Gilded Cage Pt. 4

[6:08]*Simon-Blackquill is woken up rather suddenly, due to a nightmare. A nightmare involving the Phantom -- a silhouette that held a wrench at the end of a tunnel, laughing. Simon runs toward the end of the tunnel, seeing Taka in a cage on one side... and Bobby Fulbright on the other, looking utterly confused and most of all helpless, bound by the very same shackles that bind Simon's wrists. Then, the Phantom strikes with his wrench, and suddenly, the whole tunnel dissipates.

Simon wakes up after that, gasping for air, crying out in unimaginable pain. His leg... his leg! It's still broken. He's in the land of the living once more, much to his dismay. His head is pounding, his lungs are burning, and he wants nothing more than to be knocked out again, possibly wishing for the amputation of his leg. What a wake-up call.
[6:11]*Quincy Blastbody is startled by the sudden cry and falls right out of his chair. "Ahh! M-my lord! P-please stop yelling! You are p-perfectly fine!" He rushed over to the bed where Simon was confined to. His leg was splinted properly and adjusted so that it would hang in the air rather than sit on the bed flat. "I-if you are still in p-pain, I can give you something to h-help with that!"
[6:14]*Simon-Blackquill wants to scream at whoever is doing the yelling -- his head already hurts, he doesn't need any more of this. Instead, however, when Simon opens his mouth to curse the individual responsible, all that comes out is a mewl of pain. He's already trying to move his leg, as if he could wriggle it out of the splint, and all this does is make him more uncomfortable. It takes him a while of grunting and groaning before he can form words. "Of COURSE I'm still in pain, you imbecile! Do something! Immediately!"
[6:18]*Quincy Blastbody pales and does not think to lower the volume of his voice in his panic. "O-of course! Of course, right away, my lord- STOP THAT!" He sees Simon attempting to escape the splint and immediately thwacks him with a pillow. "If you keep doing that you will make it take longer for you to heal, and if you try to walk on that leg you may cause the still-fragile bone to fracture or even break fully again!"
[6:22]*Simon-Blackquill growls at the man. Who is this again? Simon isn't even sure he's seen him in his life. "SILENCE!" He roars, shoving the pillow away and rubbing his head where he was hit. "Y-you fool... if you can do something about my pain, then hurry up and do it. Right now, unless you fancy the idea of your head being separated from your neck." His voice is very strained, scratchy. He ends up coughing several times after the words are uttered.
[6:30]*Quincy Blastbody looks very unimpressed while he is digging through the bags he carries with him at all times. "My lord, with all due respect, I work for Lord Dycedarg Beoulve, the Earl of Eagrose. His Excellency nearly made me drink a jug of zombie-making poison. Threats will find no purchase with me." He pulls out a bottle made of brown glass filled with some kind of shimmering clear liquid. "Now open your mouth and stick out your tongue. I have to administer this in careful amounts or your body will take to it poorly."
[6:39]*Simon-Blackquill knows exactly what zombie-making poison the man refers to... if Simon weren't in incredible pain, he'd laugh. Serves you right for creating such a concoction to begin with. Or at least, that's what it sounds like -- that this is the guy responsible for that miserable potion. Sounds like the type of punishment Dycedarg would inflict on someone in his employ.

He opens his mouth to spit at the miserable looking man, then sticks his tongue out as told.
[6:43]*Quincy Blastbody sticks his tongue at him like a child in response to being spit on, then carefully uses an eye-dropper to take out very careful amounts of the Elixir and drips it onto Simon's tongue. Drip...drip....drip...drip. "Okay, that should be enough to make you comfortably numb. If there's any sudden changes or if your metabolism starts to go haywire, let me know immediately. It means the experiment was unsuccessful and you're about to turn into a behemoth, in which case we will need to chain you down and wait for you to turn back to normal." His face was so deadpan that it's hard to tell if he's messing with Simon or not.
[6:46]*Simon-Blackquill doesn't flinch at the taste or sensation of something like this on his tongue, and withdraws it back into his mouth when the man begins to speak again. "...You dare give me an experimental medication?!" He growls, reaching his shackled hand out, nails extended as if they were claws. He can't reach him from here, so it's just an "intimidation" tactic. "I will have your head for this regardless of the results I receive."
[6:50]*Quincy Blastbody falls backwards, right on his ass. "Aaaaaah! I-I'm sorry! I-it was just a joke! I swear! This is j-just an elixir, in s-small doses it numbs the b-body...." Quincy begins scrambling for the door. "YOUR EXCELLENCYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY......" ......aaaaand he's gone.
[6:51]*Simon-Blackquill tilts his head back in bed and groans, waiting for the elixir to numb his body and he hopes nothing worse comes of it. He may have laughed at the exaggerated reaction were he feeling better... but all he can do is grin and sigh.
[7:34]*Dycedarg Beoulve enters the room that Blastbody recently vacated with all haste and looked at the grinning Samurai on the bed. "Well, you seem to be feeling better, at least."
[7:42]*Iroquois-Pliskin follows into the room after Dycedarg, looking a bit sour and very tired. He lightens up a bit when he sees Simon, at least. "Mornin', Simon."
[7:43]Simon-Blackquill: ...Is there a reason everyone is coming in here as if I'm in a hospital bed?
[7:43]Simon-Blackquill: Get out.
[7:43]Iroquois-Pliskin: Technically, you kinda are in a hospital bed.
[7:44]Dycedarg Beoulve: Because this is your hospital bed. And I would be more than happy to leave if you hadn't frightened Doctor Blastbody into fleeing. He's very skittish, you know. You should feel ashamed of yourself.
[7:44]Iroquois-Pliskin: Gee, I wonder why he's skittish.
[7:45]Dycedarg Beoulve: Are you insinuating it was my fault? I'm hurt.
[7:45]Simon-Blackquill: He is a fool. And I'm not accepting visitors at the moment. Take your bickering elsewhere.
[7:46]*Iroquois-Pliskin sighs, frowning. "Fine, fine, I'll fuck off."
[7:46]*Iroquois-Pliskin hasn't been WORRYING or anything!!!! He turns and steps out of the room.
[7:46]*Dycedarg Beoulve shrugs. "Oh well. Come, Sir Pliskin, let's go." He turns around and leaves the room, then immediately turns back around. "Oh, wait, I live here. This is my house. No."
[7:47]Simon-Blackquill: You just referred to this as my hospital bed. And I am not currently accepting visitors. Make yourself scarce.
[7:49]*Dycedarg Beoulve sighs. "Well, if it is your preference to simply sit here alone in an empty bedroom all day, then by all means go right ahead. There are books in the shelf next to your bed." He gestures over to the books that are written in a language clearly not like the English alphabet.
[7:50]*Iroquois-Pliskin pokes his head back in, glaring. "Dyce. C'mon. He wants to be left alone."
[7:50]*Simon-Blackquill reaches for one anyway, only to find that... he can't read them. So he grabs for another, and can't read it either. Then grabs another... and another... he can't read any of these books.
[7:53]*Dycedarg Beoulve turns and head out the door with Pliskin without a word, shutting the door behind him. And now the room is dark, too. There you go, Simon.
[8:03]*Iroquois-Pliskin has apparently retrieved a cigarette, because now he has a lit one hanging from his lip, puffing lightly. "Go easy on him." He says, when Dycedarg comes out. "He's not dealing well."
[8:08]Dycedarg Beoulve: I suppose that's true. I simply do not respond well to Sir Blackquill's particular brand of foolishness and aggression.
[8:09]Dycedarg Beoulve: After all, you are his only friend here. You would think he would strive to do better by you, if nothing else.
[8:09]*Simon-Blackquill is perfectly fine with being in the dark. He will just sit alone in an empty bed all day and mope. At least his leg isn't killing him now.
[8:11]Iroquois-Pliskin: You've seen how he interacts even with the people he gets along with. I'm pretty sure this is just how he is- he's stubborn. I can go check on him again later.
[8:13]Dycedarg Beoulve: Perhaps that would be best. I will be more than happy to give him his space. Provided he doesn't try to strangle Doctor Blastbody, anyhow. If he does anything to hurt my best Chemist I will break his other leg.
[8:16]Iroquois-Pliskin: Doctor Blastbody seems to have mastered the art of dodging assholes trying to hurt him, if you ask me.
[8:19]*Dycedarg Beoulve chuckles. "I suppose being House Beoulve's personal physician will do that for you, yes. He could teach my Thieves evasion techniques."
[8:20]*Iroquois-Pliskin rolls his eyes, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Hmmn, I wonder why that is..."
[8:23]*Dycedarg Beoulve runs a finger along the collar Pliskin has hidden away. "Now, now, be a good boy why don't you, hm?"
[8:24]*Iroquois-Pliskin shudders at that, and then coughs a couple times on his cigarette smoke. "Mnnrgh."
[8:26]*Dycedarg Beoulve smirks. "That's better. Good dog." He turns around and puts his hands on the railing of a nearby balcony, turning his back to Pliskin as if to tempt him to push him off the balcony and onto the ground floor.
[8:27]*Iroquois-Pliskin is so tempted!! SO!!!!!! TEMPTED!!!!!!!!!! He even puts his hands up for a moment!... before stopping himself, and just sidling up beside Dycedarg to join him on leaning against the railing, taking a long drag of his cigarette. He can't get rid of Dycedarg, and he knows it. Dycedarg's his only chance of survival, as horrid as that is.
[8:30]*Dycedarg Beoulve smirks as Pliskin joins him, turning to face him. "You passed your first test. Congratulations."
[8:33]*Iroquois-Pliskin frowns, looking over at Dycedarg. "My first what??"
[8:36]Dycedarg Beoulve: Oh, I've been deliberately aggravating you, to see if you were the kind of person who might snap when pushed into a corner and presented with the target of your aggression in a vulnerable state. Rather than take the opportunity to push me over the side like a fool, you chose instead to join me at the balcony. You've kept a cool head when in a bad situation, and I find that to be a valuable trait in a person.
[8:37]Iroquois-Pliskin: ... Keeping you alive is gonna benefit me a lot more than how cathartic it'd be to push you over the railing.
[9:10]*Dycedarg Beoulve nods. "Correct. And you will be keeping me alive in a much more proactive way. I have been considering making you my personal bodyguard, Sir Pliskin."
[9:14]*Iroquois-Pliskin suddenly stands straight up. "Your what??" He snarls, glaring at the other man. "In case you aren't aware, I'm not for hire. My merc days are behind me."
[9:18]Dycedarg Beoulve: Who is to say I would be hiring you as a mercenary? You would be formally knighted and inducted into the Order of the Northern Sky, under my personal direction. It would not be right away, of course, and I would have to speak to my brother on the matter, but that is all details and technicalities. You don't need to decide right away, of course, but I think you would find it to be a lot more satisfying than simply sitting around doing /nothing/ all day.
[9:20]*Iroquois-Pliskin growls, crossing his arms and doing his best to look down at Dycedarg. "And if I refuse?"
[9:21]Iroquois-Pliskin: (( its hard to look down on someone when your height is Shockingly Average ))
[9:24]*Dycedarg Beoulve shrugs. "Then I suppose you shall simply be reliant upon my charity." He turns to look over at Pliskin, as if to directly point out how absurd it is to rely upon the charity of a man like Dycedarg. "Honestly, I am not asking much. You are already a trained soldier. You've already seen combat. You are surely better than most with that gun you carry, either in your own world or at /least/ within Ivalice. And you are already planning on staying here and making this your base of operations to locate your way back home. How can my offer of employment be anything but a way to legitimize your presence in the manor?"
[9:31]*Iroquois-Pliskin catches that implication. He realizes full well that Dycedarg is more likely to kick him out with a sarcastic 'good on your own luck in Ivalice!' rather than actually let Pliskin have free reign of his castle and resources without some sort of repayment. He growls again, louder this time, and turns away quickly. He paces for a good few seconds, grumbling to himself, before finally turning on his heel to face Dycedarg again.

There's a wildness in those ice blue eyes, ferocity and a restrained desire for murder, and he glares at Dycedarg. "Fine." He says with a harsh snarl. "But as soon as I find a way back home, you better watch your damn back."
[9:37]*Dycedarg Beoulve raises his eyebrows. "Such hostility. I think we need to establish something, fast, before you get the wrong idea about how this works." He straightens his back and quickly makes his way to Pliskin, getting right in his face. "I am in charge. I am the one that provides for you, and I am the one who will be keeping you alive in a hostile environment. So you will speak to me with respect. Or else..." Dycedarg raises a hand, and power begins to gather there, forming a small amoung of magical lightning between his fingers. "I will simply have to break you in. Like one does with a wild animal."
[9:45]*Iroquois-Pliskin stiffens a bit when Dycedarg gets into his face and dammit it would be so easy to just reach up and snap his neck right now! But Dycedarg makes a good point, even if he abhors it. He's entirely dependent on this evil bearded man, whether he likes it or not, and just as easily as he could kill him, he'd lose any chance of survival, either from his benefactor's death or from Dycedarg getting sick of him and throwing him out on his ass.

But then his thoughts are interrupted by a crackle of electricity, which makes his whole body tense up, and one can almost imagine the fur rising on the back of a threatened animal. He breathes in sharply through his nose, eyes widened until he wrenches them away from the lightning. "... Got it." He mutters, clenching his fists useless at his sides.
[9:47]*Dycedarg Beoulve disperses the lightning in his hand, laying it on Pliskin's shoulder. "Try saying 'Yes, Your Excellency.'"
[9:48]*Iroquois-Pliskin fails to resist groaning in aggravation. He wants to take that hand by the wrist and fucking break it... but instead he hisses through clenched teeth. "Yes, Your Excellency."
[9:50]*Dycedarg Beoulve smiles. "Excellent! We shall make a knight of you yet. There's no need to be so upset, you know. So long as you obey me, you will live a very comfortable life. No more living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with only fifty dogs for company. You'll have fine food, wealth, fine clothing...you'll be like a part of our family, like any good pet."
[9:54]Iroquois-Pliskin: ... I liked living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with my dogs. It was nice.
[9:54]*Iroquois-Pliskin is mildly insulted. :(
[9:55]Iroquois-Pliskin: ... And I'm not a pet.
[10:01]*Dycedarg Beoulve just raises an eyebrow and looks at where his collar sits beneath Pliskin's shirt. "Are you so sure?"
[10:02]*Iroquois-Pliskin growls, and boy does he regret wearing this thing everywhere! "That-... That's different."
[10:09]*Dycedarg Beoulve chuckles. "Of course it is. Now, come. I shall have need of forging papers of a knightly lineage for one Iroquois Pliskin, and it would be better to have you present for such a thing. That way the details will stick in your mind. The closer it is to the truth, the better." With that, he turned and led the way into his personal study
[10:14]*Iroquois-Pliskin grumbles under his breath, not looking forward to this one bit as he follows Dycedarg towards his study. He doesn't give a shit as he taps ashes off his cigarette, and then drops the butt and stomps it out on Dycedarg's nice floor while the man isn't looking. It's the small vengeances that matter.
[10:20]*Dycedarg Beoulve is unaware of this completely as he opens the door to his study and pulls out a chair. He still hasn't cleaned this place up since when he was tossing books around before the portals closed. Oops.
[10:21]*Iroquois-Pliskin frowns as he follows Dycedarg into the study, being careful not to step on any of the books on the floor. "What the hell, Dyce, I pictured you being neater than this."
[10:24]*Dycedarg Beoulve actually looks slightly embarrassed. "Ah, yes, normally I am. But the day the portals closed, I had been doing some important research, regarding Tori's condition. I haven't been in here since the guards informed me of her deteriorating condition, and I wasn't about to tidy up in light of that news."
[10:27]*Iroquois-Pliskin lets his mouth hang open for a moment, feeling a little bad for asking now. "Ah..." He clears his throat, moving over to lean against the desk. "... You like her, huh?"
[10:29]Tori Marie Nygma: ((*chinhands*))
[10:32]*Dycedarg Beoulve stops dead in his tracks. "................yes. I do." He says it like the very notion of human emotion repels him. "She is like no one else I have ever known. And I will do all within my power to keep her safe." He turns and faces Pliskin. "As will /you/ once this is settled. If Tori dies on your watch, I will personally see to it that you are tied to a tree and flogged for a /year/ before you die."
[10:34]*Iroquois-Pliskin is genuinely startled by that reaction, leaning away slightly with his eyebrows raised. "Goddamn, Dyce, you say that like I'm not totally willing to protect my friends." He growls a bit, crossing his arms. "I don't need you to tell me to keep her safe. I may not like her the same way you do, but I do care about her. I won't let anything happen to her, or Jeb, or Simon, if I can help it."
[10:38]*Dycedarg Beoulve pauses, as if perplexed by the idea that Pliskin would be willing to do so completely on his own, then shakes his head. "That will suffice. All the more reason to have these documents attended to." He begins sorting through various documents on a shelf, mostly land deeds and records of lineage. "Let's see here...should you be a landed knight? No, let's have you unlanded, all the better for you to remain here in the estate." He pulls out several sheets of paper and a quill made from a red chocobo feather. "So, Iroquois Pliskin, Knight of Gallione from House Pliskin. Any opinion on the Pliskin family crest?"
[10:41]*Iroquois-Pliskin isn't a heartless scumbag unlike SOME people he knows. Of course he cares about his friends. And with how little he generally cares for his own life, he'd probably lay down his own for Jeb, Tori, or Simon. he watches Dycedarg start rifling through documents and records, raising an eyebrow at what he's saying, not getting any of it. What even is landed versus unlanded? And then suddenly he's being asked a question. "... Pliskin family crest??"
[10:46]*Dycedarg Beoulve stares at Iroquois like he's suddenly started eating glue. "Yes. A crest. A symbol of House Pliskin, like the White Lion for House Larg, the Black Lion for House Goltana, and so on. For example, here is House Beoulve's crest." He pulls out a small crest with a green background and....well...that sure is something in the center of that green field.
[10:49]*Iroquois-Pliskin squints at the example of House Beoulve's crest. Is that a.... bird???? A dragon?? It's... something, alright. "I dunno... Maybe a snake? Or a husky? I don't know anything about symbolism."
[11:25]*Dycedarg Beoulve sighs. "I might have known. Well, in any event, a snake is possible but it could set the wrong tone for the House. It would be seen as something of a declaration that you are vipers in our midst. So the husky will do, at least for now."
[11:26]*Iroquois-Pliskin shrugs- he can't exactly say Dycedarg's wrong, he got the idea from the codenames he, his brother, and his father had taken on... and, well, they were /spies/ and /assassins/. "Makes sense. Do I need to pick out colors or something, too? I'm not exactly an artsy kinda guy."
[11:28]Dycedarg Beoulve: It's advised, yes. The more involved you are with the process, but more natural you'll feel about the whole thing
[11:30]*Iroquois-Pliskin growls a little. "Well... I like navy blue, if that helps." He actually likes lots of shades of blue, but navy is his favorite, if he had to pick one.
[22:23]Dycedarg Beoulve: So, would you want a blue husky on a different-colored background, or a blue background with a different-colored husky on it?
[22:25]*Iroquois-Pliskin thinks on it for a moment, before an idea comes to him, and he really hopes this won't look like crap because he thinks it looks nice in his head. "Navy background. Light blue husky- maybe ice blue. If there's accents, white."
[22:54]*Dycedarg Beoulve nods and fills this out on his paper. "Excellent. I'll have this drawn up by someone soon. Now, what would be a good cover story for you....let's start with family. Tell me about them. What did they do?"
[22:56]*Iroquois-Pliskin frowns again, and crosses his ankles where he stands. "Probably going to need to make something up. My only known family are traitors, cowards, and hypocrites." He snorts through his nose, apparently peeved just thinking about it. "... I'm not too good at makin' this sorta stuff up, though."
[23:09]Dycedarg Beoulve: Alright then. Hmm....your father died in the 50 Years War...your mother passed on, possibly protecting her children from an assassin's blade...and your two younger brothers were killed recently as well. One fighting the Corpse Brigade, the other....hmm, perhaps the other was killed by suspected agents of the Southern Sky. Yes, that will do. What do you think?
[23:12]*Iroquois-Pliskin is maybe mildly entertained by being the oldest brother. Ugh, gross, now he's being petty like Liquid. He quickly wipes that whole train of thought away. "Sounds good to me. Makes sense that I'd be the sole survivor of this made-up family, seeing as I'm the only one here. Plus my family is pretty dead, if it was just my father and brother." He shrugs. "I'll be sure to pretend to be totally torn up at the loss of my whole family."
[23:14]*Dycedarg Beoulve shakes his head. "No need, better that you put on the stoic act. This is mostly as a paper trail in case someone is wondering why they've never heard of House Pliskin before, like Zalbaag or Duke Larg."
[23:14]Iroquois-Pliskin: Got it. Not that that'll be hard.
[23:15]*Iroquois-Pliskin doesn't really look much different even when he is legitimately upset. He's too gruff. God help him when he actually needs to be expressive.