Never mind the unintentional innuendo that phrase might usually entail. He has something important to check, which meant it should be just as important to Regis.

He glanced around the party, at all the other normal people who enjoyed it as normal people would, and for a brief moment at Will. Everything seemed fine here.

"Our continued attendance doesn't seem particularly necessary. We can go in a bit."

Because that's more fun than staying at a party, right?

[kingkingcxiii]

"We can go now if it is that important."

And it must be something fairly so. He highly doubts Verstael would search him out specifically for anything else.

Regis pulls himself to his feet, making his own visual inspection of the crowd as he does. Ah yes, there is Cor, being a wallflower as usual. He will watch over Will and Will will watch over him. It works out nicely, "Shall we?"

[original_is_best]

"Very well, then."

He was certain Will would do just fine without them. He had plenty of people here.

Without reason to waste any time, he headed for the door with Regis in tow, ready to head directly to his 'home'.

[flawed_immortality]

See the trouble with that idea, gentlemen, is that Cor has been people watching the entire time now. Well... people watching and petting a certain flareon. As soon as he noticed Verstael he was, of course, watching him. So when he stops near Regis Cor's already getting to his feet. By the time his stubborn King starts following the crazy Niff scientist he's moving to intercept them, a distressed Arche trotting after him.

"Regis!" He doesn't raise his voice so much as say his name with enough force to demand his attention, reaching out to catch his sleeve a second later. "Where do you two think you're going?"

[kingkingcxiii]

It's very difficult for Regis not to roll his eyes when hears his name and then feels the pull on his sleeve. He does stop walking, though.

"Cor, please don't cause a scene. He's asked for my insight into something. I am going to give it. It is as simple as that," Regis gives his friend a stern look. "There are things that are not to be discussed at celebrations. You know this as well as I do."

[original_is_best]

Verstael paused when Regis did, since leaving without him would be pointless. The soldier, of course. Of all the Lucians, Cor was the one Verstael least wanted the presence of.

"It will not require your attendance," he told Cor directly and firmly. Which was true. But also, he didn't want Cor there.

[flawed_immortality]

For a moment he gives Regis a look that says very clearly what he thinks of this incredibly flawed logic. Then Verstael has to go and open his mouth and Cor's expression goes from irritated to something far far darker, lip curling slightly as he shifts his gaze to glower at Besithia.

"If it requires my King then you know damn well it does." He glances back to Regis but now, with Verstael pushing so hard to keep him away, he's loathe to take his gaze off the real threat here.

"Majesty, I agree here is not the place for such conversations but, with all due respect, I will not allow you to be alone with a man of his caliber. Clarus would never forgive me and in his absence I must act as your Shield."

[kingkingcxiii]

Oh no, Cor. Cor. Did you really just invoke his Shield against him?

That...might not have been a good idea.

Something in Regis' expression closes off, though since Cor knows him so well, he may be able to catch a glimpse of sadness before it's gone.

"If you are to act as my Shield here, then you need to learn a very important lesson very quickly. It is one Clarus learned as well."

Even if said man hated it with all his being.

"Sometimes you must trust the king's safety to his own hands. This is one of those occasions."

[original_is_best]

He was loathe to allow Cor to come. He might not have much choice, but he knew well the more people present the more likely secrets were to get out, and Cor was far from someone he trusted with his safety. No, Cor was more likely to purposely endanger him.

He waited momentarily in silence to see how this would go. He couldn't force his hand here - he at least knew his own limitations physically.

[flawed_immortality]

Seeing that flicker of sadness and the way Regis shuts down there's the slightest flinch from Cor. Not at the words or the tone but that he's done something to upset Regis. For a moment he considers arguing, insisting.

Verstael is a monster and the absolute last person Cor trusts his king with. The hand that had just been lightly touching Regis' sleeve shifts to squeeze his arm lightly, a hint at how much this entire thing scares him. Then he closes his eyes, lets out a slow breath and when he opens them again Cor is gone, only the Marshal left behind.

"If that is what my King commands, so be it. Might I at least recommend that whatever private space you move to it be one of his Majesty's choosing?" Please don't let him take you to his lab or some other place he's likely trapped and reinforced and Gods only know what else.

[kingkingcxiii]

Regis hates seeing Cor shut down like that, to know that separation--so much more complete than what he does--still persists into the future. Quietly, he is glad he's already pulled up his own mask so that neither Cor nor Verstael can see just how much he hates it. There is no way for him to respond to the squeeze on his arm without it being obvious, so he does his best by acknowledging the compromise even though he suspects going to the lab is unavoidable.

"That is not a bad idea, though I'm uncertain if it is a feasible one," his gaze shifts from Cor to Verstael. "Will the resources in your lab be required for this discussion?"

[original_is_best]

"It's located in my home, but I don't foresee needing use of any particular equipment. At least for the moment I don't have what I would need."

Which was thankfully a truthful answer but he wouldn't accomplish anything by lying when he would be found out soon enough anyway. "Our captures have not been forthcoming with sharing the technology they have available. I have had to... improvise."

'Flareons' counted as welding equipment, right?

[flawed_immortality]

Poor Arche deserves better than this.

Cor lets his hand fall away from Regis' arm, not wanting to seem like he is trying to assert his will here. He doesn't. He wants his King to be safe and there is no world in which being with Besithia is safe.

"I will leave it to your discretion, Majesty." An admission that burns like salt ground into a deep wound. "I only request that you exercise caution."

Perhaps their captors simply don't want to share advanced technology with someone as dangerous as Verstael.

[kingkingcxiii]

Poor Arche hasn't had that many chances to set things on fire outside of the spiders. It may be she enjoys it.

Regis' mask falls away some then as he gives Cor a genuine smile in hopes of putting him at least a little bit more at ease, "I will be as cautious as possible. After all, I just got off bed rest. I have no wish to return to it anytime soon."

It may sound like a joke, but Cor of all people should understand what it is like to be forced to be in bed when you want to be elsewhere. Even a Lucis Caelum can only sleep so much.

[original_is_best]

Well then. Looks like things worked out in his favor. Verstael threw up an arm, exercising patience and at the same time clearly ready to get a move on.

"Shall we head out then?"

And he didn't wait around for an answer, setting forth and expecting Regis to follow.