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

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"Here."

He reaches forward to touch the back of his hand to Liam's forehead, feeling carefully.

"Did you have any other questions about this place?"

[easilyflustered]

The Duke's hand is warm against his skin.

He considers the question.

"You mentioned that Jack Vessalius is, er, was here? Who else? Anyone who can be trusted?"

He really hopes it's not the two of them surrounded by a bunch of Baskervilles.

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"Jack- some versions of him are here, some have been here but are gone."

He struggles to explain.

"We also have Gilbert, Break, and a number of the deceased Nightray family. Cheryl, Shelley and Sharon Reinsworth, Vincent Nightray and Echo, Oz, Ada, Oscar and Zai Vessalius. Dodo, Owl, Raven, Gryphon and Jabberwock, Mad Hatter, Equis, Dormouse, Albus-"

[easilyflustered]

His eyes widen as the list grows longer.

He interrupts softly. "The Chains are here?"

And then, his mind working slowly:

"Perhaps Gilbert would be able to procure a gun for me."

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps Hare will arrive."

He proposes, going to get him a piece of toast.

"It's important that you eat."

[easilyflustered]

"I would feel more... comfortable with the Hare around."

It's difficult for him to express how the apparent loss of his contract feels.

Liam isn't hungry--the pain has seen to that--but he knows Barma is right and he takes a bite of it anyway.

It hasn't slipped his notice that the Duke is ignoring the second part of his statement, but he lets it drop. At some point, he's certain he'll run into a Gilbert, and then he can address the situation himself. He will not be injured in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by enemies, without the ability to defend himself, flimsy as a gun may be.

"How do things... operate here?"

He's used to the Barma household, where everything runs like a well-oiled machine, and to Pandora, which runs much the same way so long as bureaucracy doesn't muck up the works. But here... Well, he has no idea.

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"It's chaos."

He admits, quietly.

"I find myself partially responsibly for the care and safety of two children. It has been an educational experience, to say the least."

[easilyflustered]

Liam isn't pleased by the idea of chaos. He likes some of it in his life--the some being Xerxes Break--but ultimately prefers order.

It's the second part that startles him.

"There are children here?"

The idea that something could be so malicious as to bring children to this place, tearing them from their worlds, is horrifying.

[info-barma.livejournal.com]

"Gilbert and Vincent."

He murmurs, with a nod.

"At a terribly young age, before they joined the Nightray household."

[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."