Unfortunate Truth

[shaychlendel.livejournal.com]

((Closed thread for now, Vanyel and Tylendel.))

Freshly sorted, and with a relieved sens of freedom, Tylendel left the sorting room hand in hand with Vanyel, casting his first glances around the castle proper.



"Gods, Vanyel," he breathed, taking it all in. "It's like nothing I've ever seen! This place is... it's like the magic in stories we heard as children!" He gazed at Vanyel, a childlike amazement in his eyes. "Imagine, ashke, we live here now! Together!"

He ran to the balcony to watch the moving staircases and the other students, noticing the ghosts and the paintings, everything mystified him.

"Where are the dormitories, could you take me there?"

Comments

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

"Sure," he said with a smile. "Yours or mine? Because I'll be sharing a room with you, either way," he said.

[shaychlendel.livejournal.com]

"You're already settled, so let's go to your room." He was grinning now, unable to contain his excitement.

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

He nodded. "For what settled's worth," he said. "Been either sleeping or exploring the whole time," he said.

He took Tylendel over to the stairs, climbing them slowly. To the observant, it was obvious he was tiring easily. "Dorm's are up here, in one of the towers."

[shaychlendel.livejournal.com]

Tylendel abruptly forgot his wonder and gripped Vanyel's arm.
"Ashke, are you all right? We can stop somewhere else quiet, or take a rest."

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

"I'll be fine," he said. "Just have to get my endurance back. Once we get to the dorm, I promise I'll rest." Van wanted to get to the dorm before Tylendel asked any more uncomfortable questions.

[shaychlendel.livejournal.com]

He nodded, slipping his arm around Vanyel's waist to support him.
"You had better. And you'll have to tell me what happened to wear you down so much, after." He smiled reassuringly, starting once again towards the rooms.

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

Vanyel sighed. "Backshock," he said succinctly. "Amongst a lot of other things I'd rather not talk about. I'll tell you, though."

Finally, they made their way up the stairs, and into the common room. "This is a common area, and my room's over this way," he said.

[shaychlendel.livejournal.com]

He gaped at the common room a moment, pleasantly surprised. The red and gold decorations made the room sumptuous, and it was far more glamorous than anything the Collegium had offered. Even the full Heralds' rooms hadn't been this beautiful!

"It's lovely here, Van," he murmured, turning to follow Vanyel into his room. "I'm impressed!"

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

He smiled. "I suppose it is," he said, taking a seat in a cushioned chair he'd purloined. The pained look was leaving his face as he caught his breath.

"Now, I have to ask you a favour. Can you shield this room like the workrooms at home?" He watched Tylendel carefully.

[shaychlendel.livejournal.com]

He looked around. The room wasn't too big, so he could manage it. Though why was confusing.
"Of course, would you like me to now?"

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

"Yes," he said. "As heavily as you can." Vanyel was glad Tylendel wasn't asking him why. His reasoning was double purposed. If Tylendel shielded the place, he was likely to do less damage, if he snapped. As well, doing something like that might exhaust his magic for a time, again making things easier when he told Tylendel the truth.

[shaychlendel.livejournal.com]

"All right, then, as my beloved commands!" he bowed theatrically, winking at Vanyel before standing in the center of the room, concentrating on spreading the shield to encompass the entire room, the strongest he had ever made. He centered it and set it, and finally rested it in its place. Smiling at his handiwork, he sat on one of the chairs opposite Vanyel.

"Now, ashke, what is it that you need to tell me?"

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

He sighed. "I don't want to, Lendel," he said softly. "But I'm afraid I'd better. Best you hear from me."

He scrubbed at his face with his fists for a moment. "What's the last thing you remember, before you came here, 'Lendel?" he asked.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama had warred with the idea of checking on Van for long enough, he supposed. He'd managed to wrangle a house elf's help in locating the Gryffindor commons, and it was just a matter of going to the door where he felt the most "stay the hell away" from.

He paused a moment to listen, hearing nothing from within but two sets of breathing, and knocked softly.
"Van, can you talk a moment?"

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

He woke up, and slowly slipped lose of Tylendel's sleeping form. He walked over to the door, and stuck his head through it. "Kurama? What's going on?" he asked quietly, his hair tousled from sleep.

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Just checking up," he said, keeping his voice low. He tried his best to smile down at Vanyel, but couldn't quite manage it. "All went well, I hope?"

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

"As well as could be expected," he said with a sigh. "Which simply means I didn't have to get any help with it."

He looked at Kurama carefully. "Sorry if I was, well, rather direct earlier. But he'd forgotten everything that went wrong, and I didn't want him remembering it in the middle of his sorting. That wouldn't have helped anything."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

He nodded, looking away.
"I... must apologize also. I was unkind without provocation," he said, ducking his head.

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

He sighed. "It's ok. I could tell you didn't understand. I just.. well, I can't leave him. He's less technically damaged than I was when I got here, but he's also less stable, I think. I just had the physical damage, to my body and mind making some things harder."

"I do value your friendship, and I tried to make that point clear to him. But I don't know that 'Lendel will be thinking all that clearly about some things for a while yet."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

"Have you spoken with Kusuriyuri, then? He should be able to help with whatever is hurting you both..." he asked, trying to move away from the touchier parts of that subject. He didn't like admitting he was wrong any more than he had to.

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

"Yes, but the sorting was not the time to deal with it. And 'Lendel wanted answers to questions I couldn't give without making him remember things. At least I managed it with as little leakage as I could figure out how to arrange for, though."

He sighed. "And a lot of the physical damage, I think Professor Snape has mostly healed, including that inside my head. Quite a bit of the rest of it, 'Lendel should be able to teach me at least the basics of, when he's in better shape. He at least understands the nature of the gifts I seem to be manifesting."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

He nodded slowly. Vanyel seemed all right, but he could feel the anxiety coming off him in waves. He could smell it, see it, almost even taste it in the air around the room.

"And he? How well did he take the news?"

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

"Badly," he said, his tone flat. "I'm just glad I had him shield the room, before we started. It left him with less power when his shields started to go," he said softly.

"Even if I wanted to let him out of my sight, I wouldn't, now," he said. "He's not stable enough for that."

[serrulata.livejournal.com]

Kurama made a face and shuffled uncomfortably.
"This is... beyond my expertise, but if there's any way I can help..." he offered, grasping a little for words. In these situations, he was powerless, and it hurt to be so. And the worn, sad look on Vanyel's face would have been heartbreaking had he that much of a capacity for compassion. For now, though, he felt merely inadequate, and that was enough.

[vanyel-peacock.livejournal.com]

"Thank you," he said. "Maybe you could ask Kusuriyuri to drop by, and help?" he asked. "I don't know anything about shields or ward," he said. "And I'm sure the exhaustion will wear off eventually."