[backdated March 4] Sup Ya'll? (Closed to Vox Machina & Co)

[st_illsinging]

The day after talking to Pike, Scanlan decided it was probably time to actually talk to everyone else. He had mixed feelings considering he knew a whole bunch more than literally everyone else. And also some of them were going to be pissed at him. Again.

Several days of rest had done the Gnome good and he moved to sit down in the lobby. A public place was probably good in case there was a huge fight, right? Settling down on one of the couches, Scanlan spoke into his earring.

Hey, so, you all probably heard I'm here already, but here's my official hello and I'm in the lobby if you want to say hi.

Then he picked up his lute and started playing a little, but he was mostly tuning and fixing - it was as if being in a big battle against a god could damage your instruments or something.

Comments

[st_ockandbarrel]

Percy heard the call over the earring and deliberately ignored it in favor of finalizing a blueprint for an attachment to his independently mobile device liberated from the space station. He had had a long time to consider his response to Scanlan's actions, and somewhat less time to re-examine his feelings following the bard's appearance here.

They had not appreciably changed.

Finally, an hour or more later, he hadn't been keeping track, Percy put on his coat and holstered Animus, then walked down to the lobby. Inside, he spotted Scanlan immediately. He walked over and with barely a pause said, "Come with me."

[st_illsinging]

Percy looked so serious. "Okay..." He slowly slid off of the couch and swung the lute over his shoulder. "Lead the way, Percival."

[st_ockandbarrel]

Percy did just that, walking out the front of the inn and down the long black road that ran to nowhere. They were well out of earring range when Percy stopped and turned to Scanlan.

"I want my gun back."

[st_illsinging]

Scanlan looked down on his person. Unlike his normal backpack, equipment laden self, there was just his clothes, mythcarver, and his lute today. "Uh.. I don't exactly have it on me there, Percy."

[st_ockandbarrel]

"I can see that." Percy's voice was still calm, steady in the way it became when he'd firmly set aside any sense of decency he maintained otherwise.

"I want Mythcarver. I want the earring. I want--" Percy drew Animus and pointed it at Scanlan's knee. His hand did not tremble. "For you to recall that we were your friends and any betrayal was on your part, not theirs."

He pulled the trigger.

[st_illsinging]

Scanlan had his mouth open to respond - it would be silly to give him Mythcarver and the earring, sure, he could have, but why did he need two, was it a fashion statement? But all that was replaced by seering pain as the bullet went into his knee and he shouted out in extraordinary pain. The Gnome fell forward from the useless knee and the lute went THUD against his head with the telltale sound of a string or two snapping.

Scanlan forgot how much being shot sucked and he gasped in another inaudible sound that maybe was something like 'what the hell?!' but the words didn't actually manifest. It took him several deep breaths to manage words. "What was that for?!"

[st_ockandbarrel]

Percy stared down at his friend, Animus now pointed away, finger off the trigger. "The others will forgive you, Scanlan Shorthalt. They believe in redemption. I believe in payment."

He bent, pried the earring from Scanlan's ear and pocketed it, then started to rifle through the rest of Scanlan's clothes. "You threw a tantrum and abandoned the party. You left it leaderless and crippled. After everything this party has done for you, the blood it shed for you, you walked away." He found the flat rectangle of plastic that allowed one entry into his room and took that as well.

Percy stepped back and holstered his gun. "Crawl back."

[st_illsinging]

Scanlan almost argued that out of all the things he had said that day, one of the more truthful ones was that he didn't believe they did much blood shed for him. Maybe to keep him alive, but they never went on a quest specifically to help him with something. Sure, he knew now after his time away he hadn't exactly asked them either, but the sentiment remained.

He watched Percy take a step back as he held onto his knee. "It's good to see you too, Percy."

Best reunion ever....

[st_ockandbarrel]

Percy gave Scanlan a short, ironic bow, then walked away. He anticipated enough time to go through the gnome's room before Scanlan either healed himself, crawled back, or found someone to help him.