lt_safe_house | (no subject)

Current Location: Park of the Manor

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(no subject)

Date: May 6th, night to 7th
Place: Outside
Status: Public
Summary: Dustfinger comes back.

Dustfinger started to wonder if the money he had taken from Arty had been cursed. Oh but he should have been more careful when talk had started of magic. Instead he stupidly took the large amount and went away...

...and for the third time now he was walking this way again.

He shook the head. What did money help him if he could not get away from here when he had it? He hoped if he returned it to Arty he would lift the spell. Otherwise he would never get home. Never.

Now it was too late to ring the bell and he still did not think they would likely let him inside very gladly. He did not need to go inside either. Like Gwin he could just sleep outside when it wasn't raining.

The sun would wake him up surely. Then he could ask for Arty and give back the money. For now, he laid down near to the building were he would stay dryer even if it started to rain at night, rolled up and tried to sleep.

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Gabriel moved to the entrance, holding the door open for him. "Come in, then. Would you like any food?"

He went to the door and inside. There he stopped at once.

Saying he couldn't remember the last time he had really eaten would have been a lie. It had been in exactly this house.

"Maybe for Gwin", he said and pointed at his companion.

The sight of the animal made Gabriel smile fondly. "He's adorable. Is he friendly?"

"No", Dustfinger said quickly. "He doesn't like to be tickled or anything. He's likely to take off your finger if you try. I'm sorry", he added quickly. "He isn't bad. It's just how he is."

And if he was told to leave Gwin outside now he'd stay out, too. Rain or not.

Gabriel quickly pulled his hand back. "That's alright," he laughed. "I have a cat who's aloof with others; she hates my closest friend Michael and attempts to claw his face off if they're in the same room. Aren't you coming in?"

"In where?" Dustfinger asked. He was still standing right inside the door and uncertain which direction to go to now.

"Come to the counter and I'll get you a key to a room," Gabriel suggested.

"I can't pay a room", Dustfinger repeated. "If I can just sit somewhere and wait?"

"I'll pay," Gabriel offered. "Don't worry, I don't expect anything in return. Or if you don't like the idea of my paying you, you could just use my room. I don't sleep much these days."

"I could just wait here", Dustfinger suggested. "It's inside and it's dry."

And of course the man had already forgotten about the food. But that was okay. It was nice enough of him to let them come inside. He could hear the rain outside now. Every time it rained he hoped that his bag wouldn't get drenched down to his book. He took great care with it. For all he knew it was the only copy existing now. If it was destroyed or illegible from water, he would have no way of returning.

When he thought that, he held on even tighter than before to his bag.

"It's hardly comfortable," Gabriel said. "Come on upstairs. You can sleep in a soft bed and I'll see if I can get you and him," he nodded towards Gwin, "some food."

He wondered what was inside the bag, if he seemed so protective of it.

"I can't. - " Dustfinger started. Then he wasn't sure how to do on. He didn't need a soft bed to sleep in, and nothing would change that he was dirty and smelly and so where his clothes. Even if he got a bath there was no way he could wash his things and dry them quickly enough. That was never even thinking of the fact that he had no place to wash them. In this world you couldn't even strip to wash the only set of clothes you had in a river.

"What's the problem?" Gabriel asked, gently.

"My clothes... and I ... and Gwin - Everything needs a wash", Dustfinger admitted unhappily.

"I have a bathroom you can use, then," Gabriel offered.

"I... it's okay." Dunstfinger said. "I'll just wait here. I don't think I'd be able to get my things clean anymore anyway. Just,please - if you have some leftovers for Gwin, maybe?"

Gabriel nodded. "I don't mind if you dirty the sheets, though. And I would feel bad for simply leaving you here. What does Gwin eat?"

"Meat," Dustfinger answered. "Raw or any other.

He stood against the wall and made no motion to go anywhere.

Gabriel sighed at his apparent wish to stay there. "Alright, then. Wait here."

He made his way to the restaurant; it was closed for business, of course, but unlocked. Padding silently into the kitchen, he washed his hands and peeked into the fridge. Excellent, uncooked meat. He placed it on a little plate, warming it with a thought, and took a couple of bread rolls as well just in case, leaving some money on the counter on his way out.

He returned to the man in the lobby. "Is this alright for both of you?"

"Thank you", Dustfinger said. He put the plate where Gwin could reach it and started eating the rolls. As he ate he kept a careful eye on the other man.

Gabriel wondered how badly the man had been mistreated, to make him so wary. It saddened him, the way humans could treat one another.

"Where will you sleep, then?"

I'll wait for Arty and give back the money. Then I go and try to earn money to get back to the continent. I still need to find a Silverton-"

He bit off the word. What did he do there that he started to trust this stranger? He was trapped inside. If the man decided he was insane he had no way of knowing what would happen.

"Silverton? Is that a name?"

As the Angel of Birth, Gabriel knew everyone's birth name; he was used to knowing it on sight. Yet he did not know this man's name, and it was frustrating. How could he not know someone's name? The man had to have been born in the usual way, after all.*

"Might I know your name?"

* Yes, that included babies born via C-section and test-tube babies.

"My name is Dustfinger", Dustfinger muttered. He wondered if he should add he was a busker so that the other man would assume it was a name he had taken for the performance. But he could still add that later if he had to. Many people eemed to assume people of his job were always thieves as well.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow slightly. "Interesting name. Is there a story behind it?"