uisgeannan | (no subject)

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Despite being utterly exhausted Euri could tell this entire situation was awkward. But, unfortunately, three nights of almost no sleep was drowning out her common sense, and it had no intention of stopping until she got a decent amount of rest. It was what had pushed her to climb out of bed, make her way up the stairs to the nearly empty fourth floor in her polka-dotted nightgown, and stop in front of Robin's room. She had resisted it in the beginning, of course, because she was stubborn. She didn't need anyone's help falling asleep, even Dog's. It was just a simple process that her stupid body would eventually pick up on; in addition, it would also realize that all those nightmares about ghosts and possessions and undead things weren't helping, and would cut them out.

It was three in the morning after three nights of sleeplessness when she finally gave up. She was so tired that embarrassment barely even crossed her mind. She simply stared down at the doorknob until her brain processed the fact that it was most likely locked, then continued along a rational path of unlocking it via hex. A few songlike words tumbled from her lips (not normally necessary, but she wasn't in the clearest state of mind), and she heard a tiny click that signaled the door was now hexed and completely unlockable until the spell was reversed. Knocking never occurred to her.

Euri stepped into the room. Even though it was dark just knowing the presence of all that scrawled writing on the walls made her shiver, and she was quick to dart on her toes to Robin's bed and crawl under the covers.

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Robin hums, affirming. That explains why she's here, he supposes.

"That really has you worried, huh?"

He turns his head to look up at his own ceiling; at the deep marks he's carved into it during his month or so of self-prompted imprisonment (for the most part). He can recall Euri saying something about not liking ghosts, too. The whole thing was starting to add up a little better.

"A little, I guess."

She's not exactly willing to admit it worries her a lot, and that she doesn't even want Robin to be right about the whole possession thing, but those dreams clearly mean something. She's still watching him, though, to make sure he isn't going to start teasing her about how ridiculous this whole thing is.

Of course, that's when she notices he isn't wearing a shirt.

.... Euri tries very hard to keep her mind on topic, but it's now wandering to other things as her cheeks darken and she shifts back a little bit more. "I - it's not a big deal! I'll get over them! It's not like nightmares are permanent things - at least, they've never been permanent for me. I don't really know anything about the study of them, but I'm pretty sure mine are just stupid temporary things!"

Oh, he notices. There's no way he couldn't, with her face turning all red like that. Nightmares--he can show a measure of respect for those. Euri's perversion, however... that's just asking for it.

"I know," he remarks offhandedly, smirking even wider, "There's a lot to take in."

And the he laughs that quiet, off-kilter laugh of his. He likes that she's normal in that respect, at least. He turns his head again to regard her properly, sinking back into something closer to earlier.

"I'm sure you're right. These things usually pass in time."

Euri really really wants to punch him right now. But, she supposes, since she is intruding on his personal space and all she can at least try to be civil and avoid physical violence. Robin would probably appreciate that.

"Right..." she mumbles, turning a darker shade of red as she tries to figure out some kind of fallback. Her mind isn't coming up with much though, aside from yelling at him. "... And be quiet! It's just - weird - since you're as pale as me! And you, you know, usually wear shirts so it's not normally as obvious!"

"Mm, right. That's absolutely it." He might deserve a punch at this point, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Then again, maybe that's what she gets for picking his room. "You don't have to be embarrassed or anything."

Easier said than done, he's sure. "But I suppose if it bothers you that much, it wouldn't be hard to find a shirt." Which is really a trick in itself--will she say yes, or come up with an 'oh, no, it's not a problem' excuse for him to stay where he is?

"........" Oh, that jerk. One hand gripping the covers twitches with the urge to smack him, but once again she holds back. Now he's just being difficult.

"I - I don't care! This is your room, do whatever's comfortable!" is her answer, though inwardly she can't help berating herself. That? That is the best she could come up with? A full-blooded witch would be running manipulative, teasing circles around Robin, and here she was floundering just to avoid saying something completely stupid. It was pathetic.

He smiles, then shoves the covers back down over her head.

"Comfortable would be laying next to you, I think." Honest, but more meant to tease her. He scoots out from under the sheets anyway (Euri managed to steal most of the proper covers while they were both asleep), sitting up against his wall instead. It's cold, and he can feel the lines where the wall has been gouged out against his back. He can count his vertebrae. It wakes him up.

Still, he rests his hands on his knees and leans over so that there is no real loss of space between the two of them. "I can see why you've gone and hogged the blankets, though. You're barely dressed yourself."

"H - hey!" she's snapping that and finally pushing herself up so she's sitting as well, though she is still keeping one hand firmly around the blankets for security. And despite being so flustered and agitated Euri's still ogling him a little. She has a much better view now, after all.

"Don't tease me, this is more than I usually wear!"

... Wait, that came out wrong.

"- I mean -"

Oh, great, a voice at the back of her head is muttering as she sputters and tries to backtrack, nice going, Euri.

Yeah, he laughs at her for that one. He ends up pressing his hand into his cheek, looking at her fondly. She really was too easy.

"All right, all right. You're doing most of that yourself, anyway." He considers that as good an agreement to drop the subject, and moves on to other things, "If you don't want to talk about that, let's talk about Adel instead."

He keeps bringing up Adel a lot around her--he can't help it, the two of them are obviously linked. Their stories are tied together in a way that he notices, but doesn't quite understand yet.

Euri sighs heavily. Alright, yeah, talking about Adel would be preferable. At the very least it would give her something else to focus on, even if this is kind of a strange time for a serious conversation.

"You don't... really think he's possessed by a ghost, do you?" She looks mildly uncomfortable at having to just say the word 'ghost'. "I mean, I know he has some kind of curse, so possession on top of that would be really serious...."

He settles into a more serious mindset. "What kind of curse is it? Do you know?"

His condition is both similar and foreign to what he's seen before, so he figures that gathering extra information couldn't hurt.

"No...!" That answer is coming far too quick for comfort, because for a witch it's plainly obvious. Of course she doesn't know what kind of curse it is, how can she when she's never even been able to even cast one?

"There's just - a lot of different kinds of curses out there. And the only symptoms I've seen of his are pain and black markings on his body. Those are pretty vague." Euri is sighing, twisting a white lock of hair around her finger. "There are ways to narrow it down, but that either requires talking to him or looking at what's in that flask of his."

"What flask?"

He doesn't waste any time in asking--he knows he won't be able to get any answers out of him in a civilized way. A flask, though--that's manageable.

"Ah, wait. It's that thing he keeps in his bag, right?" That thing he was clutching after Robin found him squirming around in agony? He guesses that could be a clue, sure.

Euri nods. "He always has it with him. It could just be water or alcohol, but he's never let me get a closer look. I'm willing to bet it has something to do with his curse."

Or his necromancy, but she wasn't going to mention that.

"Then I guess we'll have to get a hold of it and take a look."

He says this in a cheery, casual way--as if he were discussing dinner plans, not the implication of theft. Possibly breaking and entering. That sort of thing is really just an afternoon's work, and there's been a distinct lack of it since he's been here.

"Shouldn't be too hard."

"That's stealing, you know." Just in case it wasn't already absolutely clear. Robin seemed like the type to toe the morally grey line, anyway.

Not that she was about to dissuade him. Back home she had poked and prodded Adel about that flask, and even tried to steal it once or twice, but he guarded the damn thing with his life and never answered a single question. And because of that Euri's curiosity was spurred even further.

"How would you get it from him? And keep him from noticing its absence? I think I would need a few days...."

"I know." That's all he says on the matter. Morally grey is too orderly--he likes to think of it as morally improvising. If Vincent were here, he'd understand. To the rest of them, well... they're preventing a potential disaster, a death, or worse--a possession. That's fair grounds for a little theft. The lesser of two evils.

But a few days? That throws a wrench in an otherwise piece-of-cake plan. "What, you can't just look at a little of it?" he asks, craning his neck back. He wonders if he could do it. "My kingdom for a biochemical scientist."

He can't remember the last time he met one, actually. The Third World scientists barely qualified as scientists, let alone specialists. And no one here has really boasted about their abilities in this particular field...

The whole thing it'd have to be, then. "We can swap it with a replacement, a replica. As for how... I could probably just sneak into his room, right?"

"Biochemical...." Euri frowns, then shakes her head. She isn't sure what that was, but it definitely sounds like an insult. "It's not that easy! There could be all kinds of ingredients in that stuff!" An annoyed and slightly embarrassed expression is crossing her features. While it's true determining the components of potions and medicines isn't an easy thing to accomplish, she doesn't want to bring up the fact that if a witch like her mother was here they would only need a day, probably less. "I... might be able to work with a small glass worth, though...." she mumbled, indicating with her hands a shotglass-sized amount.

Fortunately, she at least wasn't going to be dealing with acquiring the flask. So if that got screwed up, at least it wasn't going to be on her. "He keeps it with him.... You'd have to do that while he's sleeping."

That expression... he knows he's making her more and more embarrassed. It's all in good fun, at least in his mind, and he hopes she won't hold it against him for too long. It prompts him to reach out and brush some of her hair so that it lays flat against the side of her head (sleeping on it made it a little messy, after all).

"Easy." Nodding, he goes for a compromise, "I'll try getting just that much first." That seems the safest, in case Adel should actually need that stuff for something. "And then if you need more, I'll just swap them properly. I don't think he'd ever notice either way."

Euri is looking more embarrassed at the touch, but it’s at least the ‘oh-god-an-attractive-shirtless-guy-is-touching-me’ kind of embarrassment instead of worthlessness.

“… Okay,” she’s replying in a mumble, swallowing thickly. “But be prepared to steal the entire thing. I’m not… really good at this kind of magic. At all.” She is, in fact, expecting to screw up horribly with the first sample, due to previous experiences.

"This will be good practice, then."

He doesn't seem too phased by Euri's doubt in her own abilities. Right now, he's focused more on the chance at a challenge. It sounds like it'll be fun.

"Tonight, then," he settles, taking his hand back, settling up against the wall once more.

"Alright." Better to get it over with sooner than later.

Euri begins to move to the edge of the bed, though after a second she hesitates and abruptly leans over to lightly kiss Robin's cheek.

"... Thanks for not throwing me out," she's saying quickly, before she scoots back to the edge of the bed and stands.

Robin wasn't expecting that. He looks back at her, a little dumbstruck with surprise, hand moving halfway up to his face before he becomes acutely aware of his own movement again. The hand drops back down towards the bed.

"Just--just don't make this a habit," he says, the only comeback he could think of. His smile is poorly hidden, threatening to break through the cracks of an otherwise relaxed and collected composure.

Finch used to do that. It's all he can really get through his mind. Finch used to do that.

"I'll try to remember that," she's replying as she smooths her nightgown down and heads for the door. It's hard not to look at the walls now that's she's up, and the door isn't any better - it looks like there's dried blood on the back of it.

Fortunately, it doesn't bother as much as it normally would because she's amused she managed to ruffle him, even if it was just a tiny bit. She isn't hanging around though, and she'll only pause briefly outside his door to fix the unlocking hex she placed on it earlier.

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