voidtreckerexpress | Egret, Late Day 25, Early Day 26 | Healing Car

She looked awfully tired. Glorfindel looked around the Healing Car for a moment. He'd just go with her, perhaps.

"Wait up, Najaran, I will come with you," he said, catching up to her.

She stopped. "Aren't you needed here?"

He smiled at her. "The effects of what I am doing will linger at least long enough for me to walk to the kitchen and back, have no fear."

Glorfindel offered her his arm, as a gentleman does. "You looked like you might appreciate a little company."

She nodded, and hesitated unsure what to do about the arm held in her general direction. Hi, sorry, she's still somewhat new to people... "Thank you," she said, holding the staff with one hand and the flower he gave her with the other.

He gently took the hand with the flower and looped it over his arm and walked with her to the door and out into the corridor. "It is a lovely...part of the day for a walk in the Void, is it not?" He said, making polite chat as they strolled forward.

She was surprised but found herself leaning on the offered arm. More than she realized. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that and sniffed a bit. "I know I;'m supposed to be polite and agree, but I'm still too upset to find anything lovely about today," she finally said, looking down.

"Or you could be polite and disagree," Glorfindel said. "Polite is just a style. You can be utterly polite and tell someone that that they can go...jump off a cliff, but in such a way that they could not possibly find offence. It is a little known joy of the art form of polite conversation."

"But, we could forgo that, and just discuss the day you are having. If you wanted to talk about it?" he offered. He held open the door between carriages for her. He had his own feelings about the recent mission, but had the chance to speak to a friend, which had helped him come to grips with them.

"I'm not sure I know how to do that," she said sheepishly. "Disagree politely that is.... I wouldn't ever tell someone to jump off a cliff. Well... I wouldn't mean it, anyway," she amended. She didn't stay mad long, but she could get mad at times. Mostly since leaving Gilman Island though. After all back home the only ones she could get mad at were Master Horowitz or Gooligan, and those weren't really options.

She didn't want to answer the other, but found herself speaking anyway, voice haunted as the tears started again. "We could have saved them... or we could have at least tried...."

Glorfindel patted her hand. "It just takes practice. To be honest though, for the first few years you only think of the perfect comeback after you have parted and are on the way to your next destination." His eyes twinkled like stars as he smiled down at her.

"Mm," Glorfindel acknowledged what she said. "Yes, we could have tried. Though...having fought against something that resembled what approached, more than once...we might have died. The Train felt we could not hold our own against it and made the choice to pull us. Or perhaps it just got scared and ran, and chose not to abandon us." He knew where she was coming from. The fact that all those others were still back there...maybe...

"I fought something like that too, it looked like the Lord of Flies and the Black Cepters. If that was the case I should have stayed at least.... My Master sent me to investigate them." Which she wasn't aware she was interpreting as stopping them being all on her shoulders. Those shakers were shaking with sorrow, anger, and fatigue.

He stopped her as they got to the kitchen car. "Najaran, the Train was frightened, and it values us. It did not want to leave us to die. As much as I feel we could have done some good...we did not get that chance. All we can do now is hope that what we did was enough for at least some to survive, mourn because we do not know for sure, and plan for the next time we come across this entity."

Glorfindel gave her a lingering hug before moving to the refrigerators and pulling out food. "When was the last time you ate something?"

"I was scared too. But you don't run away because you're scared. Not when people need you," she said softly. She was staring down at the flower as she spoke, spinning it slowly between her fingers. Her father wouldn't have run. Kigi wouldn't have run. Alta... okay Alta would have ran but that would be just so she could get a better....

She looked up sharply. "Do you think maybe we're circling around to come at the attackers from behind?" It was a thin thread of hope, but it was the first she'd had.

"I agree. But until we can communicate better with the Train, we don't know what it was thinking." He paused a moment. "We assume a great deal, but we don't know its age or maturity. A child will run because it is frightened, whereas an adult will stay and fight."

He considered it. "Perhaps, but I suspect not. When we left, the Train was very frightened. But someday, we will have the strength we need and we will find a way to convince the Train to let us rid the universe of this threat so no more are harmed."

"It...is remotely possible that this thing was after the Train specifically, and by leaving we drew it away from the people of that world."

She considered that, eyes still on the flower for a long moment as her exhausted mind processed what he had said. Then she shook her head. "I don't think so..." she said finally. "Not to the last part. If we were bait we'd be moving slow enough to give whatever it was the chance to think it could catch up."

Could the train be like a child....? She had to consider that one more. She yawned. Later. She'd have to consider it more later...

"I don't think we're bait. I think we might be the target," he said softly, watching as she yawned.

"Have you had enough to eat?" he asked. "I could help you back to your cabin, if you'd like."

Enough to eat? Never. "I could eat more," she mumbled. Then she blinked, confused. "Wasn't I supposed to be helping you...?"

"You are helping me," he assured her. "I couldn't possibly eat all this by myself." He got out a bowl and a spoon and handed them to her.

She took them, sure there was a fault in his logic somewhere there, but was too hungry and tired to find it. With a yawn she reached behind her back and several cards flew to her hands. "Well then my friends can help too," she mumbled and tossed the cards up where they split in a flash of light revealing a few odd creatures. The smallest was a furry little critter with arms and legs, the largest was what seemed to be a huge suit of armor that was crunched in the corner and still hardly fit. Then the helm turned to face her, proving it was alive. There were a few others, just as odd, though on the smaller side. There was what looked like a chest plate and helm with arms and a drill in place of legs and feet, an upright armless cat in a cape, and a gremlin.

She yawned again and gestured to him, "He has too much food and needs help eating it," she told them sleepily.

"Somehiw I doubt that if you're here," the cat creatures said with an exhausted laugh. "But we'll help if we can, merow."

Glorfindel's eyes raised at the variety of her...friends. That is what he understood they were, for all that they were also cards. He set out more bowls and more spoons. "Please, let me know if you require another way to eat, or if you require other sustenance," he said.

He made sure she had food first, refilling her bowl as she emptied it, between serving the others. If she was exhausted and hungry, it made sense to him that they would be also.

Most of them happily dug in but the cat looking thing looked up at him. "Well if you're offering, have any spells?" he asked, nose twitching slightly.

Naja set the flower down gently beside the bowl and started eating happily once she saw the others were eating.

Glorfindel thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Not as such, not like some of the others. My magic is more innate. I do have energy to spare if you can take it directly, though." He held up the palm of his hand and allowed some of the light he emitted to pool there.

"We can sure try, merow!" Cait Sith said jumping up onto the counter to be closer. His cape flew open, revealing that rather than a body he had a gem surrounded by rings, all of which rotated slowly.

Najaran licked her spoon off, bowl empty that quickly. "Be careful of the feedback," she warned them both.

"That was an attack spell," Cait Sith said, seeming unconcerned. "This won't be as spicy, I can tell already."

Glorfindel held his hand steady. The cat-headed friend was quite unusual, and did give him pause. But once you start a steady diet of strange, you don't get easily phased.

"If it is too bland, I can try something. Not sure if it would work, but I can try," he said, smiling. With his other hand he put another ladleful of soup into Najaran's bowl.

Cait Sith got closer. "You have to aim it at me," he said, whiskers and ears twitching eagerly.

Najaran happily dug in. She will keep eating till bursting, even this tired. Maybe even especially this tired.

Glorfindel frowned. He wasn't sure how to aim his power. He wasn't positive it wouldn't just dissipate if he released it.

Except there had been that one time, when they were hard pressed by orcs. But he'd never done it again. He bit his lip in concentration, his eyes closing and his eyebrows scrunching together.

After a moment, in which he focused on the pool of light in the palm of his hand, he tossed it at Cait Sith. It stayed coherent as it left his hand and flew toward the being, but was starting to unravel quickly.

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The joys of figuring out how a creature speaks when he has like... 4 lines.

I'd buy it :)

Good, I could use the money :: teasing::

*Gives 2 cents*

Gives 2 cents