ic Everyone Is From Somewhere (IC)

[Dr Archeville]

"Really?"  His tone was more annoyed than anything as he batted out the flames on the dying frat boy, then lunged for and batted out Ethan.  "You," he grabbed Ethan's shoulder, and pointed to his associate with his free hand, "carry him that way," he indicated the end of the alley where Strix was.  "I'll get your friend back there, then him" he nodded to the homeless man, "and we'll meet you there.  And then we're all going to have a nice chat."

 

Really hope Strix ain't too hungry when he gets up from somethin' like that.

 

He dashed over to the frat boy he thought was only dying, but found he was in fact dead.  "No.  No.  No, no, no."  He began to scoop up the boy, "weren't s'posed t'be like this.  Shoulda stayed home, kid..."

[Amelia]

GM

 

The air was thick with the stench of burning gasoline and burning flesh. Dead Head would be choking on it if he still breathed.

 

The alley was still a chaotic mess.

 

Dead Head's desiccated hands managed to smother the flames on Ethan Pfeffner's arms and shirt, but he'd managed to burn himself pretty badly with his inept flailing in the service of his friend, and his personal ordeal seemed to command all of his attention. It took a few seconds for him to realize he wasn't on fire anymore.

 

Dead Head could see the blue glowing man hover out into the street, then suddenly stop, turn around, and float back almost the way he came, disappearing into the next alley over. He could hear the man's groans, and the chittering of the Woodchuck Man around the same corner. The creature must have run the long way around the one of the buildings framing the burning alley. He heard one of the other fratboys stop screaming, heard his body thump against the street outside. The flames claimed another one.

 

Dead Head also felt a new set of fingers digging into his mind, trying to pry it open.

 

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

The man in white pushed himself up from the ground and dragged himself to his feet as the bulk of his brain and skull slid back into place and re-fused the broken pieces together. He turned around and scanned the ground, quickly identifying the shattered remnants of the brick which had pulverized the back of his head a few moments ago. He glared up at the alley wall above him.

 

It wouldn't be a stretch for the buildings on Ash Street to start coming apart at the seams. But those bricks aren't loose. Someone pried this one out and threw it at me.

 

He growled and took off running back down the alley, past Dead Head and the burning frat boys he was putting out, a white blur vanishing around the corner. As soon as he made it around the building, he caught sight of the Woodchuck Man and his glowing companion. The man in white roared like a tiger and pounced on the Woodchuck Man, burying his fangs in the furry creature's neck.

 

He tastes even worse than he smells.

 

Mister Strix shuddered as the drops of the creature's blood hit his tongue. He strained to focus past the rush of pleasure, to read the psychic resonance absorbed into the creature's blood. He saw a thousand ghostly images all superimposed upon one another, Mentally, he began pushing them aside, sifting through them for the memories he needed.

 

Show me...Where is the girl?!

 

[Dr Archeville]

"Hoo, ain't had t'work like this in a while," he muttered as he lifted the dead frat boy in a fireman's carry.  He turned and dashed as fast as his tireless legs would carry him -- nowhere near as fast as Strix, but enough to qualify for the Olympics (I could never pass their drug tests, though) -- speeding past Ethan, his dying friend, and the unconscious homeless man, to the other end of the alley.  He saw three of the other lads there.  Two were still panicked and fleeing as fast as they could, the other lay on the ground, uncomfortably still for someone on fire.  At a glance, he knew he was dead.

 

"Sonuva..."

 

He lay the lad down, and dashed back into the alley, towards the homeless man.  As he hefted him up, he felt something trying to worm its way into his mind.  "Whatever ya are," he said aloud, "ya should know it's hard t'probe a dead brain.  But I'll be happy t'talk with ya, after I get these folks saved."

 

 

[Amelia]

GM

 

Around the corner from Dead Head, the blue glowing man's moans grew loud enough to qualify as "screams". His eyes glowed brighter, like road flares in his skull. Mister Strix felt like hands had plunged into his skull and were squeezing his brain. But the glowing man's efforts did little but give Strix a headache.

The Woodchuck Man twisted and squirmed in Strix's grasp, but he couldn't break the vampire's superhuman grip. He frantically failed at Strix with his enormous claws, carving several deep gouges in Strix's stomach. As usual, not a drop of blood came out of any of the wounds. Strix barely reacted to them, and while the white cloth of his shirt remained shredded, the flesh beneath started knitting itself back together almost immediately. The Woodchuck Man's flailing slowed down and grew more erratic, and his feet stumbled, as he gradually lost himself in the euphoric effect of Strix's bite.

 

Strix felt another pair of hands, just as clumsy, trying to pry open his own mind. But the locks on those doors proved just as sturdy as those on Dead Head's thoughts.

 

Though part of the fire still raged in the alley behind him, thanks to Dead Head's vigorous efforts, all of the burning flesh was now merely burnt flesh.

 

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

The man in white was more startled by the memories he found in the Woodchuck Man's blood than he was by the Woodchuck Man's feeble attempts to disembowel him.

 

That...doesn't make sense...More...deeper...

 

He shifted his grip on the Woodchuck Man and sucked more of the blood trickling from the creature's neck, down Strix's chin and into the creature's already matted fur.

 

Why did you assault that woman?

 

[Dr Archeville]

Strix can take care of hisself.  Strix can take care of hisself.  Strix can take care of hisself.

 

This ran through Dead Head's mind as he fireman-carried the unresponsive (but still breathing) homeless man out of the alley, again passing by Ethan and his dying associate.  He dropped him once there (he's unconscious, he's limp, that shouldn't cause any more damage), then dashed over to the two dead frat boys.  He moved them so they lay side by side, with enough room between them for him to stand, facing them.  He knelt down, and placed one hand on each of their chests.

 

"No breathin'... no pulse... yer gone."  He looked up, around -- did he see their spirits, lingering still?  Or something grimmer?  "This ain't right," he looked down at them again.  "Folks die, I know that, 'specially in a place like Bedlam, where life's so cheap.  But y'all are so young, as young as I was when I-"  His rictus grin contorted into a grimace, a sneer.  "No.  Not this time."  The blue-green flames in his eyes flared, "I can fix this.  Really fix this.  Just this once.  Give these two a chance at a better life, a chance to redeem theyselves."  He threw his head back and roared, "Papa!  Papa Ghede!  Hear me!  Do not take these boys yet!  Give 'em a chance to atone for their misdeeds!  Give me the power, I beg of you!"

 

He looked down again, just above the heads of the two frat boys.  The flames in his eyes lashed out towards his hands, wreathing them in the same spectral glow.  His hands darted out to the space above the youth's heads, as if grabbing something, then slammed it down into their chests.  The flames rolled off his hands and over them, flickered for a moment, then went out.  The flames in Dead Head's own eyes also flickered, and he staggered back.

[Amelia]

GM

 

The eyes and mouths of the two dead fratboys burst open, and beams of the same blue-green light shot out from them as they gasped. Dead Head had caught their souls on their way out the door and brought them back inside. Their heads eased back down onto the concrete and their eyes closed again, but they were breathing.

 

The blue glowing man continued to try to mentally "squeeze" Mister Strix's brain, but he was distracted and terrified, so his grip was weak. The Woodchuck man continued to hang limply in Strix's arms, overwhelmed with euphoria. He purred and drooled.

 

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

Mister Strix ignored the blue glowing man's feeble attempts to pierce the fortress walls of his mind. He lifted his fangs from the Woodchuck Man's neck long enough to drag him around the corner, past Dead Head and the fratboys and back into the alley where they all had first met. The bottom half of his face was covered in sticky scarlet. Once he reached that first alley, he clamped his jaw back onto the Woodchuck Man's throat and started sipping his blood and sifting through its psychic resonance again.

 

If you didn't hurt her, then who did?

 

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head wobbled a bit, oof, ain't had to do that in a while.  An' certainly not with two at once.  Ah, but there's one more.

 

The revenant slumped off to one side, and crawled slowly towards the third prone frat boy.  The rapid use of so much of his energies was starting to catch up, and his body was showing it.  He was moving much slower now, dragging himself with enfeebled hands.  By the time he'd made his way to the lad, his skin was sagging in places, and half his fingernails had broken off, leaving a grisly trail behind him.  He reached out with an unsteady hand to the youth, feeling for a pulse at his wrist, then his neck.  He tore off strips of his own shirt to serve as bandages, but saw that some of them had become stained with various fluids which were now leaking from him.

 

Aww, crap.

 

He turned to face Pfeffer, took in a wet, ragged breath, and moaned a single word.  "Heeelllppp."

[Amelia]

GM

 

Ethan Pfeffner's face had been twisted into a grimace of pain and terror for the last couple of minutes, but when Dead Head lay on the ground before him, begging for aid, that grimace faded into a sadistic grin. He grabbed a pipe wrench that one of his fellow fratboys had discarded while fleeing up off the ground, and swung it at Dead Head's skull. "Help this, FREAK!" The swing was wild and unsure, and Dead Head was able to duck under it.

 

The blue glowing man floated around the corner, out from the second alley. When he saw Pfeffner, he moaned and raised his hands up toward the fratboy. His eyes glowed brighter, and a similar blue aura appeared around Pfeffner. The floating man's glow turned from blue to red. Pfeffner choked, gurgled, and flailed his arms. His skin faded from tanned to pale and jaundiced, and it pulled tight around his bones as most of the fat and muscle under it shrank and vanished. In a couple of seconds, he went from looking like a magazine cover model to looking like he'd just survived a famine. He screamed, turned around, and started running away.

 

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

Mister Strix was oblivious to everything around him. He tried to pry deeper into the Woodchuck Man's memories, but he became momentarily distracted by the delicious, robust taste of the creature's blood, and that moment of distraction was all the creature's mind needed to slam shut.

 

Dammit. No. No, we're not done yet, you and I. There are still more secrets hidden in your blood. Still more questions for you to answer. You didn't hurt the woman...you didn't hurt the girl...what about the fires?

 

The vampire growled, tightened his grip, and drank more deeply from his prey.

 

[Dr Archeville]

"Howzat... fer... gratitude," he moaned as Pfeffer ran off.

 

He turned up and saw the floating blue man at the other end of the alley.  Still don't know what that fella is.  Ain't undead, fer all he looks it.  An' whatever it was he did t'Pfeffer, I cain't let 'im do ta these three here, it'd surely kill 'em.  Again.  Alright, Burt, you can do this.  You've got ta do this.

 

"Hey!  Hey, you there!" he called out, twisting into a better position to get a look at him.  "I don't... don't know what yer... what yer problem is... but I cain't let you go harmin' these folks."  He steadied himself with one hand on the concrete, and placed his other hand on the back of his head.  "An', yeah, I know... I know I ain't much t'look at now... but that's me-"

 

The decay and rot at his neck accelerated, and his head popped clean off.  (Well, not that cleanly.)  He caught it in his hand, pulled back, and hurled it with all his ebbing might, straight towards the azure assailant.

 

"-always bitin' off more'n I can chew!"

 

The head flew further than it had any right to, even taking into account Dead Head's superhuman strength.  It almost seemed like it would miss its mark, but a nudge from one of the spirits that lingered around him set it back on course.  His mouth opened wide, and he latched on to the figure's forearm, locking his jaw into place.

Edited August 30, 2019 by Dr Archeville

[Amelia]

GM

 

"GUUUHHHHHHHHHH!!! NNNNNNNGGGGG!!!"

 

The blue glowing man was tough. Dead Head's teeth didn't quite break his skin. But his jaw got a firm grip on the man's arm, and he stopped moving, hovering in place while frantically waving his arms around trying to dislodge the severed head. He stared with wide white eyes which lit up again like twin magnesium flares, just like they had right before Ethan Pfeffner was instantly emaciated. Nothing happened.

 

Pfeffner continued to scream in terror as he half-ran, half-stumbled down the empty street.

 

Dead Head and Mister Strix both heard a voice in their minds. It felt like the same hands which had tried to pry open his mind now just knocked on the door.

 

Please don't hurt him. I'm sorry. Please stop.

 

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

The man in white took another sip from the Woodchuck Man's vein and focused on pushing his mind through the layers of psychic resonance built up in the creature's blood, straining and grasping for the right information.

 

Who set the fires? Who burned those people? Who?! WHO?!

 

At last, he found the right set of memories, things the Woodchuck Man didn't want to know, things he'd tried to forget. He smelled the burning flesh but not this night's offerings.

 

He bit his tongue, forced a drop of his dark blood to the surface, and licked it onto the Woodchuck Man's throat, instantly closing the punctures his fangs had left. Then he gently laid the creature down onto the concrete, and dashed out of the alley to Dead Head's side.

 

"Dee, STOP! We had this all wrong!"

 

[Dr Archeville]

"Mrmph?"  Between the voice in his head and Strix's cry, Dead Head was convinced to let go.  His head fell to the pavement, bounced once, and landed on its side, facing the blue figure.  "Uh... sorry 'bout that.  No hard feelin's?"

 

Meanwhile, Dead Head's body slowly rose to its feet, and shambled, arms outstretched, towards its head.

 

"Strix!  Strix, what the heck's goin' on here?  An' did you hear someone else in yer head?  I know there's someone else here, but I cain't pinpoint-"  His head wobbled a bit, "hey, where's Murray?"  He looked Strix up and down, noting the gore on his face and chest, "you didn't, uhhh... ?"

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

Quote

"Did you hear someone else in yer head?  I know there's someone else here, but I can't pinpoint-"

 

"Yes, I heard it too. Someone's been trying to break down the doors to our minds, but they finally gave up and just knocked."

 

Quote

He looked Strix up and down, noting the gore on his face and chest, "You didn't, uhhh...?"

 

"No, I didn't kill anyone. Just a few drops. Enough to learn the truth." The man in white lifted a thumb and pointed over his shoulder. "He's sleeping it off in the alley." Then he pointed his thumb to the side, at the blue glowing man. "The Woodchuck Man. This...gentleman. And the voice in our heads. Say 'Hello' to The Nowhere Men. They're not setting the fires. They're trying to stop them. They're defending their home, D. They took the girl, but they haven't hurt her. I think it's just a...misunderstanding, all around."

 

[Dr Archeville]

"That looks like more'n just a few drops there, Strix," his body had reached his head and picked it up off the ground, "but I don't see Muray's spirit swirlin' 'round, so I'll take yer word for it that he's still 'mongst th' livin'."

 

He held his head up to the ragged space between his shoulders, and bone and meat reached out and knit back together.  He turned to look at the blue figure, "uhh... hello.  Nowhere Men, hunh?  Well, I'm Dead Head," he extended a hand, "an' we'd be happy t'help y'all stop whoever it is what's settin' those fires.  An' if ya can let us see lil' Emily, make sure she's okay, an' maybe take 'er back to 'er folks, well, we'd sure 'ppreciate it."

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

Quote

"That looks like more'n just a few drops there, Strix," his body had reached his head and picked it up off the ground, "but I don't see Muray's spirit swirlin' 'round, so I'll take yer word for it that he's still 'mongst th' livin'."

 

The man in white felt around the lower half of his face with his fingertips, then examined the sticky crimson residue. "It...looks worse than it is. You don't have to take my word for it. Here, look." He stepped back into the alley where the whole chaotic mess had started, knelt down, and lifted The Woodchuck Man's limp form up off the ground. The Woodchuck Man's glassy eyes were half-rolled up into his head, and he was drooling. The fur around his neck was matted with blood, among other things. But he didn't appear to be bleeding, not anymore. And he was breathing.

 

Strix cocked his head toward a nearby manhole cover. "You mind shoveling that thing open while I have my hands full?" He turned toward the blue glowing man. "You're gonna show us the way home, like the voice in our heads told you to, aren't you?"

 

[Amelia]

GM

 

The blue glowing man didn't respond, but he hovered over to the manhole cover Mister Strix had indicated, and waited beside it without incident. He moaned softly, and he didn't seem to react to Dead Head's greeting, or any other outside stimuli. Once Dead Head had worked the manhole open, the man simply floated down the shaft into the oversized and largely uncharted Bedlam City sewers. These were storm-sewers, so the shin-deep water rushing past didn't stink of biological waste. The air carried a slight odor of mold. The soft blue glow of the floating man was the only light, often reflected in the eyes of rats whose shrill squeaks echoed down the stone archways as they fled in his wake.

 

After a dozen twists and turns, the glowing man led the pair of vigilantes to a raised platform, upon which flattened cardboard boxes and bundles of rags had been piled to create a living space. An old battery-operated combination television and video cassette player sat upon a large wooden spool turned on its side as an improvised table. The television was playing a childrens adventure movie from the 1980s, and, coincidentally, it was currently depicting a scene taking place in a sewer. A little girl the pair immediately recognized as the missing Emily Petrovic was sitting on the cardboard in the middle of the "room" in front of the TV, enthralled by the film. An empty plastic cup belonging to a local brand of convenience stores and an empty sandwich wrapper sat nearby.

 

At the far end of the alcove from the television, an assortment of plastic milk crates, wooden shipping crates, metal trash cans, and other random junk was piled against the wall in such a way as to vaguely suggest a throne. Upon that throne sat a filthy man dressed in a motley assortment of ragged old clothes. A couple weeks worth of facial hair poked out of his flushed cheeks. He held a half-empty bottle of dollar-store wine in one hand, while his other hand gently petted the several rats sitting beside him.

 

"*hic* 'Lo there," he slurred.

 

Edited October 26, 2019 by Grumblefloof

[Dr Archeville]

He really was willing to take Strix's word for it, but he was also relieved when he showed him the blissed-out Woodchuck Man.

 

***

 

"... right," he muttered, hopefully low enough that only Strix would hear.  "Hobo king in the sewers of a big city.  Seen this a few times.  Mind if I take lead?"

 

Before receiving any sort of reply -- as he assumed Strix was not particularly interested in talking -- he approached the raggedy man.  "Hello there, Mister Sewer King, Sir!"  He bowed slightly, with one arm in front of him and one out to his side.  "We thank you for lookin' after Miss Emily," he nodded to the girl, "and for invitin' us down to yer kingdom.  My ally here," he gestured towards Strix, "tells me that you an' your Nowhere Men are lookin' to stop whoever it is what's settin' fires all over the Up Above.  We'd very much like ta help ya with that, if'n you'd allow."

[Amelia]

GM

 

Quote

"... right," he muttered, hopefully low enough that only Strix would hear.  "Hobo king in the sewers of a big city.  Seen this a few times.  Mind if I take lead?"

 

Dead Head had apparently not muttered lowly enough, because he received a response. "Ya go through life thinkin' yer...yer...*hic* ONEUVAKIND, but then ya find out yer just a FRANCHISE! What a world, what a world..."

 

Quote

Before receiving any sort of reply -- as he assumed Strix was not particularly interested in talking -- he approached the raggedy man.  "Hello there, Mister Sewer King, Sir!"  He bowed slightly, with one arm in front of him and one out to his side.  "We thank you for lookin' after Miss Emily," he nodded to the girl, "and for invitin' us down to yer kingdom.  My ally here," he gestured towards Strix, "tells me that you an' your Nowhere Men are lookin' to stop whoever it is what's settin' fires all over the Up Above.  We'd very much like ta help ya with that, if'n you'd allow."

 

The raggedy man waved off Dead Head's bow. "I'm no king, Young Feller, not even king of the piss and dung floatin' by you right now." He sniffed at the air. "Wait, no, that's not piss, this isn't that kind of sewer. Then what am I smellin'?" He sniffed down at his own coat. "No wait, that's me!" He laughed uproariously and slapped his knee. "No kings, no masters, no standin' on CEREMONY, not fer us. YER the guests! You, the feller in the white, sorry about yer head! Grew back, though. Neat trick!" He motioned over to the floor. "Pull up a crate! Make yerselves at home. Want some wine?" He thrust the half-empty bottle in his hand forward. "I promise it's...no more than twenty, thirty percent backwash at the most!" He laughed again, a coarse sound, like metal dragged across stone. "I'm more of a...a...scuse m-" He turned and vomited onto the cardboard floor. "Ssshhhorry!" His several missing teeth turned half of his "s" and "sh" sounds into whistles. "Where was I? Right. I'm more of a 'ssshhhaman'. The city...talks to me. The rat, the roach, and the pigeon, they whisper their secrets into my ears. Been livin' in thish here city all ma life, and she's been livin' in me too. Not you, though." He pointed at Dead Head. "Yer NEW." Then he pointed at Mister Strix. "Notchu, though. Yer a native son. She saw you born. You left for a while, butchu never REALLY left, didja? These streets told me ALL 'bout YOU, back when we was NEIGHBORS. Didn't know what ta make of ya back then. Dressed in white like a bride on her weddin' day, but yer a big black spot on a grey tapestry is whatchu are. No bride for you, not no more. Death done didja part. The city, SHE's yer lady now, same as with me. But her SPIRIT is MY domain. You, you lie with her SHADOW."

 

Little Emily turned around, her attention grabbed both by the mention of her name and The Ratcatcher's wretching. When she saw the man in white and the walking dead, she exclaimed "WHOA...COOL!" She scrambled to her feet and ran up to Dead Head. "Are you DEAD? When did you die? Did it hurt? Who killed you? Did you kill them back?"
 

[Amelia]

Mister Strix

 

"You knew...when I was squatting on Ash Street, whenever I'm moving through the night, I always cloud the minds of the mortals around me. You knew I was here? You saw me?" He turned to Dead Head. "Only the strongest willed mortals can resist my power. And whatever else he is, he is mortal. I can hear his heart pumping the blood through his veins just like all the rest. I can smell his sweat and his breath. I wish I couldn't, but I can. That's also how I know he's telling the truth, or at least, he thinks he is."

 

When The Ratcatcher mentioned his widow, Mister Strix glared at him. His fists clenched and his lips twisted into a snarl. His eyes turned completely black, and even through his closed lips and gritted teeth, a tiger's roar audibly echoed in the sewer. "DON'T...SAY...ANOTHER...WORD. DON'T EVER SPEAK OF IT AGAIN. DON'T EVEN THINK IT."

 

[Dr Archeville]

Ah, good, he seems a down-to-earth sort.  Well, compared to some others I've dealt with.

 

"I got lotsa things livin' in me," he replied merrily to the sewer king, "mostly bugs an' such -- but, yeah, I'm new, an' wanna help.  Which is why I- oh!"  He was suddenly aware of Little Emily's move towards him.  He knelt down to be more eye-to-eye with her, "my, ain't you th' curious one!  That's a good quality!  Yes, I really am dead -- in fact, folks call me Dead Head!"  He extended an open hand to her, "pleased t'meetcha!  Now, let me see -- I died about... why, almost twenty years ago!  It didn't hurt none, though, on account'a it happened so fast. The second time, though, hoo-whee," he shook his hands, as if he'd grabbed something very hot, "did that sting!  Sometimes the deaths hurt, sometimes they don't, it all depends.  An', uh, no, I didn't kill the ones what killed me th' first time, but some... friends helped lock 'em away."  He slapped his knee, "but enough about me -- how's you?  They been treatin' you okay down-"

 

And then Strix was roaring, and Dead Head was on his feet, shovel in hand.  "Whoa, hey, let's all settle down now!" he announced to the room.

[Amelia]

GM

 

Emily stood wide-eyed and open-mouthed as Dead Head spoke. He had her full attention. "That's SO COOL! My parents won't let me watch zombie movies yet, but I watch them at Sarah's house. Hey, what happened to The Woodchuck Man? Is he OK? He was scary at first, but then he brought us sandwiches. We ate them all, but we could get some more. Do you still eat alive-person food? Do you eat brains? Movie zombies eat brai-AHHH!" When the man in white growled, Emily dove behind Dead Head. Her small hands latched onto him and gripped him tightly.

 

The raggety man took another gulp of wine and wiped his face on his sleeve. "Tread lightly, Owl. Blood's been shed on all shidesh thish night, can't fault ya fer that." He glanced briefly down at The Woodchuck Man, then turned back up and looked Mister Strix right in the eye. "But yer pushin' to tha edge of mah horshhh...horssshhh...*BELCH* HORRRSHPITALITY." He glanced off to the side, toward the waters rushing by. There were rats there now, more than before. Hundreds at least, maybe thousands. They'd creeped up next to the platform where the man had made his home without a sound, and they stood completely still, watching. The light from the television reflected off of their eyes.

 

The raggety man turned to Dead Head. "Ya already met Grim Diddle here," he thumbed toward the blue glowing man who'd curled up into a ball in the far corner of the platform as soon as they'd arrived, "And The Woodchuck Man, tha's what the papersh called him. We like it. We'll keep it. They call me The Ratcatcher, fer obvious reasons. Yep, The Nowhere Men, that's us. Shounded SHPOOKY! Thought that'd keep 'em away. And it did! Fer a while." His face fell. His eyes lost their focus, staring at the floor, at something that wasn't there. "Fer a while."