[2011-09-22 18::23:53] Doink: [LOCATION: WARD HALL, ARKHAM, MASS.]
[2011-09-22 18::25:05] Doink: As Henri approaches his room, he hears a small noise from the other side of the closed door. Someone, or something, is inside.
[2011-09-22 18::26:15] Henri_DEllaine: quickly slips in the door and shuts it behind him. He has a bit of a smile on his face, expecting it to be Jeanne, finally.
[2011-09-22 18::31:13] Doink: It's not. In fact, there are several things about the scene inside Henri's room that are against his expectations. The first is that the carpet in the middle of the room is currently covered with a tidy arrangement of springs, covers, and bits of metal and carbon fiber, arrayed in neat rows, each placed with expert care in a manner he is surely familiar with.
[2011-09-22 18::35:32] Doink: The second sits behind this arrangement. A man, short and slender, somewhere around the age of forty, his short, sandy hair tinged with grey. He's dressed smartly in a worn-looking suit. In his hands is a long, narrow barrel, which he is methodically cleaning with an oily rag.
[2011-09-22 18::36:56] Doink: "<Never assume that the person behind a door is who you expect it to be,>" he says in his native tongue, smiling slightly, but not looking up from his work. "<I know I told you that before, Henri.>"
[2011-09-22 18::39:24] Henri_DEllaine: is taken aback, mouth wide open, caught in a half step. But, slowly, his stance shifts to a something at more of an attention, hands by his sides and mouth kept closed. "<Y-yes, sir. I shouldn't have forgotten.>" There's a raw lack of emotion in his French, like a knee jerk reaction that his mind hasn't caught up with yet.
[2011-09-22 18::45:26] Doink: "<It is understandable. Living under security like this makes you soft. But given what you've seen, you should understand how little security you have.>" He puts down the barrel next to the other parts and finally meets your eyes. "<Are you not happy to see me, Henri?>" he says with mock-lightheartedness, that same half-smile still on his face.
[2011-09-22 18::48:14] Henri_DEllaine: "<Of course, Father, I missed->" Henri jolts forward with a step, ready to run into his father's arms, but his mind catches up with him. He's stuck, again, in some kind of half step. "... but, you're dead."
[2011-09-22 18::49:49] Doink: "<I am,>" he replies. "<Believe me, I am as surprised to see you as you are to see me.>" He nonchalantly picks up another piece of his rifle and begins cleaning it with the oily rag.
[2011-09-22 18::51:43] Henri_DEllaine: "<Well..>" He's disarmed, awkward. "<how... how was death?>"
[2011-09-22 18::56:32] Doink: "<Quite overrated.>" He moves on to the next piece. "<Hmmm... Perhaps I am an angry spirit, then? Drawn up to haunt you for your deeds? You have been messing around with some rather occult things lately, have you not?>" He says this, like everything else, as if he was discussing something as mundane as the weather.
[2011-09-22 19::00:38] Henri_DEllaine: "<It just kind of avalanches. It's either take what opportunities I can or die. I thought you tried to teach me that, anyways, sir.>"
[2011-09-22 19::03:52] Doink: He chuckles. "<I was not admonishing you for it. Merely stating a fact.>" He finishes what looks to be the last piece, then, picking up two more, begins to re-assemble them piece by piece. "<Besides, it is just as likely that I am merely a figment of your tortured subconscious, vainly trying to make sense of everything you've experienced, non?>"
[2011-09-22 19::04:30] Doink: "<Though I suppose I am not the first person-who-isn't-there you've been seeing.>" He chuckles again.
[2011-09-22 19::08:05] Henri_DEllaine: scratches his head, taking a seat at his desk. "<The terrible thing, sir, is that given everything that's happened I don't see how one could be more likely than the other.>" He looks at his father for a bit before sliding out of the chair to the floor to help assemble parts of the gun. "<But I want you to be real. And if you're not... I think I can make you real. I think I can make up for everything.>"
[2011-09-22 19::15:21] Doink: The parts, at least, feel perfectly real. "<Ah, the arrogance of youth,>" he says, playfully mocking. "<Everything and anything are possible, when you are young and foolish. Then you get old, and realize how small you are. Not that that is always a bad thing. It is not the width and breadth of the power one possesses,>" he says, hefting the stock of the weapon into position, "<but where and when it is /applied/ that counts. But you knew that already, non? Small victories soon become large ones.>"
[2011-09-22 19::21:27] Henri_DEllaine: hands his father the pieces he assembled, almost like an offering. "<If I can be strong this time, I won't be tricked. I won't be fooled, no matter how much I am lied to. I will force my way to success, and then everything can be set right.>"
[2011-09-22 19::28:00] Doink: He chuckles again. "<Not everything, Henri. Never /everything/.>" He attaches those pieces, screws the barrel into place, then, without warning, whips the stock around against his shoulder and stares down the sight, aimed somewhere above Henri, checking its trueness. "<Aim too high, and you'll miss what you're trying to hit. Aim for the /center/,>" and with that he brings the sights down to focus on the middle of Henri's chest, "and you're more likely to get what's actually important. To you, at the very least.>"
[2011-09-22 19::30:14] Henri_DEllaine: 's face fills anticipation and anxiety, part of him almost wants the catharsis of being shot by this man. "<Yes, Father. I will with all my heart.>"
[2011-09-22 19::39:57] Doink: "<You are the son of an assassin," he says, one eye squeezed shut, the other behind his telescopic sight. "<But one cannot always follow in his father's footsteps, non? Not exactly...> He smiles. "...Vous /Chevalier en Jaune./"
[2011-09-22 19::40:33] Doink: There is a bang, and a flash of yellow light, and then Henri sees and hears no more.