Bartie had not been home in over a week. This was the ideal configuration of things, for the company of the monster hunters was far preferable to the eerie quiet of home. She’d become another piece of furniture in the Guild’s library, making more than one passing guild member jump in fright upon realising she was there in the shadowy corner, reading despite the dim.
She’d gladly ignore the rest of the world, but thought it wise to look up at the sound of any newcomers. Despite not having been a member of the Guild lone, it had already managed to earn some ill-will from some thanks to its usual want of social grace, or any real repertoire for being likeable.
It surprised her, then, when one particularly loud ‘thunk’ drew her attention to none other than the Guildmaster himself, Deimos. It shouldn’t surprise her. He was, after all, not the sort of Guildmaster to consider himself above mingling in communal areas, at least as far as she’d been able to observe. It surprised her anyway. She had admired the Guild from afar for some time, even more so those who had survived their fair share of encounters with creatures monstrous and strange. That she now sat in these halls and would on any one day be with a chance of encountering heroes and, more importantly, experts on all things monstrous, had not yet lost its novelty.
She watched from her corner as the Warden flicked through the pages of a book, proceeding with the narrow focus of a man on a mission. To think of all he must have seen, firsthand. She’d read hundreds of books on all kinds of monsters, but to have knowledge that could not be found in the confines of a book…
Her body moved without thought— a more regular occurrence than she would like to admit. Quite without her noticing, she found herself at the table of Deimos, a man who had only recently been out on a hunt, out there, learning everything Bartie wanted to hold within herself.
She did not sit, but stood, wayward. What she wanted to say was ‘tell me about monsters’, nothing more complicated than that, but she feared the Guild might well kick her out for just demanding something so brash of its master and one of Halo’s Wardens.
So, instead, she tried for that social tact she’d heard legends about, and said, “Can I be of any assistance, Warden?” A shockingly smooth start, so much that she blinks in surprise at herself. “You must be. Busy.” Tell me about monsters. She wished wanting something badly enough could make it happen. “I could. Help. If you're looking for something. Or someway else, if you need. You know. Assisting.”
She’d gladly ignore the rest of the world, but thought it wise to look up at the sound of any newcomers. Despite not having been a member of the Guild lone, it had already managed to earn some ill-will from some thanks to its usual want of social grace, or any real repertoire for being likeable.
It surprised her, then, when one particularly loud ‘thunk’ drew her attention to none other than the Guildmaster himself, Deimos. It shouldn’t surprise her. He was, after all, not the sort of Guildmaster to consider himself above mingling in communal areas, at least as far as she’d been able to observe. It surprised her anyway. She had admired the Guild from afar for some time, even more so those who had survived their fair share of encounters with creatures monstrous and strange. That she now sat in these halls and would on any one day be with a chance of encountering heroes and, more importantly, experts on all things monstrous, had not yet lost its novelty.
She watched from her corner as the Warden flicked through the pages of a book, proceeding with the narrow focus of a man on a mission. To think of all he must have seen, firsthand. She’d read hundreds of books on all kinds of monsters, but to have knowledge that could not be found in the confines of a book…
Her body moved without thought— a more regular occurrence than she would like to admit. Quite without her noticing, she found herself at the table of Deimos, a man who had only recently been out on a hunt, out there, learning everything Bartie wanted to hold within herself.
She did not sit, but stood, wayward. What she wanted to say was ‘tell me about monsters’, nothing more complicated than that, but she feared the Guild might well kick her out for just demanding something so brash of its master and one of Halo’s Wardens.
So, instead, she tried for that social tact she’d heard legends about, and said, “Can I be of any assistance, Warden?” A shockingly smooth start, so much that she blinks in surprise at herself. “You must be. Busy.” Tell me about monsters. She wished wanting something badly enough could make it happen. “I could. Help. If you're looking for something. Or someway else, if you need. You know. Assisting.”
