Male bonding

After Milael had disappeared and Mal had bounded off through the tunnels, Random breathed a sigh of relief.

He really had thought that destroying the glyphs would work. Kallista had clearly told him that one of the first rules of adventuring was: when in doubt, always aim for the glowing things. It SHOULD have worked.

Random glanced around at his companions. Fion Delona seemed didn't seem to be in a mood for conversation, and the girls all seemed to be doing their own things or chatting with each other, which left Torment, who was over in a corner cleaning and sharpening his swords.

Random considered his options. Torment wasn't the easiest person to talk to, but as the only two males in their group, Random always felt like they should be closer than they were. Maybe now was his chance to change that. After all, this was kind of a bonding experience, right?

He approached the other boy carefully and sat down a few feet away from him.

"So... that was a close one, huh?" he said, trying to smile.

Torment looked up and glowered, hoping that would be enough to send Random scurrying away back to his books. Now that they were sitting still, all the hard fighting of the day was starting to catch up with him, and an unfamiliar weariness was settling in. The glib remark was enough to stir uphi anger again, but Random didn't seem to be getting the hint, even when he very deliberately ran the sharpening stone along the edge of one of his swords with a drawn out sssssssschlick.

"What do you want."

Random raised an eyebrow as his eyes followed the movement of the stone. It was possible this wasn't such a great idea. Still, Torment was always kind of grumpy, especially after fights.

"Uhmmmmm... nothing, really. Just wanted to see how you're doing. I mean, it's been a hell of a day, right?"

Mostly, Torment tried not to think about Bael Nehruk, tried not to still think of it as 'home' when he did.  Everything he'd been raised with was made of lies - they'd been beaten and exposed and he knew that.  He didn't want to go back, he had no particular care of Kossuth.  But he couldn't just pack it all up and be done with it either, and there was something about the way that Random was just sitting there smiling at him, overly friendly when they'd been close through circumstance but never really friends, that just felt so overwhelmingly, unpleasantly familiar.    But it wasn't supposed to be like that anymore, that tricky cycle of alliance and betrayal - and violence - that had just bee How Things Were.  He looked up, but everyone else was busy.  Nthing watching the corridor Malinoriel had left down; Quest guarding the other entrance and cleaning her own weapons while Fion Halatir and Scion were talking quietly together.

Maybe it was just the chaos of the day that had him on edge, but he didn't want to deal with this too, not now, not when their 'hell of a day' was still far from over.  He tried to think of what Quest or Scion would tell him to do.  Looking up at Random, he tried to sound calm.

"I don't want to talk to you right now, Random."  

Despite his efforts, it came out sounding angry, bitter, and deeply suspicious.

Random looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Did you want a hug?"

Torment's jaw dropped and before he even thought about it the tip of his sword was in the Wizard's face. "Don't *touch* me!"

Of course, Fion Halatir had very strict rules about threatening people with live steel, and as soon as he realize he was doing it, he dropped the weapon, fingers clenching into fists.

"Go. Away."

Random instinctively scurried backwards as Torment levelled the blade at him. As soon as the other tiefling dropped the steel Random hopped up to his feet, a mixture of surprise, confusion and anger swirling through him wrapped in a haze of adrenaline.

"Whuh... what the fuck is your problem?!" he said, possibly louder than he'd meant to, "I'm just trying to help!"

All of his confusion and anger finding their target, along with his fist, in Random's face, as he sprang after him.

"HELP THIS, YOU LITTLE FIEND!"

Before he landed the second blow, he realized that he was holding Random by his ascot, and everyone was staring at him.

Random's head snapped backwards as Torment connected with a punch. Dazed and surprised, Random could barely react, but one hand instinctually went up to protect himself while his other clenched into a fist and ignited with magical flame. He only barely managed to stop himself from singing his teammate who was now throttling him with his own ascot.

Seeing that Torment had paused mid punch he took the opportunity to push himself back and squirm out of his grip, the ascot coming loose in the process.

"What the hell?!" he said, quickly putting out the flame and pressing a hand to his rapidly swelling eye and cheek.

He shouldn't have punched Random. Somehow he just felt even more awful. Everyone was still staring, stunned for the moment. There was nowhere to go, not when they still had to watch for Formorians - or anyone else unwanted who might have been attracted by the yelling. He stalked over to the far Exit. Nothing scampered out of his way, leaving him alone to keep guard while she and probably everyone else went to go check on Random.

The slightly wary look she gave him on her way past killed the rest of his lingering anger, replacing it with something empty, cold, and draining.

A significant look passed between Scion and Delona, followed by a sigh from the former. She placed a hand on Delona's shoulder to stop her, giving a sharp, small shake of her head at the half-orc's quizzical frown. She nodded towards the exit towards the city with an imploring look, waving Quest towards Random.

As the paladin made her way to the injured wizard, Scion quickly but carefully headed towards the spot where Torment stood stewing. She cast a considering frown at Random, wondering what had set the volatile barbarian off. Edgy as everyone else, it might not have taken much, but Random did have a tendency towards carelessness with his words.

Quietly, Scion stepped next to her ersatz sibling. With a concerned look, she turned to face him.

"What's wrong, Torment?" she asked gently.

He'd braced himself when he heard someone coming over, not sure of he had the energy to defend himself. Scion's concern just left him flustered - not being about to trust *her* was too frightening to contemplate. But he wasn't sure he could explain anyway.

"I just.... he wouldn't leave me alone!"

"I'm sorry," Scion offered softly. "I know it's been a difficult day."

The cleric simply stood, letting Torment have his time, offering silent support if and until he was ready to talk.

It didn't take too long - it was bothering him, and trying to make sense of it on his own was just making him more upset. Drained of anger, at least for the moment, that was leading him into more unfamiliar, and much less comfortable, emotional territory.

"It was his idea! he didn't have to blame it on us. And we still don't now what it did. And then he tries to just... be all *nice* like everything is okay, like everything is *over* and it *isn't*. It isn't just today. It isn't over, those things are everywhere and its all... Fire and chaos. And I keep thinking about...before, and I don't want to, and I don't know what Random *wants* and why he's being...that way, and I don't want the city to fall apart because I did something stupid and I just keep wrecking things! I don't know what to do."

Scion stood placidly, letting the torrent of words wash over her, letting Torment expend his anger and frustration, at least somewhat. After a moment's pause, she spoke.

"I think he panicked, Torment. It's...possible he was trying to apologize."

She gave a look to forestall any outbursts in response.

"We've helped keep the city as secure as it's going to be right now. We rescued people, several times."

"That," she said, nodding towards the crushed rock where the symbol had been, "will be sorted out, and doesn't seem immediately dangerous."

She reached out, calmly placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You're right, it's not over. We've got a lot left to do. But I wouldn't worry about wrecking things. Sometimes we're not the builders. Sometimes we just need to stop the things trying to destroy our world, like we did in Nachtur."

She shrugged, the shoulder movement accompanied by her wings spreading out from under the cloak which usually hid them. Scion rarely showed them, years of their use as a symbol of superiority among the Geyr Hextor making her self-conscious about the obvious signs of her heritage. For now, though, she simply offered a weary, conciliatory smile.

"Besides, what are fire and chaos to us?"

Torment was dubious about the 'apology' thing, but maybe. Maybe Random was just being stupid, anyway. Maybe Random really hadn't even understood why he was mad. Maybe. It didn't make him feel any better about things though - he shouldn't have lost control like that.

But really, Scion's question was just exactly why he was so upset.

"I don't know," he answered, hoping that maybe she did. "I thought.... we were supposed to have left that behind. We....they....it? was all supposed to be over. They - they lost. But we can't leave it behind, can we?"