hotel: harrow

[shaft]

Comments

[outsidebones]

...No. It's images of us. Look.

[lifting the curtain higher.]

[shaft]

[ Claude blinks slowly, pieces starting to click. ]

... This is a photo booth. It prints pictures of people.

[outsidebones]

Oh.

[well. this feels very silly now. just quietly - ]

Yes, I see now. You can select little stickers and put them on.

[shaft]

[ He stares at the pictures on the screen, of them deadly serious and on edge.

Despite his best efforts, a quiet snort escapes him, followed by muffled laughter that he hides behind his fist. ]

We do look... pretty cool.

[outsidebones]

This is very embarrassing...

[she's not laughing but she seems resigned to the situation. she will select a sticker that says COOL and place it next to the one where they're trying to attack the camera.]

[shaft]

Given how much around here tends to be deadly, you can't blame us.

[ He picks up a pen and draws a sun around a picture of them looking particularly glum. ]

[outsidebones]

[adding a sticker of a cat that looks like it's the thing they're hiding from.]

Indeed, including the most innocuous things. A spaghetti meal, even. Let us simply never mention this.

[shaft]

[ There's only so many pictures to work with given that they threw the curtain over the camera but...

They're all pretty funny. ]

Worried about your reputation?

[outsidebones]

You aren't?

[you ought to be is implied.]

[shaft]

After the last place I was at, I've learned it's better to gracefully laugh at mishaps.

[outsidebones]

...I have never had much skill at that.

[shaft]

You do strike me as someone who treats most things with a certain... severity.

[outsidebones]

It doesn't save me from becoming a subject of mockery, believe me.

[shaft]

I'm mostly surprised anyone manages to stop feeling intimidated long enough to mock you.

[outsidebones]

So am I. It is against my best efforts.

[a small smile.]

But I have heard you are rather formidable, and will steal my secrets.

[shaft]

[ He blinks, looking amused. ]

Seems like you've been issued a warning...? I hope you're not too wary.

[outsidebones]

A gentle one. But my House is known for our tight lips, so I don't feel too troubled by it.

[shaft]

Well, I wouldn't want you to be too wary, but statements like that do pique my interest...

[outsidebones]

I'm sure they do. I can see that you are the type who is nosy about things that do not concern you.

[shaft]

I just like to have a clear picture of things.

For example, are you a medical practitioner of sorts?

[outsidebones]

No. But I am a student of anatomy, so I can suffice in a pinch.

[shaft]

I'm guessing it's the basis for your necromancy?

[outsidebones]

To a degree. That is more...automatic, intuitive. But I studied a little on the station to fill in the gaps.

[shaft]

I'll admit I don't have much experience with it, it's not the type of magic that's wildly spoken about where I come from.

... Could you return someone from the dead?

[outsidebones]

[she chews on her lip slightly.]

Immediately following a traumatic death, sometimes. It is not guaranteed, but it can be done; a ghost can be lured back to its body and the body repaired.

After some time has passed, no. I cannot. Only the Emperor can, and he has not done so in ten thousand years.