@meldaciomartyr submitted:
He didn’t need this right now; first Baldur, an’ now Loqi was wandering in to try his patience too. No doubt to defend his old man. “Do you wanna question my orders too?”
Dave was angry when he spoke; frustrated an’ tired of it all. He stayed with his back to Loqi, not even lookin’ up from the list of supplies bein’ sent back to Formouth. Any which way he tried to move these days an’ there was someone ready to swipe his foot from under him an’ tell him he was doing a piss-poor job of it. Had a right mind to let it all fall to the ground in a heap and walk away from the shit-storm he’d never asked to be a part of. But that was a coward’s way out, an’ it wasn’t decent neither. Lettin’ out a sigh, the head hunter pinched the bridge of his nose and took a breath to explain to Loqi what had gone down ‘tween him and Baldur, but he was stopped by the boy’s panicked babbling. What in tarnation?
Who had said it was his fault? Frownin’, Dave caught onto the topic a second later and his stomach gave a lurch; there was only one thing Loqi could be that scared o’ being blamed for and that was Leanne’s death. And now he was walking backwards and almost shoutin’ his innocence for all and sundry to hear.
“Loqi, shut the hell up!” Reaching out, Dave yanked the boy’s arm and brought him off-balance so he staggered forwards into the hut and the head hunter moved behind him in a quick motion, shuttin’ the door on the outpost outside. If anyone out there heard his ramblin’ they might thing him nuts, or worse; he’d say somethin’ about Leanne. Hands back on’ Loqi’s arms, he made the younger man look at him. “Stop, stop Loqi … y'hear me? No one ever said it was yer fault … I wouldn’t say that to ya ever.”
The sudden yank and yell from Dave at first had Loqi nearly wanting to reach for one of the tools in the pocket he carried on his thigh. Anything to defend himself against the head hunter. Something that could split a temple quickly. Knock him out. Time to escape.
But the same time it tore him out of this state. The noise ebbed away the same moment that Dave grabbed him and told him to stop. And Loqi could only stare at Dave with utter confusion – but the wariness and tension stayed in his eyes. His shoulders were tight, forearms lifted to prepare for any attack coming from the head hunter.
It didn’t make sense, no… and Dave said he hadn’t said it, but…
He was frowning at Dave, before his gaze dropped to the floor, as Loqi tried to follow his own last steps. What had just happened?
He should deny it. Gloss over it. Shrug and claim it was just the lack of sleep playing tricks on him. Surely that added to it… but it wasn’t the root of it all.
Slowly, Loqi let himself sink down onto the chair that Dave usually sat in. Still staring, still arguing to just deny everything and act as if nothing bad happened. This was strike two, though. He had already barged into Dave’s bedroom at night. And Dave was on edge. It all was far too tense – especially with Formouth now.
Reno was declared insane by many. Sarah had already proven that she was capable of attacking others without remembering. They saw hallucinations of Micah. Loqi didn’t want to end up like them. He didn’t want to be like that. To see things that weren’t there. To hear…
Dragging his hands up through his face and then back over his head, shoving all the hair out of his face, Loqi shook his head in disbelief.
“… I’m becoming fucked up, too.”
