[Roue]

Whatever happened once Roue hit the floor was going to become a big black hole of mystery to him.? He seemed to be stuck between fading in and out of dreams, some nonsensical and others pulling from elements of his memory, an amalgamation of everything that was churning inside his head.? The most pervasive seemed to be a replay of the events that led him to this situation but that was not the worst of it.? Every time he came to the moment where he began casting the ice wall, he tried to remember the assassin's face but try as he might, the face always seemed to appear half in focus.? Then after a few seconds, it would twist into an angry visage of his mother, her lips curved in a most ugly manner, her arm stretching out and then throwing that kunai at him.? His pulse would quicken very rapidly as he turned around and ran in the opposite direction as the ice wall gained in size, presenting this temporary obstacle.? He would keep coming back to this over and over and over again, and it was agonizing.? If there was someone watching from outside all of this, they would see a very pained expression on his face.

He felt feverish.? Inside the dreams, he felt his body growing hot and his throat starting to constrict, making him feel like he was choking.? The smoke that he had inhaled was still irritating his lungs.? Sweat started appear across his body, but just as it seemed he was going to alight himself on fire, a strange sort of coolness seemed to awash him from head to toe.? The pained expression that he wore started to relax and a sense of calmness took over instead.? The dreams that replayed like a broken tape had dissipated, instead replaced by this greyish white smoke.? Try as he might clear it, waving his hands in front of him to try and get the air cleared, it just kept coming back.? Then just as suddenly, his mysterious host's face floated into view and spoke to him, but try as he might, he still couldn't understand.? Who was he and why was he appearing in his dreams?? That seemed to be enough to knock him out of his stupor, and just as Rabbit reached out and touched his shoulder, he convulsed and his eyes started to open.

As his consciousness brought him back, his head began to pound like a heavy drum.? He propped himself up on his elbows, the mere action of which seemed like a giant chore and made him feel like he was out of breath looking around.? His head swiveled as he tried to take stock of the room, trying to figure out just where he was, when his eyes alighted to Rabbit's and a sense of panic rapidly took over.? He sat up at the speed of light, scrambling backwards until his back hit the sofa's arm and he nearly careened backwards, stopping himself just in time, now looking down at the flood behind him.? He wheezed as he tried to calm himself down, turning back to Rabbit who seemed to be just as apprehensive.? Waited a minute...wasn't he bleeding before?? His alarmed response caused a sharp twinge in his side, wincing as his hand touched where he was previously wounded.? When he didn't feel any wetness, he brought his hand back up to his face and examined the glove.? No fresh blood and what was on then was now dried and crusty.? Pulling both of his gloves off, he lifted the bottom edges of his bloodied vest and looked at his skin.? Though there was a slight scarring where he was cut, the wound was no longer there and the skin had closed up.? Roue looked back to Rabbit, his eyes wide open and confused.? This still didn't explain what happened and how he ended up here.

"<Wh-who are you?!? What do you want with me?!>" he exclaimed, raising one arm up in defense, his finger splayed and pointed towards his host.? He was just about to act before the other could, but then it hit him.? A nice, fragrant smell of food.? Turning, he now noticed a side table with some dishes on it, a cup of tea, some kind of soup and another tall container with a clear liquid inside.? His stomach violently growled in response, causing the wizard's cheeks to become rosy and so he meekly looked away.? The intense hunger he felt took over, however, and without wasting a single moment, he swung his legs over the sofa's edge and took to the food with gusto.? Screw being ceremonious and noble, he thought, I'm so hungry I could eat a Peco-Peco.? He shoved as much of the stew into his mouth, moaning out in response to the deliciousness that assaulted his tongue.? He guzzled the other liquid which he now recognized as a type of broth, followed by the tea.? Roue ate ravenously until each bowl and container was emptied, fully satisfied and no longer affected by the sharp hunger pangs.? Taking a few minutes to get his breath back into control, Roue then turned back to the boy and placing one leg beneath the other, took hold of both his knees and deeply bowed his head.? Though he was still suspicious of the other, the doubt that he would be fed first and then attacked seemed to go away.

"<I thank you for this generous offering of food,>" he said, raising his head.? Tilting his head, he examined the other, as he raised one finger and pointed to his own lips.? "<Can you...do you understand what I'm saying?>"

(Rabbit)

Rabbit was startled when the stranger's eyes opened suddenly and the man tried to sit up. ?

"C-careful there, s-sir," the little vampire cautioned, backing up a step.? "We just got you p-patched up.? Don' go m-makin' it worse by hurtin' yourself."

The propped himself up against the back of the sofa, then began examining himself, pulling off his gloves and opening his outer garments to check the place where he'd been wound.? A look of puzzlement came over his face and he looked back to Rabbit, saying something in that strange language he'd spoken in before.? Rabbit bit his lip and shook his head slightly, but then the man seemed to notice the food the little vampire had brought to the room. Without further ado, the stranger drank the broth and the tea and devoured the stew with a ravenous fury.? When he'd finally finished everything on the tray, he surprised Rabbit by bowing to him in what seemed like a gesture of gratitude. ?

The man began speaking once again, gesturing questioningly, apparently wondering if Rabbit could understand what he was saying.? Rabbit could only shake his head once again.? "S-sorry, sir," he said helplessly.? "I d-don' understand."? The little vampire chewed on his lip for a moment.? He'd heard a lot of languages and accents in his time, especially here at the Dionysus, but nothing was ringing a bell with him.? He tried addressing the man in Japanese, then in Romany, but the stranger only looked as blank as Rabbit had felt.? Falling back on the few words and phrases he remembered from other languages only produced the same lack of understanding.

Communication apparently not an option at the moment, Rabbit turned his thoughts to things he _could_ do.? He gave the man a serious lookover, noting that the man's clothes were not only torn and encrusted with dried blood where he'd been wounded, they were also somewhat dirty as well. ?

"Uhm, s-sir?? Would you like to, uhm, m-maybe get cleaned up?" he asked, miming movements of washing his face and upper body.? "I can get your clothes cleaned too, if'n you want.? And maybe fix the torn parts?"? He tried miming those things as well, wondering if anything was being understood.? "I can get you a, uhm, b-bed, if'n you wanna rest some more. Which wouldn' be a bad idea, y'know."

While he waited to see if the stranger would respond, the little vampire let his eyes settle on the stranger's striking face once again.? "You s-sure are good-lookin'," he sighed, starting to reach up to touch the man's smooth features and strangely colored hair but quickly stopping himself, feeling his cheeks suddenly blush with embarrassment.? "Wherever you c-come from."

Tag - Roue