04.Feb.12, 05:07 AM
Talian's eyes widened as he looked between Kerrin and Par'a. "I...I'm not ashamed of anything!" he stammered. "I'm not interested in other men! At all, even!" he said, his voice quavering in near panic. Of course, there was a glint of insincerity in his eyes. Talian was poor enough at hiding his emotions normally, he surely couldn't do it while high out of his mind! And as he sat there, facing accusations of questionable heterosexuality, he could think only of his awkward encounter with Erisi. It...really wasn't so bad. His face started to heat up.
When Par'a began her little demonstration of proper escape techniques, Talian was so floored that he could only stare at her in wild eyed disbelief. Was she completely insane?
No. There was no way a adult person was actually doing this to him. He must be crazy! He was high on stimulants and hadn't slept well in a number of days. He was losing his mind!
He'd only begun to think of solutions when B'jin forcibly pushed him away, sending him crashing face first on the floor. The ehaler landed in a heap, his face smacking unpleasantly on the floor, and laid there in stunned silence as his surrogate father figure ran out of the dining hall shouting like a lunatic.
Why? Why had life become so interesting?
He sighed weakly and twitched a few times, not even bothering to scrape himself off of the floor. He didn't notice the subtle clatter of his shoulder knots hitting the floor beside him. In his medication-induced revelry, he'd forgotten to leave them in his room, as he'd been doing since his arrival at Katila. He'd worn them, not realizing that he was betraying his rank to everyone around him...and failng to notice when B'jin stole them through invasive hugging. Now, B'jin had dropped them, leaving them discarded on the floor alongside with the man they belonged to. They were the elegant, well-crafted knots of a master healer.
Had Tal noticed, he would have hid them again. Presently, however, he was seeing spots. He let out a groan and became suddenly aware of warm blood pooling around his nose.
When Par'a began her little demonstration of proper escape techniques, Talian was so floored that he could only stare at her in wild eyed disbelief. Was she completely insane?
No. There was no way a adult person was actually doing this to him. He must be crazy! He was high on stimulants and hadn't slept well in a number of days. He was losing his mind!
He'd only begun to think of solutions when B'jin forcibly pushed him away, sending him crashing face first on the floor. The ehaler landed in a heap, his face smacking unpleasantly on the floor, and laid there in stunned silence as his surrogate father figure ran out of the dining hall shouting like a lunatic.
Why? Why had life become so interesting?
He sighed weakly and twitched a few times, not even bothering to scrape himself off of the floor. He didn't notice the subtle clatter of his shoulder knots hitting the floor beside him. In his medication-induced revelry, he'd forgotten to leave them in his room, as he'd been doing since his arrival at Katila. He'd worn them, not realizing that he was betraying his rank to everyone around him...and failng to notice when B'jin stole them through invasive hugging. Now, B'jin had dropped them, leaving them discarded on the floor alongside with the man they belonged to. They were the elegant, well-crafted knots of a master healer.
Had Tal noticed, he would have hid them again. Presently, however, he was seeing spots. He let out a groan and became suddenly aware of warm blood pooling around his nose.