Re: Inexorable Altercation [Round IV - Hezekiah]
11-04-2012, 02:01 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.
Loran had expected him to fire. Not at any real conscious level, of course; he'd been too preoccupied with not killing Annaliese and not being able to kill Greyve and trying to plan even a few steps ahead. Still, his training and innate skill served him well, and those subconscious cues had poised him for flight the instant an armed man had appeared. Will fired, but Twight was already leaping across the hall; the Blastec's disgorged plasma arced wide, whispering just over the face of a very stunned Annaliese but completely failing to strike the swiftly-moving creeper.
It was only a few moments after Loran leapt – although those seconds had been filled with urgings only the witch could hear – that Annaliese scrambled up from her prone position and made as though to flee. She clumsily straddled her broom and took sputteringly off down the hall in the opposite direction from Will and company; it might even have been a successful flight if she hadn't forgotten about the crocogatorwhatever, who slapped the broomstick out from under her and grabbed her wrist with an iron-strong claw before hissing "Hadn't you better wait and see what's happening before you run off?"
While his companion's actions probably hadn't been winning Loran any more goodwill, he had nevertheless flattened himself against the wall and dropped his knife, holding his hands up in what he hoped Will's culture considered a placating gesture. Will didn't seem the type to shoot an unarmed, surrendering man, and if he was miscalculating that assumption... Well, Loran had already proved able to dodge blasterfire, and there was always another knife somewhere. Even if he had been aware of the Annaliese's capture, he probably couldn't have been too bothered by it; he still needed her around, and it wasn't as thought it looked any worse than what he'd been doing had.
"Stop! I'm not trying to hurt anyone! I just want to talk!"
Will's finger hovered on the trigger, but didn't yet fire. "Talking doesn't usually involve holding a knife to someone's throat. Why shouldn't I just save us all a lot of trouble and shoot you now?"
Loran struggled not to smile. If it had been him on the other end of that pistol, he'd already be dead. He always had the advantage against someone who would hesitate to kill.
"Because that's just what they want you to do. You know it."
Will's brow furrowed. It had been the right move. Will was as worried about the long-term prospects of the battle as he was, which meant he'd keep the conversation moving. Loran continued.
"I just want to figure out who all is still alive, and wanted everyone to get together and talk. I only restrained her because she was trying to run, and I didn't want her going off and getting killed by some of the dangerous prisoners around here."
The conquerer behind him smiled an unbelievably toothy grin, still keeping a vicegrip on the thrashing witch. "That there are, young one."
Will scowled further, but continued not firing. "Forgive me if I don't trust anything I hear from someone I've seen actively trying to kill me, her, and everyone else we've met."
Loran smiled what he hoped was a disarming smile. "A man's got to stop killing and start thinking eventually. It's obvious we can't trust the things that are making us play this game. We're going to have to cooperate if any one of us wants to survive."
"Or I could kill you now and we could regroup knowing that there's not a dangerous maniac to cooperate with."
"You're right!" The creeper threw up his arms and crossed them. "Kill me in cold blood, right now, come on. Time's wasting, tick tock."
"Hmph."
"Good. Then maybe we can all talk like reasonable adults? At the very least I want to find out what happened last round, back in that Vorlong place, or whatever it was. Find out who died. If you still don't want me around after that, then I guess I'll just take my leave and find my own way of fighting back, eh?"
It had taken all his self-control to drown out the clamoring voices of his memories and hallucinations, but it seemed like he was making progress. This talking stuff was easy! Part of him wished that Will hadn't taken the bait, so he'd have an excuse to cut the smug little man down, but this would have to do. The thing about killing someone was that you could always do it later, right up until they died.
Loran had expected him to fire. Not at any real conscious level, of course; he'd been too preoccupied with not killing Annaliese and not being able to kill Greyve and trying to plan even a few steps ahead. Still, his training and innate skill served him well, and those subconscious cues had poised him for flight the instant an armed man had appeared. Will fired, but Twight was already leaping across the hall; the Blastec's disgorged plasma arced wide, whispering just over the face of a very stunned Annaliese but completely failing to strike the swiftly-moving creeper.
It was only a few moments after Loran leapt – although those seconds had been filled with urgings only the witch could hear – that Annaliese scrambled up from her prone position and made as though to flee. She clumsily straddled her broom and took sputteringly off down the hall in the opposite direction from Will and company; it might even have been a successful flight if she hadn't forgotten about the crocogatorwhatever, who slapped the broomstick out from under her and grabbed her wrist with an iron-strong claw before hissing "Hadn't you better wait and see what's happening before you run off?"
While his companion's actions probably hadn't been winning Loran any more goodwill, he had nevertheless flattened himself against the wall and dropped his knife, holding his hands up in what he hoped Will's culture considered a placating gesture. Will didn't seem the type to shoot an unarmed, surrendering man, and if he was miscalculating that assumption... Well, Loran had already proved able to dodge blasterfire, and there was always another knife somewhere. Even if he had been aware of the Annaliese's capture, he probably couldn't have been too bothered by it; he still needed her around, and it wasn't as thought it looked any worse than what he'd been doing had.
"Stop! I'm not trying to hurt anyone! I just want to talk!"
Will's finger hovered on the trigger, but didn't yet fire. "Talking doesn't usually involve holding a knife to someone's throat. Why shouldn't I just save us all a lot of trouble and shoot you now?"
Loran struggled not to smile. If it had been him on the other end of that pistol, he'd already be dead. He always had the advantage against someone who would hesitate to kill.
"Because that's just what they want you to do. You know it."
Will's brow furrowed. It had been the right move. Will was as worried about the long-term prospects of the battle as he was, which meant he'd keep the conversation moving. Loran continued.
"I just want to figure out who all is still alive, and wanted everyone to get together and talk. I only restrained her because she was trying to run, and I didn't want her going off and getting killed by some of the dangerous prisoners around here."
The conquerer behind him smiled an unbelievably toothy grin, still keeping a vicegrip on the thrashing witch. "That there are, young one."
Will scowled further, but continued not firing. "Forgive me if I don't trust anything I hear from someone I've seen actively trying to kill me, her, and everyone else we've met."
Loran smiled what he hoped was a disarming smile. "A man's got to stop killing and start thinking eventually. It's obvious we can't trust the things that are making us play this game. We're going to have to cooperate if any one of us wants to survive."
"Or I could kill you now and we could regroup knowing that there's not a dangerous maniac to cooperate with."
"You're right!" The creeper threw up his arms and crossed them. "Kill me in cold blood, right now, come on. Time's wasting, tick tock."
"Hmph."
"Good. Then maybe we can all talk like reasonable adults? At the very least I want to find out what happened last round, back in that Vorlong place, or whatever it was. Find out who died. If you still don't want me around after that, then I guess I'll just take my leave and find my own way of fighting back, eh?"
It had taken all his self-control to drown out the clamoring voices of his memories and hallucinations, but it seemed like he was making progress. This talking stuff was easy! Part of him wished that Will hadn't taken the bait, so he'd have an excuse to cut the smug little man down, but this would have to do. The thing about killing someone was that you could always do it later, right up until they died.