one foot in front of the other

[duke_of_illusions]

It helps a great deal, having someone to care for, having something to focus on. He wakes up the next morning aching, but with a bit better of an idea of what to do with his day than he has in the months since his partner vanished.

He makes breakfast, and brings it to Liam's room. Knocks on the door.

"It's me."

Comments

[easilyflustered]

Child versions of Gilbert and Vincent? So there could be versions of all of them as children...? The thought is quite disturbing. What would he do if he met a child version of himself?

But a child version of Vincent... He asks gently,

"Is Vincent... stable?"

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"Not- entirely. But he isn't beyond help."

He says, quietly.

"With someone to read to him, cook with him, listen to him- I think he has a chance."

[easilyflustered]

Liam nods, and works on eating his toast for a while. When it comes to nature versus nurture, no one has ever figured it out with Vincent. Those missing years make it impossible to determine.

When he's finished it he asks,

"If I am unable to find you at any point, who should I talk to?"

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"J- Gilbertine. Either of the children. And I'll give you directions to my room."

[easilyflustered]

His real worry is that if Glen Baskerville has a grudge, Barma could disappear and Liam would never know, stuck in here.

The answer, however... He stares, then asks very slowly:

"Gilbertine?"

He can't have heard that right.

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"Female version of the obvious counterpart."

He sighs.

"And a troublesome young woman."

[easilyflustered]

Liam makes a sort of incredulous sound that is really his attempt not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

A female Gilbert? That's just... His mental image is Gilbert in a dress, and that doesn't help matters at all.

But even that brief little laugh makes him wince.

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"Careful."

He chides him, immediately.

"You'll hurt yourself."

[easilyflustered]

He nods, getting ahold of himself.

"I'm sorry... The image of Gilbert in a dress..."

He bites his lip as that nearly makes him laugh again, but he's learned his lesson and manages not to.

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"She's quite a masculine young woman. Dresses much the same as him, binds- wears an eyepatch, after an encounter with Glen Baskerville."

[easilyflustered]

That sobers him. Especially the mention of Glen Baskerville.

"Oh."

Then she must have lost an eye in that encounter. He can remember, way back, Break acclimating to the loss of his eye, while he watched from doorways and windows, keeping out of the way.

"Did it... happen in her world? Or did the one you mentioned earlier do that?"

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"In this world."

He says.

"Although I'm not entirely sure if it was the same Glen that so mistrusted me."

[easilyflustered]

Liam stares in horror.

"There are multiple Glen Baskervilles here?"

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"There are multiples of anyone. The same is true for Baskerville."

He reminds him, calmly.

[easilyflustered]

Liam is not happy about that.

"And any of them are liable to start trouble," he says, not even bothering to make it a question.

It is, after all, common knowledge.

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"Two that I know of are not. One was reformed by his Jack, and they are in a committed relationship. The other became a chain, and is now contracted, and comfortable enough.

He was contracted to- a very, very good man, who is no longer here. But the lesson has stuck."

[easilyflustered]

If Glen could be reformed by Jack, why had it not happened in their world.

"What... was different about that one's Jack?"

The other part...

"A Glen Baskerville chain?"

He's so boggled that he can't stop his next question:

"Who on earth would contract with that?"

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"I think, if I'm not mistaken, that version was a woman- there was a marriage."

He shrugs.

"Healing of broken hearts, that sort of thing. As to your second question, it was another Jack."

No disguising the way his hands fist in the sheets.

[easilyflustered]

"So he killed the male version of Jack but married the female version...?"

He knows that such relationships can be frowned upon, but for it to cause something like this...

"That's..."

He doesn't continue that thought, startled by Barma's reaction.

"S-sir?"

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"Nothing you've done, Liam."

He reassures him, promptly.

[easilyflustered]

Liam shakes his head. That wasn't what he was concerned over.

"Are you alright?"

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"I will be."

He informs him, determinedly.

[easilyflustered]

Liam frowns at this, since that indicates that the answer is, in fact, no.

He considers, briefly, the conversation leading up to it, and realizes. He's not, after all, a servant of Barma for nothing.

"Jack?"

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"Yes."

He says, knowing Liam understands, at least a little.

[easilyflustered]

It's the tone of his voice that tells him what he'd only had hints of before, and his cheeks turn a bit pink--it is, after all, not his place to know about Lord Barma's... relationships.

The rest of his tone reminds him much of how he feels, the fact that Xerxes in his own world could be dead and he wouldn't even know. A... bereft sort of feeling.

"I'm sorry."

It's the only thing he knows to say, and applies both to the situation and the fact that he pried.