A Late Dinner

[Doctor Nationis]

( As continued from Apples )

Iugo moved on without those two, listening to them as they spoke but not giving any answers. Shaehern would whisper something to Jasmine and Jasmine would retaliate with some sort of physical punishment. She was definitely flustered though. It would also have been amusing to Iugo...

His hand was on his stomach as he felt another pang, no, wave of pain hit him again. They could go on as much as they wanted, he just wanted his damn food! He was growling quietly to himself at the slow pace he had to take to keep from hurting his leg further. His frustration went so far as to ditch his companions. Iugo stopped his forward walk and turned towards a wall, walking at the same pace. Without even a word of good bye he vanished within the wall to take a shortcut to the kitchens.

The doctor went in an out of rooms, scaring and surprising many. A poor boy turned in time to see a pale hand grab his face. He struggled, but even one handed and hungry Iugo was too much for the boy. While closing in on the next wall he bashed the child's skull into the stonework, leaving a red splatter. He retracted his arm and phased through the next wall as he journeyed through the palace. From then on people would catch glimpses of a half-naked, limping boogie going through walls and eating the still twitching body of a human.

Not many minutes passed before he arrived in the dining hall, the boy's chest cavity nearly hollow. His eyes were cold as he continued with his meal after finding a seat at the far end of the table, the few eating late at night eying the newcomer. It did not take long for him to finish the body, only bloody bones that he would gnaw on. His stomach was somewhat appeased. He would find seconds soon. Iugo's face was nearly entirely covered in blood as he closed his eyes, allowing his leg to rest after the arduous trek to the dinning hall.

[Jasmine Krisp]

Jasmine was still having her little tsun-tsun moment with Shaehern by the time she'd reached the door to the hallway, and it was a little after that when the young-looking Boogie realized Iugo had phased himself a shortcut. Gold eyes rolled as she glanced down the hallway, then up at Shae again. "Race ya," was all the plum said before taking off as fast as her little legs could carry her...which was pretty damn fast for a midget.
Hades simply decided it would be easier to stay in the ballroom and eat from the scrap heap. He watched his owner and the cross dresser as they went with little curiosity.

It didn't take long for the little Boogie to gather speed, and as soon as she had it wasn't so much running as it was hopping through the air about five feet at a time. When you have little legs, you learn to travel in a different way. Like branch-skipping. The fact that the halls were near-deserted was good, since she did have a habit of running into people when hopping like this. Every now and then she would glance back at Shae, grinning madly.

I'm so gonna beat him!

The dinning hall wasn't too far off. Just a little further...

[Shaehern Azhrarn]

This was certainly so much fun playing with Jasmine. Since departing from the ruined ball room her pokes and prods had become less pain inducing and more so in the spirit of good natured fun. Of course, Shaehern's quips were not nearly so pointed or aimed precisely at the girl's weakest positions.

He had noticed Iugo phase through a while ago, but had ignored it largely. There really was no way to follow that hungry man the way he was going. He made the entire rest of the shortcut system seem slow by comparison.

A race was in good fun and Shaehern loved the chance to stretch his legs. At this point in night the halls would mostly be empty. He just would have to make sure to be careful with corners since he couldn't see people round them. "You're on," he managed to say. He was shocked at how quickly Jasmine was able to bring herself up to speed. Shaehern's start was quick, but he slowed down a little bit before picking up speed once again. It was the way he moved, after all.

Jasmine was able to keep just a little bit ahead of him for most of the way there. Shaehern interspersed his running with the occasional skip and leap; with each of those he got a little bit closer to Jasmine. He took one turn very sharp and kicked off of the corner of the wall for a quick boost of speed. It gave him just enough of a boost that he was able to reach down and pluck the plum woman mid-lope and throw her over his shoulder. His pace slowed down almost immediately as he walked calmly the rest of the distance to the dining room.

If Iugo thought heads had turned when he entered, then he should have anticipated the reaction from Shaehern walking in while carrying little Jasmine over his shoulder. He ignored the woman's struggling with a bit of laughter before setting her flat on a table next to Iugo. "Good evening, Doctor," he said with his face full of cheer.

[Doctor Nationis]

The other occupants were really confused. Not only had Dr. Nationis just reappeared after almost being missing for a month, ate an entire child, and was covered in blood, but then Shaehern came carrying in a gift. A rather plum one. Iugo opened his eyes, hearing a title that not many in Wonderland could lay claim to. The turn was slow and took effort. He had almost fallen asleep and that would've been a treat. His sore leg kept screaming at him, but there was nothing he could do to appease the pain here. There were painkillers in the lab, but food came first...

Iugo's eyes widened upon the sight. His initial reaction was... anger? How dare he pick up Jasmine like that! It was rude and ... and... And what, Doctor? The thought popped in his mind as his mouth fell open to respond. The initial responses urged him to shout at Shaehern... but why? Closing his mouth, Iugo took a moment to let this sight settle in his mind before trying to say something. "Shaehern...Please put her down." Iugo's bloody cheeks felt hotter when he said that. Iugo was aware of why he was blushing, but only on the surface. "You can uh... see up her dress..." Iugo continued looking at Shae, but then realized what it could be construed as and turned his head, looking at a wall.

Iugo had seen countless of humans naked before in the Widow's Trap. There was nothing special about it... So why was he blushing now!? It was times like this Iugo was glad he was a messy eater. Clearing his throat, he stood up, cane supporting him. "I'm going to go get more to eat..." With his head still turned away, he hobbled his way to the kitchen door. What made that so strange? Why, the huge platter of some delicious sort of meat that sat not more than three feet from his chair.

[Jasmine Krisp]

Okay, should have seen this coming.

No sooner had Jasmine thought of how close the dinning room was, and how she was about to beat Shae at this little race of theirs, did the feeling of something grabbing at her little body mid-jump. Jasmine's voice suddenly reached a level only heard in dog whistles. "SHAEHERN!!!" the little woman squeaked, arms flailing wildly as she was hefted like a empty sack over the mans shoulder, "PUT ME DOWN!!" This was mortifying. Sure she was small, and sure she'd been carried before, but that was Kyle and that had been a desperate situation...

...IUGO WAS GOING TO SEE HER LIKE THIS!!!!

Just as the Boogie woman was going to grab the nearest exposed Shae-skin and force him to put her down, she saw the door to the dinning room followed by, of course, Iugo's voice. Her body almost immediantly went limp. Oh God no. Oh fucking God no. He was seeing her in this position. Hefted like a sack, like a little child, like nothing more than a doll. How could this scenario get any worse...?

"You can uh...see up her dress..."

It just got worse. Jasmine let out an even higher-pitched yelp, even as she was lowered to the table with Iugo walking away. It wasn't that bad, at least...she on black tights...but still!! Tonight was just one horribly awkward moment after another with the man she wanted and the man who wanted to mess with her. The plum was so panicked and flustered as she moved from the top of the table, she didn't even noticed Iugo's vibrant blush. She had just assumed it was blood.

Jasmine proceeded to pound Shaehern with her little fists in his chest. Not hard enough to break his ribs, but hard enough to bruise.

"You pervert!! You fowl git!! Why would you DO that?!?!"

[Shaehern Azhrarn]

Iugo got up and left shortly after Shae carted Jasmine into the dining room. Not that he could really blame him for wanting to separate himself from Shaehern, but that hardly seemed the reason at all. It was impossible to see if the man was blushing under his blood-covered face, but Shae had made a living off of reading the atmosphere in the room before. Iugo had seemed thick back in the ballroom, but there was powerful evidence that he might be harboring some of those schoolboy era feelings as a counterpart to Jasmine's. This was simply wonderful.

Well, except for the part where it was horrible and he made everything awkward for everyone. That part was bad because now Jasmine was punching him in the chest. Was she pulling her punches, or was she simply not winding up enough for them? Regardless, Shae felt a little bit of air leave his lungs each and every time she hit him.

Why does everyone insist on leaving bruises on me?

Tomorrow Shaehern imagined that his chest would match his neck rather spectacularly. Jasmine had no way of knowing about that, not with the scarf wrapped around his neck and shoulders, but Naelona had seen. The chest was easier to cover, unless he decided to go swimming.

"Why would I do it?" Shaehern said weakly with a grin. "It's because I love you." What the hell are you doing, Shaehern? ABORT! He reached out and brushed Jasmine's hair with his fingertips. He looked over at Iugo, as though he were trying to get some kind of response out of the other Boogie.

You really are fucking suicidal sometimes, you know that? How vocal his inner voice got sometimes. Shaehern never really thought he had one of those.

[Naelona Ezel]

Naelona was a busy Ezel, and by busy that means on the go doing something from the break of dawn until sunset.. and even a bit past then. Something was always being scribed, checked, inventoried, hunted down, scolded, corrected, rectified, instructed, fixed, and any other manner of necessities that she went through on a daily basis. Hushing squabbling children was also one of these.

"SHERHERN!!!" Some were more obvious than others. "PUT ME DOWN!!" And a little too obvious at that. But this wasn't the reason that had drawn Naelona down to the dinning room. It was that she was still a living being that needed sustenance to function, and unfortunately rage and irritation didn't work very well as said food for extended periods of time. She had been putting off making the short trip from her quarters to the often ignored room, but the rampant children noises was the straw that broke the hungry camel's back

"You pervert!! You fowl git!! Why would you DO that?!?!" Walking into the room Naelona saw just enough to tell the obvious backside of Shaerhern, and of another smaller, shorter being being lowered to a seat. Noisy little brat it was. Horribly abusive too. Though.. slaves didn't have plum hair.."Why would I do it? It's because I love you." Wait - she knew Shae was sick - but he was that sick..?!

Suddenly the sight of the smaller unknown boogie wailing away on Shae's chest, and recalling that horrid bruise she knew resided there on his scarf-covered neck made a sudden repulsive sort of sense. Suddenly Naelona wasn't so sure she wanted food anymore. But there was fresh food, she could smell it. It also smelled like a horrid mess. It almost made her feel sick.

"Masochist." Naelona tsked in her throat with a look of disgust. Of all the matters to be known, that one was a bit too much. Moving past for the kitchen it suddenly came to her attention they weren't the only two there in the room. A mangled, bloody, child-devouring mess was as well. "Disgusting.." glaring at the other soul it took Naelona a moment to affix a name to the face, but once she did it suddenly clicked and Nae went most pale. "You're not dead." The Ezel didn't mean to stare so blatantly, but as one keeping tabs on the ballroom efforts she sort of couldn't help it.

[Doctor Nationis]

Iugo's mind was somewhat withdraw from reality as he had walked away. Jasmine was an attractive girl, sure, bu-- When did he start labeling people as attractive? This thought only made him angry. It seemed his opinions of people were changing without his knowledge. Pissed him off so much. No matter, he'd figure it out after eating. It smelled as if someone had caught a fat child not long ago. The odor wafted through the air, filling his nostrils. It was refreshing to have access to food again. Roasted human, boiled human, baked human... It all just sounded so good. And afterwards he would retire to his familiar lab and...

Iugo stopped in his tracks.

Love...?

With his back to Jasmine and Shaehern, only Naelona would see his face contort. It went from thoughtful and far away to confused, and then slowly twisting in a fury that only Tristan could have managed. His lip pulled back in a snarl, teeth grinding against one another. What started off as a low growl turned into a howl of rage as he turned around, his eyes showing the old killer in him. The cane was thrown aside, clattering loudly as Iugo took the necessary steps - the emotion within him causing him to ignore the pain but still limp - to the nearest chair. With his hands on the furniture, Iugo spun away from Shaehern, the chair following after. Face leading, his eyes locked with that damnable Azhrarn before the chair flew though the air and at the boogie.

His wrath did not stop there. Hobbling faster than would be comfortable, Iugo smashed a second chair, splinters flying every where and jumped, thankfully off his good leg, onto the table. He continued his slow dash with eyes intent on watching this boogie die. Upon closing the distance with Shaehern, Iugo jumped again. His arms stretched forward as he leapt at Shae, wanting to strngle his throat, rip him apart, asunder his head, break his bones, and grind his organs.

Iugo's mind was lost in this frenzy, blocking out the logical thoughts of why. There was a familiar feeling that he did recognize: The kill. Iugo had not attacked another boogie for so long. Not since... Well, months before the event, it felt like. Years? The children from the ballroom and his walk to the dinning hall were nothing compared to fighting a being strong even not to die with a single stab to the brain. At least some of them. There was one thing that made him mentally smile: Iugo would taste Shaehern's blood if it was the last thing he did today.

[Jasmine Krisp]

It was a brief moment that Jasmine actually considered what Shaehern was saying to be truth. Then common sense kicked in, as well as the roll of her eyes. Jazz didn't even notice Naelona watching them. Love? That made her laugh. For one, Shaehern had a thing for that Boogie man named Zarek. Second, even though he'd stolen her first guy-kiss, they were no more than best friends. Friends that loved to torture each other. So it didn't other her too much with this phony confe--

And then the chair came swinging'.

Something pushed the little woman away just as the splintered wood came down, throwing Jazz into wide-eyed shock. Where did this come from?! Who was hurting her best friend?! Oh God, it was Iugo. Her biggest crush was hurting her best friend!! What the fucking hell?!? "Shaehern!!!" she cried out, able to recognize the blood-lust in Iugo's face. He would be unreachable in this state of mind.

But why was he after Shae?! This was the man who'd just fixed his leg!! Where was this unadulterated rage coming from?!

Wait...it couldn't be...he heard Shaehern's fake confession...?

No way. That couldn't be it. No way in hell.

But...what if?

[Shaehern Azhrarn]

Naelona walking in was something that Shaehern noticed. That was adding a whole new level of depth to this plan that he hadn't even considered before. Maybe it would work as a failsafe, but maybe relying on that would simply backfire. Better to take the matter into his own hands, since he thought it was going to get dirty.

And sure enough, it was getting dirty. He managed to give Jasmine a little shove away with one arm as he whipped his scarf off with the other one. No matter how this ended up going down, a scarf around the neck was a bad thing when you got in a scrap. Of course, now the bruising around his neck was clearly visible to anyone with eyes to see it, but that was besides the point.

There was a chair flying at him, and Shae had no time to lift up his hands to protect himself. Instead, he got down low and the chair connected with him, but mostly rolled off of his body. Still hurt like hell. Iugo had a terrifying arm for throwing.

Thankfully, he had a moment to recover between the chair being thrown and Iugo jumping up on the table. This really wasn't going to be pretty. Shaehern was fairly well built, but Iugo was crazy. Crazy people had a reputation for being stronger than their less crazy counterparts. Iugo probably was physically stronger without that edge. Time to find out.

The doctor leaped quickly, but it was not the same calculated leap that Shaehern always managed when he was poised to strike. A shame that there was no time to tighten up his muscles for a counterstrike. Shae held the scarf between his two hands and brought them up to defend himself against the charging doctor. He'd deflect any attempts to reach for his neck and try to wrap the scarf around Iugo's. He wasn't really sure why he was bothering to try this.

Because you're out of ideas, bright guy. The voice was not helping.

[Naelona Ezel]

Great. Shaehern had said something stupid and now Iugo was in a murderous rage. Again. Naelona had heard of these. She'd seen the remnants of them too. They weren't too pretty, and were a horrid thing to try to clean up afterward. Bastard - he should learn to clean up after his own messes.

Now in any normal, sensible setting anyone with any decent physical capabilities might think to have the sense to prevent the murder of another comrade. If Shaehern could be considered one at all. Save attracting the attention of an irate Iugo wasn't very high on her 'to-do' list.

Startled by the sudden ruckus Naelona quickly stepped aside and well away from the flying chairs and charging Iugo. Hm, now was the debate, assist Shaehern and possible have an enraged Iugo to contend with as well, or let Iugo kill Shaehern? Or Shae would kill Iugo.. Naelona wasn't seeing a huge detriment to either ending. Save one little thing - wait - maybe not. Was it even her job to interfere with these sort of things? They weren't slaves after all, silly Ezel..

Turning her back upon the impending carnage a brief curl of the corner of her mouth and Naelona picked up a rather heavy looking bronze plate. It served as an ornamental piece more than anything, but it was still the real deal. Flipping it over between her hands the Ezel seemed rather interested in it.

"How lucky are you feeling Shaehern? Having incurred the wrath of the notable Doctor..? And those bruises.." She tsked, they were like bright 'grab here!' marks upon his apparently fragile anatomy. "You had better not die on me now, you'd make a terrible mess once he was through with you." Crossing over to the small girl - err no... woman? Naelona blinked before it clicked. Jasmine Krisp. She met her at the ball. "Tell me, are you a betting woman, Miss Krisp?"

[Doctor Nationis]

The doctor's jump was not meant to put him in front of Shaehern to fight him there. A savage grin broke out on his face like a rash. One hand willingly grabbed the scarf and tried to lower it as the full weight of his jump and body continued moving forward. The other hand shot past the scarf, trying to grab at that bastard's face, ears, eyes, hair... Anything that he could get a hold of would be a splendid target. And still he moved forward, taking Shaehern down in a tackle.

Now Iugo lay on top of Shaehern, straddling the man. Was it so funny now?! Earlier he scoffed and had a witty remark when Iugo lay over Jasmine by accident. Would he find this so amusing?! The crazed brown eyes bore into Shaehern's forehead, imagining what it would be like to smash through skull and drink the brain matter like he were a clay cup. The hand gripping the scarf twisted around, taking control of the clothing and possible the other boogie's hands, if he did not let go soon enough.

The eyes were wide, insane, and full of hatred.

"I will eat your heart!"

Iugo whispered, the tone contradicting to the malice and intense strength the slim man had. This only added to the creepiness of the grinning, wide-eyed doctor.

[Jasmine Krisp]

Between watching Iugo's rapidly growing blood-lust and Shae's poor attempts to protect himself, Jasmine's anxiety was growing by the second. She had to stop them! Either her crush was going to tear out her best friends heart and have it for dessert, as he was threatening, or her best friend would have to retaliate and hurt the already crippled man even more so! It was not a good thing, either way. Because either way, somebody she liked very mush was gonna end up either dead or injured!

At least with the latter, nobody needed to be buried.

Jazz blinked and turned from the scene at the sound of a familiar voice. A girl, a woman, probably the only person she thought would be the icing on the "Weirdest Evening Ever Day". Good Lord, Naelona Ezel...the plum haired woman nodded her a hello before turning back to the struggle. Was she a gambling woman? Not particularly. She was more of the woman who hid from crowds and parties and only sought the attention of the weird and wild during the years she believed life was getting boring.

But...could she gambling over her best friend and crush? Probably.

"If you're asking for a gamble, I might make a wager...but I'm afraid I have not a slaves to wager, as is your stake...so I've heard," her voice was oddly adult for somebody in a) such a situation and b) such a young body. Gold eyes suddenly locked onto the exposed bruises on Shaehern's neck. The words slipped out of her mouth in the old language, perfect as it was since she'd spoken it all her life. "...I wonder who put those there...?"

[Shaehern Azhrarn]

Shae grew wide-eyed in terror as Iugo advanced upon him. That was much too quick for comfort and much closer than he really wanted to be to the man. Iugo snatched the scarf and Shaehern let it go almost immediately. Clearly that was not going to work and he had to come up with something fast.

Whatever Shae was trying to come up with he did not reach a conclusion quickly enough. Iugo was on top of him. Shaehern could feel his own heart pounding in his chest and in his head. He could feel the doctor's breath upon his skin as the moisture settled on him. There were the hands grasping at him and Shaehern tried to defend himself, but it was difficult.

The doctor got a handful of hair and started pulling on it. It hurt something fierce, but that pain snapped his mind somewhat into focus. A focus that felt itself waiver a little bit as the promise to eat his heart was made.

A stone fell into the pit of his stomach.

This entire situation seemed vaguely familiar and somewhat sexual. It was in that frame of mind that Shaehern chose to progress forward. "Eat your heart out," he managed to say back to Iugo, but his voice was a little more shaky than he would have preferred. Shaehern's joints suddenly rolled out of socket as he pushed his legs up through the doctor's and wrapped them around his legs. The lithe Boogie raised his arms up and attempted to do the same with Iugo's arms--wrapping around once and them grasping him at the wrists. That still would not keep the doctor's face away from him, but maybe he'd be able to keep the doctor from using his hands to gouge out eyes or the similar.

Then, just like that snake or eel that Shaehern so often resembled at times, he tried to constrict and squeeze the doctor. His only hope was that the sharp pain in the doctor's leg might somehow get through to him. Otherwise, this was going to be very painful and very bloody.

At least it probably looked hot.

[Naelona Ezel]

"Slaves are but a commodity, not a standard. I've been known to wager many things, Miss Krisp." Some.. a bit more humiliating than others, but none that ended too terribly. The voice didn't quite match the body, but that was Wonderland for you. Naelona paused with a start, staring at Jasmine for her remark in the old tongue, even if it was about bruises. Two thoughts occurred to the Ezel. One was the small girl.. err woman could speak more naturally than most could hope to these days, and the second she returned as best as she was able in equal confusion. "You didn't inflict them..?"

Any further thoughts were interrupted by the.. contortionism being performed upon the floor. For a moment she could only stare, how could he do that? Naelona wasn't quite sure, but regardless she broke into a harsh cough. If she stared too much longer she was sure she was going to be sick.

"Iugo Nationis, that is quite enough from you. I have matters concerning you, and there will be no eating of hearts today, least of all of your fellow boogiemen, so get off of the boy befor- ...Shaehern, release him. You're worse than children." It was a sad day when her fellow boogies had to be chastised like small children.

"Tell me, what has prompted such madness this time?" Naelona asked of Jasmine once more. Not much quite like walking in a room to find a presumed dead boogie tackling an acquaintance to the floor. Even if said acquaintance tended to prove more of a pest than anything.