You stop chewing, and oh, you can hear it. Someone's knocking at the door.
Wait, what?
"Um," you say, and then again: "Um! Castor?"
He's still dematerialised, but you can get a sense of his emotions: grumpy, tired. Do ghosts sleep? It strikes you that you've never asked, and you make a note to see, later today. Maybe they do, because although he stirs at your words, the materialisation process is slow and hazy, like he's trying to wake up fully.
Whatever. You don't have time to wait!
"That's someone at the door," you tell Pheres, and scrambling to your feet, you hurtle down the hall. You can hear the pounding of footsteps behind you that you take to mean Pheres is following, and you race to the end of the hallway, turn and duck.
There's only four feet or so of clearance under the deck, and with your latest hornspurt, slipping under to get to the staircase below has turned into something of a hassle. You have to practically bend in half to get under, but after that, the stairs are easy to get down, as long as you keep your head down.
You hear a thump behind you, and glance over your shoulder. Pheres followed you under, but he tried to straighten up, and the way he's cursing, hitting his horns on the wood must've hurt. You titter but don't stop, and race down to the far door.
Castor's behind you, still a hazy outline in the corner of your vision. "I'll go check," he says, words stretched by a definite yawn, and he slides into the crack between the wall and the door like smoke.
A moment later, he pops back in, looking surprised, but not alarmed.
"It's Mardu-"
You slam the button. It flickers, and then the door slides up just as you unhook the chain from the ground. Marduk stumbles in, ducking under the plank of wood across the front, and a small rustblood, tiny and covered in scars, follows.
The rustblood doesn't even notice you: all of her attention is on Pheres, who has perked up at the sight of her.
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Wait, what?
"Um," you say, and then again: "Um! Castor?"
He's still dematerialised, but you can get a sense of his emotions: grumpy, tired. Do ghosts sleep? It strikes you that you've never asked, and you make a note to see, later today. Maybe they do, because although he stirs at your words, the materialisation process is slow and hazy, like he's trying to wake up fully.
Whatever. You don't have time to wait!
"That's someone at the door," you tell Pheres, and scrambling to your feet, you hurtle down the hall. You can hear the pounding of footsteps behind you that you take to mean Pheres is following, and you race to the end of the hallway, turn and duck.
There's only four feet or so of clearance under the deck, and with your latest hornspurt, slipping under to get to the staircase below has turned into something of a hassle. You have to practically bend in half to get under, but after that, the stairs are easy to get down, as long as you keep your head down.
You hear a thump behind you, and glance over your shoulder. Pheres followed you under, but he tried to straighten up, and the way he's cursing, hitting his horns on the wood must've hurt. You titter but don't stop, and race down to the far door.
Castor's behind you, still a hazy outline in the corner of your vision. "I'll go check," he says, words stretched by a definite yawn, and he slides into the crack between the wall and the door like smoke.
A moment later, he pops back in, looking surprised, but not alarmed.
"It's Mardu-"
You slam the button. It flickers, and then the door slides up just as you unhook the chain from the ground. Marduk stumbles in, ducking under the plank of wood across the front, and a small rustblood, tiny and covered in scars, follows.
The rustblood doesn't even notice you: all of her attention is on Pheres, who has perked up at the sight of her.