You are in Delumine.
How many times has he woken up somewhere he doesn't remember going in his life? Delumine sounds like a resort he was banned from after the bell boy found a dead woman in room 502B, she had been strangled with one of Stephan's italian leather belts and wrapped up like a package in the egyptian linen sheets for the cleaning lady to find. His thoughts buzz as he tries to forget the tight pinch he had to scheme his way out of. It makes his skin itch as if it were crawling with fire ants.
Home of the Dawn Court.
How many times has he fallen into a good place full of good people only to ruin its good name over time?
Too many times.
You are safe here. Ulric says then, and Only's reaction is one that is unexpected. He is almost to the point of scoffing but not at Ulric, at the idea. His serpentine head lifts and his eyes light up and a consciousness that fills all the spaces in between the last moment and this moment right now, somehow feel different.
Yes, Only wants to say with some knowledge.
Yes, but are you? Are any of us? He wants to ask. Ulric looks like he could hold his own, especially now as Only quietly compares himself to the silver. Height is the only thing Only has on him but that is it - it is like a matchstick being compared to a number two pencil. That is when he decides (quickly) that he should make friends, not enemies. He must not rely on the chance of Time being fractured in a way that he can disappear into it again and again. The Rift may very well be over - but who is to say?
It takes a long time for Only to respond and he has his reasons, reasons that are beyond explanation - reasons that won't be explained.
Not now - not ever.
Perhaps he is waiting - waiting to see if this is all a piece of fractured Time visiting him only to go away. He is waiting to see how long it takes for Ulric to dissolve into something he is not. All lies, the Rift. It has damaged his perception so greatly that whatever uses Delumine and the Dawn Court try to and purpose him with may never work.
Only seems critical of Ulric for only a fraction of a second, truly expecting him to vanish, expecting to find himself dead or dying somewhere in the darkness of what he used to call 'Home'.
Ulric comes but he doesn't
go and Stephan is quiet - too quiet, and although Only can hear his horrible counterpart rustling prison letters and rattling his chains he cannot hear his laughter. For once, he turns an ear to the voice that asks him if he needs help and the odd look on his dark face dissolves entirely. It wasn't as if it was readable in the first place.
Do I need help? He wonders quietly to himself. Does he? If so, what kind? The question is loaded for Only and so he tries to think of what to say in response. 'Cut me in half and kill the evil twin.' Crosses his mind but it is too cliche - he has seen that on television too many times before to entertain the possibility of saying it. Finding food and finding water comes naturally in a place like this. This...
"Forgive me, I'm in shock."
And he is. Quite obviously so.
But he is also an excellent liar.
"I was praying in the dark when something broke out from beneath me and suddenly I am here." He blinks, slowly. "I was hoping you could help me. I was alone when this happened - but I have friends who disappeared long before I did. Coraline, Pan..."
Faida-
Astarte, the hydra. He doesn't mention her name(names?) because he is too afraid it will summon demons. The thick scar on his neck itches just thinking about her and so - he redirects his attention back on the innocent lives that left before him. He thinks about Gabriel and wonders quietly if the red had been left behind too - would Gabriel be waiting somewhere in the dark to finish their plans? If so, it would be all over now. Certainly, the ground is so steady beneath Only's feet that he is sure the Rift has finally dissolved itself.
"Will you take me in? My name is Only - I need a home and a purpose. Mine vanished entirely." A likely story. If he could snap his fingers and say 'like
magic' he would.
.only
thief for hire
low-functioning telekinesis
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For many are called but few are chosen.
